June Excursion Part 2

 

The next stop on Tuesday’s drive was at the Les Batkin Reserve to see the Tuakau Bridge.

This 210-metre long, six-span concrete suspension bridge was opened in 1933.  It replaced an earlier wooden bridge, built in 1902, that had been badly damaged by floods during 1929.

The Waikato River was running fairly high, not flooding but certainly not at a low level either.

Crossing the Tuakau Bridge reminded me of the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty.

A quick stop at the Port Waikato Boat Ramp gave a good view of the 425km long Waikato River as it approaches its mouth and enters the Tasman Sea.

Shops are scarce in Port Waikato, but this country store supplies most basic needs.

Lunch was a picnic-in-the-car at Maraetai Bay Reserve – nothing fancy, just a sandwich and a couple of biscuits with a nice hot cup of thermos tea.

From here, it is possible to walk into the Port Waikato Sand Dunes area.  I went as far as the small stream but decided I didn’t really want to get my feet wet, and so I ventured no further.

We had another frost this morning, but it has been followed by a calm sunny day with a high of around 12 degrees Celsius.

I’ll write about the end of my excursion tomorrow.

Keep smiling 😊

Margaret.

Camera Woes

I escaped the City again today and took along my camera WITH the card in it this time.  But when I came to upload the photos all I could get were blank folders. 

It took son and I about an hour to figure out that my camera actually has TWO cards in it – and guess where all my photos were!

Not only today’s and last week’s photos, but also photos from last year that I hadn’t been able to access.

Lake Kainui, which took me around 30 minutes to drive to, is located within the peat bog area of Horsham Downs.  Unfortunately, water quality is often very poor (partly from the peat), and there are signs up warning people not to touch the water or to allow their dogs to drink it.

I only went for a short walk as I never had gumboots with me.  Apart from a small section, the path around the Lake is a grass walk and with the recent rain was very muddy.

  

I enjoyed watching some of the bird life in the area, but most of them were very wary – possibly because of all the children and dogs that were roaming around (we are in the first week of winter school holidays).

I saw all the usual birds (sparrows, thrush, blackbirds, goldfinches, starlings, pukekos, mynahs and a magpie), but was happy to also see a tui, a couple of fantails, and several kingfishers.

Out on the water there were cormorants and Canada geese.  The lake is closed to the public during duck shooting season, when hunters are allowed to shoot here.

It was a pleasant couple of hours.  I am going to try and do this each week if I can – escape the city and take some time out in nature.

These are some sparrows I saw last week.

Have a great day everyone J

Margaret.

The Aratiatia Rapids

The Aratiatia Dam is known for its spectacular onrush of water, released three plus times every day.  The thousands of litres of water rush down a narrow gorge, creating amazing rapids as the water drops 28 metres within a kilometre.

The water can be released at any time, as well as at the designated times, and so swimming in the pools below the spillway is totally forbidden.  The pools are deceptively beautiful, and sometimes foolish people have ignored all the signs and consequently lost their lives.

The Dam is part of the first hydro-electric power station on the Waikato River after it leaves Lake Taupo.  We were present for the 10am spillway release and watched in awe as the water level rose and began to tumble down the gorge.

The water was released for 15 minutes and there were people watching from all three of the lookout points.  The water was infused with oxygen bubbles from all the turmoil, and these helped create the gorgeous blue and aqua colours to be seen in the waters.

There were several fantails feasting on insects that the water flow disturbed, but I failed to get a good photo of them.

The Rapids (as well as Marlborough’s Pelorus River) were used to film a scene in the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, where dwarfs were rescued by hiding them in barrels which then careened downstream.  The scenes were shot using the barrels and no actors or stuntmen were required to brave the dangerous waters.

When the spillway gates closed again the water level dropped rapidly.  It was an amazing display of the power of water and I would gladly go and watch this spectacle again, although probably from a different lookout.

Enjoy your day J 

Margaret.

LINKED TO My Corner of the World

Karangahake Gorge

Karangahake Gorge, lying at the southern edge of the Coromandel Peninsular, combines history and natural beauty to make a great place to visit.  A range of walking options (all free) are offered here, from short trips through to full-day hikes.

There are several access points along the gorge to the various walkways.  This swing bridge leads from one of the parking areas to join up with the walkway on the other side of the river.

The Gorge is a nationally significant gold heritage site, and once bustled with a maze of bridges, trams, water races and gold mines.  Evidence of these activities can still be found along the various trails.

There are tunnels to explore, often with glow-worms, and old railway workings to wander around.  On certain days a restored section of rail operates rides on a steam train for paying customers.

Smaller streams are often crossed by swing bridges – not my most favourite, especially if they like to “swing” or bounce around a lot!

I prefer my bridges to be more stationary, like this one.

This waterfall is almost at one end of the walkway system, and is the one most easily accessible from the road.

The drive through the Gorge allows many great river views, but unfortunately there are few places to stop safely so photos have to be of the memory-kind.

The Ohinemuri River might be pretty to look at but it can also be very wild.  Most winters it will flood, and occasionally it will rise high enough to force the road to be closed.

One day soon I am going to return to this place and have another wander around.  There is always something different to see.

Take care,

Margaret.

LINKED TO My Corner Of The World 

An Afternoon Drive

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments yesterday J

Today I thought of going for a drive.  Impossible of course at this time, but I thought that today I could go back and relive a drive that my husband and I did on a lovely autumn day in 2009.

