A Northland Church

Northland. May 2009. Ajr

On my recent whirlwind trip around New Zealand, I encountered dozens of gorgeous little, red-roofed churches, many of them in Maori communities and many of them in Northland. Almost without exception I stopped to photograph them - unless there were too many cars for me to safely negotiate a stop. (Always frustrating!) It was a grey, rainy day when I came upon this one - sweet little St Mary's Anglican Church, not far north of Dargaville and very close to Taita Marae. I haven't been able to find out anything specific about the church but for now it can stand alone for us to admire. Suffice to say, I came away from Northland with a much better understanding of why well-known New Zealand photographer, Laurence Aberhart made such a concerted study, over a number of years, of Northland Maori churches.