Mangawhai fence mural

This mural sits on a long fence in the town I use to live in - Mangawhai. In Maori language it was named this as meaning "stream of the stingray" as the rays frequently swim in and out of the local estuary and harbour.  Pronounced as "manga" and "fie" with the "wh" being said as "f". I haven't been able to find out anymore about the artist of this mural except his name is "Marty" but having lived there for most of my life I can explain each portion. 

From the far left is a person with a paintbrush painting what looks like a Maori art design - the town has alot of artists and an art gallery.  The next one is a rock which to locals is named "head rock" and is joined to the beach by a line of smaller rocks - people frequently go fishing from there. The last one is surf boards - the beach is very very popular with people who surf. There is a local company who teach people how to surf named "Aotearoa surf school and hire".

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Traditional fishing at Quince's Landing

Along a very narrow bumpy track on the outskirts of town is this space - Quinces Landing as it's called was a small bay once used by both Maori and Pakeha to catch fish. From what I saw the ground was littered with oyster shells so I'm assuming there is an oyster farm somewhere out in the water.

 In 2017 Heritage NZ organized an event for people to enjoy a live archaeological experience which involved not just using a traditional stone fish trap but also learning other skills such as making a knife out of obsidian to cut and scale the fish which I think would be mostly Snapper.

Linking up with Timeless Thursdays and Skywatch Friday.

Edited to add: because I receive a regular amount of anonymous spam comments I've disabled anonymous people being able to comment.

Kaeo identity murals

On the side of the Kaeo 4 square (for those who don't know what this is, a 4 square is like the local store or dairy where you can buy groceries in small amounts) there is this mural I've had to photograph in 2 pieces because of it's long length. 

 This one was painted by local Whangaroa High School students depicting the town's local history and identity. From ocean life to people through to the Maori culture of the area the mural is 2.4m high and almost 15m long. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Wooden you know it?

 I was out with my daughter walking through town yesterday and we spotted this wooden type Christmas tree outside the local Florist shop, someone has created this version which is probably easier to put out on display and bring back inside again. I've been trying to figure out my own Christmas lights, I've put up 2 lots, one of each of the backyard fences but I have a really really long one that I accidentally broke so B fixed it for me but it still won't work. Seeing as my lights are about 2-3 years old and I didn't really pay that much for them I might just order a new set next week.

So masks have just been made mandatory on all public transport here in New Zealand but because our town is a bit too small, we don't have a local bus service so I wonder how bus drivers will monitor people wearing them or not. I feel sorry for them. 

Lastly I don't know if anyone else has been receiving spam comments about boomers, I've been getting them for quite some time and I have to say they make me roll my eyes back into my head while laughing. I think whoever is leaving these comments needs to do their research a bit better into what a boomer actually is. The phrase was created by one of our kiwi politicians, Chloe Swarbrick about people who were born anytime before 1965. Since I wasn't born until 1971 that makes me a Gen-X so the comment that is being left is a bit redundant and stupid anyway. I've been marking them as spam and deleting them. I think the person needs a hobby.

One for Weekend Reflections.

Lights are going up

 Earlier this week I put up some yellow lights along our back fence along with a light up owl that I'd bought online - both are solar powered. I still have another set of coloured lights to figure out where to put up but might look at the front of our house. Here in NZ alot of people decorate their front yards and houses with coloured lights including novelty ones like light up Santa, candles, kiwi and other animals.

Last weekend we had B's sister and her husband up for 3 days on holiday as they are travelling through the north island and we had my parents here for 2 days at the same time. I don't know about you, I like people visiting but it's nice to have our house back again once they leave.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Revisit to Puketi Forest

When we first moved up here to the far north we visited a well known Kauri forest named Puketi Forest or Manginagina native Kauri walk. 

Kauri trees here in NZ are highly thought of and protected so most walks like this that contain them have cleaning stations at the entry.

The walk runs around in a 15-20 minute loop from start to finish with many native plants and trees plus vegetation on the forest floor. It's very quiet and luckily while we were there yesterday we were the only ones.

Native fern fronds are also known as our silver fern (Ponga or Mamaku) and can grow up to 20 metres high.

