Tuesday 19 March 2024

Cobden Observation Post

 


We've been living in Greymouth nearly 2 years now and we finally got to complete this walk to the Cobden WW2 Observation Post. It took about 20 minutes in total but it was such a nice sunny Autumn day that we didn't mind the exercise.


After what seemed like 100 steps but was probably less we finally reached the top. Let's just say my legs were like jelly.



Nearly at the top in this one, sad to see someone had written some graffiti on the outside of it.


We could see one side of Cobden (a suburb) over lots of house to where the beach begins.


And over to the other side of town where the shops and river are and to the opposite side of Greymouth.


Sadder even still to see people had partied inside and sprayed more nonsensical graffiti - seems to be the norm these days doesn't it?

Linking up with Through my lensTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday 17 March 2024

Kiwifruit

 


Another colourful utility box I spotted near the centre of town. This one features green and pink Kiwifruit (as we call it here). Painted by local artist Mark Haldane aja Raja. Edited to add: I don't think pink Kiwifruit exist, it's probably how the artist has painted them.


Linking up with Mural Monday.

Saturday 16 March 2024

Kebabs

 


Different foods from ethnicities here seems to be popular and I can see why - European food can be bland and boring. My favourite food types are Turkish, Vietnamese and Japanese. An old photo from our days in Kerikeri.

Weather forecast for this week.

Autumn has really hit here. Last night we had a low of 3 degrees celsius, normally that is a Winter temperature. We have just put the electric blanket on the bed and mucking around with our mattresses as B's back is forever moaning and groaning. Personally I think he's getting old (he will be 60 this year) and as we all know as you get older your body starts to complain. I've started wearing socks to bed and so far we have had only 1 cat on the bed with us at night but don't think it will be long before the others will be doing the same. Here we only get snow on the mountains, we don't get snow in the streets or anywhere else and it's more of a dry cold not like when we lived in Northland where it was very damp. 

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Thursday 14 March 2024

Autumn in Opua

 

Opua wharf and shops (not a house)

Nights are starting to get chilly here and darker earlier. Mornings are starting to become dark until after 8am. We are in the 2nd week of Autumn.  I made a decision recently which was that as soon as the mortgage is paid off on my house, I'm going to try and move back up to the north island again as it's too far away from my family. Good news is that house prices have grown here to the point where my house is worth quite a bit more than what I paid for it and Greymouth no longer has the lowest priced properties.

The shop from the other side.

Speaking of home I did have something funny happen this week. I got talking to a couple at work who were tourists here and in the gist of the conversation they said they were from my home town on holiday and what's more is that "she" was my oldest son's high school teacher. Makes me miss home even more.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Gypsy Fair

 

For the first time ever we visited the gypsy fair as it was in town this weekend. It is an event that use to be quite popular but over the years the products that are being old seem to get more and more expensive. It was cloudy, overcast and chilly but before we left the sun came out and it warmed up. Not my thing but it was good to get out. After about half and hour we had enough and left.




















Linking up with Through my lensTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday 10 March 2024

Footrot Flats

 


I spotted this dog kennel outside one of our local hardware stores. It's outside the front entrance in case customers want to let their pet rest there while they are inside. This little mural has been painted on the outside and features a border collie named "Dog" who lives on a farm. Back in the 1980s a movie was made from what was originally a comic strip "Footrot Flats" and was very popular.


Linking up with Monday Murals.

Saturday 9 March 2024

Just looking

 


I've been looking at real estate around the country recently and it seems there are only a few towns in New Zealand where you can buy a house reasonably priced. Most town house prices have gone up to on average of 14% just in the last year and in some places you can't buy a basic house for less than a million or so - which is why we moved to the west coast. Since we've been here we've made some very necessary changes to my property such as putting in a new kitchen and a huge deck on the outside, next up is the bathroom. So far it's added a good amount of profit to the value.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Cobden Observation Post

  We've been living in Greymouth nearly 2 years now and we finally got to complete this walk to the Cobden WW2 Observation Post . It too...