A farewell favourite

Rātana Church, Raetihi, North Island, NZ. Seen from the road en-route to Whanganui and worth the slight detour. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014

My dad is ill and I’m off to Whanganui to visit him tomorrow.

My journey will take me past this beautiful church in Raetihi. It’s a journey I make regularly, but I’ve only once managed to stop and photograph it.

Its slightly unusual design is characteristic of churches built for worshipers of the Rātana faith. The Rātana church was founded in 1925 by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, a Maori spiritual leader who also campaigned for social justice and racial equality.

The church, and the movement it forged, continue to play important political, social role and religious roles in New Zealand life. Annual celebrations of Rātana’s birth attract thousands of people (including the country’s politicians) to his home marae at Rātana Pā, just outside Whanganui.

I posted this photo originally to the Daily Post Photo Challenge |On the Way, on 31 May 2015. It seems fitting to post it again for this final challenge | favourites.

Enjoying New Zealand’s small-town architecture

The old county council offices in Raetihi. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014. Shot with Iphone4, edited with Pixlr Express.

My road trip through the central North Island as taken me to lots of small rural towns. Many are struggling through the loss of traditional industries and our nation’s social and political inability – or unwillingness – to address massively unbalanced economic and population growth which is seeing Auckland’s formerly productive farms and orchards turned into housing estates while smaller towns, and even provincial cities, languish.

Regent cinema, Taumarunui. Still showing movies – although I suspect perhaps not continuously since it opened. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014. Shot with Iphone4, edited with Pixlr Express.

Drew St, Wanganui.  Photo: Su Leslie, 2014. Shot with Iphone4, edited with Pixlr Express.

In Wanganui – like many towns – many old buildings in which generations of New Zealanders have lived, worked and transacted business now lie empty. Yet I’m beginning to love this provincial city where my father has made his home. It has a thriving arts and cafe scene and hasn’t been overrun by chain stores and Two Dollar shops.

I would have loved to spend more time photographing these beautiful old buildings. Sadly I didn’t have time on this trip and I would also like to capture them without parked cars, road cones and Council trucks blocking my shots!

This post was written in response to Sally’s Phoneography and non-SLR digital photography challenge.

Splash of red on an eternal blue sky

The Ratana Church, Raetihi, New Zealand. Photo: Su Leslie, 2014.

I’m not religious – nor even particularly spiritual. If asked I’d probably describe myself as a Presbyterian aethiest with catholic tendencies. I like the socialism of christianity — and I absolutely love old churches.

I encountered this Ratana church in the North Island town of Raetihi on a still, perfect morning. The Ratana Church is unique to New Zealand (although there is a branch in Australia).  It was founded  in the early twentieth century by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, a Maori prophet who had a vision instructing him to unite the Maori people in a single Christian church.

This particular church — perhaps because of its hilltop location — is an almost iconic example of Ratana architecture (sort of Romanesque revival), and has been extensively photographed so I felt as though I already knew it. I was on my way to see my dad, not quite sure where I was going and a bit pushed for time. Normally, I’d drive on by and “promise” myself that one day I’d come back and take a photograph, knowing that actually, I probably never would.

I’m not sure why that day was different; why I turned around and made a detour. The church gates were closed and it was difficult to find a good photographic vantage point on the side of a busy road, but I was happy with this shot. I don’t mind that my image is only one of thousands; it’s mine and it will always remind me of a good day; a day of stillness and joy and some reconciliation. A day of eternal blue sky.