I’m always on the lookout for new events and one or two of my walkers came across the Twilight Walk for the Hibiscus Coast Hospice. The Twilight Walk was organised into two walks, a 6.5 km which is a loop around the estuary and a 12.5 km at Orewa that follows the Orewa Estuary walkway then goes on to Eaves Bush and back along the beachfront to the Surf Club. So we hastily organised ourselves into a team of six and registered.
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| Our team of North Shore Nordic Walkers (I'm behind the camera) |
A couple of our Nordic Walkers hadn’t taken part in an event before, so the 6.5 km loop walk was quite a nice walk to start with. Firstly, it’s not a race, it’s been organised as a taster as I found out when talking to a member of staff and next year it may be organised into another event on the beach. Secondly the weather was beautiful, ideal for walking and the event was relatively small with around 260 plus walkers.
We were told to check in at 2.30 pm but the organisers weren’t quite ready and we saw the tent rise and collapse a couple of times so we retreated to the Surf Club for a coffee.
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| The food looked superb! |
The Orewa Surf Life Saving Club is a hub of activity, set in one of the most beautiful beach locations on the Shore. Initially the club was established in the 1950’s when the estuary outflow travelled north along the beach and finished where the actual club is now, this made the beach dangerous, hence the location of the club and then a bombing by the RAF during the late 1950’s completely changed the direction of the estuary flow straight out to sea. Originally the members used a tent as a meeting place in the camping grounds and later upgraded it to a small shed, then in 1960 funds were raised and the new clubhouse was opened. The club has made 1000’s of rescues and now runs regular beach patrols and activities for life saving and surfing throughout the year.
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| Orewa Beach |
At the start of the walk there was a bit of confusion as we were allowed to set off in front. The starting position was actually opposite the Surf Club and followed the road, I initially thought that the route had changed and maybe we weren’t allowed through the camp grounds via the pathway, but out of the corner of my eye I spotted other walkers making their way to the path and we very quickly changed our direction.
Incidentally the camp ground at the south end of Orewa beach has been there over 70 years, it's a fantastic location set right by the beach and a popular destination for many Kiwi campers.
It was when we changed our direction that we met with all the other walkers and had to jostle for positions, the route takes you past Orewa Beach Camping and Holiday Park, onto the road, under the bridge and then onto the pathway around the estuary.
The 6.5 km walk is reasonably flat, there are a few inclines and that’s where the poles came into their own. I got a couple of comments about the speed and someone actually thought I was running. I would really recommend Nordic Walking poles for uphill and downhill walks, it’s a tremendous workout.
I love this area and as usual got carried away and pounded forward, I wasn’t pushing it too hard but the conditions were superb for walking and I came in first. This worked out great as I could photograph the rest of the team coming in and I got a couple of interested people that I gave cards out to.
I must say that our little group did really well and considering it was a first time for some they all coped admirably. Here’s to next year and we hope that the Hospice had a successful fundraising event, it was a great walk for a very worth while cause.
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