Kaingaroa Village Unity Project

Back in 2017 the other half took me to the small forestry town of Kaingaroa Village. A very quiet small place with not alot of action, there was plenty of graffiti, vacant lots, broken down vehicles, barking dogs and unused/boarded up shops and buildings.

On the side of this Four Square building (the Kiwi equivalent of a corner shop/dairy/store) was the graffiti. I've done some digging as to who the artist was and all I could find was that it could've been done by Azah Wirangi as part of the Kaingaroa Unity Project back in 2017 so we must've visited the area just after it was completed.

This town was once a thriving forestry area and although there are still plenty of trees around, the forestry company that was once there is no longer and in it's place are abandoned empty buildings and sheds.

In the 1980s the government sought to sell the forests to private buyers but several Maori Iwi went to court to prevent the sale arguing that they were still the traditional owners of the land. After 20 years settlement was reached and the lands were returned but the forests themselves are still owned by Kaingaroa Timberlands Ltd.

Linking up with Mural Monday for this one.

Waikino Station Cafe

One place I was itching to visit since we lived in Tauranga was the old Waikino Station Cafe - located within the Karangahake Gorge Region and just off the main highway. I use to think this was still an actual railway station but it turns out it is now a vintage rail cafe.

Unfortunately because it's Winter here the cafe was closed so the closest I could get was taking a photo from the front over the tracks.

The construction was first started in 1900 and was opened in 1905 for goods and passengers. This would've been quite an isolated area, these days it's in the middle of the countryside within the Karangahake Gorge so it would also probably been used to cart stone and rock from the railway within the Gorge itself.

So here's how it would've first looked in 1905. In 1952 the station stopped operating and in 1961 it was closed. Good to know now though that it's been used for something good.

The old Paeroa R.S.A. building

There are plenty of old buildings in Paeroa, one of which is the old RSA (returned services association) building which was first established in 1919 after wounded soldiers came home after the 1st world war.

Just a short way up are these rows of lemon trees are either side of the pathway leading to the building.

And this is the building from the look of it, maybe back in the 1960s? Not sure who took the photo so I can't give credit.

Winter skies in Paeroa

Night skies in Paeroa - (pronounced pie-rower) with petrol station to the right. 
Winter 2016

So I'm down with the flu...again! Must be the 4th time in the last few months - the joys of working with the public I guess. And after having my annual checkup at the doctor's last week I was pleased to hear that my blood pressure has gone down since last time I was there, I think it's the fact that I've lost weight that's helped but the doctor did say that going through the dreaded menopause (like I have been for the last 2 years) can slow your metabolism down to almost nothing so it explains probably why I'm so tired alot of the time. I think if it wasn't for the daily vitamins and supplements I take I'd be more worse for the wear.

I did get a chance to try some new chocolate bars by Cadbury - they've put out a larger bar of Picnic, a larger bar of Moro and a larger bar of Moro Gold, not sure what I think of them, they seem a bit rich and overly sweet so think I will stick with my favourites. Anyway...4 working days till I finish work - yay!

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Lemon and Paeroa!

On our trip to the far north a few months ago we stopped at this kiwi icon in the little town of Paeroa - probably an hour or so from Tauranga. This kiwi icon is in the center of town and represents the fizzy drink Lemon and Paeroa which means it's made of lemon and carbonated mineral water in this area. It's truly a refreshing drink - I like it on occasion with a dash of whiskey. This is me with my daughter Renee sitting in front of the big bottle.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

The pine man of Tokoroa

Last week we drove just over an hour to Tokoroa to visit one of my best friends from high school. She is renovating her house and the other half offered to fix some of her telephone and tv satellite wires inside.

This small town is the 5th largest town in the Waikato region, and was established around 1917 as a possible farming area but after finding out that the soil was more pumice than anything and was then developed for timber - there is a timber, pulp and paper mill 8kms away.

And here stands the "pine man" of the town - a large sculpture by Peter Dooley that represents the history there of being used mainly for the timber industry.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Wiremu Neera Te Awaitaia

I'm one of those people who have a fascination with old things, houses....cemeteries. I don't see them as morbid or useless...I see them as places full of history and memories.  On our recent trip through Raglan it was a blustery freezing cold Spring day, New Zealand had seen alot of rain that almost seem to keep going and going so this area was flooded in places. This small cemetery and monuments are in honour of Wiremu Neera Te Awataia, who was a Maori chief when the first ever contact was being made with European settlers.

He was born in 1796 into the Waikato Tribe of Ngati Mahanga and was known as a friend of the Pakeha (white people) and a person of great influence in Raglan. His name in the English language means "William Naylor".

Sooo do you ever visit historical areas and what are your favourite places?

btw I'm home from work for the rest of the week, seems the flu has developed into a chest infection leading to Laryngitis. Anti-biotics are now being taken and boredom has set in. Can't wait to get back to real life.

Lake Karapiro Kowhai and Carvings

When you're on a road trip it's nice to pull off the main highway and explore some unfamiliar surroundings. Normally people go camping from Summer through to Autumn, however we spotted these campers who set up their tent and caravan on Lake Karapiro in early September (Spring in NZ).

Although it was a dismal overcast rain on/off again day it was nice to see some colour such as these Maori carvings and a Kowhai tree behind it flowering.

These trees that bloom in bright yellow flowers are native to New Zealand and feed native birds such as Tui, Kaka and Pigeon and Bellbird.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

Karapiro Power Station

This is the Karapiro Power Station just out of Hamilton, the Waikato River has 8 other hydroelectric power stations - this one is the last of them. Construction started in 1940, the building certainly looks vintage, and was completed in 1947.

It's purpose is to maintain the flow of water in the lower part of the river during catchment and low electricity demand. To keep the river flow and a reasonable level only 2 turbines are needed - the third is used for peak generation and maintenance on one of the others. Mercury Energy operates all the hydro electric power stations on the Waikato River.

On this day we visited this place it had been raining on and off all morning, the stormy skies reflected in the background show how temperamental the weather has been.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday :-)

Road trip to Bridal Veil Falls

So Spring here feels like a rewind of Winter. When we left home Sunday morning the skies looked overcast as usual, we've had so much rain here lately but the forecast was that it would clear up by the afternoon.

After a 2 hour drive (at least) we got to this place just out of Raglan...Bridal Veil Falls, and you can see why it's called that right?

We walked through native bush from the carpark for about 10 minutes then got to the upper viewing platform, I was too scared to look over (being scared of heights).

Then walked down to the middle viewing area and finally the bottom viewing area, about roughly 260 steps in all, I'm sure my knees and legs were crying out by the time we got there.

And this was what we saw at the bottom, I think it was worth all the effort, don't you? Oh and the minute we got back in the car it started raining and hailing. Was quite a cold day.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

Owharoa Waterfalls - Waikato

Today...another tiki tour, this time in the opposite direction to Owharoa Waterfalls - about an hour from home. Just off the main highway and before the Karangahake Gorge. Located in between Paeroa and Waihi we found the water was very heavy most likely from all the rain we had last week. I even managed to get a photo of a couple of tourists getting their photos taken in front of the waterfall.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)