Sixteen souls coping with Level 2 restrictions headed off in two vans to Waikino Railway station for morning tea, where we waited for the 10:45 train.

It was a nice leisurely ride aboard the train to Waihi, but a photo taken on board the train suggests we may have had a masked train robber amoung us. From there we rambled along the Hauraki Rail trail back to Waikino. Lunch was had on the grass verge of the track, where storm clouds threatened to drown us but did not arrive.  

There were lots of family cyclists out which was nice to see. Ray noticed that nearly all of them had wide smiles on their faces. Wildlife spotted included  black swans, Canadian geese, ducks & Pukekos (lucky my husband was not there to shoot any of them). 

It was a lovely tramp following the river, with debates at times on the correct way to do CPR or how to survive being swept down stream. (Which way to face?)

We arrived at the Waikino carpark just before the rain began. Coffee for some and a walk through the Victoria Battery complex for the others. This was a lovely walk to take after lockdown, to stretch those muscles and unwind the mind.

Susan Rogers