Auburn Reserve (End Como Street)

At the bottom of Como Street is Auburn Reserve, which has served as a recreation area for Takapuna residents for over a century. The Takapuna Croquet Club first opened in the space in 1912 and by the 1980s had the largest membership of any croquet club in New Zealand. In 1955, the Takapuna Ladies Bowling Club was established at the reserve as well. This facility is now the P’hab Youth Space. When the Girl Guides were looking for a new clubhouse, the Takapuna City Council granted them a space in the reserve.

The Girl Guides of New Zealand was founded in June 1923 by Mrs. William R. Wilson, who served as Chief Commissioner until 1934. The group’s first rally in the country was held on St Leonard’s Road near today’s Takapuna Grammar School in December of that year. At that time, the Girl Guides only had 20 members, but by 1934, over 12,000 Girl Guides could be found across New Zealand. The head of the British Girl Guides, Miss Prior, attended the rally to help train the first generation of guide captains, who would go on to lead the Girl Guides in the following years.

The local Girl Guides first met at St Peter’s Parish Hall on Anzac Street but moved to the new Women’s Community Hall, built on land donated by the Wilsons, in 1930. Over the next four decades, they also met in the local Anglican and Methodist churches. In 1967, the Takapuna Borough Council gave the Girl Guides a converted garage on Auburn Terrace to use as its local headquarters. The current Taitamariki Hall was built as a dedicated clubhouse for GirlGuiding New Zealand in 1978.

Continue down Auburn Street to Anzac Street and turn right. Stop in front of the New Zealand Institute of Education entrance and look across the street.