At various turns around the walk there are signs up detailing the history of the area and of the trees. When the first settlers came here in the 1800s many Kauri trees were sadly cut down and used for building but the gum was used for trading.

 As well as Kauri other trees also grow here such as Taraire, Kohekohe, Towai and Northern Rata. Birds such as Fantails, Kokako, North Island Brown Kiwi, Kukupa, Pied Tit, Tui, Grey Warbler, Shining Cuckoo and Kingfisher also live here so it's very important for our wildlife.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, Through my lens and My corner of the world.

Kaeo Connectivity

 Is anyone else having problems with Blogger at the moment? It all started with me trying to add a new blog link but for some reason the widget I'm using within the theme won't save or do anything. Until I get it sorted out I've had to remove my blog links and will try putting them up again shortly, so if you don't see your blog in my favourites don't worry I'll still come visit everyone.

Anyway, my contribution for this week's Monday Mural is this illustration I saw in Kaeo just after Winter this year.  Someone has painted these colourful words on the side of a public loo next to the local playground. I haven't managed to find who the artist is but the words are about family connections, whanau (family), coming together and connectivity. It certainly brightens up the small town.

Kia kaha.

Sitting quietly

 Lately since the beginning of Covid Ive wondered what the world is coming to. What happened to common sense, it doesn't appear to exist anymore. It seems we have a few cases here this week one of which a person apparently was feeling unwell and after attempting to call in sick to work was told by their manager to come in anyway, despite having being tested and awaiting results. Boggles my mind...so with tomorrow being a day off I'm going spend my day in my garden putting new plants in and enjoying the colours and scents. Anything to get away from the world's stupidity.

Kia kaha. Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Letterbox mural

 While out on a walk I spotted this letterbox outside a house that's been creatively painted with a mural of a town and country scene.  I have no idea who the artist is, probably someone with an artistic talent. 

One for Mural Mondays.

QR codes everywhere

 Here in NZ in every single business/taxi service/public transport the new law is that a printed out QR code for that place must be clearly visible at the entrance. The idea is for people to download the App onto their cellphone and scan the code so that if there is a Covid case at that business then the people who were there that day can be easily traced and contacted if there is a need to get tested and self-isolate. Apparently it's helped alot when positive cases have arisen. I've seen people not bother to scan themselves in but I try to do it whenever I can. If people don't have a cellphone, the business is also meant to have a printed out form that people can fill out with their name. Most businesses also have hand sanitiser at the door too for people to use. We don't want Covid back.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections.

A-maizing!

 This is our forecast for the next 3-4 days with a heavy rain warning included so I guess there will be no boating on B's day off which is Monday every week.  

The photo above is probably the last rainy day shot I got in Spring 2019 of a maize field in Wellsford. Maize is usually a very popular product to grow here in NZ by farmers on dairy farms adding value to the farm's feed supply as well as extracting soil nutrients from high fertility effluent paddocks and it's used as a break crop in the pasture renewal process. After the maize has been harvested the farmers sometimes let the herd in the pull up and eat the leftover roots.

Last night we were watching the American elections and feeling sorry for the people - what a shenanigans. I can't believe people want to riot if their candidate isn't elected - I guess I better stop complaining about our political system. I was talking to some cousins and we are wondering why someone younger with more modern ideas doesn't step up and run for president, why not a female? Why does it have to be 2 old men? 

And it's our Guy Fawkes here today but due to the rain I think it'll be very quiet which is a good thing, I'm all for public displays - there are just too many idiots around. We don't bother buying fireworks anymore, most of them are pretty cruddy budget ones being sold.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

The teapot tree

I discovered something quirky on my travels recently. About 15 minutes out of town I spotted this tree, looks ordinary right?

Well on closer inspection as I drove past I saw that it was literally covered in different kinds of teapots.

I don't know why but I think it's a really neat idea and I think the person that owns the property is some sort of artist as they had different artwork and sculptures in their yard.

 Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Tuesday treasures, Through my lens and My Corner of the World.

Halloween been and gone...

 We had out front yard set up with bits and pieces, my daughter had set up the front door but wouldn't you know it, once it rained all went quiet here. Mind you Halloween here in NZ really isn't that much of a big thing as it is in other parts of the world. How did yours go?