Detour over the Pahiatua Track

Leaving our caravan friends behind, we started our trip up to Hastings, driving up SH57 past the settlements of Shannon, Tokamaru and Linton.  These small places that we tend to whizz past on our way to somewhere else all call to us to slow down, stop a while, and have a good look around.  Not this trip though. The narrow and winding Manawatu Gorge would usually then be the preferred route, but this road has been plagued with major slips for some time.  The troubled route had only been open for five weeks following a nine-month long closure caused by a series of slips. Then in early July the swollen Manawatu River washed away the temporary road, closing the road to all traffic once again.

Working to re-open the Manawatu Gorge

Luckily there are alternative routes, one of them being the 30km Pahiatua Track which wound up and over the northern peaks of the Taraua Ranges.  We drove past farm land and pine plantations before crossing over the concrete bridge into Pahiatua, a rural service town with a population of over 4,000.  When translated from Maori the name Pahiatua means "God's resting place".

Pahiatua Bridge

The wind turbines of Whariti Peak were shrouded in cloud. The top of the Whariti Peak television transmission tower was poking through the cloud looking like the the very top of a church spire reaching up to heaven.

TV Tower through the clouds

The van “Our Tin Tent” shared the road with us for many miles.  If you look closely you can just made out their specialised number plate of “Gypzee”.

 

Our Tin Tent

We are staying at a “Park Over Property” in Havelock North for the next couple of nights which has a rural, (and wet) outlook.  Our plan is to catch with family, and perhaps do a little sightseeing.

Romany Rambler on site in Havelock North

The local Pukeko population weren’t worried about the rain and were happily feeding in the adjacent paddock.  That was until I opened the caravan door to snap a couple of photos.  Taking fright, they all hurried away, flicking their white tail feathers as they ran.

Pukeko taking fright