Whangerei NZ

We have had a quiet day today after yesterday's long drive.  we decided to visit the last 2 places on our list here in Whangerei - the Clapham National Clock Museum and the Sub-Tropical Quarry Gardens.


The National Clock Museum is a collection of many, many timepieces collected by Archibald Clapham.  This collection has everything from a 1660 Harrison ship's chronometer, the very first type of chronometer to accurately calculate longitude, to Mickey Mouse novelty clocks.  There were cuckoo clocks, a painted Viennese clock, grandfather, grandmother and grand-daughter clocks, mantle clocks and even a clock made from Meccano.  We saw a water clock, a candle clock and an "anti-clock" that runs anti-clockwise.

After lunch we visited the Sub-Tropical Quarry Gardens.  These gardens are in a disused quarry and have a feature lake in the centre.  The gardens have all manner of sub-tropical plants from camellias to bromeliads and there are lots of walks around to admire the plants.  Being sub-tropical many of the plants have distinctive coloured foliage.