Autumn in Ross

I was out in the little town of Ross last week with B while he was working and this is where we ended up taking photos of the historical buildings and scenery.  Ross is about 20 minutes out of Hokitika and was once one of New Zealand's most profitable gold mining towns in the 19th century. This is the old Bank of New South Wales (named after an Australian state) which the miners would've exchanged their gold for money at.

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Brunner Mine Disaster Memorial

In Greymouth there are many old cemeteries, many are the resting places of those who worked in the mines many years ago. This one in Stillwater, about 30 minutes out of town has a memorial to the Brunner Mine Disaster which occurred in 1896 in which many of the 65 miners from the explosion are buried.  I love the old Victorian railings around it. 

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Bush walk with Bruno

Most of Greymouth and the West Coast is covered in bush. We have been staying in temporary accommodation and at the back of the property is a small bush.

When I'm at work my daughter, R goes and collects pinecones for kindling for the fire and she noticed Mr Bruno tagging along with her.

On my days off I went walking with them and saw numerous toadstools and different kinds of fungi, these ones are Amarita Muscaria and quite poisonous.

And here's the boy himself looking quite proud and smug, He seems to like jumping on old logs and climbing trees.

Of course we had to take one of his play toys for his amusement.

 So many native trees and creeks. We are nearly entering into Winter here so the fire has been used most days.

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Blackball Hilton Hotel

Just out of Greymouth is the tiny town of Blackball where there are houses scattered here and there along the main street including one that has it's front fence covered in conspiracy theory signs but this historic building is the local hotel - the Blackball Hilton is famous for it's dispute with being the place that the Labour Party was formed over a pint of beer. The town had the longest running miner's strike which happened in 1913.  

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Waiouru Army Museum

Another place we stopped at (toilet breaks are good) in the central North Island was the National Army Museum, although we didn't go inside I took some photos of some of the displays on the outside.

Waiouru is a small town that gets extremely cold in the Winter due to it being near the Desert Road and Mount Ruapehu.

The country's army camps are not far from here and they tend to use the vast spacious land along next to the main highway for training.

The purpose of the museum is to teach people not just military history but also the development of New Zealand's Army and how we have contributed to the world.

The museum itself was first opened in 1978 by the Governor General of that time Sir Keith Holyoake.  Over the years it has gone through more developments including storage and gallery space.

Alot of the relics on the outside above are some of the equipment that has been used over the years, these days things are alot more modern to compete with the rest of the world.

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Ohaaki Power Station

One place B was eager to visit while we were in Taupo last year is Ohaaki Power Station just outside of town. It's a geothermal powered and operated by Contact Energy and it is the only one in the country to have a 105m high natural draft cooling tower.

Edited to add: We will be travelling to the South Island this week for our move so I may not be around until maybe Saturday or Sunday so apart from my posts being automatically set I will see you all then.

Linking up with Through my lens, Travel Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday

Dog watching

I couldnt help but take a photo of this very good dog who was waiting with his owner outside a cafe in Russell last time we were out there. I wonder if the dog was people watching?

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Lunch in Russell

Last weekend I accompanied B on his work day which started off in Paihia but ended up in Russell where we had a nice lunch on the waterfront.

This was the cafe we ate it, very tidy and clean with busy staff - it had a view out over the beach and wharf so that was nice to see as we waited for the food.

For drinks I ordered a Mocha Frappe (cos it was a warm Autumn day and I love coffee) and B ordered a cold beer.

For lunch, seeing as I am a huge seafood fan I ordered garlic bread and chilli garlic prawns.

B ordered his usual chips and burder which really was a big meal in itself - he had trouble finishing it. Here it looks like the vaccing mandates and mask wearing are coming to an end simply because covid is so prevalent just about everywhere. Not that that's a bad thing because I personally think we need to somehow get back to some sort of normality although people are still wearing masks inside businesses etc just to be safe. Today my family and I are coming out of a 7 day isolation, as I mentioned a few posts ago my youngest son tested positive but my daughter and I tested negative all of last week, well on Sunday B tested positive and now my daughter and I are too so it's another 7 days of isolation for us.

