JANUARY 18TH 2014
Pukekohe - Waiuku
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| Last stop - Waiuku Google Maps |
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| The distance between Pukekohe to Waiuku - geographically you can see how that inlet is so important when you're setting up a new town. With thanks to Google maps. |
Dear Diary,
I've learnt something about Auckland as I've travelled across the motu checking out some of it's amazing land forms. What I've learnt is that people usually thought quite carefully about where they were going to carve out an existence, in short find a place to survive and thrive. They were thinking about things like food and water sources, travel, security and safety, protection in times of unrest, and maintaining law and order. When established, people thought about trading their resources.
We are talking about the time before internet, supermarkets, sewerage, rubbish collections, and the throw-away society that we live in today and often think nothing of.
Maybe it's a good time to be thinking about the type of Auckland we would like to carry on into the future? So get your family into the libraries, because that's the place to think and talk about Auckland's Unitary Plan that will guide the city into the future.
It looks like a huge file of maps and pictures to me but I can see that the adults around me are interested in the direction our city will take as more people want to come and live here and our population grows. How will we manage our natural resources and work together to value our city's history?
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| Waiuku, the last and southern-most library on my tour! I can't believe I'm here! Awesome! |
Back in January I said goodbye to Debra and Wendy at Pukekohe then we headed out to Waiuku. Here's the scoop on my visit to this rural area and beyond to the remote, magical Awhitu Peninsula bordering the Mighty Manukau and the often Tyrannical Tasman Sea, playground of our remaining, on the brink of extinction, Maui Dolphins.
We met our contact for this part of the journey, the lovely Dianna, she was going to show me around the area where she works and lives. If you don't know where Waiuku is, it is about 25 minutes driving from the Drury off-ramp on the Southern Motorway.
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| In December, Waiuku Library was refurbished. This is the new kids area. It smells so new! |
Dianna was very excited to show off the new children's area of her library! I bet the local kids love it here! It's so nice to have large browsing bays and plenty of light for reading. Like all of the other library's I've visited the staff here are warm, friendly and helpful.
It's a recurring theme! I love libraries!
It wasn't long though before Dianna had me out of the library door and off to see the sights and sounds of Waiuku and beyond!
When I got to Waiuku the first thing I saw was the Kentish Hotel built in 1851 by Edward Constable. The Kentish is a fantastic old building, really distinctive, with big verandahs. It is close to the Waiuku Estuary and Tamakae reserve where the Waiuku Heritage Museum is. The Pioneer Museum has cool things like colonial era memorabilia, Maori artifacts, old sailing boats and historic photographs.
So, could I get away with wearing my kilt around? Yeah, I reckon I could get away with it!
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| Source: Mikesmale on Wikipedia |
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| www.thekentishhotel.co.nz/history/ |
Also on the reserve is a small historic village with several restored buildings including Hartmann House, built 1886. You can purchase lots of unique arts and crafts from here.
I was looking for a tea cosy for Granny to keep her 'bottomless pot of tea' warm.
There's Pollok Cottage, 1890. the Waiuku Jail or Lock up, 1865 and the Creamery, 1890s. It is the repository of Pakeha history, to help you to put it in context the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.
Dianna was telling me that when she was a little girl, her friends used to live in the Pollok Cottage just across the road from the small rural school that she went to. (Dianna took me to see the school later in the day).
I found this online article, you will understand the origins of Tamakae Reserve and the naming of Waiuku if you read through. You'll see what I was thinking about when I gave this blog its title and gain some local iwi knowledge. Enjoy!
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| source: www.nzsteel.co.nz/go/news/tamakae-back-in-waiuku |
How's that for a love story? Cool eh? I've got my eye on a girl at school, she doesn't know I like her. But sometimes I see her having a sneaky look at me when she thinks I'm not looking...
You know how I love steam trains? I begged Dianna to take me to the Glenbrook Steam Railway. I didn't have time to take a ride but I did get to look over these beautifully restored steam engines. My favourite engine was called 'Diana' like my host! The trains leave from Glenbrook Railway Station and come all the way into Waiuku, stopping at the Victoria Ave terminus. Next time, I definitely want to take a ride!
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| Victoria Ave Station. Source: www.gvr.co.nz |
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| Glenbrook Steel Mill - www.nzsteel.co.nz |
The West Coast is rich in the natural resource of magnetic iron sand. If you don't believe me about the magnetic part, just accidentally drop your cellphone on the beach and wonder why the sand is sticking...You can read the full article about our iron and steel industry by Fleur Templeton on Te Ara.
Key search: www.teara.govt.nz/en/iron-and-steel
Or you can search NZ Steel to learn the science behind this type of steel manufacture.
I didn't get out to Karioitahi Beach this time. (Note: awesome beach near Waiuku beginning with a K!) It's only 8km out from Waiuku and like Muriwai it's a great place to get back to nature. You can go for long walks, surf, ride horses, paraglide and swim. You can eat at Castaways and Agave, even sleep over. The sunsets are awesome!
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| Magnificent Karioitahi Beach - source: www.aucklandnz.com |
Speaking of challenge questions: Here are my ten uses for a potato...(You'll remember this from the Pukekohe page).
1. ammo for my spud gun;
2. carve and stamp patterns on my jeans;
3. to power a digital clock (keywords: how to make a potato clock);
4. as a beauty product, wart remover, face mask, stain remover...
