“It’s Just A Hill, Get Over It!"

So says the Golden Bay slogan selling itself to visitors and referring to the huge Takaka Hill with the very winding road on both sides of the summit, and the only road in and out of Golden Bay. It is well worth the effort to visit Golden Bay and spend some time exploring. We’re thoroughly enjoying it so far and have had, once again, some brilliant weather while other parts of the country suffer from rain, flooding and high winds. I can't remember when we last heard rain on our roof.

Before we move further west around the large crescent of Golden Bay to Collingwood here are some random shots from around Takaka & Pohara.

We have come across a lot of abandoned Freemason Lodges on our travels, some in some very remote areas, it was obviously a very popular order in it’s day. I’m not sure if the Takaka Lodge is still used by Masons but I did see a group of ladies wearing exercise gear exiting it. I love the walkway, it’s was a built up bridge crossing the paddock. The cow and tanks look out of place to a visitor but this is at the end of the main street & seemed quite appropriate in dairy mad Takaka.

Built over 100 years ago the Telegraph Hotel has loads of character that speak of grander times but it still stands marking the entrance to Takaka township.

We took a short side trip to East Takaka where I knew there was an historic church I could add to my fast growing folders of church photos. I just have to find time to process them! An added bonus was the historic East Takaka Hall which was formerly the East Takaka School c1904. That would explain why the darn tennis court was right in front of the hall, like about a metre from the wall. There was no way to get a decent photo without the netting taking over.

The East Takaka Church c1868 was built for the Church of England but was always made available to other protestant religions too.

 

Just around the corner from our campground is the Pohara band rotunda, in a rather odd spot on the side of the road. I can understand it being on the beach and that the road etc would have probably been added around it since it was built but the beach isn’t that nice. A great big tidal flat at low tide with no sand or dunes, I wonder if the harbour breakwater as altered the beach over time, similar to Westshore in Napier. Still a nice spot to stop and rest as you walk by.

Further on past the harbour on the top of a rocky outcrop is the Abel Tasman Memorial. Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered New Zealand in 1642, he sailed his ship around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay where he anchored. It all makes sense now, I became aware of Project Janszoon while staying at Kaiteriteri and wondered how it got it’s unusual name. Project Janszoon is a privately funded trust that works with DOC in protecting Abel Tasman Park’s native birdlife.



The view from the memorial looking back towards the marina & harbout.

I wonder how long this rustic home has stood here on a narrow finger of land in Ligar Bay where the tide laps at the bottom step on both sides of the property. Floundering would only be a matter of stepping outside the kitchen with a spear in your hand.

One last walk we wanted to do before we left Pohara was the track to Wainui Falls in the Abel Tasman National Park. We had intended to do the walk on our way home from Totaranui the other day but we got waylaid with the "motorhome off the road" crisis. A dairy farm surrounds the carpark and the first part of the track passes by the paddocks alongside the Wainui River.

It’s not long before the track disappears into beautiful native bush with tree ferns and nikau towering over us and we catch glimpses of beautiful emerald green pools as we pass gaps in the bush.

At one of the slip sites where we have to clamber over fallen rocks I hear a soft bleating and looking up high on the rock face I spot a family of wild goats; Dad, Mum & baby. The kid is just too cute, he keeps bleating and trying to get to Mum but everytime he jumps up on the rock Dad butts him down. They are so sure footed, its very steep and they jump about no problems at all. They have moved on when we come back along the track but I can still hear the baby bleating in the bush high above the track. They are very lucky nobody with a gun has spotted them yet.

A walk with two rewards! A swingbridge & a waterfall, our kind of walk. Flash floods must come roaring down this valley, all the way along the river are great piles of wood and debris including these two huge logs balanced atop a rock in the riverbed just below the swingbridge.

After clambering over a couple more large slips that had dumped whole trees into the riverbed and sidling along a narrow section of the path we could finally hear the roar of the waterfall, then around one last corner & there it was thundering into a deep pool sending spray all over us.

I can’t imagine how mighty the falls might be in full flood but I do know you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near them without getting wiped off the rocks.

Queen's Park Tour

Hello there from sunny & hot Invercargill! I've decided to give you a pictorial tour of Queens Park as I can't stop long because we have things to do, places to go. The last 3 days have been beautifully hot with cloudless blue skies; well for most of the day anyway. Apologies if the load time is slow but.... well....you know me by now, photos tell a far better story than I can (& remember, you can click on any to enlarge)

We went with the family, the kids & dad on their bikes, us walking. It took us over 3 hours to do a circuit with a stop for lunch & we still didn't see everything. This park is amazing, something you'd expect to see in one of our bigger cities not small city Invercargill. It is a wonderful asset for everyone to enjoy.

The grand entrance to Queens Park-

A wide avenue of trees leads down to the band rotunda, it's here that all manner of concerts are held including the "Carols by Candlelight" which sadly we missed because it was cancelled this year due to rain.

There are many ponds, streams & water features...

... great expanses of beautifully manicured lawns with huge log carvings & sculptures, many of them carved into seats..... 

..... wide plantings of perennial beds & border gardens.....

.....just starting to flower...

Many duck ponds & a large walk in double aviary along with smaller ones containing many NZ native birds along with a number of parrots & finches from Australia. We stopped for lunch here on the edge of the pond.

What do you do when you have fallen trees & branches in a such a large park of over 80 hectares & with so many mature trees? You create a Stumpery of course! This isn't just stump & branches dumped in a pile, these are works of art held together with steel wire & bolts.

And a Stumpery is......

Next stop was the humid Winter Garden with some stunning displays of flowers. It was a surprise to see many plants that grow outdoors in Tauranga.

This was just one tunnel, there were a further two, each branching off from the huge fish pond in the centre of the pavilion.

On through the animal park, with deer, pigs, sheep, wallabys, rabbits etc & this laid back goat watching the world walk by...

And then onto the most important park feature of all according to Ollie & Ruby, the childrens playground...

....where we lazed in the sun with an icecream while the kids played.....then one further burst of energy from the kids at the castle just a little further on....

Back past the band rotunda.....

...with Poppa getting weary & striding out for home....

...while Nana lingered at the rose gardens......

....soaking up the heady perfume of a million blooms

I hope you have enjoyed your tour as much as we enjoyed our outing, if you are ever in Invercargill, Queens Park is not to be missed.