Day Trips for the Uninspired: To the coast with the Post. Wairarapa Region

Early on Tuesday morning I drove down to Featherston for a different kind of day trip. When I reached Featherston I stopped in to the Everest Café for a coffee and a bite to eat and to wait for Gordon.

Gordon is the local RD2 rural mailman and as well as delivering the mail he also offers a unique tour called: “To the coast with the Post” where you get to ride along with him on his daily 220km mail run all the way to Southern most point of the North Island.

Although, I am not a stranger to the Wairarapa, Gordon showed me places I had never visited before and filled me in, on some of the local history.

I have often driven past Burnside Church but on Tuesday I got to go inside and have a look around this beautiful old church, which was built in the 1800’s. We also stopped at the Pirinoa Country Store, which was also established in the 1800’s. The store is the hub of the Pirinoa community, its a one stop shop for everything from petrol to groceries.

I also got to see the flood gates, some back country road scenery, old buildings and a memorial to 12 crew from the ship wrecked Zuleiki in 1897.

We also visited Lake Ferry, on the shores of Lake Onoke, Ngawi  and Cape Palliser, home of the NZ fur seal colony and Lighthouse.

We had lunch at Cape Palliser and hung out with the seals for a while, then headed back to Featherston.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and I would like to thank Gordon for his hospitality and laughs along the way.

The photo opportunities are endless, there is so much to see, it is also a great trip to do if you don’t have a lot of time but want to see what the Wairarapa has to offer. Lunch and snacks are also provided.

If you would like to find out more or book the “To the coast with the Post” tour. Visit Gordon’s page on Facebook or click on the tour link in the second paragraph. Also visit “To the Coast with the Post” on Tripadvisor to read some of the great reviews, this tour has been given.

Day Trips for the Uninspired: Scotts Ferry, Manawatu-Whanganui region

Gina and I headed out to the small settlement of Scotts Ferry, it had been on our “to do” list for some time, the weather was nice and sunny, so we decided to go and photograph the sunset as well. If you want to stay a few days there is a Motor Camp and Bed & Breakfast accommodation in the settlement.

It took us just over an hour to get there from Woodville. I must say I was quite impressed, we parked the car in the car park and sat down at the picnic table and had something to eat and drink. There were a couple of litter bins, so no excuse for people to leave their rubbish lying around.

Scotts Ferry, is the gateway to the Moana Roa conservation area, it along with Tawhirihoe Scientific Reserve at Tangimoana make up the Rangitikei River mouth coastal reserves. Both of these places have the best examples of  parabolic dune systems left in new Zealand. Click on this DOC link for directions and more information.

We saw pied stilts and dotterels on the river flats, then we walked around and up over the dunes. Standing on top of the dunes was breathtaking, nothing but the ocean and dunes for as far, as the eye could see. The beach is a road so you have to watch out for cars etc.

We stayed there until the sun went down then made our way back to the car, its a good idea to have a torch with you, otherwise you could end up stumbling around the dunes in the dark.

It is a place we will be going back to explore some more, as we ran out of daylight. Below are a few photos I took that day.