What to do on dreary Winter days...

(photo of the Ohinumuri River within the Karangahake Gorge)

Hmmmm let me see....I'm thinking more about things I can do once Spring arrives here come September. Road trips to new places with my camera? tick! Spring bulbs flowering... less icy cold nights, more sunny days and time to get out of the jerseys, jeans and ugg boots.

Te Puna Quarry Native Bush and Walks

A while back I visited the Te Puna Quarry Park and not only did I get up close with some wonderful pieces of nature but I also spent some time alone walking along one of the native walks enjoying the quiet, the peacefulness and the native New Zealand scenery.

One of the tracks takes about 45 minutes to exlore but the one I took was only about 20 mins long, still it was a great way to spend my time in the late Autumn/early winter atmosphere.

I would love to hear what walks you have been on :-)

The long distance train in Te Maunga, Tauranga

When I'm at work there's a train that rattles past 2-3 times a day, at night when I'm walking out to my car around 5.30pm it goes past again and last night I managed to catch it - this one was loaded with many wooden logs.  Since it's winter here we've been getting cold cold nights and sunny days - this shot I caught a sunbeam directly in my camera lens.

This one is when it had gone past, the track goes for quite a long distance through the countryside via several towns and includes the bridge in Tauranga city itself near The Strand.

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The Arts Market @ The Cargo Shed

On one of my boredom walks a couple of weeks ago along The Strand area here in Tauranga, situtated on the edge of the waterfront is the Arts Market @ The Cargo Shed. This place opens every Saturday and allows local artists to showcase and sell their creative works of art. I intend to check it out at some point :-)

The Hewlett's Road Flyover Bridge

A couple of weeks ago before I started my new job I drove down to Tauranga's strand waterfront area which is lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, businesses and park areas. Just past the Art's Warehouse there is this rocky shore which gives a great view of the flyover highway which starts in the city and leads to Bayfair and carries on south through Te Puke and Whakatane. This is the way I take to get to my job in the morning, as it only takes about 15 minutes for me it's well worth using :-)

Winter reflections over Tauranga Harbour

Last week as I was driving around on errands I couldn't help but stop and take a photo of the scenery and view I get from the area I live here in Tauranga. This is just down the road from me and it's a view of the harbour when the tide was out. The pathway along the bottom is actually a hike/walk - not sure how long it goes for as I haven't tried it out yet.  Welcome to Winter!

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Those winter night skies over Otumoetai...

This is one of the sights that I see on my journey home from work - night skies, chilly evenings, traffic heading home - there's something special about this time of day for me, it's the time I get to go home and enjoy a chance to wind down.

Luckily last night I snapped this photo when I was about 5 mins from home - we've had a couple of weeks of very cold temperatures here, no snow but electric blankets and heat pumps have been on but it's one of my favourite times of the year.

I hope you are enjoying life wherever you are around the world :-)

For more Skywatch Fridays click here...

Brrrr winter has hit Tauranga!

I haven't been on here for just on a week as I started my job and by the time I get home at night it's usually to late to post. However I'm now settling into it and thought I would share bits of winter - as it's been down to minus 2 degrees celsius at night I snapped this shot (above) of the car with ice coating the outside of it, usually it calls for a few jugs of water to melt the ice so we can see through the windscreen.

This one I snapped on the way home from work as the sun was setting and there was a definite chill in the air. At the traffic lights with the other cars around me it was quiet and peaceful, very good to get home though to the warmth of our heat pump.

For more Our world Tuesdays click here :-)

Good winter's morning Mangawhai!

My weekend was full of visiting with my 3 teenagers and family members up in Mangawhai Heads, my home town. While my daughter and I were driving to the local shops I deviated down to the boat ramp and snapped this photo of the sun rising over the sand dunes at the estuary. Today I'm heading home back to Tauranga.

Hope your weekend has been good too :-)

The Strand's local Fish Market - Tauranga

I had one of those days last week where I just HAD to get out of the house so I wandered down to The Strand in Tauranga which is like a waterfront area lined with shops, bars, restaurants etc. One of the buildings is what I've heard is the nicest Fish Market around, apparently you can buy great seafood there. Can you see what the sign says to the left? Kahawai and Snapper is currently in the smoker - major yum!

And with a view like this of the harbour I'm not surprised they stock the nicest seafood. The bridge in the distance is used by trains to cross over from that side to this one. Hope you've had a great week, I've finally scored myself a job with one of the local power companies doing computer work and data entry so excited to be doing something at last not to mention earning some decent money :-)

Winter full moon magic...

So...after taking a brief break away from here I'm back feeling alot more renewed. Last time I posted I was only just getting over a bad dose of the flu, well the other half ended up with it too and I've been going to a few job interviews so it's been pretty busy. Unfortunately one job wanted someone with more corporate background experience and another wanted someone with a background in the private Hospital industry so I lucked out. All I can do is keep trying and sometimes being at home drives me up the wall but last night through the lounge window I saw this lovely purple pink sky with a full moon proudly showing itself off to me.

There's something about sunsets, skies and moons that makes me feel renewed and refreshed...here's hoping for a better week to come :-)