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Helena Bay Cafe and Art Gallery

Last week B and I were on a mission to visit Helena Bay which is just before Whangarei. On the way back from the beach we stopped at the Helena Bay Art Gallery and Cafe to have some lunch. After scanning in our vaccine passes and ordering some meals we were surprised to see quite a few other groups of people there. This is very positive as so many kiwis are trying to support local businesses. New Zealand's international borders are soon to be opening up  which will bring in so much more tourism, I think it's time to get back to some kind of normal now that covid is out there.

I have a tendency to get car sick and have done since I was little but I find some sort of fizzy drink normally helps to settle my tummy. The road into and out of Helena Bay was extremely winding through alot of tight corners.

I didn't get too many photos as we needed to get back home for an appointment so I managed to get a few shots here and there of some of the sculptures that we did see.

We are gong to try to get back there before we move so we can get some more in depth photos of everything else that was there.

I couldn't help but like this blackboard sign that I saw above the counter - my one cup of morning coffee works wonders for me so I can appreciate the words.

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Dunollie Hotel

In Greymouth is this little vintage Dunollie hotel/pub. When we walked in we had our masks on as it was and still is mandatory to wear a mask when you enter into a business but no one else was wearing theirs and we kind of both got funny looks so we took them off. At the time there were no positive cases on the West Coast, now there is sadly, it's pretty much everywhere. 

This photo above is what one side of the hotel looked like with the pool table and bar area. 

This was the eating side of the hotel - we sat near the windows looking outside to the entrance.

B pretty much always gets fish and chips, a true kiwi staple but I ordered the quintessential shrinp cocktail complete with loads of thousand island dressing.

The history of this hotel is that the building we were in is a rebuild. The original Dunollie Hotel was a 2 storied building which was constructed in January 1905 but was destroyed in a fire on March 9th 1928. An attempt was made to relocate the license to a proposed new hotel in nearby Runanga but it was defeated by an effort by local church groups. The present hotel was built shortly after. 

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Reid's carving

One from Taupo this week. Reid's carving is located on the corner of Tongariro Street and Ferry Road. It was installed in 1961 and carved by Tene Waitere - over the years it has been refurbished every now and again but in 2014 it was repaired to a great standard thanks to the wear and tear along with weather elements that had battered it. As you can see B is standing underneath it posing - I like to put him next to sculptures sometimes just to see him roll his eyes each time I ask.

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To and Fro

Rapahoe Beach, Greymouth

So right now I'm wishing that the concept of moving house was easy. We are due to be living on the West Coast by the middle of April and so far we have been sort of in negotiations with 2 banks. One was my bank who I spoke to last year about a mortgage, I contacted the same loan advisor since the lending rules have recently changed and after him promising twice in one week to contact me about it he failed to follow through both times which I think is rude. The second bank we don't belong to but they are a bit more relaxed about their home loan rules so hopefully this week we will have some positive updates about being able to buy a property down there we can move into straight away.

At the moment we are feeling like pieces of driftwood, like the ones on the beach in my photo, being buffered by the winds and pushed around by the tide. But on a positive note I have secured a job I can go into once we've moved and B is still waiting for his job contract so that's one thing that's out of the way.

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Paihia I-site

 

All around New Zealand we have little wee buildings that are designated as i-sites aka information places for tourists where they have knowledge on local places and businesses etc. This one in Paihia is located right next to the wharf and has a Maori carving (pou) on either side which were created by artist Tupari Te Whata from Tautoro which is south of Kaikohe. 

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Little old houses

There are quite a few little old houses in the far north of New Zealand where I live. These 4 are in and around Awanui and Kaitaia. I always like to imagine their history and memories that they hold inside.

 Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Travel Tuesday, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Napier's art deco sound shell

Napier has alot of really strong art deco architecture mostly because the city was flattened during the massive earthquake they had in 1931. When we were there in April 2021 I took advantage of all of the beautiful buildings by taking loads of photos. This structure is known as the Soundshell which is these days available for organisations to hire as a stage setup and performance area.

