Stitching and Holiday Snaps

Have to admit that only a little stitching has been happening, but every bit helps, doesn’t it.  Packed away in my stitching bag is a set of 12 pre-printed small Christmas panels, designed by Bonnie Sullivan, my new hand stitching project.  This was a gift from my penfriend Carol from South Dakota, and has some felt pieces attached.  Here I am working on block number one.

My new stitching project

Our tripping around continues, and it’s always exciting finding “new to us” places  to stay.  We had never heard of Te Anga, a small rural community along SH37, past the world famous Waitomo Caves.  Our hosts were young farmers who made us very welcome at their property Awamarino, meaning “beside still waters”.  For such a tiny place, there was certainly a lot to see and explore in the surrounding area.  First was the beautiful Marakopa Falls.  Walking through beautiful native bush we soon heard the sound of rushing water, and there it was, breathtakingly beautiful indeed.  The 35m high falls are often described as the most beautiful in the country, cascading as they do over the undercut greywacke basement rock.

Marakopa Falls

Robin had heard about Tunnel Beach so that was the trip for the next day.  After driving up and over hills, along miles of gravel road, we finally arrived at our destination, Waikawau Beach.  The only access to the beach is through an 80m tunnel.  A couple of friendly locals took our photo at the tunnel entrance.

At the tunnel

The tunnel was dug through the sandstone cliffs in 1911 by three Works Department employees with picks and shovels.  It was made for driving cattle up the beach from Nukihatere Station on the hills above the tunnel and out to the road.  Now closed to vehicles, the tunnel is now used for pedestrian access to the beach.  Once through the tunnel, it is like stepping into another world, with the isolated black sand beach at the end.  A huge tree trunk had been washed up on the beach, we wondered where that had journeyed from.  Such a lovely place indeed.

Tunnel Beach

We have seen some lovely sunsets whiles we have been away, and this one was a beauty.

Our plans will be changing as some community Covid cases have been detected and Auckland had been placed into Level Three lockdown with the borders closed this week into Auckland.  There are daily TV briefings and we are awaiting developments before we decide exactly where we will go.