Kiripaka

Malcolm and I went with Dave and landowner, Bruce to search for the remains of coal mining era tramways, hopper sites, cuttings, mine entrances...

We spent a couple of hours travelling through gorse (alive and dead), cutty grass, over fallen pine trees, etc. On the way back we made our way through reeds that were 4-5 feet tall and hard to push through (though less prickly).

You might have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see me in this photo :-)

 

Dargaville

We spent some time at the Dargaville Museum. Motorhomes can park overnight and it would be a good spot to see the town lit up at night (though you'd miss happy hour at the NZMCA Park down by the river!)

This is the overnight parking area.

I am always awed by this ancient carved post that was found in the sands of the Pouto Peninsula. It would have been very tall (this photo only shows the top part).

 

The Pouto Peninsula

The next day we drove south down the Pouto Peninsula, first stop Te Kopuru, which has some pretty buildings and interesting sights.

This garden is full of flotsom and jetsom, some of it made into quirky sculpture.

Next stop was kellys Bay, where we stopped for coffee... 

Then it was on to Poutu Point, where we camped here. The hall which has a kitchen, toilets etc was NZ's first custom house.

We walked along the beach for a while and came across this shipwreck in the sand. There are well over 100 known shipwrecks on this bit of coast.

Later we just relaxed and enjoyed the view.

 

Kai Iwi Lakes

 

Finally we got a couple of good warm, sunny days so we loaded 

 up the bus and headed off for Kai Iwi Lakes - they are on the west coast, about an hour and a half from here.

We parked overlooking the biggest lake and then walked around it....

A nice, two hour stroll.

Then we drove into Dargaville and parked at the NZMCA Park. In the late afternoon we strolled around town...

Statue commemorating the gum diggers, mainly from Dalmatia (Croatia)

The park is at an old boatyard, complete with historic boatsheds...

where we spent happy hour (or two) with the other motorhomers, followed by this sunset.