A trip down memory lane

 

Punakaiki River Valley

 by K John Toomer.

 I was visiting a friend in a rest home when  this painting on the wall in the foyer caught my eye. I thought I recognized the area, it's the Punakaiki River on the West Coast of the South Island, NZ. As a child I spent a lot of summer weekends in this area as my uncle was building a batch on the river and he frequently took a carload of cousins, aunties and uncles out there for the day and, after the batch was completed, for the weekend.

The batch has long been sold now but here is a photo of Aunty, Mum, middle sis and me standing outside it when we visited it a few years ago when sis and I took Mum and  my eldest grand daughter over for a holiday. And this, below, is where we all rushed through the bush to the river to play and swim. No gates, fences or paths in those days though, just tracks we made of our own accord.

We played in the bush and swam in the river and at some stage there was a canoe we took turns in and just generally had a lot of fun. The boys went eeling under the bridge and uncle went whitebaiting. It was a great whitebait river and there were several people there in the season. Uncle, and others, would also go surf casting in the sea but I can't remember that we ever ate any fish. We must have.

Grand daughter just down river from the 'eeling' bridge.

The pancake rocks were just a couple of kilometres further up the road and on occasion everyone would go up for a look and see if the blow holes were blowing. The sea had to be fairly rough for that and an incoming tide but it was a great spectacle. We'd have a great time clambering over the rocks with the mothers shouting at us not to fall in because they weren't jumping in to get us :). 

That was in the days before it became a tourist spot and fences and paths were built. It all seems very tame now when I go back and remember what we got up to and I'd rather remember it the way it was. Maybe we were a bit foolhardy but it was a lot of fun and we survived. We only ever got into trouble the one time some of us went up by ourselves and didn't tell anyone until we got home to the batch.

One of the paths around the blowholes and pancake rocks.

Although I do remember the boys taking a couple of kitchen knives and going AWOL into the bush for the day. Pig hunting they said when they got back. Needless to say they never saw a pig, which was probably just as well and they got a sound telling off when they arrived back. I think they were probably about 10 or 11.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane, I have.

The photos are all more recent  but still give an idea of how things were.

**************

My prayers and thoughts are with the people in the Marlborough, Nelson, Tasman area.

Keep well and keep dry.

Diana

Punakaiki

On the Sunday of our reunion we decided to head up to Punakaiki and the blowholes after we had finished our lunch. All the planned stuff was finished and now it was time to relax and do some sightseeing. It was a lovely day, maybe a bit chilly but for Easter on the Coast it was magnificent - the weather really put on a good performance for us. Some of the family went out to the Pike River Mine to have a look at the memorial to the miners who lost their lives in the 2010 explosion and others joined us for an excursion up the coast road. We drove along beside the Tasman Sea.

I have put a lot of pictures up so I hope you don't get too bored, I'm going to mostly let them speak for themselves with maybe the occasional interruption from me :)

looking south and... 

...north on the Coast Road.

At Punakaiki.

The Pancake rocks.

Shags.

All of the blowholes were really blowing well, 

these two pics are of the Chimney Pot 

(that's it at the bottom of the picture just off centre)...

...and although it might not look it we could

 have done with umbrellas here :)

That is nikau palm forest just behind and on

 the hill at the back is ancient beech forest.

Some family and people shots.

DIL trying to replicate the Maori weaving below.

Nikau Palms.

Refreshments before we headed to our daughters holiday

 accommodation for a pizza tea by the beach with just 

our branch of the family...

...where we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Tasman Sea.

When I was growing up Punakaiki was not "discovered" and my uncle and aunty had a bach (crib, holiday house) on the river here. We spent wonderful summer weekends here with our cousins, in and on the river, at the beach and running around the pancake rocks. It is quite interesting to see how it has been developed and made safe for tourists where we just used to run free but that is progress and it is a great natural asset for the area.

I hope you enjoyed looking at where 

a little piece of my heart still resides.

joining Debbie today for: 
Friday Foto Friends 

Diana

West Coast reminiscing...

I have had a wonderful holiday, only a week but a great week. Went to the Coast and revisited the old haunts, caught up with all the rellies who still live there and had a lot of fun. Sis, Mum and the GKB came as well, it was a time of reminiscing and laughter. Even the Christchurch cuzzy was there on holiday so it really worked out well.

Needless to say not a lot of planned exercise came into it but we did walk the streets where we used to live and try to work out where things used to be in the 'good old days'. Sis met a girl she used to play with when she was a pre-schooler so they had a bit of a catch up and have become friends again.

We also went for a drive up the coast road to the blow holes, which were not working as the sea was not rough enough. That was a bit of a pity because the GKB had never been there and it would have been marvellous if the old chimney pot was blowing. But it did rain for us and drove us into the cafe for cappuccino's, hot tea and wonderful home made afghans. Made fresh on the premises each day - yummy!

Sad to say that I have not been for a walk since getting back and have only been on the bike once or twice since getting back home. I will have to really get back into that as the silly season is upon us and I have already been to one wind up for the year that was celebrated with heaps of decadent food. Very Yummy. And I have another one to go to next Sunday night, shock horror, I have to prepare some finger food to take.

So life goes on, and I am back at work, week 3 coming up, it seems like only last week we were all having a good time together, but sis is back in the land of Oz, we are back at work and Christmas is just around the corner. I already have my first Christmas card, now that is a bit scary, but we also have to get the overseas parcels away tomorrow if they are to get places in time without them costing a small fortune. And write and send the Christmas cards -all good fun, I love Christmas and all the fuss and stuff that goes with it. Bring it on, it can't come soon enough...