Geraldine
Located inland at the edge of rolling downs, Geraldine once supplied isolated sheep stations. Today it serves a flourishing agricultural district. English settlers planted trees in profusion here not the pines of the plains, but elm, larch, oak, poplar, ash, and willow. In autumn, the golden foliage is a feast for the eyes. You can picnic beside the Waihi River, which flows through town. From Geraldine Downs behind town, the panorama extends over mountains, across tree studded plains, and along the coast from the Port Hills south to Waimate.
River gorges. North of Geraldine, roads follow the Orari, Waihi, and Hae Hae Te Moana rivers to historic buildings, riverside picnic areas, and hiking trails.
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At Orari Gorge Station, the New Zealand Historic Trust has restored the original homestead buildings. Both Waihi Gorge and Te Mcana Gorge have fine recreation sites, and you can swim in the Waihi River. In Pleasant Valley you pass rustic St. Anne's Anglican Church, built in 1862 of pit sawn native timber. Horses can be rented for saddle trips up the Waihi Gorge. In Woodbury, the slateroofed, Norman style St. Thomas' Anglican Church contains carved oak furniture and memorial tablets.
Up the Rangitata. North of Geraldine is Peel Forest park, a pocket reserve of native bush favored for its easy walks, waterfalls, and abundant birdlife. Families picnic and camp here, and anglers fish the Rangitata River. A short distance beyond Peel Forest stand the historic buildings of Mount Peel Station.
West of the coastal hills lies another world, one where treeless expanses of greyish brown tussock extend to the rugged slopes of the Southern Alps. An unpaved road, fording tributary streams, continues another 46 km/ 29 miles beyond to the isolated station of Mesopotamia. This remote sheep run inspired pioneer runholder Samuel Butler to write the classic 19th century satirical novel Erewhon, in which he describes the utter loneliness of the rolling tussock country and the dwarfing vastness of mountains and plain.
North of the Rangitata River is Erewhon Park, accessible from Highway 72 at Mount Somers; it caters to
visitors who enjoy the outdoors. Anglers, climbers, hunters, and horseback riders enjoy this remote country in summer; skiers and ice skaters come here in winter.
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