Event: Auckland club to celebrate 40 years since inception
The Outdoor Activities Club Auckland (inc) is about to celebrate 40 years since its inception.
In August 1977 our founder Nigel Smith placed an advertisement in the NZ Herald asking for interest in forming an outdoor club. There were over 100 enquires.
At the inaugural meeting it was agreed that the purpose of the organization was to promote friendship, fellowship and leadership in a variety of outdoor activities. Possible activities included badminton, boating, camping, canoeing, car rallies, cycling, diving, fishing, golf, horse riding, hunting, jogging mountaineering, orienteering, sailing, ski-ing, swimming, tramping and walking.
The first couple of club outings were the newly established Coast to Coast Walk between the Manukau Harbour Onehunga and the Waitamata Harbour Auckland city and then a tramp at Huia in the Waitakere Ranges.
When we were three years old the club received a certificate of “High Commendation” in recognition of good club administration.
When we were four years old the club was approached by the then Auckland Regional Council and asked if we would become caretakers of the Historic Keddle House at Anawhata on the West Coast in the Waitakere Ranges. After much discussion the club took on the challenge and for over 30 years members have furnished and maintained the house and grounds and every weekend a member was rostered on to stay to deter vandalism and serve as fire wardens.
Keddle house is now available to the general public and administered and maintained by the Auckland City but our club is allocated one week a month
In the early days it was a family oriented club and most of the members worked so all activities were at weekends and away trips were pursued on long weekends and Holidays. The numbers grew rapidly and it was common for 50 or more people to be out on an activity.
By the 1990’s mid-week activities were introduced to accommodate those who were retired and a regular fortnightly three hour walk and a fortnightly four hour tramp were introduced. These have become increasingly popular as the club has aged.
In 2003 further changes we r e made with the addition of the ‘Gadabouts’ this was to cater for the members who had become less active. These activities include shorter walks, visits to interesting places such as Bishop’s House and the Archives, SPCA, Botanic Gardens, harbour cruises, Snow Planet, Archives of NZ, NZ Herald and many other places of interest
The club still offers three activities a week and has a membership of over 200 and we still do most of the activities listed above.
The monthly newsletter is available on www.oacnz.org