The long long walk

So last week I decided to go for a walk over the local Heritage Bypass Bridge and back home again, all in all it should've been at least a 30 minute walk which is good for me. On the other side of the bridge though I spotted a path I hadn't seen before so I decided to see where it led. I couldn't resist taking a photo through the railings of some ducks that were making their way along the river. The photo below is a Kauri cleaning station, we have alot of these around the country to protect our native trees - people basically are suppose to rub the soles of their shoes over the cleaning brushes on the ground and then step onto a water spray that then disinfects.

I thought that the trail I was walking on would take me out somewhere near our local fairy pools as it familiar scenery.

 

As it happened the walk took alot longer than expected and I found out that so many people run/jog along this path for fitness.

 

 After walking for nearly an hour I ended up.....At Rainbow Falls - by this stage my legs felt like they were going to fall off and I ended up calling my youngest son to come out and pick me up, it would've been a long walk back into town.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, Through my lens and My Corner of the World.

15 minutes at Rainbow Falls

I had 15 minutes to spare yesterday in between jobs so I walked down to our local Rainbow Falls for a brief sit next to the waterfall. Also known by it's Maori name of Waianiwaniwa, it has 3 different viewing platforms before leading along a short path to the water.  At 27 metres tall it's made from an erosion of soft rock and sited on a hard basalt layer of rock.

 

Of course I had to take a short video of the waterfall. Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

We have a property!

We heard yesterday that we have finally scored a property so we should be moving by the end of March - it's a big relief and we are looking forward to starting again.  Here's a piece of Kerikeri history...it's what remains of the old hydro-electric station which began to produce power to 17 customers on 11 July 1930 and it is stuck in the middle of the Rainbow Falls river walk.

A Mr George Alderton with a land developer and some of his customers were British civil servants that were wanting to settle in town. Alot of them were use to having a privileged life along with servants and maids etc, the wives were not impressed at having to do the manual work themselves which is why having electricity would be essential.  George set up his company so the settler's wives would be happy and want to buy the land.

He then employed Lloyd Mandeno to investigate the potential of a hydro station on the Kerikeri River. He said that it should supply at least 300 horsepower but because of low seasonal flooding the water should be diverted from the Puketotara River.

At the end of 1929 George Alderton's company began constructing the dam as well as the open water race for water diverted from the 2 rivers and in 1930 the power was turned on.  The surviving machinery of the powerhouse has been restored (above) and placed where it originally was so visitors can walk along the track and see inside.

The glory of Rainbow Falls

This is one spot in the far north of NZ that I miss. Rainbow Falls or Waianiwaniwa as it's named in Maori means means "waters of the rainbow is located on the Kerikeri River. Standing at 27 metres it's a very popular spot for tourists - we first visited here when we were on holiday in 2018 just before we moved there.

Most waterfalls are made when the soft rock erodes but this one is made of hard basalt layer of rock beside softer mudstone. There is a walking track next to the carpark which is about 3.5km long and leads to the Stone Store and Mission House. It also passes through a kiwi zone which means you can't take dogs for obvious reasons.

When I re-visited here last Summer it was with my daughter and it was a scorching hot day. A year later we are living in a completely different town and still pondering where to next. I think I mentioned in another post that we may be moving to the South Island - at this point we are still negotiating the pros and cons but if it goes ahead I think we will be saying goodbye to renting and buying a house there as properties are very very cheap. Moving such a long distance however will take alot of planning I think.

Yesterday however NZ seemed to be chocker-block full of tv commercials advertising Black Friday sales. For one thing it wasn't actually Black Friday for us which usually falls on the 13th of any month but I do wonder whether our retailers were riding on the coat-tails of our American friends. There were lots of sales on and the other half managed to buy on special an air-fryer which from what I understand is a more healthier option and will probably replace a couple of other appliances we have in our cupboards. Did you end up buying anything?