Coming Up Close

  When we travel through cities I like to take photos of some of the old buildings - there's huge amounts of colonial history. This one in Parnell in Auckland is the home of the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind and was designed by architect Edward Bartley then opened in 1909.  Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .

  Apartments in Mount Maunganui. One of the examples of apartments when we use to live in this town - you basically can't buy any property near the beach for less than $1 million NZD now. There's a cafe on the ground level which makes a really nice eggs benedict. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections ,  Shadow Shot Sunday   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  Greymouth this week - we have blue skies on and off. And daylight saving starts this weekend. We've noticed mornings getting lighter and nights staying light for a bit longer.  Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's signs .

  I was going through some of my old photos from when we lived in Kerikeri. When we first moved there in 2018 we stopped in Paihia to look around and on the footpath just before town were these flags that someone had painted. There were many more countries flags but these were the ones I took photos of. I'm not sure why they were there, maybe to show that New Zealand is multi-cultural? Who knows? Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .

  I can't remember what road this was down in Ponsonby while we were in Auckland, might've been Pitt Street on the outer edge but while we were walking to our car I spotted the love heart on the outside of the building in the left of the photo. I got me thinking, why would a heart be displayed on a commercial building? Perhaps it's a brothel? inking up with  Weekend Reflections ,  Shadow Shot Sunday   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  This has been the extent of our Spring skies mostly so far this month - constant gray. The whole country has had rain and thunderstorms forecasted this week except the West Coast.  I was driving to town last week and had to stop at the lights to let the Tranzalpine Train go through to drop passengers off at the station. - it always looks like a very popular ride that runs from Christchurch to Greymouth and back. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's signs .

Photo from our travels through Taupo in the central north island of New Zealand - taken about 4 years ago.  These sculptures symbolizing exercise are down by the waterfront as the town is mostly flat and very popular with walkers, runners and cyclists. Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .

  Nice to see this little girl looking after her dog, whenever we see pets being walked in the street we always stop for a pat. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections , Shadow Shot Sunday   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  So quiet, Photo taken at 7am outside my work, shops aren't open until at least 8am or 9am so there was literally no one else around. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday .

  I can hear the Coldplay song "Yellow" playing in my head. The daffodils are now flowering in my garden and in plant pots on the deck outside. And the Kowhai tree in the front garden outside our bedroom is now starting to flower - we should start seeing Tui in it any day now. Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .

  Here in New Zealand there is a big South African community in various towns and cities. This one in Hokitika sells mostly products like Biltong, Milk tart and other delicacies. I haven't actually been in there yet to check them out but probably will do next time I'm in town. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and Shadow Shot Sunday .

  We get all sorts of trucks stopping outside our house across the road - this one is carrying fuel. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's signs .

  Hokitika Airport to the right - the lookout tower is on the left. Spring is making itself known more each day here. I managed to find a Nectarine tree in one of the local hardware shops last week so its planted in the garden along with 2 lemon trees, a mandarin tree and a cherry tree. Our flights have been booked for our November trip to Auckland to see my son and his partner get married. Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .