Coming Up Close

  I haven't been to this place in about 7 years or so. Warkworth is just north of Auckland and on this particular day there was a festival there but I can't remember what it was about, just that there was alot going on with people everywhere. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday  and  Tom's Signs .

  At Franz Josef along the main street is this sculpture with a kiwi sitting at the top on an egg. The plaque says: This Rowi sculpture commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Westland Tai Poutini National Park 29th March 2010 commissioned by Franz Inc and sponsored by various local businesses. The Rowi Kiwi is only found in the nearby Okarito Forest. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  I was going through some old photos and realized I hadn't posted these ones from before we moved to Greymouth when we came down here for a week to check out the town. These are from a bush walk named Wood's Creek that use to be a popular gold mining area which opened in 1865 during the gold rush era. There are still remains of tunnels that were dug out and the occasional piece of mining equipment. So enjoy these photos, I don't really think each one needs a caption.

  Photo taken at the top end of Mackey Street in town last Summer of a backpacker staring at her phone. We get alot of tourists here, backpacking seems to be a bit of a cheaper option when people stay in hostels. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections ,   S hadow Shot Sunday   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  When we lived in Tauranga back in 2017 we use to travel to Tokoroa to see an old school friend of mine who lives there. Its a very small town and we drove into the town center on a very busy rainy weekday. This is what many New Zealand towns look like; filled with coffee shops, supermarkets big and small, dairies and other retail shops. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday  and  Tom's Signs .

  In Stillwater, about 10 minutes away from where I live is this bed and breakfast named " Biker's ". When I took this photo it was early Winter so there wasn't alot of colour especially in the garden where they have roses growing. Apparently it use to be the old Stillwater Hotel aka The Junction Hotel but it was moved in the late 1940s nearer the local railway station. All of the Greymouth region was and is still well known for it's gold and coal mining history. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  Photo of Joseph Marsella de Silva My mother's side of the family is big, she is one of 10 siblings (now 8). When I was growing up it was common talk among everyone that this man in the above photo (my mother's grandfather) was of Spanish origin. My mother's father looked Spanish with his olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes as did most of his siblings, as does my mother, her twin sister, their oldest brother, my sister and some of my cousins so everyone accepted it. Around 15 years ago I started working on my family tree. Everyone was easy to find except this man, for some reason I couldn't find him anywhere. A bunch of us; me, my mother, my sister, my brother, some cousins, an aunt and uncle took DNA tests and we were most surprised to see that he was not Spanish but instead Chinese from the south eastern part of China. It explained alot. After looking through all the family photos we had, we realised that the Chinese ethnicity was staring at us in the face. So why t...

  Wherever you live in New Zealand, you will always see different types of campervans travelling around. Some self contained, some not. I got some sad news earlier this week. One of my older cousins passed away from Motor Neurones disease , it was very quick, he only had it for 9 months - RIP Carl. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  This is one of my favourite buildings. The Whakatane Fire Station located in Bay of Plenty was opened on May 29th 1954 and is run by volunteers. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday  and  Tom's Signs .

On 2 of our travels further down the West Coast we have stopped into the small town of HariHari. While the boys wandered off to look at something nearby, I spotted this mosaic garden that someone had set up. Hari Hari is a small settlement on the West Coast about and hour and 20 minutes from Greymouth and the population is approx 250 as of June 2024. Local HariHari artist Helen Hindman created the mosaics in the garden. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  I was in town last week getting a haircut when I happened to see this man dressed like a cowboy crossing the road, it's not often I see someone like this, each to their own I guess...

  Simple pleasures for this week:  I have the "Z App" for one of our local petrol stations named "Z". Because I use the app when I get petrol, I accumulate points and this week I was able to get a free mochaccino and it was pretty good. That I have the option of buying a keto type bread as I am wheat intolerant with normal bread. We've had rain on and off but nothing major so far unlike other parts of the country. That the rest of the "Squid Game" series has come back to Netflix. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  Last time we were in Franz Josef we were hoping to try this restaurant " Blue Ice " but they were closed on this particular day, shame because I'd heard they make mostly Asian style Thai food (my favourite), after looking at their menu they seem a bit overpriced, probably because this is mainly a tourist town. We ended up going to another cafe which had great food with great prices. Nice sunny Winter's day with a high of 10 degrees celsius, so quite pleasant. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday , All Seasons  and Tom's Signs .

  This church is a tiny little one down a quiet country road in Whataroa and was dedicated on 10th July 1919.  These stained glass windows were apparently given to the church by Henry Burrough and his sister in memory of their brother Joseph Burrough who died on active service in France on 22 June 1917. The inside is well maintained, tiny and looked after. Apparently it's still holding services each week and is under the umbrella of the Christchurch diocese. I was surprised I could open the door as many country churches are locked. This building was put together from an unused church originally located in Goldsborough There is no cemetery attached as there is a main one further into town along the main street. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  Yesterday we drove out on a road trip and this place is where we stopped on the way to stretch our legs. Lake Ianthe is also known as Matahi and is located in the South Westland area. In the Summer it's popular with people for boating, water skiing and swimming. You can always tell who the Kiwis are and who the tourists are. The man in the photo above was reading a book in the Winter sun on a picnic bench. And these people were getting busy setting up a picnic blanket which was a little strange to me, as it was a nippy 10 degrees celsius and there was a layer of heavy dew on the grass. We were all wearing Winter clothes. This is a view of the distance, mountains all around. The lake was originally named by a surveyor named Matthews who was inspired by a story about a well known miner named Ian who lived in the area and was named "Ian the bush rat".

  One of the banks in Greymouth - ANZ meaning Australia New Zealand, quite popular but not mine. Photo taken along Mackay Street on a weekday morning when most people are at work. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  Last year in November while we were in Auckland we were on our way to visit B's sister and her husband. We drove past Kawakawa Bay, which in Summer is usually a lovely beach but this particular day it was very foggy and rainy - no one goes to the beach on a day like this, except people like me who like to look for rocks and shells to collect but we didn't stop. Simple pleasures for this week: I am thankful that although with received Winter rain, we didn't get any flooding that the Nelson and Marlborough area got, some areas of Auckland even were hit by a tornado - pretty scary. Now again this weekend the Nelson area is under a heavy rain warning as is also the far north. I finished a couch throw blanket for B and now I'm starting on one for my favourite aunty (my mum's twin sister who has always been like a 2nd mum to me) which is going to be granny squares sewn together at the end of different colours. That B finished making a new house for the chickens after t...

  Seen in a Tauranga cemetery about 10 years ago. It reads: For all our babies, briefly known, forever loved.  Beautiful. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .