Saturday 30 June 2018

Eddie's - Elspeth


This small shop/building has been sitting empty on and off for about a year - it's just up the road from this and recently it's just become occupied. It's been a pop up shop selling bits and pieces, it's been a tiny clothing shop but now it's a cafe. I think the building is very fitting as a cafe and now each day when I run or drive past it, it's always full of happy looking people - I'm not surprised really as it's right in the middle of suburbia.

I spoke to the owner last week about it and his only complaint was that he's running out of room to put everyone. Eddie's - Elspeth - I think it'll do very well.

Thursday 28 June 2018

We got it!




Photo of some people playing in snow in a farmer's field - Ruapehu - Winter 2017

Big news here. The other half travelled the 6 hours north to Kerikeri yesterday to view a house and we ended up getting it so our move looks like it's going to be in 2 weeks time. I've been collecting boxes from my work and will start going through things and starting to pack this weekend. It's always a good opportunity to get rid of things I don't need but don't want to move house too often as it's very tiring.

Winter has hit here. Usually each morning I try to get out for a 20-30 minute run but yesterday at about 9am it was still 3 deg celsius so I waited until an hour or so later on.

Hope all is well with you. Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Sunday 24 June 2018

The old Kaeo Saddlery Cafe




I've been trying to find some sort of history on this building in Kaeo in the far north of NZ. So far there's very little out there except to say it's now a cafe owned by 2 sisters.  I just thought it looked like a quirky building with an old historical look.

News from us: our move to Northland is coming along nicely. It looks like we all have jobs to go to so far which is positive and takes alot of pressure off.

Our prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who is a member of the labour party has just had her first baby and has named her Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. She is a very popular person with most of our country and has the ability to relate well to others. All Blacks won their rugby game against Franec and we are looking forward to the yearly tri-nations test series.

Please feel free to share what's happening in your world :-)

Friday 22 June 2018

Lemon and Paeroa!


On our trip to the far north a few months ago we stopped at this kiwi icon in the little town of Paeroa - probably an hour or so from Tauranga. This kiwi icon is in the center of town and represents the fizzy drink Lemon and Paeroa which means it's made of lemon and carbonated mineral water in this area. It's truly a refreshing drink - I like it on occasion with a dash of whiskey. This is me with my daughter Renee sitting in front of the big bottle.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Monday 18 June 2018

Colour within the concrete


Recently we visited Waikumete Cemetery in West Auckland. This is somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a number of years simply because it's where some of my ancestors are buried and because I needed to connect something with all the research I've been doing over the years on my family tree (which is extremely extensive so far).

On my dad's side, the Austens we searched for in the Anglican section and couldn't find then later found out the original markers which were very modest wooden crosses had disappeared over the years but I had been very near the spot while walking around.

On my mum's side the de Silva's and Andersons are on the opposite area from here in the Non Comformist section - I did end up finding them as one of my uncles had organized a nice large slate marker with names and dates etc on top which was nice to see. It was a fairly emotional morning really...as it would be but it was lovely to see some pink Valerian flowers creating some colour in amongst the concrete.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Sunday 17 June 2018

Nearly all the colours have gone...


All the trees are nearly bare here and very few leaves are visible. Time to get out the winter jerseys and extra blankets, last week I bought a lovely fluffy nana cardy - by nana cardy I mean one of those items of clothing that you can laze around in or wear anywhere that keeps you warm.

We're still trying to get somewhere with our possible move up north but every step we take seems to take a long time. We're considering whether it's something that's even meant to be or not. We will see...

Friday 15 June 2018

Blue skies today...


With so much rain lately and Winter here early it was a treat to see blue skies out yesterday and this morning so I drove out to the beach and got this photo of the sun just coming up.

I had the day off from work yesterday as I am down with another head cold, think I'm at the point where I"m so tired of being sick - it wasn't so long ago I was battling a chest infection and the thing is when you work in customer service like I do we get people coming in all the time sick so it's easy to pick up bugs.

I could always get the flu injection I suppose but I"m a bit wary about things like that...

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Wednesday 13 June 2018

Over the hedge...


So this morning after 2 days of rain and overcast skies I saw sun trying to peek through the clouds and thought what a good time to get out. Drove my little car for about 10 minutes and got this shot while trying to stand as high as I could (I'm about 5 ft 3) to see over this hedge which was across the road from houses and apartments. On the other side is the main road linking Mount Maunganui to Tauranga city and these funnels and silos are part of the Port of Tauranga. Not sure what these ones are used for but it's possible it's a grainery of some sort.

Back home to catch up on housework before starting work at 1pm....

Sunday 10 June 2018

The pine man of Tokoroa


Last week we drove just over an hour to Tokoroa to visit one of my best friends from high school. She is renovating her house and the other half offered to fix some of her telephone and tv satellite wires inside.


This small town is the 5th largest town in the Waikato region, and was established around 1917 as a possible farming area but after finding out that the soil was more pumice than anything and was then developed for timber - there is a timber, pulp and paper mill 8kms away.


And here stands the "pine man" of the town - a large sculpture by Peter Dooley that represents the history there of being used mainly for the timber industry.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Thursday 7 June 2018

Mount Maunganui backpackers


After 3 weeks of being sick and missing out on my daily run I finally got back out yesterday and as I was jogging past our local backpackers I happened take a photo of their colourful mural on the side of the building. Next door a block of apartments are being built but the backpackers itself caters to tourists wanting to experience the cheaper side of being in our city. The owners also help their guests find jobs within their working visas usually such as kiwifruit picking/packing which I've heard is well paid but very hard work. I love the colourful mural on the side don't you?

As for the bleak sky in the background it's the usual of our Winter at the moment, today it's sunny but we have more rain due tomorrow.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Monday 4 June 2018

Very stormy Winter skies


We've had more torrential rain and storms here in the Bay of Plenty over the last couple of days. One of my friends at work, her brother lives in Rotorua and he has already had flooded waters flowing through his house - luckily he's covered by insurance.


Last night we had fork lightning and thunder in the skies and today we travelled about an hour to Tokoroa to visit one of my best friends from high school who is renovating her house. The other half fixed a few wirings around her property and on the way home, aware that we weren't going to stop I took these photos through my window which was only open a short way to catch these skies.


We could see the blue was trying to come through but didn't quite succeed. Once we got home we ended up having more rain and now as I look outside the lounge window I can see black clouds. Oh btw today is Queens birthday weekend here in NZ so most people except retail workers and others have the day off, it's basically my Sunday which is why we didn't have to work.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Sunday 3 June 2018

Torrential rain warning...


Orere Point, South Auckland - Late Winter 2015

Winter has well and truly hit us this week. Most of the North Island of NZ is under a heavy rain warning at the moment with torrential wind and rain throughout the regions. Today is my first day off this week so I"m spending it with Netflix and hibernating with a warm blanket. Today I'm watching a movie set in the Victorian era about a man born with Giantism whose brother takes in him on a tour of the world to make money and ends up finding others with the same disease. We don't have a fireplace or heater in our apartment as it really doesn't need it. It's fully insulated and we find that putting on some warm clothes is enough to get through the season.

Friday 1 June 2018

1st day of June


Seems Winter has hit early here. For the last few weeks it's gotten pretty cold - we're down to about 3 or 4 deg celsius at night, I caved 2 nights ago and put the electric blanket on the bed. It's the 1st day of June today for us kiwis so now it's time for sweaters, jeans and boots to come out of storage.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

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...