Heading down the Southern motorway (SH1) from Auckland, then, just before Pokeno we turned onto SH2 until we reached Paeroa (famous for L&P - which is a lemon & paeroa fizzy drink that mixes exceptionally well with Martini or Whisky instead of lemonade).
From Paeroa we turned onto SH26 which took us through Te Aroha, and then onto SH27 through Matamata and eventually ending at Tirau.
The road between Paeroa and Tirau usually has a great view of the Kaimai mountain range, but the day we took our journey the clouds were piling up against the mountains and obliterated the tops from our view.
It was a bit on the dull side for taking photos, but here they are anyway.
Taken from the moving car, so I apologize for the blurred parts.
The clouds were caught by the mountains and were too heavy to climb over the mountains, so they sort of 'tumbled down'. It was quite a weird sight. Almost as though heaven and earth were about to collide. Eerie!
When we arrived at Tirau we were ready for lunch.
We tried the Alley Cat Cafe on this visit. Tony had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich that came with a lovely home made chunky tomato sauce, and I had a vegetarian quiche (spinach and brie) that came with a home made sweet Thai chilli sauce.
We had our usual drinks, mocha for Tony, and a Chai Latte tea for me. And all this came to only $23.
Then, replenished, we went for a little stroll around the town.
Tirau is well known for it's corrugated iron (or is it steel) structures, sculptures and decorations all over the town. It is a big tourist attraction.
These Dog and Sheep building sculptures are the main crowd pullers. The Dog building houses the Tourist Information Centre, and the Sheep Building has a craft and clothing shop in it as well as a cafe area.
The Tirau Co-operating Church has joined in the corrugated sculpture fun as well. This church is next door to the Dog building.
In their front garden, next to their signage, they have erected a huge corrugated shepherd, which is rather apt for the sheep-dog theme.
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