Orewa Outing

Had a social weekend with good friends Frances and Carolyn E. up at Orewa, enjoying the sun, beach and surf for a change. It has a liberating relaxing effect,I find, just hearing the sounds of nature - the waves, the crunch of shells underfoot, the screech of seagulls, not to mention the stunning visual beauty of the Eaves Bush area at the northern end of Orewa where Dieter, Carolyn and I went for a walk among spendid kauri, kahikatea and puriri trees. The main reason for the trip up north was to join other members of the Silverdale Historical Society to the small village of Mauku which I had not even heard of before. It is in the lush market garden area of Patumahoe and Pukekohe, an area I am not all that familiar with. The church is a small Selwyn Church in beautiful condition, dating back to 1862 and is situated on a small knoll, overlooking the area and has a small churchyard cemetery. It is called St Bride's and is a sister church to another St Bride's in Fleet St London whose flock of parishioners some of the original settlers in the area came from. We had an interesting talk on the church from the sexton and his wife. Nowadays the church has a congregation of 25 and is also used as a wedding venue. I was telling my neighbour in Orewa, who came from Pukekohe originally, all about the trip and the visit to the church, and she remembered her husband taking wedding photos on many occasions for bridal parties. Aftr lunch at a garden cafe we motored on to the Botanic Gardens in Manurewa to look at the sculpture exhibition, which was rather spread out over the whole gardens. Although there was a little train taking people around I had the misfortune to be sitting above a flat tyre and had to vacate my seat, so walked around in the heat and saw what I could without getting too hot and bothered. Back in Orewa in the early evening I indulged in the first of several long swims over the next 3 days to revive my drooping spirit. Later on we enjoyed a takeaway roast dinner at a picnic table overlooking the beach. Bliss.