Northland- east coast

I spent a lot more time on the eastern side of Northland- but am running out of time for blogging with a return to work looming- so you might just get a few highlights!

First up is the amazing bridge at Taipa. I parked and walked back to look at it properly and was so glad I did. On one 'prow' is a shag and on the other is a whale diving. There was a plaque dedicated to Sire Heke-nuku-mai-nga-iwi Puhipi, who was a master waka builder and celestial navigator, and who had been involved with the building of many bridges in Northland.

I stopped at several beautiful bays on the way south- then stopped for longer at Kerikeri, where I was a teacher many years back in just my second year of teaching. There have been many changes since then. It was nice to enjoy some rare sunshine this day!

 There used to be a bridge here but there was some serious flooding, and now there is a majorly changed route.

 The Stone House stands here still. You could enter now as it is a shop- when I was living in the area it was closed all the time.

 I was disappointed to find I couldn't enter Kemp House though. I bought a Heritage NZ membership this year, but so far have only managed to use it once in Russell- many places are either closed or only open on Sundays.

 St James church in Kerikeri.

 There was lots to see wandering in Russell. I did a guided tour of Pompallier House that was incredibly informative about how the Catholic missionary station printed material in Maori. I also noticed some prominent graves in the Russell cemetery.

 There was more light shed on this one to a Ngapuhi chief when I visited Ruapekapeka Pa a few days later. He was fighting with the British against other members of Ngapuhi in the last of the northern wars.

 There was a lot to take in at Waitangi. There is a new museum to members of the Maori Battalion. I found it extremely moving, and actually left in tears. One day I hope to go back and view it more.

The government is clearly making good on its promises that we should all be able to learn more about the New Zealand Wars. The Ruapekapeka Pa site has had a lot of work done with infrastructure near it like paths and parking. Again it was a very moving, and somewhat sombre, place to visit.

Last photo in this blog post is of Whangarei Falls. Great track to walk around to see it from various angles and heights.

Storms were promising as I drove south finally to spend some time with my niece. One day I will return when it is all perhaps slightly warmer and drier!
This blog post is really just skimming the surface, but work is calling!

Man-made walking sights

Today I headed out on the Turitea Walkway again- this time 'backwards' from the Old West Rd carpark, then uphill through the Massey campus back to my car. On the way I took a few photos of things that were 'man-made'...

This decaying old fence-post always seems to catch my eye.

 I realised that I seldom see the 'beauty' in power pylons- but with sunshine and blue skies behind it, this small pylon also caught my eye today.

 I always enjoy noticing how shadows fall, and how they change through the day. I loved the way the shadow from these fence posts enlivened the path this morning!

 Then there was this woman-made shadow as I crossed one of the pedestrian bridges over the Turitea Stream. It reminded me of some of the obligatory 'shadow photos' I took on the Camino in 2008!

 It's very pleasant walking up through the Massey campus. You can make a toilet stop or sit or have a snack-break on a seat. There are not many students back for the year yet so it is almost too peaceful on the concourse.

There are lots of buildings to walk past of course, some a bit ugly. But even this ugly one surprised me with the wonderful reflection in its windows!

Manawatu Gorge

Now that I am 'seriously' into the countdown, I expect to walk the Manawatu Gorge track at least once a week until 'departure'. It's the 'best' (ie steepest, hilliest, longest) track near to home. By NZ track standards it's actually not all that steep, and the track has been graveled so it's easier walking, but it was perfect training for the kind of hills/tracks I walked on last time in France.

When I walked the Camino I used to carry little pieces of paper in my shorts pocket, with quotes on, that I'd read and think about during the day. Today I took a couple of short quotes. and one was: "We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake." ~Sir Francis Bacon. So I was pretty 'switched on' to noticing little things around me, and enjoying them, being aware of their passing beauty. There were raindrops on leaves, fungi of various kinds, sunlight on ferns...

 Then when I reached my 'endpoint' for the day at the "Windy Point" lookout, it was the big view that took my breath away. At this point you can look back along the Gorge, or look over to Woodville and the landscape beyond. Today the weather was in the process of 'changing', with real drama in the clouds above.

 I retraced my steps back to the newish lookout over the wind turbines, and had lunch at the picnic table. The turbines were really humming in the wind. The 'front' was really obvious, stacked up from the eastern side, with little clouds lower down scudding over from the west.

 Not so many people have been on the track since the Gorge road has been closed- and there's a patch where ongaonga (native stinging nettle) is growing well. It is every bit as vicious as it looks, but fortunately I never banged into it today!

 I was a bit surprised to see this bridge. Maybe I have daydreamed my way across it before- but I couldn't find an old track- so perhaps it just looked different with new planks on it...

 Some of the little fungi were quite well 'camouflaged'.

One really nice surprise today was to see these nikau palms flowering. There's quite a big patch of nikau, but I've seldom seen them flowering. I know they are doing quite a bit of 'pest control' on the track, so maybe these flowers are a sign that possum numbers are being reduced.

Kahuterawa Rd- springtime

 I have begun 'training' for a couple of Chemins in France next year... and today took a 20km walk up my old training haunt- Kahuterawa Rd. I had walked the first 4km last weekend, so mostly walked swiftly up this part of the route, without taking photo breaks- but I couldn't possibly pass by without taking a photo of this handsome rooster. His crowing was apparent from well down the road.

Once you pass beyond the Green's Rd intersection, things become more isolated and 'wild' looking, and the river keeps you company as you walk.

It was calm when I started out, and so I was able to take a photo of some young pine cones: the past two weekends it has been too windy and they were moving too quickly for a close-up...

