Whangaroa Memorial Hall

The last time I drove through Kaeo, in the far north I made a note to stop and take a photo of the memorial hall on the main street of town. This relatively modern looking building is also where people gather on ANZAC Day every year for dawn services.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Four Squares are everywhere

In just about every New Zealand town there is one of these like this one in Kaeo. Four Squares are like dairies, corner shops, 7/11 stores but they are all under the Foodstuffs umbrella and individually owned privately.  These are like traditional kiwi icons.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Flooded farm scenes

 Some parts of New Zealand flood more than others. Our Spring so far has been very very wet, luckily in our town it's not so flat so water drains quite quickly. However in Kaeo, the next town along on the way north is very flat so sometimes the river can rise so high to the point where farmland gets bogged down like the photos above and the roads will be blocked off. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Waving along

I've spotted another mural in Kaeo, this one on the front of a closed building that looks like it's being used for the local Youth Group. I think the colours and work are probably representing the nearby Whangaroa Harbour. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Foggy crisp mornings

Winter has kicked in here and most mornings when I'm sitting in bed with my coffee and laptop it's about 4 degrees celsius, very crisp if it's sunny outside. Basically the colder it is at night the more likely it is that you'll get a fine day. When I was driving back from Kaeo last week I could see the fog hanging over Totara North near the Whangaroa Harbour. The country has been going through a polar blast the last few days, poor Wellington was put into a state of emergency due to their high waves crashing over the main highway and most of Otago and Ruapehu has had major snowdumps. Because we are in the warmer part of New Zealand the lowest we get to at night is about 2-3 degrees celsius, we just put the electric blanket on the bed last night and that will come off in Spring.

I've had some comments left on my other history blog about people having trouble commenting here so I have changed the settings, hope it works, fingers crossed.

I got talking to one of my many cousins about side effects from the Covid vaccine, apparently the Ministry of Health wants to know what people have after getting it. All I had was a sore arm and a slightly metallic taste in my mouth for 48 hours but do you think I could get through the survey on the website? Nope, every time I re-entered my information and got the last page it kept crashing so think I will try another day - frustrating though. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Big Bad boys

Seeing as I'm now in Kaeo every week with one of my elderly clients being a farmer I thought it funny to share this. 3 rather big bulls standing in the middle of the gravel road staring at me in my car, I didn't dare pass them in case they kicked a dent. It wasn't until they moved slightly and a car behind me drove past them that I made my move. Very passively they looked at me with the expressions of "how dare you disturb us enjoying the sunshine". Normally beasts like this are best left alone.

So I've been meaning to get my first Covid Vaccine for over a month now, frontline and healthcare workers have been among the first to be eligible for it. Yesterday I finally told myself to quit mucking around and got it, I walked straight in instead of having to pre-book. Apparently New Zealand mainly ordered the Pfizer one so apart from a sore arm I'm ok, 2nd dose has been booked for a month's time.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Old Kaeo shack

 Sometimes on my travels into different towns I see farm sheds that are falling apart or dilipated shacks. This one is along a dirt road full of pot holes, I wouldn't say there are alot of houses in this part, more like farms and dwellings people have put together to save money. I suspect the one on the left was a type of garage and the one on the right maybe a small house? Thoughts?

I'm sorry I haven't visited much this week, we were looking in car yards last week for a car I could upgrade mine too and the salesman had a head cold, so we have all been down with it. It was our first day of Winter on the 1st June - we tend to get alot of sunny days and cold nights so expect alot more skies like this over the next 3 months.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Foggy in Kaeo

Every Thursday I drive about 45 minutes out to Kaeo and last week I drove through alot of fog. You can't really see it through the main road where the shops are (above) but it was hanging over the mountains just before the town and on the way out at the end of this street. It's all because our Autumn days have been sunny but the nights are chilly. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Pohui-nui Pa Site

Every time I drive through Kaeo I've wanted to stop and take a photo of this mountain but recently I wrangled my camera to get a shot as we drove past. Pohui-nui Pa site is just on the edge of town and you can see the layers that have been dug down the side of the hillside. 

 This particular pa site use to be fortified belonging to the Ngati Uru Tribe who arrived in Whangaroa around 1770-1775 having been drive out of the Rawhiti area of the Bay of Islands. 

As an example the pa site could've looked something like this - the layers were built into the hill to make it harder for the enemies to climb and easier for the occupatns to see who was coming up.

Linking up with Timeless Thursdays and Skywatch Friday. 

Kaeo past, present and future

 Weird place to find a mural but I did, on the footpath in Kaeo last year. This one, although I can't find any information on it I think may be part of the promote Whangaroa/Kaeo scheme. It symbolizes Kaeo's past, present and future and features a Takahe along with Maori carvings and culture.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kaeo identity murals

On the side of the Kaeo 4 square (for those who don't know what this is, a 4 square is like the local store or dairy where you can buy groceries in small amounts) there is this mural I've had to photograph in 2 pieces because of it's long length. 

 This one was painted by local Whangaroa High School students depicting the town's local history and identity. From ocean life to people through to the Maori culture of the area the mural is 2.4m high and almost 15m long. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kaeo Connectivity

 Is anyone else having problems with Blogger at the moment? It all started with me trying to add a new blog link but for some reason the widget I'm using within the theme won't save or do anything. Until I get it sorted out I've had to remove my blog links and will try putting them up again shortly, so if you don't see your blog in my favourites don't worry I'll still come visit everyone.

