Coming Up Close

A pretty one I took last Winter while out on another road trip through Omaha and Warkworth. This is Point Wells - with a small jetty and some boats moored in the low tide. Hope you like it.

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A couple of years ago I took the teens out to a local Fireworks display night which was being held nearly in Tomarata, about 15 minutes drive from here. The primary school out there was fund-raising and what an awesome night we had too! High calibre fireworks that went on for quite some time along with activities for the kids to do until it got dark.

A fantastic night out for families around the area - must do it again soon!

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Around Northland in summer we get some spectacular scenery as the sun sets over the hills in the distance. This panorama is one I took a few nights ago from the deck outside - such humid hot nights we've had lately and this stunner reflects the beauty we see.


And this one above was one I snapped while walking along the estuary with my daughter. We had just been to visit friends who were up here camping over the weekend. As you can see there were lots of families, paddle boarders and boats.

for more WATW click here and have a fabulous day :-)

A couple of weeks ago we ventured to the Mangawhai annual gala day held every Summer down at the Domain. There is usually a load of stalls to look at and buy things from, a band and some of the local clubs from around the region who show off their clever dogs who happily go through different obstacles. I think with my next dog I might get it into something like this, especially for little breeds as they have lots of energy.

What do you think? I think they are very clever :-)

Once in a while the teens and I go on roadtrips - this one was when we randomly drove down State Highway 16, off the beaten track from Wellsford through to Helensville. We stopped off at the Hoteo River and watched a couple of people walking in the low tide with their fishing gear. It was a clear Spring day with a chill in the air. People travel this way to avoid the main highway with all the busy traffic.

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Snapped this yesterday morning after I woke up. Grabbed my camera, ran out to the lounge and stood on the deck to quickly capture the colours. Hope you like it :-)

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A couple of years ago I drove out to Whakapirau (a maori place name pronounced Whok-a-pee-row) and took some photos of the St Alban's Anglican Church. This historic building was first built from Kauri around the area in 1896 thanks to the local community fundraising and from what Heritage.org.nz says the land underneath it was originally part of a block that was tapu (sacred or forbidden) by koiwi after the battle of Marohemo in 1825. The tapu was then lifted from the land by a gathering of koiwi and the bones were used to fertilise local vineyards in the area. more information here.

I would love to get back out here and take some more photos of the cemetery nearby which is also historical. Beautiful place with a beach 5 minutes down the road and a small settlement of houses.

More our world Tuesdays here :-)

We have a few paragliders up here in Mangawhai. I did a photoshoot for them last Summer. Yesterday I took my daughter and her friend to the beach, seeing as it was my day off and there was a group of them flying off one of the cliffs there. Don't know if you would get me doing that, not good when you're scared of heights.

More weekend reflections here :-)

We are really enjoying summer here and my camera sure has been busy. Here's one I took in the weekend while i was at our surf beach with my younger son and his friend. If there's one thing I like about the beach it's the different types and colours of shells that wash up from the ocean. I had to lie down fully clothed in the low tide to catch this shot. Hope you like it :-)

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My daughter and I were at the Mangawhai Library over the weekend and out the front near the markets we saw this fellow. At first we thought it was a statue then we realized it was a man sitting there extremely still, was it to promote the new museum in town? Was it to promote some of the local history? Apparently not, he was sitting there dressed like Captain Cook of his own accord. It was a sweltering hot day so I wonder how he managed it...who knows.

Last night I drove down in the early summer evening to the boat ramp a few streets away from where we live. A fisherman was bringing his boat in, people were walking along the sand talking to each other, dogs playing - a very quiet night.

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A few nights ago my daughter and I drove up to our local lookout spot next to the Mangawhai bowling club and up lots of steps. This is the view we saw from the top:


The horizon as the sun was setting was coloured orange and in the distance are the hills on the way to Waipu.


Looking out over part of Mangawhai, this is known as the heads - you can see the estuary and then further on the ocean.

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This is what happens when my daughter and I take an impromptu drive to one part of our local estuary here in Mangawhai late at night. Quiet peaceful evening watching kayakers row across the water to the opposite sand dunes, no waves just tide lapping at the sand.


Amazing view of pink skies and some of the houses situated next to the water. Must be so cool waking up that that scenery every day.


My daughter waited in the car while I ventured out through the reeds to the edge of the water to take this shot of a dingy moored on the shore. This is what we see here in Mangawhai...

I was experimenting with my camera late last night while the full moon was out. With summer here at the moment we've had some lovely sunsets and skies. This one is the view from my front door of the houses around us which are owned by holiday makers. As a result we only near bits and pieces of noise around the Christmas/New year period.


This one taken the other way looking towards the road and the moon, pity it was so cloudy last night though.

More Our World Tuesdays here :-)

A few days ago I had a much needed catch up and a chat with one of my besties...Liz over at Mad Bush Farm have known each other since our girls first became friends at primary school. Here are some shots from our day out:


If you're a coffee nutter like I am you'll know that you can't beat a good strong cup of it, the Village Cafe in Paparoa made us both an awesome one. The photo on the right is the back garden area which was decorated in mosaic tiles and various pieces of creative artwork.


After that we drove the 10 minutes out to Pahi beach on the Kaipara Coast. Above is a closeup of a yellow variety of Pohutukawa that we have here in NZ. Usually we have trees with red flowers all over the coastlines but I've never seen this colour before.


The old Pahi hotel which was originally built in 1897/1898 after the originally building burned down, apparently now it is privately owned.


The shore and wharf, on the opposite side is Whakapirau beach and the white building you can…