It was built in 1935 and designed by Napier architect J.T. Watson. The art deco sound shell was the first to be built in the country and it trumpeted the city's intention not just to rise from the rubble and ashes of the earthquake and fires but to reinvent itself in the process. Information from the city council website.

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Old Hokitika Fire Station

Down one of the main streets in Hokitika is this gem. The Old Hokitika Fire Station has been made into boutique accommodation consisting of 5 apartments. Apparently each of the apartments is named after a fire chief who once lead the brigade which I think is a nice nod to it's history.

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Fishing for Gurnard

While we were in Greymouth recently we stopped at the local marina where we saw quite a few fishermen/and women surfcasting off the rocks. We chatted with a couple who were there from Tauranga - the wife was saying she'd love to move to here whereas the husband said he wouldn't but they did say that the most fish they catch seems to be Gurnard.

We did happen to see a pod of dolphins swimming past at the same time so that was a huge highlight for us. Since then I've also had my booster shot and I'm expecting B and my 3 adult children to get theirs too.

And speaking of the West Coast I have some news. We have decided to move to Greymouth by Winter of this year. B's job has been gradually slowing down up here and he has been offered steady regular work down there, my adult children and I can transfer our jobs from here to there. Our goal is to buy a house as properties are alot less expensive there so we are really excited so that is going to be our forever place where we don't have to move again.

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The Giant Trout

In Taupo on the corner of Ferry Road and Tongariro Street near the boat marina is this giant Trout sculpture. The town is famous for it's freshwater lake in which the fish roam around. The sculpture was erected in 1999 to replace a previous trout sculpture built in 1985 for the Dawn Walker Trout Fishing Competition. 

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Dreams of flight

At my town's local sculpture park this work by Donald Buglass is one of many pieces of artworks. Names "dreams of flight" it's a playful interactive installation by the artist and also represents deeper meanings and various metaphors of mankind's desire for exploration/collection of knowledge. The figurehead represents the Haast Eagle.

Happy New Year for 2021. Our New Year's eve came and went very quietly, no parties, no fireworks and no screaming people. It's like it eased itself in without anyone knowing and I wonder what 2022 will bring? New dreams...new understandings. I don't normally make new year resolutions but I think the following 4 will work for me:

1. Take more photos

2. Read more books

3. Blog more

4. Spend less time on social media because it's a toxic dump

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Travel Tuesday, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Bay of Islands Vintage Railway

Earlier this week we were in Kawakawa where we decided to finally have a ride on the old vintage train at the railway station. 

The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust is a heritage railway. It is the only working railway in New Zealand where the trains travel down a state highway and through the main street in town.

The railway is a volunteer run not for profit charity and the most northern railway in New Zealand. It is now celebrating 150 years of rail in the north island. This station was built in 1911 to replace the first one that was destroyed by fire and is recognized by the Rail Heritage Trust and Far North District Council as being of heritage significance.

This plaque says "To commemorate the centenary of this, the first use of railway transport on any part of the New Zealand Railways North Island System". Erected by The railway enthusiasts society (Inc) and unveiled on 2nd March 1968 by Hon JB Gordon, minister of railways.

We sat in the front carriage just behind the engine and this is our guide Dennis. He travels 5 days a week from his home in Whangarei to Kawakawa just so he can tell people all about the railway and trains. All of the people who work here are volunteers.

The above 3 photos show some of the scenery we drove past and through. 

At one point we had to stop and get off the train so that the main engine could turn around on the tracks and join up to the opposite end so we could go back the way we came.

And this is why. This is the Opua bridge - normally in the old days the train would've travelled across this all the way to Opua with coal and passengers but now the bridge is classed as being unsafe so the railway society has been trying for the last few years to get council approval and funding so that it can be fixed and made safe. The bridge is believed to be the oldest surviving curved rail bridge in the Southern Hemisphere.

The back carriage which then became the front on the way back.

This is the middle cart which connected the front and back carriages which was built in the 1950s.

And back through the main street of Kawakawa to the station again.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Travel Tuesday, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.