Saturday 31 December 2022

Mission Accomplished - Post Number 132 for 2022!

 Today we had a day trip to the Karangahake Gorge about an hour to the east of where we live and undertook a pretty low impact walk with a couple of friends. After about an hour, we were back at the car and travelled a few km further down the road to have a refreshing libation at the historic Waikino Inn. On the return trip, we also stopped off at a Sunflower grower, and my wife picked her own blooms at $3 per stem. We got home around 1630 and will be heading out for an Indian meal around 1800 with our daughter who. because she has to fly tomorrow (New Year's Day) has regretfully decided not to spend the evening with her friends then have to be up at the crack of dawn, hung over for work - very mature!

Here are the pics


What do they say - the light at the end of the tunnel is just a train coming to run you down?!



The above image looks a bit ghostly, the one below was taken literally only another meter closer to the end of the tunnel



A couple of views of the gorge with adjacent highway






I did say to our friends that I would tell my overseas blog readers that this was an ancient Maori temple/fortress!


In actual fact; its late Victorian/Edwardian industrial remains from gold mining in the area




Narrow gauge railway used to move ore to the processing site






The Waikino Inn adjacent to the busy main road



I had an IPA and Ruth a G&T with the local hand-crafted gin, which had small shards of gold leaf in it, hence the name!


The interior of the Inn





Last stop was the sunflower farm - quite an impressive site with acres of fully matured flowers


They also had this rather cool old car - an Austin 7 I think?


Thats all for this post and, indeed, for 2022. My next ramblings will be the first post of the new year, 2023. I hope you all enjoy marking the transition from 2022 - 2023, however you feel is appropriate these days! Thanks for dropping by and leaving comments over the last 12 months and I hope you will all return for more of the same in 2023!


HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

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24 comments:

  1. Jonathan Freitag31 December 2022 at 17:41

    Happy New Year, Keith! Keep those photos from your NZ travels coming in 2023.

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    1. rross31 December 2022 at 19:50

      And the same to you Jon - I certainly will be including more scenic images in the new year!

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  2. pancerni31 December 2022 at 20:36

    Happy New Year, Keith! Thank you for another pleasant look at New Zealand. Congratulations on entry 132 for the year. Here's to a better year coming.

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    1. rross31 December 2022 at 22:22

      Thank you Joe and a happy new year to you too. More games in 23, hopefully!

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  3. Lawrence H31 December 2022 at 22:38

    Lovely old pub there Keith. Happy New Year and looking forward to many more interesting posts in 2023.

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    1. rross1 January 2023 at 06:41

      Cheers Lawrence, it's one of those places we have driven past a hundred times over the years, so nice to finally get a chance to go inside! Happy New Year to you as well!

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  4. Steve J.31 December 2022 at 23:30

    Happy New Year to you and yours too Keith! As always the local scenery a pleasure to see and I can feel the warmth from here, especially as we have yet another wet and horrible day! Looking forward to seeing what you do and where you go in 2023:).

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    1. rross1 January 2023 at 06:43

      Thanks Steve, hopefully you get a few decent days sometime soon, although a British winter can be pretty depressing, I seem to recall.

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  5. Neil Scott1 January 2023 at 01:09

    Happy New Year. Don't know where you find the time for 132 posts in a year

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    1. rross1 January 2023 at 06:46

      Thanks Scotty, I dont find posting that hard, it's more the subject matter, so, sometimes, I can go a week or more without a post, as I have done no gaming, painting or anything else worth sharing with the group!

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  6. El Grego1 January 2023 at 01:31

    Happy New Year!

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  7. Ben Cato1 January 2023 at 11:30

    Thanks for a great year of reading. The mix of wargaming and travel is fantastic. All the best for 2023..

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    1. rross1 January 2023 at 12:14

      Thanks Ben, always appreciate your visits and comments on my various posts and I am glad you like the different content matter!

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  8. Matt Crump1 January 2023 at 22:48

    Some nice looking terrain 👍

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    1. rross1 January 2023 at 23:29

      Thanks Matt, it was a good day for sure

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  9. Richard1 January 2023 at 23:17

    Happy New Year to you and yours.

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  10. Gonsalvo2 January 2023 at 03:00

    Happy New Year, Keith! The gorge looks beautiful; one shudders to think what it may have looked like when there was active mining, and processing of the ore with Cyanide, doubtless discharged directly into the stream!

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    1. rross2 January 2023 at 07:34

      Thanks Peter, yes indeed, I was unaware they used cyanide to separate out the heavier gold particles from the rest of the crushed rock but this process was mentioned on one of the information boards...and no doubt you are correct about where all the left overs went!

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  11. Aly Morrison2 January 2023 at 03:03

    Lovely looking scenery Keith…
    I do like the look of old industrial sites that have been re conquered by nature.
    I look forward to seeing lots more terrain and toys in the next year.
    Happy New Year.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. rross2 January 2023 at 07:37

      Thanks Aly, I am sure I will be able to oblige with images of both in 2023... not sure if I will manage a new posting record of 133 though, I do like to give readers time to comment and thre posts per week is starting to get a bit too close together!

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  12. Stuart S2 January 2023 at 09:56

    Happy New Year Keith, 132 is quite some going makes my 62 seem really poor, some great posts over 2022 you have been really busy. Looking forward to seeing what 2023 brings.....

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    1. rross2 January 2023 at 10:01

      Thanks Stu....I was happy to get there, as it was looking unlikely in mid Dec(not that it really matters) One of the blogs I visit regularly was something like 362...so basically daily! Hopefully 2023 brings a few more games....not sure what I will be buying/painting, lots of collections could easily stand some extras, so maybe that's what I will be doing....

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