Quite a busy day. Missed the evening blog as too tired. Started out visiting our old house on Kapuni St. in Manaia. It seems like a thousand years ago that we lived here. The vet practice has moved and all the houses have been sold. Couldn't believe how much the town had changed and how dim our memory was for day to day details of our lives there.
Had a great day tramping on Mt. Taranaki. Hiked into Dawson Falls and up to Wilkie's Pool's.
Some of the steps, roots and stones were quite slippery from recent rain. It is a particularly magical forest with crooked trees, lots of moss and a magical enchanted like quality. Expected a few 'little people' (leprechauns in Ireland, little people in NZ) to emerge from the woods but didn't see any.
This walk was such a great trigger of memories from the past. We loved going up to the mountain for hikes when we lived here.
Cathy reminded us that she climbed to the top of Taranaki Mt. when we lived here in the 1970's.
We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day and a great view of the mountain.
After we left the mountain we travelled some familiar roads and went back to Hawera where we had arranged to have a tour of a working dairy barn. Brett toured us around the DairyNZ research station as the cows were milked. That was so interesting for all of us. I had great memories of seeing these miking sheds when I worked here before. Nola and Doug had never seen this before and were fascinated.
We had supper in a restaurant in Hawera, headed home and were ready for bed.
March 4
The day started out with a strong wind from the South that sounded like a winter blizzard. We expected to see snow on the ground but went outside and really didn't need a jacket.
We went shopping in Hawera and then to a fabulous museum in Hawera.
It is a world class place, quite unexpected in this location. If you are interested have a look at: http://www.tawhitimuseum.co.nz/
Then we went to a cheese factory in Eltham and bought wonderful cheeses for a very low price. Next we were off to a factory that made Possum/Merino wool hats, gloves, socks, sweaters etc. They were wonderfully soft and could make great gifts to some lucky people. (Don't hold your breath!)
Next we drove the roads that I travelled on calls many years ago and saw great numbers of dairy cows munching grass and making milk. Some of the herds are now over 2000 cows compared to a large herd of 300 years ago.
We visited a couple of beaches and enjoyed walking on the black sand and taking pictures of birds.
We are off to Levin tomorrow to visit with Vicky (a cousin of Trent's father)
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