Coming Up Close

Last week, on one of my days getting out of the house I took a walk which was suggested by my lovely other half which was to complete a track around the base of Mount Maunganui. Remember my other post about climbing to the top of the mountain? Well this is the same place but around the bottom.

The photo, above is one of the shots I captured while about 3/4 of the way around - if there's something I like it's seeing the reflection of the sun on the water, just another reminder of how lovely the world is that we live in.

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I found this photo of a Summer day for us in January this year. On a hot afternoon I took my younger son and his friend to the surf beach which was 5 mins from where where we lived. Nothing better than the sandy beach, cool water and blue skies - bliss!

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On my ventures out and about I spotted this mum with her boy fishing off the wharf at the base of the Mauao Walking track here in Tauranga. Was quite a choppy windy warm day but it was very nice to see them enjoying it in the outdoors.

Have you been fishing and if so what type of fish can you catch in your part of the world?

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We have a rather icy polar blast moving up the country at the moment - people are wearing gloves, coats, hats - anything to keep warm. Rather warm for NZ actually - usually it doesn't start getting this cold until Winter which hits about June/July.  Time to wrap up I think and continue the job searching :-)

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A couple of years ago I visited Auckland's Kawau Island for the day and while exploring the island I came across a large clump of Swan Plants. Now these things are mighty handy as they attract butterflies who lay their eggs on the leaves and when the eggs hatch they turn into caterpillars and eventually out comes Monarchs. Apparently if all the leaves get eaten I've heard of people hanging pieces of pumpkin from the branches for them to munch on. Do you have these where you live?

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The other day when I drove out to McLaren Falls here in Tauranga I did a bit of exploring of the park and just around the corner from the cafe and entrance is this area - Cherry Bay, filled with loads of Autumn colours and this lake had some lovely reflections going on.


As I walked around I came to this clearing where old branches and leaves had fallen down - filled with browns and bronzes it was very quiet and peaceful.


And this picnic area complete with seats and table was a perfect place to sit and take in all the scenery.

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As I've now moved to Tauranga and still waiting to hear back as to whether I start my new job next week i've been getting itchy feet so two days ago I drove out to a local place - McLaren Falls. What a stunning place! Up north where I'm from we just don't get the Autumn colours that I see here - this tree for example was one of many in either yellow or red. When I looked up through the branches I could see the overcast sky and bits of the sun trying to peer through the leaves. I just love this place!

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I just love this view of the Tauranga ocean. Remember a while back I posted about walking up the Waikorire Track? After several stops this was one of the photos I took of the outlook through native New Zealand plants - in this shot there are Toi tois (the white plant at the back), cabbage tree (in the center) and near the camera are spikes of our flax plants - on the ocean making szig zag patterns is a boat that looks to be coming in from a bout of fishing.

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I don't know about you but I love this time of year when the greenery around me is changing colours to red, orange, yellow, gold and brown. A couple of weeks ago I found this park area on the way home from a job interview and decided to photograph some close-ups of leaves. I really like seeing the veins and intricate patterns and designs on them - each one is so different.
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Now this is a view I'm going to miss. This weekend is my big move to Tauranga. Lately I've been packing things into boxes and sorting stuff out. I think I've taken 12 bags to the op shop so far and a trailer load of unwanted junk to the tip (thanks to my dad).

Anyway in this shot is our local Mangawhai estuary, or part of it. I think I remember taking this on the way to work one cold morning. Here we don't get snow but it does tend to rain and get very very damp with cold nights down to about 0 deg celsius at night.

I'll be back next week when I've settled in - until then have a great weekend. For more skywatch Friday's click here :-)

I just love these flowers. We see them all over Mangawhai and usually they flower on and off throughout the year, whether it's Summer or Winter. It's not easy to find plants that do well in this sandy soil but these seem to do quite well. We get them in colours of mostly pink or yellow...so pretty and vibrant though.

A couple of weeks ago when I climbed, and I use that term recklessly because of how darn hard it was Mount Maunganui, when we were at the top looking out over the stunning landscape there were lots of other people around us too. This young lady was sitting on one side of the mountain on these stairs relaxing. I couldn't help wondering what she was thinking about? It's a perfect place to ponder life and anything else that's on your mind - can't wait to do all this again.

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While going through my archives this morning I found this shot from a couple of years back, one of those ones I use to take while out fishing - Kawau Island is just off the coast of the Tawharanui Peninsula and home to historic Mansion House.  All stunning places to explore in NZ. Yes I'm one of those people who takes my camera everywhere I go...

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If ther'es one thing I like to do it's fishing. Here in NZ you can catch such fish as Snapper, Mullet, Kingfish and many others. The largest one I've ever caught was approx 8.5lbs so quite a nice size. Here in Mangawhai people regularly go surfcasting on the rocks on along the beach. I have no idea what these people caught but it's always alot of fun.

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I can't believe this view! I only just completed the Waikorire Track at Mt Maunganui - at just 600m you wouldn't think it's very far and although the length of it was easy the steps on the way up were not. I walk and use my exercycle plus do yoga every day and I kid you not by the time I got halfway my legs were like jelly. Once we reached the top however the view was fantastic and this is only a small portion of Tauranga. I plan to do it again to try and get fitter.

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On my recent travels to Tauranga I stopped in my car to the Tauranga Memorial Park - absolutely stunning scenery. In this shot the tide was out and there was a group of bikers to the right who were relaxing and chatting to each other.


Because Autumn is still quite warm here in NZ during the day people still get out and about. This little boy was having fun with the fountain.


Think these were tourists and as you can see they were enjoying the scenery too. What an awesome view of the harbour! The park also has a skatepark, free barbeques you can use, a Memorial Cenotaph, pools and a hall.

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Reds, oranges and yellows - some of my favourite colours ever and my favourite season of the year. While out on my daily walk recently this is what I saw from the top of the hill. Views from Brookfield, Tauranga.

Happy Autumn to you :-)

Good morning! I hope this Friday is treating you well so far. Last Saturday for us Kiwis and those in Australia was Anzac Day. After an emotional day here in Mangawhai this is what I saw from my backyard. At the moment in our street we have lots of new houses being built as there are quite a few empty sections and the skies looked very vibrant almost on fire so thought taking a photo of it was quite appropriate.

Hope your week has gone well - for more Skywatch Fridays click here :-)