002 Wind Gusts, Sand, and Bone China

 

January 24, 2021

We're moving on from Collingwood tomorrow. Really enjoyed our stay here despite the wind gusts making me laugh out loud while walking across to the loos, and trying to get in our side door without being decapitated. Got the washing dry in an hour though once I had fought to get it on the line. Getting it off the madly revolving line was hilarious.

Yesterday we drove out to the Langford Store at Bainham not far from the start of the Heaphy Track. The woman who runs it is the fifth generation in her family to do so. The store is filled in every nook and cranny with nostalgic bits and bobs from times gone by. I particularly appreciated the lovely bone china our food came on and the myriad sets of cups, saucers and plates for sale along with old afternoon tea cloths and the like. I bought another hat cos you can never have too many.

Five kilometres down the road is the historic Salisbury Bridge or should I say, was. It was swept away in 2010 in a flood and only the bank uprights are left. On this spot, I also discovered that Annettes are not competent stile climbers and need a bum lift to get over lol!

Today Mike went on a tour to Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit. I saw a LOT of sand, he said, as the wind blew him in the door afterwards. But he did enjoy the day out. Saw gannets from a distance and got up close to the lighthouse at the end of the spit.

Langford Store Rules

The Langford Store at Bainham

Bone china

Ruins of the Salisbury Footbridge

Historic photo of the Salisbury Footbridge
Farewell Spit, Collingwood, Langford Store










Comments

  1. Anita17 March 2021 at 01:39

    You have such a way with words. 😂Loved the photos.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

010 Jackson Bay and the Haast Pass to Wanaka

Image
  Monday, February 8 As far south-west, as the road goes, lies the sleepy little fishing village of Jackson Bay. It faces the Tasman Sea to the north and is backed by the majestic Southern Alps. We were inspired to go there by a fellow motorhomer who told us he'd eaten the best meal of blue cod in his life there. So we followed a mostly straight road enjoying a mix of scrubby farmland, trees and bush (creating a very English country lane canopy over us), and wind-damaged, dead and dying wood stuck and prickled and spiked with the standing black and grey splinters strewn all over its hollows and hills. (Blanche Baughn, from A Bush Section ) After 32kms we reached the Cray Pot cafe, about the size of a shipping container where, somehow, customers piled in one end and the owner cooked at the other. The blue cod lived up to it's reputation, the drinks were hot, and and the helping of chips so generous we could not finish them. We went for a walk along the wharf where once stood ...
Read more

005 Cape Foulwind

Image
February 1, 2021 "A cape of foul winds" was what Captain James Cook named the rocky cape in 1770 (now known as Cape Foulwind) after his ship Endeavour was blown quite a distance from shore in atrocious weather. Yesterday, it was picture perfect under blue skies and brilliant sunshine as we took the path to the lighthouse and delighted in panoramic views of the Tasman Sea. I was particularly interested in the old granite quarries (called Siberia by the miners) because that's where my great grandfather had worked and had a serious accident. It would have been pretty challenging work, blasting and quarrying that stone, sending it by purpose-built railway back to Westport to construct the Harbour breakwater. Albert had set a charge, but it didn't ignite. When he went to see what had happened, it blew up, he was badly injured and extremely lucky to have lived to tell the tale. We drove further south along the coast to Tauranga Bay to see if we could spot any seals or li...
Read more

009 Mountains and Sandflies

Image
  February 7, 2021 Yesterday when we arrived at Franz Josef it was very cool and overcast so the little settlement seemed rather unappealing and we tucked into our camping space and hunkered down for the night. This morning we decided to stock up at the local Four Square. As we came around the corner in brilliant sunshine we had a whoa! wait! what???? moment because right in our faces was a mountain with snow all over it. Yesterday, it had been completely obscured. Cool start to the day! South of the town, we walked part of the Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere track ('tears of snow') to get closer to the Franz Josef Glacier which was well worth the effort. Heading further south we had lunch at Lake Mathieson, then took a side road to see if we could get a glimpse of Fox Glacier/Te Moeka o Tuawe ('the bed of Tuawe'). It was breathtaking and sent me into a fervour of messaging my friend MJ who was on the same 1968 school trip to the South Island to try and ascertain which of th...
Read more