Sunday, October 31, 2010

Porangahau

Today I took a wee post-exam 'tiki tour' over Tararua way, exploring a few places I had never been before- like Porangahau, Herbertville and Pongaroa. I have a few(!) photos I'd like to share: I'll split them into five posts, that will appear in 'chronological order'. Hope you enjoy the tiki tour!

I travelled all the way north to Waipukurau first, before heading off the main road to drive south-east on Route 52. I was quite surprised to see how much wetland was in the area, and I guess I was seeing it at its wettest after all the spring rains we had.

I arrived at Porangahau and chose to see the beach first, a few kilometres past the village. The weather couldn't quite decide on its mood, and the easterly winds had whipped the sea up, making the northern hills look very misty in the distance.

 Fortunately the drizzle decided to finish its playtime, and the sun came out, bringing out all the colours in the southern headland.

 After some dawdling along the beach, I drove back to the village, and decided to have a look at the pioneer church, St Michael and All Angel's Anglican Church, built in 1880.


And in a far corner of the church cemetery was this very rural memorial to soldiers in WW2.

11 comments:

  1. Hardly looks like the same beach.

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  2. Amazing what a difference the sunshine makes. The drizzle was coming and going very quickly this morning.

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  3. Love your photos, it's a beautiful spot :)

    Think you might like Timespanner blog ;)

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  4. I like the dramatic mood shift between the first two photos! Old churches and houses are interesting too

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  5. Simon, the first sea photo was taken at 8.51am, and the second at 8.54am!!! Things can change fast around here- though to be fair, for one photo I was looking towards the northern hills, and for the second one towards the southern headland.

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  6. yes it reminds me of Melbourne. its similar

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  7. Yep, four seasons in a day Melbourne. Been there, done that, forgot to take my sweatshirt out and froze!

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  8. Kia ora,
    Porangahau is a lovely place. We have had a family holiday there a few times both renting a place and camping. Great place for an evening walk on the beach, and the pub down the road has fantastic fish and chips, and cold beer!
    Cheers,
    Robb

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  9. Robb, I have to say taking a tent there is on my list of summer things to do now!

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  10. Great pictures Kiwi. Are they on the east side? The names seem familiar...

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  11. Yes, I drove through the Gorge then north to Waipukurau on the normal road to Napier. But then I turned south-east on a more regional route down to the Coast. I think I might explore there a bit more slowly over summer.

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