Fantail by Thijs de Koning

Our town has an activity zone which is very very popular with families and teenagers. Not only is there a skatepark but there is also a play area and will also in the near future include a cricket patch, a barbecue area, walking tracks, bicycle tracks,  soccer field, flying fox and cafe. I've researched the artist of this mural which is on the public toilet and it looks like it was painted by local artist Thijs de Koning and celebrates one of our iconic birds - the Fantail.

The Fantail or Piwakawaka as it's known in Maori is quite a friendly bird. They don't often hang about in public places but much prefer quiet native bush areas and tend to curiously flit around people. They are not endangered but in the Maori world they are known to bring news of a death from the gods to the people.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Welcome home

I don't know if I've ever mentioned if but I was born and raised in Auckland but I consider this place, Mangawhai to be home. We first moved up in 1996 when my oldest son was 1 and over the years we've moved out and back in again.

We're pretty much settled in again and a few days ago 2 of my children and I got out once the rain cleared to enjoy a walk along our surf beach. Winter is the quietest time of the year here, it really is a holiday destination but once Summer comes it gets very busy and congested with visitors.

People are pretty good with their dogs over Winter and most use a doggy bag to pick up the poos but once in a while you get those who unfortunately just don't care and it's not nice stepping into something yucky. At the moment being August here it's feeling like there's a hint of Spring in the air.

I'm looking forward to showing my other half all of the special spots the kids and I have discovered over the years as it's his first time here, but he's enjoying it so far...

Have a good weekend :-)

At a crossroads...

Yesterday we were back in my home town of Mangawhai. We are standing at a crossroads seeing which way life is going to take us. We missed out on a rental property we applied for up here so the other half had a chat to his boss who said there is much more work for him in Mangawhai so we then applied for a property there which we looked at today. Hopefully we will hear back today or tomorrow.

We drove around a few places, visited my parents and stopped at one of the boat ramps where this pontoon is. The area has changed a lot. There are way more houses and subdivisions and more businesses since I left there 4 years ago when I moved to Tauranga and if our move goes ahead I possibly have a job to go to thanks to me walking into one of the local shops. Will keep you posted...

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

Wednesday around the world - High in the Sky

Last Summer I was invited by a friend and his paragliding club to take part in a photo shoot at our local surf beach. I wasn't aware there was a trek at this particular location so it was quite a surprise when I reached the top after about 10 mins. It was a scorching hot day, I had loads of sunblock on and there were quite a few people up there in the air floating about - it's very high, not my sort of adrenaline rush I'm afraid. I'm the sort of person who likes my feet on the ground taking photos with my camera - believe me I didn't go anywhere near the edge of the cliff...

That's my Wednesday around the world for this week, to take part you can go to Betty's Blog :-)

Summer sunset - Kiwi Style

I just love the colours in this shot. You get some really lovely sunsets around here over Summer. Very vibrant shades.

Name that fish!

Spotted last weekend on Mangawhai surf beach - know what it is? Apparently it's a NZ Leatherjacket.

Atomic Coffee - Sandbar Mangawhai

Photo taken today - love Atomic Coffee - Sandbar Cafe in Mangawhai Heads makes awesome coffee!

A walk along Tanekaha Trail - Mangawhai Heads

Today the teens and I got stuck into the outdoors and ventured out to a nearby walking track called The Tanekaha Trek right here in Mangawhai Heads. My brother in law, my sister and I were the ones taking photos.

There are two tracks you can take - we took the difficult one which all up was about 80 mins and leads to a large waterfall. There were lots of ups and downs - plenty of exercise to be had.

Along the way there were lots of little waterfalls, native trees & plants plus a stream which ran beside the trail.

We were all very tired by the end of it but it certainly was a perfect day for it.

Spring sunset over the Thelma Road subdivision - Mangawhai heads

Photo taken tonight from my driveway...

Retro renovation at Harvest Cafe - Mangawhai

The teens went for our weekly cafe visit this morning, this time we tried a local place called "harvest cafe" here in Mangawhai Heads. They renovated the place a while back, it's taken us until now to go and check it out. Last time we went was quite some time ago for dinner. They seem to have fixed it up in a retro type of way with ornaments, chairs, tables, signs etc. Coffee and hot chips were just as good and were a welcome treat on this rainy Spring day!

Spring sunset in Mangawhai Heads - view from my back deck

Sea worms or strange markings on the rocks - Mangawhai Surf Beach

The teens and I discovered these strange markings on the rocks at Mangawhai Surf Beach. On my photo page on facebook some people thought maybe sea worms or sea slugs made the trails. Anyone got any other ideas?

Bmx tricks on a warm Spring day at Mangawhai Skate park.

 

I spent some of my day yesterday taking part in a photo session with some friends of my oldest son at our local skatepark. The boys wanted me to take some shots of them on their bmx bikes.

Stormy sunrise over the subdivision this morning

We tend to get some nice coloured skies overhead some mornings. This morning was no different - this one over the subdivision where we live was tinged with orange.

One many colourful holiday homes here in Mangawhai

This one has been painted a very colourful blue, turquoise and red. You tend to see a few of these around, sort of fits in with the seaside theme...

Periwinkle Invasion - Mangawhai Surf beach

The teens and I had a refreshing walk along Mangawhai surf beach tonight - typically there were loads of periwinkles plus baby oyster and mussel shells stuck to the rocks.

Caravans at Mangawhai Heads

Seems like this place is still popular through winter - caravans occupying sites at Mangawhai Heads camp ground.

Mangawhai Estuary this morning - so quiet and peaceful...

What a lovely Spring morning we woke up to today. Mangawhai Estuary looked so tranquil and peaceful...

Blue skies trying to shine through after the storm

We've had a stormy weekend. Here's the view out my window this morning of the sun trying to come through the clouds - Mangawhai Heads - Spring.

Vote Craig Brown!

Vote Craig Brown signs seen in various places along the causeway of Mangawhai Heads - plus sunset at dusk.