Tangiporutu

Once again we had a leisurely start to the day, which was warm and sunny. We decided to have a flat white sitting in the sun on the deck of the Tainui-Wetere Club – very pleasant. We then headed off to see what else we could find. Judy was driving, so Bruce did not have any say when she pulled off the main road heading towards Tangiporutu, and a sign for the Three Sisters.

There is a Tangiporutu River that joins the Tasman Sea here and there is the most charming little settlement of about 15 houses lining the banks of the river. All the houses are in one row, are all small and each one is painted in a different bright colour. However, it is very hard to get a photo of this. The best view was on the main (very busy) highway.

On the end of the row of houses is a large reserve with parking and signage about the Three Sisters. These are limestone rock pillars that have been separated from the cliffs by the actions of the waves. Over time these pillars are eroded completely but by that time new pillars have started. As it was heading towards low tide we decided to go for a walk and have a look.

The first part of the walk was over muddy sand and mudstone along the edge of the fast flowing, very muddy and mirky looking river- extremely slippery and we had to take great care. We saw one couple coming back almost take a tumble so we were being extra cautious as I did not want to  have to go to my surgeon and tell him I had damaged my knees by falling in mud!.

Once we rounded the point, walking over the much safer black beach sand, there was a wonderful sight to greet us. There were cliffs to the side with caves forming

in several locations, and a large rocky outcrop that had already been cut off and that had several caves of its own – some already going from one side to the other.

Further along the beach were the Three Sisters. We could not get right up to them as the tide was not low enough at that point but we got a good view just the same. The beauty of the view was enhanced by being able to see Mt Taranaki in the distance.

Bruce had a great time playing with the dogs in an out of the caves and when we had finally seen enough we made our way back through the slippery mud to the motorhome for a late lunch.

We continued our travels south through the steep and windy Mt Messenger road. It was slow going at times as the roads were busy and we had to keep pulling over to let traffic pass. Bruce managed to get a couple of photos of the Mt Messenger tunnel as we went through it.

Not too far past Mt Messenger was the Whitecliffs Brewery, also known as Mike’s Brewery. We decided to pop in there as Bruce had visited a craft Brewery in Geraldine that had wonderful black beer, and he wanted to see if Mike’s Brewery also made black beer. Well, he was in luck – they made 3 different types so we had to stop for a drink, and a bowl of fries to share. Judy had some naked apple cider (not sure what it was like when it was fully clothed) which was lovely, and Bruce enjoyed his beer so much he bought some for future consumption.

Mikes Brewery is also a POP stop so we decided to stay there for the night. The staff were so helpful and accomodating, and the parking was all on a sealed carpark (do you get the idea that Judy is paranoid about getting stuck now?). They also had an extensive lawn area for walking the dogs which Bruce reported had part of a whale skeleton in it.

We settled in for the night but as we were preparing for bed there was a really good thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rain. Hunter was really not happy – in fact very stressed, especially when there was a really loud thunderclap directly over head. Nothing we did to try and help him had any effect. It took him several hours to settle down so it was a disturbed night for both Bruce and I.

We all survived the night though, and Hunter seemed no worse for wear in the light of day so we bid Mike’s Brewery good bye and hit the road again.