Tauranga Memorial Park - Such a stunning Autumn day

On my recent travels to Tauranga I stopped in my car to the Tauranga Memorial Park - absolutely stunning scenery. In this shot the tide was out and there was a group of bikers to the right who were relaxing and chatting to each other.

Because Autumn is still quite warm here in NZ during the day people still get out and about. This little boy was having fun with the fountain.

Think these were tourists and as you can see they were enjoying the scenery too. What an awesome view of the harbour! The park also has a skatepark, free barbeques you can use, a Memorial Cenotaph, pools and a hall.

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Anzac Day sunset and flaming skies

Good morning! I hope this Friday is treating you well so far. Last Saturday for us Kiwis and those in Australia was Anzac Day. After an emotional day here in Mangawhai this is what I saw from my backyard. At the moment in our street we have lots of new houses being built as there are quite a few empty sections and the skies looked very vibrant almost on fire so thought taking a photo of it was quite appropriate.

Hope your week has gone well - for more Skywatch Fridays click here :-)

Anzac day 2015 in Mangawhai

This morning I spent a couple of hours with many other people at our local RSA (returned services association) in Hakaru, about 10 minutes out of Mangawhai for Anzac Day. We have a local Cadets unit - these young people did an awesome job this morning

 
One of our locals Logan Brown is a master bag piper - love the sound of those Scottish bag pipes.

Nice to see so many military personnel - local and non local such as army/air force/police/fire brigade/st john ambulance representatives.

Mangawhai Beach school students had also made wooden crosses painted with names of their fallen heroes which were pushed into the ground lining the path to the Cenotaph.

So many wreaths laid on the Cenotaph - and such an important day in the history of New Zealand and Australia. How did you celebrate Anzac Day?

Easter weekend at Orere Point Beach

This last weekend I was fortunate enough to spend time at Orere Point beach which is about 2/12 hours from here just out of Auckland. For the first day it was somewhat overcast and rainy as you can see from the above shot.

Seems there was a fishing competition on this particular morning of my walk along the beach. This boat was coming in and I saw in their chilly bin later on they had some very nice sized snapper.

A second boat came in just as it was beginning to rain. As it poured I stood beneath some pohutukawa trees to shelter and then 10 mins later the sun was out.

So how did you spend Easter weekend?

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Paparoa Historical Methodist Cemetery

Last week on our travels my friend Liz and I stopped in at this very old historical Methodist cemetery in Paparoa. There's alot of old names in this place, descendants of whom are still around in the area today like Wilson and Brooks.

If there's one thing I love photographing its cemeteries, such quiet peaceful places full of history. I found it quite sad though that the place is in disrepair, it's been mowed but the ground is shifting and slipping down the hill. The oldest resident we found there died in 1868 so this would have been when the region was roughly first settled by immigrants.

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Seagulls are such funny creatures!

While out at Whakapirau beach last week with my friend Liz we saw the most funny sight - I use to think Seagulls were quite silly creatures but this has started me thinking.

We saw a flock of them watching us eat some treats we had bought with us, nothing unusual there right? Two birds in particular caught our attention....one was a baby gull squawking away at what looked to be his mother. Not only was she ignoring him but she was running away as fast as she caught - she almost reminded me of what a harrassed parent who needed a break would look like. A couple of times he threw a bird like temper tantrum, was stamping his little webbed feet and getting in her face. Eventually he gave up, swam into the water and started ducking under the water looking for sprats. It really was the most comical experience!

Reflections over Whakapirau Beach

A couple of days ago a good friend and I took a road trip around the Kaipara district along back roads looking for an old abandoned cemetery. On our travels we stopped at one of our favourite beachs: Whakapirau which is a very quiet area at this time of year. Summer people come here and swim and over Autumn/Winter it completely quitens down. In the distance of this photo you can see a building and a wharf - that's the old dairy factory which has closed down now and along the shore were a flock of oyster catchers waiting for the tide to go out so they could pick at shellfish and sprats.

Being here, just sitting, pondering, looking out on the stunning coastline makes me happy. For more weekend reflections click here :-)

Spring roadtrip to the Historic Puhoi Pub - Est 1879

What an amazing place the Puhoi Pub is - its about an hour or so from where I live just off the main highway that leads to Auckland. This photo above I took last year in Spring was when I was travelling through the area on a one off road trip. According to the Puhoi Historical Society it was built in 1879. Puhoi village was apparently first settled by German Immigrants along the nearby river and also has an antique shop, cheese factory and museum. I plan to take my teens there at some point - think another road trip is in order...

Winter reflections over Point Wells estuary

A pretty one I took last Winter while out on another road trip through Omaha and Warkworth. This is Point Wells - with a small jetty and some boats moored in the low tide. Hope you like it.

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Reflections on the Hoteo River - Kaipara Coast

Once in a while the teens and I go on roadtrips - this one was when we randomly drove down State Highway 16, off the beaten track from Wellsford through to Helensville. We stopped off at the Hoteo River and watched a couple of people walking in the low tide with their fishing gear. It was a clear Spring day with a chill in the air. People travel this way to avoid the main highway with all the busy traffic.

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Vibrant orange morning skies over my house

Snapped this yesterday morning after I woke up. Grabbed my camera, ran out to the lounge and stood on the deck to quickly capture the colours. Hope you like it :-)

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