Day Ninety Three Waikouaiti

Since I had managed to only walk about a third of the streets in Waikouaiti yesterday, I returned today and walked another 13 streets.

1233. Court Street
1234. Malloch Street
1235. Park Street
1236. Pratt Street
1237. Mount Street
1238. Kildare Street
1239. Dame Street
1240. Geelong Street
1241. Collins Street
1242. Bourke Street
1243. Seddon Street
1244. McGregor Street
1245. Reid Street

I started walking the streets near the Waikouaiti School first.  These streets are on a small hill with views looking down to the Hawksbury Lagoon, where I had been walking yesterday.  The township of Waikouaiti has been built around the lagoon. 

 

Looking one way from the top of the small hill is the lagoon and the other is looking out over farmland.  Looking at the map, I believe the hill on the left is Pahatea Durden Hill and the hill on the right is Mt. Baldie. 

 

Just on the edge of the township is the Waikouaiti racecourse. Horse racing has been popular here since 1862 with the most popular races for many years being the New Years Day races, however that has been stopped and there is no longer any horse racing here.

 

The railway line runs beside the race course and divides the township of Waikouaiti in half.  This railway line is the part of the Main Trunk Line which runs the length of the country.  This part of the railway line was completed in the 1870's.

On the other side of the township is State Highway One.  This is the main road that also runs the length of the country.  This piece of road can be very busy but once you step onto the side streets, the township has a much quieter and peaceful feel to it.

 

I walked past the old Bank of New Zealand building.  The building was built in the 1870's and has been left untouched since it's last upgrade in 1927.  It is part of the Waikouaiti Coast Heritage Centre now and is open to the public.  The Cobb and Co. coach outside the Heritage Centre is a replica built by one of the Waikouaiti locals.  The Cobb and Co. stage coaches regularly traveled between the Waikouaiti and Dunedin

Further down the road from the old BNZ building is the old Post Office building.  Built in 1907, the Post Office not only had letters but also telegraph and morse code, and later a small manual telegraph exchange was installed. The Post Office was closed in 1989 and now the building has been turned into a home. 

I didn't see any unusual letterboxes today but I did see these minions made out of old car tires. 

 And lastly I have included the map of Waikouaiti with the streets I have walked highlighted in red.  This shows where the racecose is and how the township has been built around the lagoon.  I still have the streets on the right to walk.

Distance walked:  8 km         Walking time  1 hr 26 mins  

Total distance: 766.2 km          Total walking  143 hr 35 mins