Tinopai To Port Albert, Northland

Continuing on with my Northland blogs from February, 2019. 

From Dargaville we headed south to our next destination, Tinopai, a small settlement at the bottom of the Hukatere Peninsula, a reasonably large finger of land that juts out into the mighty Kaipara Harbour.

The Tinopai Camp Ground is right one the edge of the harbour with fabulous views out over the water.

It was the perfect spot to spend a few days relaxing in the middle of a hot summer.

Powered sites are available at the top end of the camp beside the water too & near the facilities, which, like many classic kiwi campgrounds are pretty basic but adequate. 

Of course the harbour is tidal and the view doesn't look quiet so inviting when the tide is out. Except when I captured it late in the evening, the sky with a rosy hue, as the sun dipped below the horizon behind us.

My sister & husband- who we'd seen several times while travelling around Northland- drove across from Whangarei to spend the night in their tent beside us before we headed further south & back to the South Island. 

There's a small marina beside the campground with the usual collection of small boats & old launches; some well loved, others that had seen better days. I didn't have to go far to capture the stunning sunrises either, just to the back of the rig.

I wanted to take a sunrise photo of the Tinopai wharf which is about 2kms further down the road, I drove down to check it out...

And then picked the wrong morning to shoot it. Although I still captured the golden glow, I would have loved it had there been the cloud cover & colours of the sunrise up above in the mosaic. After an evening of great company, good food & fine wine I was a little slow in getting out the door in time to make it down to the wharf for that one. 

We stopped several times on our way down to Tinopai so I could add to my collection of country church photos. And this church was high on my list. 

The Parirau Zion Church is tucked down a lane off the main road. Since these photos were taken there is now a Parirau Church Restoration Committee who are fundraising to restore the church to it's former glory. The Zion Church was the the first permanent Anglican Church to be erected in the Parirau settlement in 1889. It replaced an earlier nikau (native palm) building and became the place of worship for the local Ratana congregation in the 1920s. 

Other churches (and a friendly mule) I captured during our journey down to Tinopai and around to Port Albert are below. Clockwise from top left are; the 1866-67 Matakohe Pioneer Church across the road from the Kauri Museum, St Michael on the Hill (1845) at Hukatere,  All Saints Church (1883) at Mititai, the Paparoa Community Church. And the final one is the Coates Memorial Church at Matakohe, opened in 1950 and the only church in NZ to be dedicated to a NZ politician; Joseph Gordon Coates (1878-1943) was a member of the House of Representatives for 32 years & Prime Minister from 1925-1928.

On our way to our next overnight camp at Port Albert we stopped at The Kauri Museum in Matakohe. 

We enjoyed our visit & had a good look through the many rooms & displays but felt we didn't quite do the visit justice. There were just so many rooms and nooks & crannies to explore with a lot of written information to take in too. It was another very hot summer's day and we were keen to get back on the road and to our next destination in the comfort of our air conditioned ute. This would be a great place to explore on a cold or wet day.

Our next stop was a freedom camping site at the end of the road at Port Albert, another settlement on the edge of the Kaipara Harbour but this time on the south side. We ignored our GPS which kept telling us to turn around and head further south & turn off the main highway at Wellsford. Instead we turned off at Te Hana and wove our way through some dodgy back country roads to Port Albert. 

The freedom camping area is right beside the harbour with another long wharf jutting out into the water.

But no marina this time just a handful of lovely old yachts & fishing boats anchored out in the main channel.

One of the reasons for stopping here was so I didn't have to cook dinner! No seriously I had read great reviews for the fish 'n chip takeaways from the Port Albert General Store, just up the road from the campsite. I can happily report that they were indeed excellent fish 'n chips. I wandered up the road to get them and then we sat outside under the awning eating them in the warm evening air as the sun went down. 

As you can see it was indeed a very hot day, and especially so with no breeze to speak of.

Locals came down to the harbour to fish & swim as the sun sunk below the horizon and temperature dropped a little. 

The next morning dawned clear and still with just a hint of mist rising from the water. It was going to be another hot summer's day.

Winter in the High Country- Part 3

 Continuing on from Part 2    (and Happy Holidays to you all, I hope you've had a magical time)

Sunrise at the cottages next morning was spectacular! Just what I'd hoped for and the reason I'd wanted to return to there from Lake Pukaki and park up in the middle of a freezing cold hoar frost. 

