It's a Skink!

 I don't know if you have ever seen these little guys but we get them alot here in New Zealand. They tend to live in sheltered spots like under the porch/deck.  This is what we call a "Skink", they are a type of little lizard and I'm not 100% sure but I suspect this one is a Northern Grass Skink - they live in coastal areas and love basking in the sun. Unfortunately Mr Cat likes to bring them inside so we regularly have to rescue them from her.

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

Violet

My daughter (R) and I disovered a new op shop in town so we ventured in for a look. I can safely say it was extremely tempting but the prices were a bit high for our budget so we didn't end up buying anything. There were literally loads of vintage items everywhere in corners and on shelves but in amongst the goods I managed to take a selfie next to a neon alien looking light which was casting a violet tinge on the walls.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Love is all you need

Out for one of my morning walks I was touched when I saw this couple walking ahead of me holding hands with each other. You don't see enough of that these days.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Honey Honey

Honey is expensive here in New Zealand and much sought after especially by other countries. On our town's main road there is a honey shop which has a very large 3 storied beehive on one side of the building along with a very iconic kiwi character out the front. 

This is Mr Buzzy Bee. Now just about every kiwi kid has had one of these toys as a toddler, in fact Prince William was given one on a visit with his parents in 1982. The idea is that the bee is pulled along by a string and the wheels make a whizzing sound while the wings turn around and make a clicking noise. The first buzzy bees were made in in about 1940 by Maurice Schlesinger but went out of production after he became unwell with spinal meningitis. Hec Ramsey, a travelling salesman started producing the toy soon after discovering a gap in the market.

I'm interested to know if anyone else grew up with Mr Buzzy Bee.

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

Taniwha Mural

 I found this mural a while back in Kaikohe on the side of one of the older buildings. Painted by someone named Cory R it looks like it was done a few years ago. Apart from the flora, flax and Taniwhas it has been sadly graffitied here and there. I can't find any information about Cory but Taniwhas are knowns as being mythical creatures that lurk in watery dens or caves and were often depicted as dragons or serpents - sounds like an Eel to me.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Unichem

Anytime we go into a fullscale lockdown here most of our local shops close down except those that are classed as essential services such as the Chemist. This one usually has a staff member sitting outside to take peoples prescriptions while they wait. The reality is that people still need their medication.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Homegrown and Sweet

 Now that Summer is nearly here we are starting to see more orchards and people advertising homegrown fruit and vegetables. This one has some strawberries, beans, kamo kamo, tomatoes, courgettes and Maori potatoes.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Time for iced coffee

 

I was enjoying a morning out with my daughter last week so we popped into a local cafe where she could visited with her old bosses. It's been mandated here that if you are entering a business you must wear a mask unless you have an exemption and most people have been pretty good. Of course with us nearly going into Summer I had to get my favourite iced coffee.

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

Heart warming and high def

 Another mural from Mount Maunganui - this one is on a wall on the side of this drinking establishment. Painted by artist Kell Sunshine (Kelly Spencer) who has painted street art throughout New Zealand. She is a lettering artist, muralist, illustrator with a big love for Mother Earth. This one was part of the Street Prints Festival 2017.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Telephone box

 

Another lot of photos from the Paihia St John's Op shop - when R (my daughter) and I were there last we spotted this old vintage telephone box which they were using as a changing room.

And a selfie from me, it's good to see it's still being used because it's not often these are seen in our world today.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Swift

Photo taken on one of our recent lockdowns while I was walking along the main street - all the shops were closed so it was very eerily quiet, I should be use to it by now but I'm not yet.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Raku

Another one from Napier - down one of the streets in the city with a little sign that says "Raku". At first I thought it was a sushi shop but it seems it is a Japanese shop selling art and household products - I wish I'd had a look in there now.

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

H20

 

I found this photo from 3 years ago when we lived in Mount Maunganui. Titled "H20" painted by Ampparitto who is a Spanish artist when he took part in the "Street Prints Festival". The piece depicts 3 plastic cups of water in different positions, an image that stuck in his head during his 35 hour trip from Madrid to New Zealand  (pre-covid). While travelling he had a couple of glasses of water, each in a different part of the world and therefore positioned differently when seen from outer space.  The glasses painted in these cups are filled with 65% water which is the same percentage of H20 in the human body.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Slow down!

While out walking a different route yesterday I came across a lady walking a very good boy. He was very excited and was pulling on his lead while she was talking on her cellphone. Guess he just wanted to get ahead.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, All Seasons and The Weekend Roundup.

Fishing for luck

Last week we drove out to nearby Opua to buy some fishing supplies. We had recently been out in our boat only to have our anchor get stuck on one of the rocks under the boat causing us to lose it. We checked our local fishing store but they didn't stock them, only a shop in Opua had them so we ended up buying a new one along with some hooks, weights and new rope. I spotted two people fishing but not sure how good they got on as the water was so brown after all the rain we've had lately.

Have any of you been trying to cut down your time on social media? I've been trying to wean myself off for the last few days, just so much negativity and vile comments being made. People sadly think it's ok to bully others.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Raging Haruru Falls

We really have had a very wet rainy Spring, last week we literally had 3 days of just constant heavy pelting rain. On Monday morning we ventured over to Haruru Falls to see what the river was like after it all. 
 

Usually the waterfall is fast and raging but this day it was even more so, you can see in the video above how brown the water is, there were plenty of logs and branches going down the current.

We had a look at the opposite end where there is a campsite next door, we weren't allowed to drive in there so we stopped at the rest area instead.

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