Category Archives: New Zealand

Down to the sea in bricks

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Trans Future 5 visit Wellington

Wellington is a harbour city so the locals take an interest in the various vessels that come to visit. Cruise ships are common these days, berthed alongside the container ships and various other freighters that use the port as they load and unload their respective cargos.

So if you see locals taking a picture of a ship it’s either something special or something else. This was something else. – maritime utility taken to it’s extreme.

As close as you can get to a floating brick.

There’s something fishy going on here

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Shark Finning MuralDriving through Wellington over the last few weeks a recently painted piece of street art on the corner of Cable and Chaffers Streets has caught my eye. The entire side of a building is covered in sharks – of all shapes, types and colours.

I think it’s a work of genius.

It was also painted for a very good cause as part of Shark Awareness Week. To find out more visit: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9144732/Shark-campaign-hits-the-wall.

If you get the chance, take a look.

Green shoots

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A week ago I published a post about the outbreak of Spring in our garden – heralded by the first shoot appearing on our grapevine. Well, a week is a long time in spring, as the photos show.

The inevitable drive towards summer is gaining momentum.

Welcome to Nelson

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Girls at NelsonLast weekend the family travelled to Nelson for a family birthday. Bella had her first flight while Poppie clocked up a few more miles for her frequent flyer account.

Moving the four of us is a military operation involving 2 suitcases, 2 dog cages, 2 cabin bags and, of course, us.

As always Nelson was warm and sunny – most of the time – and inviting. The birthday boy was turning 3 so Saturday was spent in the company of other 3 year olds of all ages. Vast amounts of sugar were consumed in a short space of time with the resulting laughter, tears, fun and chaos of a kids party.

By the end of the day the house resembled a toy shop with a strong “Cars” influence.

We arrived back home Monday afternoon with two tired dogs who immediately fell asleep on the bed. The humans weren’t far behind them.

Cup Fever

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Aotearoa on the water - photo courtesy of Chris Cameron/Emirates Team New Zealand

Aotearoa on the water – photo courtesy of Chris Cameron/Emirates Team New Zealand

For the last few weeks the entire country has been in the grip of “Cup Fever”. And in true America’s Cup fashion, every day’s racing is full of drama. A few days ago the Kiwi’s were ahead by 6 races and were making a place on the trophy shelf for the “Auld Mug”, only to have Oracle fight back and make this a real competition.

Whatever has been said about the new catamaran class the AC72’s, they make for spectacular racing and real heart in the mouth tension from the start – or pre-start as we all now know – to the finish.

As I write this the Kiwi’s require 2 wins to win the cup and the Amercians require 8. It sounds like a done deal but the last few races have been evenly split with Oracle improving each time they are on the water.

With 2 races tomorrow it might be all over – but don’t bank on it.

Bella meets the real world

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For the last 5 months Bella’s life has been a mix of eating, running, jumping, playing and sleeping. The worst thing that happened to her was occasionally getting under our feet which meant a yelp, a cuddle and then back to eating, running, jumping, playing and sleeping.

Yesterday that changed. Bella went to the vet for that little operation that puppies have to ensure that more puppies don’t mysteriously start to appear.

Since then, all Bella has wanted to do is yelp, lick her wounds and be held – by Jean or I, whoever is closest. On the ground she spins in circles trying to get to the wound which is obviously irritating her and yelping, before we pick her up for another cuddle.

As I write this she is curled up on my knee making little moaning sounds. To call her a “sad sack” would be an understatement.

What she doesn’t know is that by Monday her life will be back to normal – eating, running, jumping, playing and sleeping. We can’t wait.

Bella after that Op

Sad Bella after “that op” lying on my knee – photo credited Jean.

New Shoots

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First Bud of SpringFor the last week or so I’ve been keeping an eye on our grapevine. When I say “our grapevine”, I mean the one we share with our neighbours and which now runs almost the entire length of the fence between our houses.

In summer it’s covered in leaves. In early autumn it’s covered in grapes but for the last 3 months it’s been bare, doing it’s best impersonation of a dead plant.

Our first clue that spring is on the way and that summer is around the corner is the appearance of the first shoot from those seemingly dead sticks.

And today that first shoot appeared. Summer is coming.

Bella is growing up

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Our little puppy who used to fit in the palm of our hands is now a gangly 18 week old teenager with a mind of her own.

We’ve had a dog trainer come in and help us to wrangle her into line. She’s much better behaved but still has those moments of total abandon when she laps the couch repeatedly at full speed with no regard for anything in her way – whether it be me or Poppie or any piece of furniture that she runs into as her turning circle increases.

In the last couple of weeks she has worked out how to jump up on our bed and Poppie’s last haven of peace and quiet is now gone. But Bella seems to know that the bed is not a place to misbehave and it’s not unusual to find them both side by side, surrounded by their toys, sound asleep.

Today we turn 300

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This gallery contains 191 photos.

Since April 2011 there have been 299 posts to this blog so this one is officially number 300. Over the last 2 and a bit years we’ve covered our trip to Europe – which was the reason for starting this … Continue reading →

Lean on me …

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As Bella grows she is starting to copy Poppie. Whatever Poppie does, Bella does. When Poppie spends time on the back of the couch watching the world go by, so does Bella.

To Poppie it’s a distraction, to Bella it’s just being friends.

From one generation to the next

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One of the things that our dear old dog Daisy used to enjoy was standing on the arm of our couch, looking out the lounge window to the street, and barking at everyone that walked past.

She taught Poppie and now, it seems, Poppie is passing it on to the next generation.

On Friday I photographed Poppie and her barking apprentice Bella, on the arm of the couch, waiting for a new victim to come into view.

It reminded me of a similar photo from 2005. The only difference is 8 years and a new couch.

An escape to the south coast – Part 3

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This gallery contains 22 photos.

Following the storm last week I did another photo trip around Wellington’s southern coast. Everywhere there were remnants of the storm – rooves covered in tarpaulins rather than tiles, sea walls partially demolished and road edges undermined and collapsing. Even … Continue reading →

Storm – update

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Today the rain has stopped so it’s clean up day at our place – which will consist of sweeping up some leaves and branches, cleaning some windows and cutting up our fallen olive tree.

But we got off lightly following the storm last week.

Parts of Wellington’s south coast – where I was taking photographs just a few days ago (click here and here to see the photos) – have been hit hard and the clean up work will take weeks. I’ve included some photos that show what south coast locals have to deal with. As one wise local said “if the sea wants something, it will simply take it”. There’s not much more to say really.

An escape to the south coast – Part 2

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As promised (or threatened depending on your point of view) some more shots taken around Wellington’s south coast. These were taken a little further around the road from Lyall Bay driving west  – at the point where, in the distance, … Continue reading →