Shops and places to purchase petrol are few and far between in the Hokianga. Just as I was beginning to get a bit concerned we came to Panguru with a small shop and an old fashioned petrol bowser beside it. I had to guess how much I needed and the shop keeper programmed in that amount and then pumped it in for us. Which provided an opportunity for a chat and to learn about a few more churches we didn't know about.
He said there was one at Lower Waihou and we could see that on the map but had gone a ways past that point before we came to it. It was the church a work colleague had told me about - looks like something out of the wild west was her description. It certainly was different from the other little wooden churches we saw.
It was one of the few churches we saw that had a choir - oh darn, what's the name of the elevated place where church choirs sing? Loft? Anyway, of the few we saw, this was the only one that was still accessible.
We found it unusual for the inside of Hokianga churches to be painted white.
It has that lovely blend of European and Maori cultures that are evident in so many of these churches.
Further along the same road is the little church at Te Karaka, birthplace of Dame Whina Cooper.
Did I just say not many churches are painted white inside? Oops, this one is, too.
I thought it was lovely in it's simplicity.