This shot is taken from the bridge at the top end of Kahuterawa Rd, where the Sledge Track starts, and where this bridge leads to Burton's Track. It marked about 10km of walking, and I had a 10km return trip ahead of me. I sat at the picnic tables and had 'lunch' at about 10am (!) then rewarded myself with a chocolate treat, before heading back down the road.

Drizzle started as I left, and a kind elderly man stopped to offer me a lift. I think I know who he was- a man who has done a lot of volunteer work to open up the tracks in this area for people's recreation. But I didn't want a lift- I am likely to encounter far heavier springtime rain on the route from Cluny next year, and I was 'training'. The man understood. I love the sense of 'mystery' in the hills when their tops are draped in cloud like this.

 I was excited to see some clematis growing against a rocky outcrop on the roadside where I could get a close view of it. (Mostly it is higher up in the trees.) I was reminded of all the spring flowers I saw in 2008 when I walked south from Le-Puy-en-Velay. Somehow, the northern spring seems not at all far away.

 This is a view approaching the Green's Rd intersection from the uphill end of Kahuterawa Rd: it's not so often I reach it from this direction, and the gnarly old macrocarpa stand out from here.

 One of the things I loved last time when I walked along this road many times to 'train' was that I saw the changing of the seasons- from spring to summer to the beginnings of autumn (when I left NZ to go and walk in the French spring...) My heart already is singing with the thought of the changes I will see in the countryside, and I was glad to see so very many obvious signs of spring. There were only glimpses of sunshine this morning, but the light brought these tiny little leaflets to life.

And the lambs- they always announce 'spring'!

a Square evening

This evening I took a short walk in the Square just after sunset, as dark was closing in, 

and the light from the Clocktower was just becoming visible.

 The lights from the tower reflected in the duck pond

and the moon was visible in the sky...

  

I have seen a few young people post photos of themselves and friends on Facebook

posing around the clocktower base

but I never realised it was quite a family affair as well. 

As it got darker, more lighting came on in the Square

 

and the bridge over the duckpond drew my eye, all lit up...

 

...lights from this nearby cafe reflected on the pond...

I must go back another night.... and maybe even an old fuddy duddy like me can pose with friends in front of the clocktower base on my birthday!!

Backcountry Taihape

Yesterday I took off on a roadtrip day. I had never been on the "Gentle Annie" road from Taihape across to Hawke's Bay and wanted to try it.

My first visit was an early one to a friend who lives near Hunterville with a baby: she was certain to be up already! Next I took a wander down the main street of Taihape, full of interesting old buildings and wonderfully local, non-mall-ified shops. Then I swung into the local Tourist Office to check out some details about the route ahead. They were really very helpful- thanks guys!

I left town on the route for Napier- wee bit scary in the first few kilometres, as there were places where the road seemed to be ready to slip away down to the river! Soon I took the turn-off for 'River Valley', as the Tourist Office had directed, so I could swing by Pukeokahu School, where I know the principal.

This is a little rural school about half an hour's drive east of Taihape. They were in town for swimming sports, so the place was eerily quiet! But what an amazing view they have across the hill country.

It was leaving Pukeokahu that my plans took an unintended longer turn. The Tourist Office people had carefully highlighted the route on the map for me, showing a slight retracing of steps back onto the road for Moawhango, the quickest way to the "Gentle Annie" route, mostly sealed now. But I never re-checked my map, and was 'fooled' by this sign near the school, into thinking that I was already on the quickest route to Napier...

And thus the day's adventures really began- as I headed out onto unsealed roads for many more kilometres than I had intended, past some really isolated farm stations... And I was really glad now to have the map they had given me at the Tourist Office. Even though I had got more than a tiny bit 'lost' off my originally intended route, at least I was able to work out where I sort of was out in the wopwops- and I could tell I would eventually rejoin the Gentle Annie route further east.

This is a bridge crossing the Rangitikei River. It is always surprising when you discover how far back-country some of these rivers arise, far from where they reach the sea.  (The road was sealed over the bridge- which gives a misleading view really- as I had travelled for many kilometres on an unsealed road to get here!)

The road name changes here, which my GPS had no knowledge of. In fact my GPS kept trying to direct me to Hawkes Bay via a V-shaped route back home via the Manawatu region.... I managed to totally confuse the poor GPS, until I was back on the Gentle Annie route itself, when it finally let me head for Hastings without telling me to 'turn around when possible'.

I had travelled so far at this point, that I almost expected the river to be heading east, but it was clearly flowing westward. This view is looking back into the hill country upstream. You can see a support from a former bridge still in the river bed.

And still my back-country route continued. I came to what almost looked like a farm entry, across a cattle stop, and I was a bit concerned I had somehow missed my road connection for the Gentle Annie route.

But all was in fact well, and soon enough I was passing through Otupae Station, on a road that I imagine gets very little use by anyone other than shepherds...

Just a few  kilometres past the station, I finally emerged onto the main Taihape-Napier road, and could even see a glimpse of Mt Ruapehu in the distance.

I felt like my adventure was 'over' once I regained the main route, but interesting surprises still remained. I could see the 'remnants' of the Ruahine Range to the south.

And very soon I was passing through the southern end of the Kaweka Range, which was very rugged, full of that moody atmosphere that only such country can have.

Finally, and quite suddenly, I emerged onto the 'other side', into the more gently rolling back-country hills of Hawkes Bay... my adventure over for the day... But I will be back- as there is still a section of the Gentle Annie route I haven't been over!