Ironbank Building
The harsh midday sun casts deep shadows between the two “halves” of the Ironbank Building. Looking up from Cross Street/Karangahape Road Car Park.
March 25, 2013
March 24, 2013
Harvest Time
Harvesting Trees
Unlike the grape harvest (which is also happening, benefitting from the extended summery weather), this is more of a one-in-thirty years affair. Across the valley the plantation of pinus radiata is being harvested. That means waking up to distant hum of chainsaws and rattle of machinery. But Sunday is a day of rest.
March 23, 2013
Fencepost
Fencepost
In Methuen Road, New Windsor. The birds have detected and emptied the sunflower head.
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March 22, 2013
Kereru of the Day
Kereru (New Zealand Woodpigeon)
The berries of the cabbage tree are irresistible to these beautiful birds.
March 21, 2013
Scoria Wall
Scoria Wall, Waikaraka Park
Auckland has remains of over 50 volcanoes. Some of the volcanic rock is quarried and used in various ways, one of them being decorative walls. This is the wall separating Neilson Street, Onehunga, from Waikaraka Park (sports grounds and speedway venue). On a plaque we are reminded of the fact that from 1942 to 1945 this was the location of American barracks (a staging point for troups on the way to service in the Pacific, or on rest and recreation).
Read more about the American Invasion.
Scoria Wall, Waikaraka Park
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March 20, 2013
Let’s Go Shopping!
Giant Shopping Trolley
This outsize shopping trolley keeps watch over the intersection of Alfred and Neilson Streets, Onehunga. Until not so long ago, the inscription was “Faulkner Collins” – a manufacturer of wire products from shopping trolleys to plastic coated shelving. The building must have changed hands, and the new owners are specialists in “Reverse Logistics” — letting the shopping trolley run in reverse, if you look at the illustration on their descriptive page. (Providing an answer to the question: “What happens to all the hangers left behind in the shops after an afternoon’s fun by my fashion conscious half?”)
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March 19, 2013
Nikau
Nikau Flowering
Nikau palms (Rhopalostylis sapida) are NZ natives. Their leaf base encapsulates a bulbous growth cone, and when the leaf falls off, a flowering bract is revealed. In the picture above, the flowers have just emerged from the protective sheath. From our “garden”.
Nikau Flowering
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March 18, 2013
The Beach Ball
The Beach Ball
In the swimming pool at our friends’ B&B, the Scandinavian Light.
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March 17, 2013
March 16, 2013
The Platypus
The Lineup
… feels a bit outnumbered by Omi’s parade of the Easter bunnies on the kitchen cupboard.