5/31/15

alyssum

Cold weather has certainly made it appearance at our house, but it seems that the alyssum haven't noticed. It's nice to have a bit of color as we finish up our gardening before winter's arrival.





5/29/15

sunshine and the beach

We finally got some wonderful sunshine and, of course, we went to the Beach to celebrate.

Hubby spied this great shot.



5/28/15

Huinga Branch, Stratford Dairy Co

This is one of many small dairies that now stand defunct in Taranaki. You can read some of its history by clicking here.


5/27/15

monochrome waters





Wednesday around the World


My world is wet and cold this week, so I found this shot from the archives to cheer myself up!

Now it's time for you to show us your world this week.
Blog a photo and link up below.



5/26/15

azalea macro

This is from the archives as it is presently cold outside!


Macro Monday            Macro Monday Mixer


5/25/15

kai iwi beach

Much of the Taranaki coast is made of mudstone and shale and, as the sign indicates, are always changing. But that doesn't take away from the amazement I feel when I see them.


I like seeing the colors of the layers...

...the black lava sand mingled with the white sand...

...and the fossilized stuff that makes little sense to me unless I attribute it to an awesome God with a great sense of humor! 

Occasionally, there are artists at work with the driftwood...

and I am quite intrigued by the spidery veins that the water makes as it tries to run to the ocean.

These sights are wonderful things I'd never have seen if I hadn't moved to New Zealand and, even after almost 9 years, I still love to see.




5/24/15

st paul's anglican church, wairoa

I haven't seen many art deco churches besides this one, not far from Napier.


5/22/15

New Plymouth city center

New Plymouth is the largest town in the district of Taranaki. Usually, when we take a trip there, we just do what we went for and that's about it--well, maybe a side trip to KFC or Burger King while we're out. Anyway, the last trip we made ended in a walk around center city (downtown, for my Yankee friends).

Every town has a clock tower and New Plymouth is no different.

As we walked by, we looked inside hoping to be able to climb to the top, but it wasn't open. As we looked up through the windows, Hubby brought this stuffed owl to my attention. It's job is to keep the birds away.

There were some gorgeous artwork around the town. This ship was captured inside a receiving dock.

The lovely and tall tui below was quite an artsy piece.

And, this detailed elephant looked over us as we walked past.



5/21/15

Ferrymead Heritage Park


It has a little Edwardian town with a school, shops and lots of other things from that era.



5/20/15

Aratiatia Rapids

It's getting colder and winter is coming so I am delving into the archives.

This is a shot as the spillway gates opened at the Aratiatia power station. 


Then it started bubbling! It was a wonderful color of blue.






~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday around the World


It's time again to show us your world, so blog about it and link up below!!




5/18/15

the view from here

If you sit on this bench at Kaupokonui, you will see...

this view of the ocean. I could sit there for hours.



5/17/15

Hawera Star building



The Hawera Star newspaper was first published in 1880. The first Hawera Star office burnt down in the fire of 1895, and was rebuilt on the same High Street site; they then moved to the present site in 1913. 


There are many art deco buildings around Taranaki, an influence from the rebuild in Napier after the deadly earthquake there. Many of these buildings are registered historic places and I enjoy the fact that many are still in use.


5/16/15

scenes from Hawera

It's a little tricky to get to the beach at Hawera, but Hubby is patient and helps me in those hard places so I can enjoy the scenes from the shore. He and I took these shots but I really don't know who took which today.









5/13/15

a walk along the water



smart swan


This swan waited for us to stop before s/he crossed the road. I was quite impressed!

This is my world this week. Show us what yours looks like. 

Link up your blog post below then take an armchair world tour with the other wonderful bloggers who link up with us each week!





5/12/15

wanganui fountain

The sun broke through as we passed this fountain on a roundabout in Wanganui. I like how the water stream was caught in the sunlight.





5/11/15

Wingrove Road, Pukengahu

These are a few more shots of the countryside.





I didn't know that the area of Pukengahu existed until I looked for the name of the road we took the other day. It seems that most of  Taranaki (and I assume the rest of the country, too) has Maori name for the spaces between towns.

For example, I discovered that we give directions to the house from one town and get mail delivery from another, yet we live in a Maori named region for voting purposes. Who knew...