Coming Up Close

This was another one of those places I got the other half to stop the car outside so I could take a better look. There was something about the field full of flowers in front of it with the Rangitahi Marae behind them that caught my attention. Rangitahi Marae is located in Maraeroa on the Western Side of Horeke Road in the upper part of the Hokianga Harbour. It's main hapu are Te Ngahengahe, Ngati Toro and Te Popoto of the Ngapuhi confederation. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

Last night after some particularly heavy rain squalls I attempted to get outside and while lying our our deck set up my camera to experiment trying to get some shots of the moon. Early on I got this one and then tried to do better. It seems that was my only good one as shortly after that the clouds came back again and the moon seemed to highlight the colours around it. Linking up with Our World Tuesday .

When I was a child I suffered terribly from car sickness. My parents use to have to frequently stop on the side of the road during any of our family travels. There was one place in particular that I remember which was a pig farm in Te Hana - I still remember the sign some 30 years later and even now the place is still there. Up until now I thought I'd grown out of it....not so. After we drove around some of the gravel dirt country roads here we ended up going through some very winding roads for at least an hour and a half. My tummy was not impressed so when we arrived in Kohukohu we stopped so I could buy ginger beer at the local dairy which worked a treat. Ginger is suppose to be a natural remedy for sickness apparently - I ended up sitting in the sun on a park bench breathing in some fresh air and ended up being as right as rain. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

While driving along some backroads we stopped in this little place. Horeke is in the Hokianga Harbour and boasts a few houses, some old buildings and a hotel/pub . According to the hotel website it was the 2nd town ever established in NZ and is the home of the first commercial ship building yard in NZ dating back to 1826. The hotel is the oldest surviving pub in the country and the oldest part dates to 1833. There is a wharf/jetty at the back of the building leading to the water which looks a bit dilapidated but it probably still serves a purpose.

Horeke Road in the Hokianga District runs for about 35 minutes with most of it being a dirt gravel road. Much of New Zealand's small towns are linked by this and along the way once again I asked the other half to stop when this baby caught my eye. For some reason I can't find any information whatsoever about it except that it's named Maraeroa Historical Church  and is on 1737 Horeke Road. There is only one grave there belonging to a Private Hone Matiu who served in the 1st World War and died in 1919. Now sometimes we've found that with old churches the door is either locked or unlocked - this one was the latter. He's not into old buildings as much as I am so I carefully walked inside and what I saw was a very sparse but well looked after interior - looks quite humble doesn't it? From the retro pattered carpet mat down the center of the aisle to the table covered with a cloth and fresh flowers to the weaving hanging on the walls. Under the table to

What a gorgeous Spring day it's turned out to be - quite scorching!  Today our town is hosting a half marathon so I thought I'd take a walk to check it out. The run has been organized to raise funds for the Cancer Society - always a worthy cause. For wheelchair/race users it started at 7.25 am, for runners they started at 7.30 am, for walkers their start was 7.50 am. There were alot of people running down the road so I'd say these were probably the first participants. The race started out at Okaihau on State Highway 1 and ended at the Kerikeri Domain. There were people cheering the runners on but you see the house/building behind them? They sell clothing/bric a brac etc but they also provide refrigerators out the front full of free fruit and veges for people to take if they need to. I think every town should have something like this. This is the last part of the run - in the background you can see parked cars and tents set up at the domain. I can hea

A month or so ago we visited Waitangi, in Paihia as the area has been upgraded to included a museum named Te Kongahu . Unfortunately for me I left my camera in the car and had to make do with my cellphone camera, so these photos are not the best quality. This building in these photos is the meeting house  which was built in 1940 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the treaty representing all tribes of NZ. The Treaty of Waitangi was made between Maori Chiefs and the British Crown on 6th February 1840 and every years we remember this day as a public holiday. One thing I noticed inside the museum was one of the plaques on the wall said that the treaty was our country's first human right's document. So true, as the Maori Chiefs were not given representation or a language interpreter so therefore they had no idea of what they were signing. I found the whole experience very humbling and a huge learning experience.

On our last visit out to Opito Bay, we were walking along the beach next to the only road in and out of there and saw this sight peeking over once of the fences. At first I though that maybe they were watching us because don't get many people out there but it took us a minute to realize that these are actually painted heads to give people that feeling they were being watched. Quite funny really!

There is a car ferry which runs from Rawene to Kohukohu every hour each day but passengers can also get rides on it too. We were one of about 10 cars waiting to get on and once on we had to stay in our car after paying. This was the view of the coastline that I took with my camera from my side, in the distance (you can't see it) there is an old church with a very tall steeple that we will come back and visit at some point. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

New Zealand is full of wonderfully creative Maori carvings. These ones are located in Paihia , next to the Te Teriti O Waitangi house. They are also known as Pou or Pouwhenua - Pou meaning "pillar" and Whenua meaning "land", painted red and black they certainly stand out.

On the side wall of the Rawene 4 square (kind of like a corner shop or small store) is this mural painted in memory of the historic Dog Tax War of 1898 . Apparently the annual tax was introduced because many people, especially Maori around the area owned dogs for hunting and they thought it was a type of discrimination against them. In the 1890s a dog tax was introduced of 2 shillings and sixpence. The Maori people from Kaikohe West through to the harbour were opposed to it including Waima's Hone Toia not only because many used their animals for hunting but because the tax represented the erosion of their chieftainship. Toia said "first they're going to tax dogs, then they're going to tax people". The stand off occurred when an armed Toia with fewer than 20 men marched to Rawene. Although no blood was shed, the government sent a 120 strong force to the town where he was arrested and served time in old Mount Eden prison. Unfortunately I've been unable t

Last Sunday on our travels around the area this church caught my eye from the main highway and we turned into the driveway to check it out. Omanaia Historical Church was apparently founded in 1884 and is the second oldest standing church building in the Hokianga district. There was a heaviness in the air but we couldn't believe it when I tried the front door and it was unlocked. This is the interior - looks like someone has really looked after this property as other churches we've explored are in nowhere near as good condition.

Happy Halloween for those of you who are in the Northern Hemisphere. For us Southerners we had our day yesterday. Most of the people at my work dressed up in different ways. Luckily I had a nurses costume I purchased a few years ago, all I did was splatter it with red food colouring and put some makeup on. This is me with one of the girls from another department - she dressed up as a witch. This is me with a good friend at work, she also was a witch. Good day - we had lots of compliments from customers and it was good to see so many people get into it. Enjoy your day :-)