Old house in Whataroa

 

While driving through Whataroa recently I spotted this old house in the middle of a paddock just out of town. If you're travelling throughout the country you're going to see lots of these dotted about the landscapes, abandoned and unloved. Some are being used for sheep shearing, some for old farm sheds and others just empty.

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures, Happy Tuesdays and Wordless Wednesday.

St Lukes Anglican Church

 

This church is a tiny little one down a quiet country road in Whataroa and was dedicated on 10th July 1919. 

These stained glass windows were apparently given to the church by Henry Burrough and his sister in memory of their brother Joseph Burrough who died on active service in France on 22 June 1917.

The inside is well maintained, tiny and looked after. Apparently it's still holding services each week and is under the umbrella of the Christchurch diocese.

I was surprised I could open the door as many country churches are locked. This building was put together from an unused church originally located in Goldsborough

There is no cemetery attached as there is a main one further into town along the main street.

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

Crafts and Curios

 

If there's one thing my daughter and I love checking out are 2nd hand op shops. This one in Whataroa we visited a few months ago did not disappoint.

I didn't have any spare money on me this particular day but if we ever go back, I plan to spend a bit here.

See what you think of some of the treasures...

Painted rocks like this are becoming very popular these days but I'm not clever or patient enough to do something similar.

The owner of the shop who chatted to us briefly.

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

The lonely stag

 

Once in a while we love to venture out on a mini road trip. 3 weeks ago we decided to drive south where we stopped at Whataroa to enjoy lunch and coffee. It's a very very small town and in 2013 the population was estimated to be around 288 people but I wouldn't think it's grown that much since then.

This cafe "The Lonely Stag" is where we got out of the car to stretch our legs. The cafe served beautiful food and they had a part bengal "cafe cat" that let us pat her. 

Speaking of travelling, we dropped my daughter R off at the Hokitika Aiport earlier this week as she is spending 2 weeks in Northland at a friend's wedding. She will be catching up with friends from school and visiting family up there. She also has high anxiety so I was really proud of her for organizing everything and flying up there by herself. 

I also bought 5 packets of Freesia bulbs to plant along the front fence so I'm thinking that by Spring we should have a lovely row of red and white flowers coming up.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

White Heron Tours

 

While we were driving to Franz Josef last week we walked around the main street in the small town of Whataroa. This is a tour group which takes people out to the nearby sanctuary which has White Heron birds, I imagine it would be popular with tourists.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.