
Mount Albert Railway Station
A low angle on Mount Albert train station.
Meeting House
Pictures of the meeting house at Te Noho Kotahitanga, the marae of Unitec Institute of Technology. Design by master carver Lyonel Grant. You may note the shoes left outside the building – protocol requires shoes to be removed when entering the meeting house.
Detail
Detail
Pyrostegia Venusta
Pyrostegia venusta, or flame vine, brings bright orange into our winter. Originally from Brazil, this plant seems to be classed a weed in some parts, but I don’t think this is the case in NZ. This is a fence along Mount Albert Road.
Glassed in Walkway
The first stage of the Mount Albert station upgrade is completed. Auckland Transport invites to a ribbon cutting and fun family festival on the carpark opposite, on Saturday, July 6, from 10am to 3pm. Complete with bouncy castle, a vertical bungee, free sausage sizzle, candy floss and popcorn, clowns …
Incorporated in the design is an artwork entitled “Owairaka“, designed by Henriata Nicholas and Marc Lenton.
Owairaka (Henriata Nicholas and Marc Lenton)
Security with a Smile
Might get wet after all
Finishing Touches
Mount Albert Train Station
Cloud patterns in the sky (altocumulus, mackerel sky), and decorative patterns on the glass enclosure of the access way to the platform from the Carrington Road bridge. There will be more pictures of this station once the work is completed and all orange cones and security fences have gone. (You can see in the image that the access is fenced off.)
More Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site!
Ferndale House, Mount Albert
As you drive from St Lukes to Mount Albert along Great North Road, No 830 is conspicuous by its stately Norfolk pines. The building is less obvious, set back from the street. This is Ferndale House, a heritage building now owned by Auckland City, available as Community Venue (Historical Society to Tarot Guild), and for weddings and other functions.
Built in the 1860’s.
Ferndale House, Detail
Welcoming the USA Team
To show that we are good sports in this country (and probably also to bring some colour into what would otherwise be a town decked out in all black), the “Adopt-a-second-team” initiative was launched. Different suburbs are allocated one of the visiting teams as second favorite team. In the case of Mount Albert it is USA, with stars and stripes aflutter. With blue, white and red, and tongue in cheek, Carolyn of Le’ Chapeau Millinery on New North Road extends her stylish welcome. Compliments – or should I say: tip of the hat!
(Oh, I am talking Rugby World Cup here – even this blogger can’t escape the fun and games of the occasion. By the way, the USA won their first game on Thursday night: USA 13 – Russia 6.)
For more weekend reflections, go to James’ Weekend Reflections site.
To Bea or not to Bea
It’s now in Mount Albert. The hat that raised so many a question mark. But don’t come to me for answers, they (and more questions) can probably all be found on facebook. But if you want instructions, you may wish to speak to Carolyn of Le’ Chapeau Millinery at 822 New North Road, Mount Albert, where you can enrol in workshops. Since unveiling this window display, she fielded many a comment and reaction. And graciously posed for me as well in the image below. Thanks Carolyn.
The late afternoon sun shone in from the west, just what was needed for a Weekend Reflection. For more weekend reflections, go to James’ Weekend Reflections site.
Pictures of the original hat and its wearer may be found at the Ministry of Gossip.
Edit after breakfast: I just notice that this morning’s New Zealand Herald has a story about this hat, too.
Carolyn at Le' Chapeau Millinery
Long White Cloud
The most widely accepted Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, often translated as “Land of the long white cloud”.
The other day when I was on top of Mount Albert, I caught sight of that cloud, as shown above. Obviously, there were a few other clouds casting their shadows at the time.
More Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site!