Around the mountain

A fine day, with a hazt start, for driving around the mountain.  First stop, the wreck of the SS Gairloch, near Oakura.

It was a short walk from the road to the beach. The wreck is uncovered at low tide.

Next stop - Cape Egmont and lighthouse.

The end of the road- furthest west.

Lunch stop at Hawera -

leaning tower (not really!)

And some murals

We then drove back via Stratford and Inglewood.

 

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.