Wesley Church Group Walks

Looking Glass Gardens, etc

By Maurice Boniface

18th August 2008

Neither Ken nor Dave could come on Monday, so there were only three of us. John and Neil came to our place and we went in Neil's car to the Papamoa Cultural Heritage Regional Park. We got there at 8.15 a.m. and there were several cars there already - there must be some early walkers (or joggers). I went to take a photo and my camera wouldn't work and said 'no image' so I thought I must have left my little digital card at home, so Neil very kindly offered to take plenty of photos for me. We set off up the track through the pine plantation. It is quite steep so we stopped a couple of times on the way up. There is a good lookout spot part way up so we stopped to look at the view. We could hear a voice behind us and saw a chap walking along and talking loudly on his cell phone. We passed him on his way down later - he must have just gone to the top then turned around and come straight back. We continued on and came out onto an old farm road with paddocks all around. The sheep on the side of the track had black faces and legs and some of the lambs were nearly black all over. We came to another lookout - straight in front of us was Motiti Island, shining in the sun. To our right we could see Whale Island which is out from Whakatane and in between, on the skyline, we could see White Island quite clearly - there was no cloud steam coming out of it today. Looking out to the left we could see The Mount, Tauranga City and the Harbour, while behind us at the top of the hill was the Trig we were heading for. We continued up the track through the paddocks and when we got near the final peak a group of ladies passed us - they must be out on their fitness walk because they were stepping out at quite a good pace. There was an electric fence ribbon part way around the peak - what it was for we couldn't imagine because it stopped part way round and was too high to stop sheep. We went around the end of it and up to the Trig. This area used to be a fortified Maori Pa in the past, but all that is left of it are the earthworks that they had done with quite a deep gully dug all around the top. There are two peaks with a flat strip in between. We had another good look around the area. Over the back side there is a quarry and we could see dump trucks and a digger working. A bit further over is Summerland, a privately owned park where we have been before, and walked up to here from there. There was a cold wind blowing so we didn't stay too long up there, but made our way back along the track. There were ewes and lambs all around where we were walking. A couple of lambs, with black noses, were snuggled down in the grass, out of the wind, but bleating away. We couldn't see their mother anywhere. They didn't seem to be afraid of people - I suppose they are so used to them walking along this track. We were heading for some big old trees where we often stop for morning tea. We had to climb over a couple of stiles and there was a notice on the fence 'Electric fence operating at times' but the wire above it was only an old barbed wire one so I suppose they put the electric one alongside the fence at times. We passed a concrete tank with a solar panel on the top, but the support at one end had collapsed and the panel was sagging. We had to climb under an electric fence in the paddock but we all managed to get through without touching it. We found a nice spot under a bank in the sun and with a great view just past the trees and decided to have morning tea even though it was a bit early. I rang Mum and she hadn't started hers. It was a nice spot so we spent a bit longer than usual. When we were getting ready to start Neil found one of his buckles had broken and being a good scout, he produced a bit of twine and tied up the strap. As we were heading off, he realised there was a piece of the strap was missing too so we all went back and looked for it. He found it where we had first thought of stopping for morning tea but shifted further along. We set off again on the downward path and found the going much easier. We got back to the car and set off for the Looking Glass Gardens. We went there last year in September but found that the Daffodils had all finished flowering, so Ken had suggested that we go there today. We parked at the gate and walked down to the little shed where we all put our $5 in the Honesty Box. The gardens are owned and run by an elderly couple who spend their time keeping it up to scratch. They had been cutting down a row of trees alongside the driveway - we talked to the chap later and he said they had got canker and were dying, he had cut down 60 already and had quite a few more to go (said he had only made one mistake so far - one fell the wrong way!) There are old wheelbarrows in odd places all over the garden, the first one we came to was so old the bottom was rusted through and was nailed onto a post with a sign "Old Mr Rusty Barrow - Never Sleeps" Also all over the place, were signs about Thyme, the first one was "Starting Thyme". We passed an old Ponga trunk into the side of which had been carved a goat's head and it had bright blue marbles for eyes. Next on the side of the track was the sign "Garden of Live Flowers" and around the corner were brightly painted tall flowers made of metal, but in between everything were dozens of Daffodils in full