Coming Up Close

Tomorrow brings a new year and a new decade for us down under tomorrow - I am working like many others are. Our town has been swamped with out of towners - the roads are chaotic, the shops are jam packed and there are traffic blockages.  In the morning a few events are happening in local towns around us. In Warkworth there is the annual rodeo and in Waipu they have the Highland Games , which I haven't been to in about 10 years.  The sound of the bagpipes just melts my heart so I'll have to make do with some of my Scottish records. Tonight we no doubt won't be staying up to see in the new year so a Happy New Year for 2020 for you :-) Linking up with Our World Tuesday .

It's now time for these guys to come out of hibernation in many parts of the country. These are our volunteer s urf lifeguards - they do a fabulous job. While myself and many others are working they'll be patrolling our beaches and looking after swimmers.  I read a news story last night about how there had been 71 preventable drownings in our country for 2019, not so much of people not knowing how to swim but more being caught in rips and swimming outside of the surf lifesaving flags. It includes those who go out in their boats without life jackets or working communication devices. It makes me wonder if those who ignore the signs are the ones who think they are above anything happening to them. Quite sad really...

Aren't you glad Christmas is over and done with? We had a relaxing Summer's day with my family around for lunch. As it's Summer here at this time of year the last thing we eat is hot food so usually we have a mixture of salads, cold meat, cold desserts and drinks. I hope yours went well. Anyway during our travels in Nelson last week one place we stopped at was Ruby Bay about half an hour out of town. When I was growing up I was very very close to my nana and at the age of about 10 she and my grandad flew me down here to visit my aunt. While we were there they took me for a visit to this beach and I vaguely remembered picking up a white sparkly rock while I was there. Over the years somehow it got lost so 35 years later the other half re-visited there and although it was an overcast day I found another rock to replace the last one. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

While driving around our small town at night last week trying to find decorated homes and buildings we stopped at our local chocolatier's . It was closed but it was nice to see they have 2 trees out the front entrance that have been decorated in lights. Upon checking their website I see they have a Christmas range of chocolates - might have to pop in there. Linking up with Our World Tuesday .

At Nelson Airport earlier this week it was nice to see they had a good sized Christmas tree up in their waiting area filled with decorations. So after our trip to Nelson last week we have decided it's not for us. It's a nice place but rapidly growing and the other half's sister thinks it will become as overpopulated as Auckland and Tauranga in the next few years. Here in our small town the Summer crowds have arrived - there are loads of holiday houses starting to be used and lots of people visiting. 2 of my children work at one of the local shops, they have told me they get all sorts of strange questions and assumptions by out of towners who assume we have supermarkets and malls here like the bigger places. It's that time of year where you just try not to drive anywhere unless it's to work, because of the increase in traffic is best to walk.

Last week saw our last full moon for 2019. For us it was the brightest and most vibrant I've seen in a long time as it crept up above our neighbour's roof into the sky. For something different I drove down to our local estuary and parked near the boat ramp.  The water was so still and quiet as the tide slowly lapped the sand. Here's to next year's moons of 2020. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

The other half and I got back from our trip to Nelson yesterday and while we were there we visited Te Waikoropupu Springs in Takaka . The sign above (I think) translates to: " You are welcome, come on in, come up, come on up, you are welcome to this holy place, the source of well being of the fresh water ". We had to drive quite a way to see this about 45 mins to an hour out of the city but so totally worth it. The water was crystal clear - as far as I know there is only trout and ducks that live here. Neat to see pots of bubbles where the springs are located in various spots. These springs are culturally significant to the Maori people and there is approximately 14,000 litres of water produced per second. The floor of the lake is covered in white sand, waters that come out from the smaller vents carry the sand upwards. Apparently the springs have been registered as Wahi Tapu (meaning sacred place) with the Maori Heritage Council of Heritage NZ, and in Maor...

I don't know how many of you heard the news from last week that Whakatane's White Island or Whakaari as it's known in Maori erupted - apparently it was the result of a blocked vent which exploded with no warning. People who were visiting with tour operators, many of them tourists were burned or killed and there was a rescue mission afterwards to pick up the bodies that were left on there. My other half grew up in Whakatane 's Ohope Beach so he knows the area well and when we lived in Tauranga for 3 years we visited this area a few times - his parents and sister are buried at the local cemetery. It's such a lovely spot with good fishing. For us it seems like our plan to move to the west coast has fallen through. The company that the other half wanted to work for have been mucking him around so we have switched our focus to either Whakatane or Nelson - either one would work for us so we are waiting to hear what happens. btw the island in the background of ...