Night Sky Cottages, Twizel, Mackenzie Country

It's not often that a sunrise can be captured during a hoar frost as usually the fog is too low or there's an inversion layer sitting between the sunny blue skies above & the frozen ground below. From experience I've found that a colourful sunrise usually happens on the last day of a hoar frost; the layer of fog has started to dissipate and the sun rays work their way through the thick cloud. 

Looking over the back fence, in the opposite direction to the sunrise, there was a beautiful pink glow over the landscape. A low bank of fog sits over Lake Ruataniwha behind the trees (click on the photo to check) and this is where it usually rolls in from, smothering us & Twizel town in a thick blanket of fog for several days at a time during winter. The fact that I can see this far today is another indicator that the hoar frost will be gone soon.

I head off early hoping that the it won't disappear before I've done my rounds. First stop is just down the road where the air is clear and the frost has coated the poplars & willows on Ben Ohau Station.

Glen Lyon Road, Twizel

Loch Cameron is much clearer than yesterday when all I could see was a ghostly shape of a tree on the edge of the pond. At least half of the surface is frozen which has pushed the NZ Scaups (diving ducks) to the end of the loch. 

Next stop is my favourite lookout above Lake Ruataniwha where there's a stunning winter wonderland on display in front of me.

The fog has retreated although it appears to be hanging around 'my' ponds below Benmore Range.

In the other direction Ben Ohau stands proud at the end of the range overlooking the winter scene below.

Of course the next stop is my favourite view over Lake Ruataniwha's lagoon, although I think my hoar frost photo from the winter before is still the better one.

The Lagoon- 2020

Another stop, another favourite view; the Old Iron Bridge over the old Ohau River pond below Lake Ruataniwha's spillway. I'm thinking up a plan here but...

...it's onto the Ponds to check them out first. This is the main highway, SH8,  just south of the salmon farm and where there's usually plenty of sightseers parked up taking in the amazing spectacle. I think I'm a little too early for them today, often there's black ice on the road north & south of Twizel at this time of the year and people wisely hold off travelling until later in the day.

The fog has lifted but the water is ruffled so there'll be no reflections here today.

There were several photographers (hidden behind trees & behind me in case you're looking) at another popular area of Kellands Pond where the water has also frozen over.

The raupo spikes (bullrush) look like giant popsicles. 

To shoot the highway culvert requires some careful stepping on drowned tussock mounds with icy patches in between. I should have worn my gumboots as I broke through the ice this time, brrrr!

The infamous nor-west arch was forming overhead and the fog had all but gone; once the wind & temperature picks up the frost will start to melt. I need to get moving.

This is another favourite view that I have several photos of during the various seasons; the brown rushes around the large tree over the far side remind be of an Elizabethan ruff.

I hurry on along the track, stopping briefly to take photos of the trees and their beautiful white icicles.

At the far end of the pond where the cold air is still & the water is sheltered from the wind, ice stretches from one side of the pond to the other.

After circling the pond I have one more place to return to before the frost disappeared. The nor'west arch is giving some great colour to the scenery but the still air is starting to move too.

While I was taking photos of the Old Iron Bridge from above, I thought to myself I really should head down to the pond and take some photos down there. But I wanted to get to the ponds first so on the way back I headed down to the bridge. 

And I was so glad I did, it was truly magical...

....and I captured, what I think, are my best photos from the three day hoar frost.

It was also very sheltered down below Lake Ruataniwha's dam wall so I was able to get my reflection photos.

And also one of my new favourite photos; the bridge from a totally different perspective and looking (to me anyway) very much like a Japanese scene. 

This photo also won me a place in the Creative Mackenzie Book & Art Festival photo competition and is now on display in Twizel's town square.

Along with a second hoar frost photo that was chosen too- it may look familiar!

As I headed home along Glen Lyon Road, I stopped across the road from the holiday park to take a last photo of the ice on the pines. The icicles were just starting to slide off the trees in great showers of ice crashing through the branches and knocking more off as it went.  I must take a video of this next time, it's quite magical listening to the noise and watching it fall.....as long as you're not standing right underneath that is! 

Just 2kms further on the frost had long gone; the fog hangs around town a little longer than out in the open. 

And that was that for the year, another spectacular hoar frost done & dusted!