East Takaka Church

We went on an exploration this morning to East Takaka, spurred on by the local history book I am reading. This was the first Church to be built in the area (I think) and was completed in 1868. It was Church of England but they generously agreed any Protestant could worship here. It's charming and the surrounding cemetery contains the graves of many of the early pioneers. I only spotted one Maori grave but there was one. It's in an incredibly scenic position in a flat fertile plain with a backdrop of massive mountains.
In the afternoon we went to the beach and had a wonderful time digging, paddling, searching for shells, getting covered in sand ...