And here are the fore-said Hereford cattle, lingering by the gate.
There really was some awesome sky (and country) that afternoon at Rawdon Vale.
Tag Archives: travel
Big Sky Country – Hills
I loved the undulating (currently green) hills of Rawdon Vale. The valley is an established Hereford cattle property since 1845, and even has a few National Trust buildings on site (a 19th Century red brick mansion being one of them). For me, the landscape reminded me more of the hills and plains of Wyoming, a la Legends of the Fall.
Big Sky Country – Clouds
We’re starting a little journey today – on a weekend camping trip to the Barrington Tops. I’ve visited this area only a handful of times over the years, but never went right across it until this trip.
We started on the eastern side of the range. Having left Gloucester, we made our way down the backroads into Rawdon Vale – the foothills to the Tops. You can see how much rain they’ve had – everything was green.
Sleepy Hollows – Part 8
We end our wander with a typical sight on the North Island coast – manuka flowers. How delicate they are!
Sleepy Hollows – Part 7
Like Ninety Mile Beach further north, this stretch of coastline around the Hokianga is also wild and desolate. Unlike Ninety Mile beach, it is remote and quite inaccessible. No 4wd buggies around there. Access is only via tiny (and unsealed) country roads. I only caught a glimpse of that coast from the more civilised side of the harbour, but I want to visit it if I’m ever in the area again.
Sleepy Hollows – Part 6
The following day I venture out to the other side of the harbour, all the way to the Hokianga harbour heads. While the south side was lightly developed with two small fishing villages the north side featured giant sand dunes. In contrast to Kohukohu, a mere 10km away, the heads was wild and woolly.
Sleepy Hollows – Part 5
The village church was also made of weatherboard and wonderfully white in the Northland sun. I like the terracotta coloured roof against the blue sky.
Sleepy Hollows – Part 4
Northland has its fair share of historic weatherboard houses. In my eyes there were reminiscent of Queenslanders, except without the stilts. The reason for wood was that there weren’t many quarries in the bush in the old days, and one has to use the materials that are available. A vast majority of these weather boards were painted white, but there were some owners who lived their colour…
Sleepy Hollows – Part 3
On a sunny day, why not have a coffee, or even fish ‘n’ chips, by the harbour and watch the world go by?
Sleepy Hollows – Part 2
Kohukohu is a laid-back place. No one rushes to go anywhere or to do anything. Even the postmaster works part-time.
Static and Silence 