Captain Percy's Ngunguru River Trip

About a week ago we had an email asking if we were interested in going on this trip.  We had often talked of going  so answered in the affirmative.  Saturday was a lovely day so we did our Market shopping early and got out to the boat in plenty of time for the 10 a.m. departure.  We had expected to be going down stream towards the harbour but actually went up stream to the area where the settlement of Kiripaka had once been when it was a coal mining area.  We were given books with photos of the area as it had once been and had an excellent commentary along the way.


When we set off the river got quite wide fairly quickly

This is one of the photos from the book we were given with the train line running in front of the Manager's house

There were some signs of where the workings had been.  This was the incline where the coal was brought down from the mine and the empty wagons went back up - a lot like the Denniston Mine we visited last year.

On our return we went past our starting point.

The river then got really wide, more like a lake.

This house had been barged down river from the mining settlement.  After the road was put in it was left to deteriorate and the mangroves have grown in front of it.

This was the same house when it was still lived in.

We then went to a delightful property where we ate the lunches we had brought with us.

This was the view from the jetty

and the boat we were on.

on the way back we saw these shags on a branch in the water

and back to our starting point four hours later.  A most enjoyable day.