We were staying at Hastings at the time, in the Hawkes Bay, and went for a short afternoon drive along part of the Tukituki River.

We saw many trees covered in autumn beauty.  

The road we took first went past Te Mata Peak, part of the Craggy Range.

The river itself was soon reached and we caught glimpses of it as we traveled along.

We saw children out on horseback.

There were sheep grazing beneath trees clothed in splendid colour.

We drove down one side of the river before crossing over it on this bridge.

Finally, we followed the road back home along the other side of the river.

It was lovely to take a short drive in the countryside – and it is lovely again now to revisit that happy time.

Making joyful memories with the ones you love is the best thing you can ever do in this life,

Margaret.

Silica Rapids Walk

On Mt Ruapehu (in the central North Island) there is a 4.7 km round-trip to visit the Silica Rapids.  My daughter and I made this walk in the autumn of 2006.

Some of the track leads through patches of native bush.

This area with its swampy seepage ponds reminded me of some scenes in the Lord Of The Rings movies.

There is a lookout over the silica rapids.  The creamy-coloured deposits in the rapids are caused by aluminosilicate in the water.  The reddish orange on the rocks is caused by iron oxide.

Some of the walk is on hilly terrain (it is a mountain, after all!) and these steps lead down into and over the Tawhainui Stream Gorge.

Another stretch of boardwalk led across more swampy land, before the track joined the road and headed back down to the Chateau where the walk had begun.

Apart from the rain that dogged us, this was a most enjoyable walk.  There is something special about getting up into hills at higher altitudes – must be some of my Scottish Highlander ancestry making itself felt!

There are scattered showers floating around our city today.  So far all we have had at home here is a couple of minutes of very light rain at 10am, but that is better than nothing and I know other places have had more.  I hope some of the drought areas are receiving some of it.

Margaret.


LINKED TO My Corner of the World

Polluting Our Environment

The Firth of Thames is about two hours drive away from us and often plays host to visiting migrant birds as well as several local species of seabird.   When we have warm water temperatures combining with an excess of phosphorus and nitrogen (from agricultural run-off and urban waste water) the end result is algal bloom, which is now being thought responsible for the death of several Red Knot, Godwit and Wrybill birds in this area. 

Godwits at Omokoroa

Years ago we would gather shellfish (tuatua, pipi, Pacific rock oysters) in Tauranga Harbour and along the coastline of the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel Peninsular.  Now nearly every summer these waters suffer algal bloom issues and it is no longer safe to eat the shellfish.  Part of the problem here is the huge growth of Tauranga Port with a constant stream of ships entering and leaving, resulting in a lot more waste being dropped into the surrounding ocean.

Pacific rock oysters, gathered off mudflat mangroves

Nature has a miraculous way of recovering if it is given a chance.  This was demonstrated after the Rena oil disaster off the coast of Papamoa in 2011.  The area was closed to fishermen for several years and many fish species were able to regenerate undisturbed in the vicinity of the wreck.  They thrived, and some species returned after years of absence.  When fishing was allowed again, the area was decimated within three months!  Really, what are we doing to the world we live in?

Oil washing ashore at Papamoa in 2011

At home here in Hamilton, all our drinking water is obtained from the Waikato River.  During the 1980s (so long ago!) I was able to visit a water treatment station and was frankly horrified to see how filthy this water was before it was treated. 

The Waikato River, near Arapuni

I believe the water quality has improved since then, through strict regulation, but it has not returned to the pristine quality it used to have – I spoke with an old Maori gentleman at Huntly (further down the river) many years ago and he told me how they used to swim across the river as children and you could see the bottom of it the whole way across.

Pollution is not new - this photo was taken in 1983

I guess it is a bit idealistic to expect our environment to be free of pollution.  We live in an industrial world after all, and mankind seems bent on destroying his world.  Even outer space is filling up with debris. 

It is all very well to say we should do our bit on a personal basis (and we should) but it is mostly a band-aid on a much deeper global problem that appears to have no easy answer.

Sorry if this is a bit of a dismal post, but these things are having a serious impact on the world we live in.  Happier things tomorrow :)

Margaret.

The Wet West Coast

Thankfully our weather today is a little cooler than it has been lately, helped along by a very pleasant breeze and a few clouds.  We could still do with some rain to ease our water restrictions, but we are not as desperate for it as those further north are (at the top of the North Island).

Heading south, to the bottom of the South Island, conditions have been the exact opposite.  In some places they have received a month's average rainfall in the space of 24 hours, with the end result being floods, washed out roads, and many stranded tourists and trampers.

The West Coast of the South Island is well-known for its high rainfall, but this latest storm has been excessive.  The "Coasters" are a pragmatic people, and I enjoyed this poem that was on display in the Haast Visitors Centre when I visited last year.

RAIN
It rained and rained and rained.
The average fall was well maintained,
And when the tracks were simply bogs
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour
We had a most refreshing shower,
And then, most curious of all,
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day but one was fairly dry,
Save for one deluge from the sky
Which wetted the party to the skin,
And then, at last - the rain set in!
Anon

Following are some photos I took while driving down the West Coast. 

Omoeroa Stream (been raining)

Fox Glacier (threatening to rain)

Knights Point (it is raining)

Haast Visitor Centre (in between rain showers)

Just to show that it didn't rain ALL the time!

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope it is all going well for you.

Margaret.



LINKED TO My Corner of the World