We dropped the kids at school on Monday morning and drove via Taupo where we saw a Dakota aircraft outside MacDonalds, continuing to Tacapuna outside Auckland where we had booked into a holiday park.
Later we had dinner with Roger and Margaret after a walk round the bluff at Devenport. Next day we had a super breakfast at Browns Bay with R&M before continuing North to Whangerei where we stopped for a break and visited the excellent Clapham Clock Museum. We had a personal guided tour and admired the crane like object outside which was in fact a giant sun dial gnomon, see image. Accommodation was at Atlantic Lodge in Paihia, recommended by R&M not far from Russell in the Bay of Islands that we enjoyed so much in Feb.
The next day, Wednesday, we visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the treaty of 1840 was signed with the Mauri leaders, putting in perspective the birth of the nation. We enjoyed this very much and after lunch went to nearby Kawakawa an old mining town famous for its Modern Art public loos designed by Austrian artist, Hundertwasser and restored steam railway which goes up the middle of the high street. Luckily we saw a diesel loco hauling a wagon of fire wood along this street, not a common sight these days! I was invited to wander round the workshops to see the renovation in hand. Gabriel, the steam loco was built in 1927 in Bristol by a company called Peckett, part of an order for 5 locos from Sarawak, later cancelled. We finished the day with a stroll along the sea front at Paihia and a look in the earliest church built in NZ, now shared with the catholics, a very interesting day.
No comments:
Post a Comment