5. chips deep fried to go with battered fish;
6. potato fritters;
7. roast potatoes, yum;
8. flying projectiles for target practice game (ask first, stay away from windows...) potato golf?;
9. weight training tool (sacks of);
10. to feed my imaginary potatosaurus;
(Caution. Have fun but exercise common sense. Ask yourself: 'If I do this what's going to happen? To people? To property? Am I going to hurt myself or others?' Some ideas are just fun to imagine, like my Potatosaurus he's a vegetarian but he is pretty big and he might squash someone if I took him to Waiuku for example, they might not invite me back...Anyway...The fun police are moving on...)
Dianna suggested that we visit Awhitu Peninsula, so we headed out there for the day. Awhitu Peninsula is a stunning place to visit. The view as you drive into the Awhitu/Manukau Heads area is truly breathtaking.
Our first stop was the Awhitu Lighthouse which sits next to the Signal Station Platform.
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| Messaging for mariners - the Signal Station has been on this site since 1865 |
In 1863, the Orpheus ran aground here, hitting the notorious Manukau bar. It is possibly New Zealand's worst maritime disaster. Sadly, many people drowned in these treacherous waters. Because of this tragedy the lighthouse was built in 1874. It was originally lit by a paraffin lamp. The lighthouse was refurbished, relocated, and reopened on its present site in 2006.
This lighthouse is particularly special as it's one of only a few in New Zealand you can actually climb to the top of. It sits on the very tip of Awhitu Peninsula and on a fine day if you look south you can see miles of the Tasman Sea, some reckon all the way to Mt Taranaki. (You can look at the distance on my map in in the Blockhouse Bay blog). Straight across the Harbour you can see the stunning Waitakere Ranges and the last stretch of Whatipu Beach where you may still find a plaque of dedication to the souls lost on the Orpheus attached to the eroding rocky outcrop.
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| It's so cool up here - you can see for miles and miles! |
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| It's so windy out here! Hey look there's Whatipu! Dianna was worried I'd blow away! |
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| Blockhouse Bay's down there somewhere, 'Hi Rhiann!' |
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| Just for fun: here's a Google map from the Signal Station on Awhitu Peninsula right around to Whatipu Lodge on the other side - according to 'get directions' the journey would take 2hrs 14mins and we'd cover 133km. I wonder if this assumes the roads are all sealed? Don't believe everything the internet tells you! |
We had a great time here and we could have stayed for ages, but there was still heaps more to see!
Next stop, Brook's Homestead on Awhitu Regional Park. If you're looking for a place to get away from it all why not spend the day here?
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| Constructed of pit sawn Kauri, Brook's Homestead 1880 was the replacement for the rough shod shack they began in. I'm sure Mrs Brooks thought it was worth the wait! |
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| The Brook's raised four sons and one daughter on the land. |
I've found a swing in the park surrounds.
These Regional Parks frames are so cool!
I do feel a bit lonely though, usually my
whole family try to fit in for a photo and it always ends in mountain loads of
laughter as we all try to balance on the narrow frame!
I hope the view within them stays beautiful for all time.
Then we were back in the car and off to look at the historic buildings of Awhitu Central.
Ssshhh! I'm hiding!
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| The Awhitu Central School 1889 - 1949. Now a community meeting place, although rural schools have always been the community hubs of small town New Zealand. |
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| This is the Awhitu Central Church with adjoining cemetery and war memorial. |
We were getting hungry and thirsty by now, so we stopped off at the Matakawau Dairy for icecreams and drinks. Magnum hokey and a passionfruit mango icecream. Mmmm! They sure didn't last long. Ka reka!
On the way back to the library we stopped at Pollok School. What a tiny school! It was built in 1883 and it's thought to be the oldest surviving school on its original site on the Peninsula.
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| Pollok School |
This is where Dianna went to school when she was a little girl. Only about 12 kids could fit into this classroom. There were two buildings - one for the juniors (the original Pollok School) and one for the seniors (a prefab building).
She told me stories about how she broke her arm on the last day of school on the giant swing, stink! She wasn't allowed to go for a swim all summer! All of the kids loved the flying fox that ran down through the paddock. Kids queued all during playtime and lunchtime to have a go!
They used to have their own vegetable gardens where they grew beetroot, carrots, corn and lettuce. They were allowed to take them home to eat! Dianna thought it was a pretty cool school to go to!
Pollok School closed down in 2005. Local children now attend Matakawau School.
I was quiet as we drove back to Waiuku, I was reflecting on the remoteness of the area and the guts and drive the early settlers like the Brooks family must have had.
Waiuku and the Awhitu Peninsula are definitely worth visiting. While you're there stop in and say hello to Dianna, she's a top lady and a super librarian who really cares about her community.
So that's all from me, maybe I'll post a quiz to see what you can remember about the different places I've been to? Or maybe you could write a quiz yourself and test your mates? Cause man that homework is starting to pour in, and the school year is getting steadily busier...I will if I get time.
In the meantime, now that we know some of the past and how exciting it can be to learn about our community roots - stay curious, tap into those elderly neighbours, seek out those people from different ethnic groups to you ask them questions about when they were kids, I've been finding out it was a whole different world.
I wonder how that knowledge can shape the now, and how I think in the future? Tamaki Makaurau is the most awesome, excellent place on Earth. We are so lucky to live here! I'm sure you'll agree!
Ka kite ano, take care, til we meet again.
Tyler aka Little Dude Matatoa.