Anyway, my contribution for this week's Monday Mural is this illustration I saw in Kaeo just after Winter this year.  Someone has painted these colourful words on the side of a public loo next to the local playground. I haven't managed to find who the artist is but the words are about family connections, whanau (family), coming together and connectivity. It certainly brightens up the small town.

Kia kaha.

Kaeo History

 

Another mural from Kaeo this week, this one is on the wall of the Farm and Fuel shop - I did try to find some background on it but apart from the artist being J. Marsden there was no further information, I'm assuming that it pays tribute to the town's farming history.

So a bit more about the town...at the 2018 census there was a population of 1,191 people so it's a very small settlement.  The town takes its name from the kāeo or New Zealand freshwater mussel, which is found in the nearby rivers. Kaeo is built on the flood plain of the Kaeo River and has experienced destructive flooding. It came to national attention in 2007 when it took the brunt of three major floods within the space of a few months - in February, March and July. Water flooded homes and shops and destroyed the primary school's pool complex. The local rugby clubrooms also suffered, and the club received support from the whole country as it raised funds to lift the clubrooms off the ground to minimise the risk of damage from further flooding.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kaeo Spice Grill Mural

I was out at Kaeo a couple of weeks ago taking photos of some historical places and saw this mural on the side of the Spice Grill Indian Takeaways Restaurant. I've tried finding out who the artist is but all I can make out on the bottom left looks something like "Firka"?!? but it accurately says "we all have our own packets to bear" which I took to mean "burdens".

We were out in the boat today but we weren't too successful in catching anything worthy, the other half caught loads of baby snapper which he threw back and I caught what looked like a 1 metre shark which also got let go. Normally Winter is quiet with not many other boaties out there but today it looked like we weren't the only ones not having much luck.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Kaeo's Memorial Cairn

After driving through Kaeo so many times we decided in the weekend to stop at this apparent historical spot. Overlooking the township is this memorial cairn which commemorates the site of the first mission and was erected by Maori members of the Methodist church under the guidance of Rev. A.J. Steamer.  It is built from water worn gray marble boulders which were transported by barge from an ocean beach (possibly Tauranga Bay), through the harbour and up the Kaeo river to the site.

The cairn itself was dedicated at the centenary celebrations on 8 March 1922 by a Rev Grainger Hargreaves. 2 boulders on it bear inscriptions. The 1 on the left says in English "On this spot the Methodist mission to the natives of NZ was established June 10th 1823 by Rev Samuel Leigh. What God has wrought!". The on the right bears the same but in Maori.

Unfortunately it only has 2 very run down falling apart graves with no tombstones to indicate who lies beneath so we have no way of knowing who they belong to but there is a modern cemetery right across the road lying on the hillside behind.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My corner of the world.

Little old house in Whangaroa

"Absence is a house so vast that inside you will pass through it's walls and hang pictures on the air" - Pablo Neruda.

I have a thing about abandoned houses and sheds. They speak volumes to me about being unloved and unused. I imagine who lived there and what memories they left behind.

I have been reading a book by Barbara Brookes called "Women in History - an essay on European women in NZ". Quite academic about some of the first females to our country to those who are currently living. The early settlers must've had quite a hard time when they came here, struggling on land in farms and houses learning how to become self sufficient through growing their own vegetables and fruits, making their own clothing etc. We are quite blessed these days to the point where practically everything is done for us.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

Autumn in Kaeo

Although it doesn't get too cold up here in the far north we still have a few Autumn colours here and there. At Whangaroa Golf Club there are plenty of trees changing colour and dropping leaves.

These ones on the side of the highway between Kaeo and Whangaroa are shades of yellow, orange and red.

These ones are the same on the other side of the highway, around the corner is the town of Kaeo which has a very small population of approx 495 people. There are shops there, a school, a tavern etc but it's very much a farming rural town.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

The old Kaeo Saddlery Cafe

I've been trying to find some sort of history on this building in Kaeo in the far north of NZ. So far there's very little out there except to say it's now a cafe owned by 2 sisters.  I just thought it looked like a quirky building with an old historical look.

News from us: our move to Northland is coming along nicely. It looks like we all have jobs to go to so far which is positive and takes alot of pressure off.

Our prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who is a member of the labour party has just had her first baby and has named her Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. She is a very popular person with most of our country and has the ability to relate well to others. All Blacks won their rugby game against Franec and we are looking forward to the yearly tri-nations test series.

Please feel free to share what's happening in your world :-)

The Mad Hatter's Cafe in Kaeo

On our travels this week through Northland there was one day we spent with the other half's cousin Ali, she recommended we stop at this cafe in Kaeo (the small blue painted building to the right).  Kaeo is a very small town that quite often floods when they have heavy rain up there but it's a very old settlement and mostly is occupied by farmers or fishing people.

 Named "The Mad Hatter's Cafe" this quirky little place is in Kaeo, in the far north of NZ. I like anything unusual or different to everyone else and they made a great coffee. This is B posing in the chair.

Decorations on the walls show that odd can be good in a person. I would rather be known as weird because normal is boring in my humble opinion.

And I quite agree with this one, it's always time for tea or coffee.