Places I love.
Taieri.
Drive along the main coast road, heading south from Green Island and you can’t miss Taieri Mouth.The estuary is lined with little houses and fishing smacks. It is a place we used to go for Heath to swim, but the current is strong so we looked somewhere safer. On the road heading to Taieri Mouth, sharp eyes spotted something on the beach. A quick turn and a second pass confirmed suspicions. Here, less than 10 feet from the road, a rare Hooker Sealion lay resting in the late summer sun.
She was patient and allowed photo’s to be taken, before warning us to back off!
If you venture upstream from Taieri Mouth, as the old merchant vessels used to, eventually you get to a place where picnics are a must. The old stage where the Maori used to trade with the merchants is marked and kept as special.
Picnics here are accompanied by the song of native birds.
Crossing the river here is a joy. The bridge is single track and very old. The framework is wrought iron and the boarding is wood, quite unsual for here.
This plaque commemorates the use the river used to have, ensuring the well-being of the inhabitants upstream.