Kawhia

“Sinton Windows”, sculpture by John Radford. Clark’s Lane, Hobsonville, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Homeward bound. Commuters on SH18 at Hobsonville. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Sunset, Clarks’s Lane footbridge, Hobsonville, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie 2018

It’s been a busy month, and not always in a good way. I feel that I’ve ~~wasted~~ spent far too much time on household admin stuff. As the month closes, I’m still waiting on others’ to provide information I need to make decisions and cross these things off my “to-do” list.

One the plus side, there’s only so much book-keeping and financial planning a person can do before they lose the will to live (for me that’s not very much), so there has been plenty of need for distraction. This has mostly taken the form of still-life photography (much of which you’ve seen), trying to improve my embarrassingly basic PhotoShop skills, and spending quality time with my journal and some watercolour paints.

The Big T and I have only managed to escape the city once — for a long weekend in the Waikato. The weather was mostly great and the scenery awesome in that green hills and big blue skies kind of way — especially on the day we went to explore Kawhia, on the west coast.

First glimpse of Kawhai Harbour. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Although it’s only about 60km from the nearest town, Kawhia feels quite remote. The land is mainly farmed or forestry and there is only one other settlement on the way there — Oparau, with its “sells everything you could ever need — at a price” general store and the bike fence.

Oparau — where old bicycles go to die? Image: Su Leslie 2018

I don’t know if it’s a Kiwi thing — do people in other countries adorn fences with collections of found objects? We have the bra fence in Cardrona, Central Otago; several jandal (think flip-flop) fences (Foxton, Kaeo and the Bay of Plenty); a hubcap fence in West Auckland; and apparently more than one bike fence.

I didn’t count the number of bikes cable-tied to the fence in Oparau, but the installation stretched for at least 100 metres.

Kawhia is a tiny settlement nestled inside a large, flat harbour. The tide was out during our visit, so I’ll spare you shots of the muddy estuary — except this one of the Kawhia Museum, because the building is so pretty.

Kawhia Museum, housed in what was once the Council office. Kawhia, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

The ocean beach, a little beyond town, was beautiful and almost deserted. It is a hot water beach, which means you can dig a hole at low tide and soak in the naturally hot spring water that seeps through the sand.

This sounds like a great idea, and unlike the more famous Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel, there weren’t thousands of other people trying to do the same thing. But it IS still winter, and it’s impossible to dig a particularly deep hole, so the prospect of having a warm bums and legs while the rest of us froze just wasn’t that appealing.

Lone surf-caster, Ocean Beach, Kawhia, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Watching the kite. Ocean Beach, Kawhia, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Ocean Beach, Kawhia, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Watching the kite. Ocean Beach, Kawhia, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Our trip home involved a detour to Te Aroha for coffee, and Ngatea for a fairly disappointing lunch. Luckily the local St John’s charity shop was open and turned out to be a treasure trove. The Big T and I both left with goodies — and we now have a loyalty card. I’m not sure quite what that says about us.

Green hills and brown. Farmland adjacent to the Hinuera Quarry, Matamata, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

… and on the other side of the road. Green fields and blue sky. Matamata, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2108

All that remains of the best coffee we had all weekend. Shout out to Villa Nine, Te Aroha. The raw coffee walnut slice was delicious too. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Detail, one of our St John’s purchases, Ngatea, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Enjoying the last of the tulips in my $3 St John’s shop vase. Image: Su Leslie 2018

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.

If you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:

The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):

Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):

Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.

If you do a ping-back to this post, I can update it with links to all of yours.