On the road again

We are wandering again...

After weeks of rain we left Whangarei in sunshine and warm weather. First overnight stop was Cambridge, where we parked at the race course. It’s a pretty spot and there’s a restaurant on site.

The lake at Cambridge

From Cambridge we drove north to the sculpture park at Waitakaruru Arboretum. This was an amazing spot, a large area full of flowers, trees, ponds and, of course, sculpture. From here we wound our way through a tangle of minor roads before arriving at Tirau for lunch. Then it was south to Lake Taupo - where we drove around the shore to the south side of the lake and spent the night at Turangi. Another lovely sunny day with amazing scenery.

At Turangi

From Turangi we drove across the central plateau (the desert road) stopping for coffee and cake on the other side at Taihape. Further south again we had lunch at Foxton, famous for the windmill and Foxton Fizz – pop that’s been made there since 1918. Finally we parked at the waterfront at  Mana. 

View of the snowy mountains from the desert road.

Coffee at Taihape.

The windmill at Foxton...and lunch with Foxton Fizz.

 

Whangarei Quarry Gardens Sculpture Trail

Instead of a photo of Malcolm eating, here's me. :-)

It was my birthday so we had lunch at Quail Cafe with friends then wandered around the gardens looking at the plants and the sculptures on the sculpture trail

 

Sculptureum

We had a day trip and checked out Sculptureum, a sculpture garden near Matakana, which also has art galleries, a vineyard and restaurant. below are just some of the 100+ photos I took.

Malcolm admires a dog in the foyer.

Sculptural elephant outside the restaurant

The first section had sculpture of many different types in garden settings...

In the galleries ere sculptures big and small made from many different materials. These were glass.

The final section was again outside and these sculptures were mainly quirky...

Here I am hanging out with Mark Twain.

 

Wharepuke

Just up the road from the Stone Store we found Wharepuke Subtropical Garden and Sculpture Trail. It's an interesting half hour wander through rare and unusual plantings with sculpture dotted amongst them.

Malcolm wonders if this one could actually fly.