flower. We came to a wrought iron gate which opened onto a steep wooden staircase down to another path but we didn't go down there. The track wound around down to an amphitheatre with a wooden semicircle of tiered seats but the cherry trees' branches covered a lot of them so they obviously haven't been used for years. Over to one side was a hen house and yard but the gate was open and about six Silkie Bantam hens were clustered near a bush in the sun. They are peculiar looking fowls with white silky feathers, a fluffy head and a red face and beak - they were very tame. On the other side was a sign Servants -> pointing to a building used as a kitchen. Nearby was a tree with a sign "Tea Tree" and on it were hanging about a dozen teapots! We continued along the track and came to a sign "Looking Glass Insects" and there were wooden butterflies, a lady bird made of metal and a cicada. We passed a little Red Riding Hood figure made out of corrugated iron and a sign "Red Riding Hood - to Grandma's House". The next sign was "There - View Daffodils - and Back" so we went to look at them and found a big new garden filled with Daffodils with lawn paths through it and Grandma's House on the side. They seemed to be a different sort of Daffodil with a smaller head. We went back and came to the sign "Never Never Land" which led to the three little houses for the Three Little Pigs. The first one was made of straw, the next one of wood and the last one of bricks. Inside were little beds and all sorts of other things for kids to look at. We saw some more chooks only these were the normal size , in fact they were nice and plump! Then there were several black and white wooden geese up on the hill. The track goes down to a small pond with a little fountain playing in the middle and a bridge on one side. At the end of it was a sign 'Big Bad Wolf ->" Ken said to go and look at it because last time the bridge had been too slippery and we didn't go so we went up a track through the trees and came onto a lawn with a corrugated iron little house with pots full of water on the ground and a pile of bones and around the side a plate, knife and cup nailed onto the wall with a sign "Dinner Thyme" Inside it was very small and dark but it had a bed. The track then started to go up and we came to signs like "Red Queen" and "Wool & Water". By this time it was about midday so we looked around for a suitable place for lunch and found a nice circular lawn with trees around it and one in the middle with a garden seat under it, so we shifted the seat out into the sun. While I was ringing Mum the others wandered around and found Humpty Dumpty just through the trees. We sat down and started to eat. Neil suggested I said in my text "Lunch with Humpty Dumpty" so I did. Bruce sent a reply "Don't fall" and Peter said "The fun you have!" I got one from Ken to say he was home, so I rang him and told him what we had done during the morning. After lunch we had a look at Humpty Dumpty sitting on a block wall and someone had put a pink camellia flower in his hand. We came to the Witch's House with Hansel and Gretel as wooden cutouts on the wall plus all sorts of goodies to eat. Inside there was a Witch's hat on the mantel piece and outside a Witch's Broom up against a tree. Next there were several metal hens scratching in the garden and all sorts of signs such as "Thyme Square", "Spring Thyme" with a metal spring, "Standard Thyme" and "Thyme Table" with a table top. There was a big wooden picture frame in the garden and if you looked through it you could see a Cypress Tree in the centre. Then there was "Mail Thyme" with a letterbox. We came to a sign "Stairway to Heaven -> Snowdrops Path ->" We went and had a look at the stairway which goes straight up to the top of the hill but we decided we would rather go by the snowdrops path! Along this path there were masses of Daffodils stretching right up the side of the hill all in flower. I will attach a photo of them, because this is what we had come to see. Down on the bank below us were masses of Snowdrops all in flower too, so it was a great sight also. We had been hearing Tuis all around us and the lady had told us that one comes to her window and 'talks' to her. We saw one on a tree close by and Neil went to take a photo of it and while he was doing it another one flew down next to it so he got two in the photo! One of them looked as though he had been in a fight because his feathers were all ruffled. The path leads back to the house and then there is a road track that goes up to the top so we went up there. At the top there was a dinghy lying on the grass with the name "Gael Force". It is pretty high up here and there are great views all around. We went and had a look at the top of the stairway and were pleased we hadn't come up this way. A bit further over is the stone statue of St. Peter with the Keys of the Kingdom in his hand. He has been there a long time because he is half covered in moss. We made our way back to the car and set off for Welcome Bay to go and walk around Johnson Reserve. We found that with all the rain we have had, the track was very muddy. We went across the swamp on a boardwalk and along the other side which did a little loop and came back to itself. I rang Betty and said we would come home for afternoon tea and got there at ten to three. I down loaded Neil's pictures onto my computer and they both set off home.