Since we live in a very small town with a population of around 2500 there aren't many houses around with Christmas lights as decorations.  Last night we had a very very bright full moon so I drove out around 9.30 to get a photo the reflections over the estuary harbour and on the way back I noticed this house down a side street was completely full of lights all over - so nice to get into the Christmas spirit don't you think? Now I just have to collect more myself...

Back in the day when railway travel was popular here in NZ buildings like this baby were positioned at most stations. This one originally from Mount Albert use to house the signalman during his working day. Using levers that ran along the side of the building he could control the rail signals as well as as well as movable parts of the tracks called points. By shifting the points the signalman could send trains onto different tracks avoiding collisions. In 1966 the control of the signals and points was centralized at Auckland Railway Station but signal boxes still remain at some railways around the country. The building above apparently was built from Rimu, made in 1914 and later on was moved to MOTAT in 1966. Linking up with Skywatch Friday

For many years this little tramcar in Whangateau in Leigh, north of Auckland has sat on this unused section. I'm not sure who the owner is but according to this news article he tried to sell or give it away and the local museum has said they enquired but never heard anything back. Now after being taken apart the roof has been purchased by an art gallery for display but the rest of it will probably be destroyed - very sad. Trams first operated in Auckland in 1902 but were removed from the city streets in 1956 along with the tracks they rode on. This was 1 of 3 that were barged to the bay as holiday baches in the late 1950s. A bit tragic that someone didn't take this on and restore it... Linking up with Our World Tuesda y and My Corner of the World .

Well about 20 minutes worth but it's better than nothing. Everything is so dry here -  the grass is brown and dying. Looking out over the other houses around us we could see the mountains in the distance. It's the first time ever I have seen any mist like that creeping over - quite eerie really. I feel for the people down in Queenstown and on the west coast - they've had so much rain that it's amounted to severe flooding. If only we could spread it evenly over Australia to help put out the fires I'm sure it would be appreciated. No doubt we'll be back to nearly drought conditions tomorrow, but at the expense of moaning which I hate to do I'm definitely not a Summer person. Give me Autumn or Spring any day - it's difficult at night not being able to sleep with any sheets or blankets with the humidity, know what I mean?

Last night the other half and I rushed outside to see for the first time a very red sun setting in our sky. Rather strange and we wondered if it was anything to do with the fires in Australia - anyone else see it? We are in the beginning of drought mode here - we were suppose to have rain this week but after 15 minutes that was it. People have been pre-ordering water and luckily we managed to book a delivery for next Monday. But in the South Island apparently in Queenstown they have had flooding from too much rain - go figure. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

Last year at this time we were exploring the far north of NZ. One place named "Long Beach" is about 10 minutes out of Russell and it was a scorching hot day. This year we're facing a heatwave and the prospect of a drought - everything is so dry and it need of at least 2 days of rain. We have had to pre-order a water delivery for next week as sometimes there can be a 2 week wait. We were meant to have a large storm hit us yesterday but in the end all we got was 5 minutes of moisture and that was it. Other than that we have made plans to visit the West Coast of the South Island in 2 weekends time to check it out and see what we think. We will fly down to Nelson and the other half's sister who lives down that way has kindly offered us the use of her car so we don't have to hire one.  And I started work last week, at the moment it's very part time like as in 2-3 days a week but it's better than nothing.

Deep in the heart of Waikino in the Hauraki District of Karangahake Gorge off the main highway lies this wall of Memorial Artwork .  The year was 1981 and at 5pm one night shocking news came through that the small town had been washed away by a huge torrent of water into the gorge. Three local men rowed a boat to the local Waikino Hotel to help those who were stranded by the tide but those in the premises didn't want to leave. In the 2nd mosaic on the art wall is a design of the rowboat in question. The bridge and the art wall were opened in 2016 and the panels were designed by artists Michael Cole, Trevor Heighway, Irene Wilcocks, Christine Burne, Michael O'Donnell, Shona Laing (the NZ singer) and Con Kiernan - all of whom had ties to the area. Apparently the panels incorporate six mixed media showing aspects of the area such as early flora and fauna, Maori history, Victorian battery mining days, art of another era, the flood and the after affects plus future visi...