Blue Springs and Talking Poles

Chainsaw carving of a deodar cedar which died from natural causes.
It is representative of the Greenman in Welsh mythology

Waihou River

Our next day began with rain, but changed to partly cloudy with some good wind. We decided to take a drive to Putaruru, a small town Linda read about. The town turned out to be rather boring, but it was near a nice walk to Blue Springs. Being a Sunday afternoon, we were accompanied by many others. Even so, the Waihou River we followed to the springs was beautifully clear winding its way between the green hillsides dotted with sheep. The algae and grasses adding their colors to the water must be good for the Rainbow Trout we saw swimming and avoiding the rather inept fisherman we watched casting again and again without success.  

The water begins its journey the springs atop nearby Mamaku Plateau taking 100 years to reach the springs and enter the Waihou River.The water is so pure it supplies New Zealand with 70% of its bottled water. The spring produces enough water to fill a 25 meter pool every 12 minutes, enough to fill the bottles I guess.

The springs are here. They have added a no swimming sign.

From the walk we drove on to the next town of Tokoroa to see some of their 42 Talking Poles. The town commissioned the poles to be carved illustrating the ethnic, sports, and industrial heritage. We found several as we drove around the town. Quite a variety as you can see from the pictures.