The text is now on the wall of the building at the entry to the track that leads down the hillside to the beach below.
This building is designed to look like the wings of an eagle and the text on the facing wall is "They shall mount up on wings like eagles..."
All the way down the 1 km track to the beach there are very interesting information boards. Set back from the beach is the cross celebrating the mission settlement and the accord between the first settlers and the local Maori.
My hiking stick was useful for the steeper parts of the track and we were glad of a cloudy day as the walk would have been very hot in full sun.
It was a fascinating pilgrimage into our own NZ history and challenging to think of the early families landing on this remote beach and starting from scratch to set up home, build a school and a Chapel, plant crops, learn the language, have babies... and proclaim the "tidings of great joy to all people".
This link takes you to an excellent site which gives full information about the Rangihoua Heritage Park. I thoroughly recommend a visit if you haven't been there. The last 10ks of the road is unsealed but not too bad!
