Enjoying Leithen

Marooned on an island. Leithen picnic area, West Otago, New Zealand. Via Nigel, 19 Jan 2020.

Pomahaka River, Leithen

We did a little bit of local exploring yesterday afternoon. I remembered seeing a sign to a picnic area near Heriot so we drove there and found a turn-off (to 'Leithen Picnic Area'). Initially it was a sealed road through farmland, then became a gravel road through forest and suddenly we arrived at a lovely...

These Hills of Gold

Driving back to Tapanui via Moa Flat yesterday we suddenly came upon these golden slopes, probably brassica flowers from a farm crop. Those are the Blue Mountains in the distance, behind Tapanui. West Otago, New Zealand. Nigel got a nice photo of the view so I've done a 1600px-wide image. Click on the photo to...

Indigenous Australia

I had little to offer in terms of indigenous perspective on the current bushfire situation but I thought you might be interested in the few stories I'd found. Then two more articles became available while I was still completing the post! STOP PRESS: Just as I was proof-reading my post I noticed a tweet linking...

Mediterranean Garden

These are photos I took in the Mediterranean Garden at Dunedin Botanic Gardens on the evening of 24 November 2019. The vertical was over-exposed and with my basic editing skills I couldn't retrieve the colour. I knew other bloggers have had success playing with effects on 'bin' photos so I had a go and it...

Current Affairs

The bookstore in the fire-ravaged village of Cobargo, New South Wales, has a new sign outside: “Post-Apocalyptic Fiction has been moved to Current Affairs.” I used to work as a librarian so was particularly taken with the above line which was taken from an excellent opinion piece in the New York Times. The whole purpose...

#AustraliaBurns

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to comprehend what's going on in Australia. I've read so much recently via twitter i.e. tweets and the articles they point to. Various photos and video clips. My eyes feel tired. In a way none of it makes sense to me. Australia is such a big and well-resourced country and...

Down By The River

Down by the Clutha River or Mata-Au, this post continues our exploration at Horseshoe Bend - I've already posted about the historic bridge. I took all my photos close to the river and bridge so these are they and I'll put Nigel's in a separate post. Horseshoe Bend is near Millers Flat, Central Otago, New...

South of Taieri Mouth

We'd left Taieri Mouth, driving along south coast when we found this tidy verge and pine hedge with view to sea (left). Assuming farmer looks after this. Nigel 08 Dec.

Taieri Mouth, New Zealand

Welcome to Taieri Mouth. "Stay, Play & Enjoy". The welcome you get when arriving from Waihola. South Coast. Photo taken by Nigel.

Having New Eyes

I'm all enthused about 'landscapes' which is unusual for me. The word 'landscape' gets way overused, appearing in all sorts of contexts that have nothing to do with real landscapes.  November Square-A-Day Landscapes  by Jill Kuhn is a wonderful exception - this is my reblog of her 02 Dec post. Thank you Jill Kuhn for...

Akatore Creek

We took the south coast route last weekend when driving home from Dunedin. Between Taieri Mouth and Milton we came across this lovely river and stopped to look around and take photos. It's a really pretty spot. This is back country, gravel road, single-lane bridge territory. South Otago, New Zealand. Photos 1-2,4-5 by Nigel; photos...