New Zealand
On 07 Dec we drove to St Bathans, a gold town established in 1863. (1) The mud brick Vulcan Hotel is fab! (2) Pipes took water to the workings. (3) Blue Lake was originally 120m Kildare Hill which was mined to a 68m deep pit dubbed the 'glory hole'. Mining ceased in 1934 when the... Continue Reading →
Photos of the railway station in the town of Ranfurly in Central Otago, New Zealand taken 12 March 2022. In one of the photos you'll see plenty of bike racks ~although no trains arrive anymore, many cyclists enjoy a refreshment stop here while doing the extremely popular Central Otago Rail Trail. Click on any photo... Continue Reading →
"The Centennial Milk Bar is the iconic art deco building in Ranfurly. In its heyday it was a bustling place serving hungry passengers from the trains and afternoon teas and icecreams to the locals." ~from centralotagonz.com || Continuing Art Deco 01 that I posted yesterday, this is the main building that fronts the back yard... Continue Reading →
I've known ordinary hydrangeas since I was a child but oakleaf hydrangeas were unknown to me till a few years ago. I love them! We found this one in a pocket park near the railway line in Gore on 30 April. In the second pic you can also see the plant, beyond Nigel. Gore, Southland,... Continue Reading →
My favourite geranium flower, Rozanne, is so beautiful! To date she's never inhabited a garden of mine but I've admired her at garden centres. This afternoon I was delighted to find her beautiful blooms adorning a traffic island in Gore.. I was able to photograph them from the pedestrian crossing. Gore, Southland, New Zealand. ~Auckland... Continue Reading →
This morning I was surprised by a colourful sky outside and Nigel told me he'd already taken a photo. The colours were less bright by the time I got out but I still got a couple of interesting shots. The first pic is the bright shot taken by Nigel, looking east to the Blue Mountains... Continue Reading →
New tuatara in town.. bike rack. Near the library entrance in Invercargill. Southland, New Zealand.
Beautiful golden native kōwhai flowers outside the RSA today. Appears to be a deciduous form, that's what caught my eye first about a week ago - all these flowers and no leaves! We've had a few wintry days but it's still looking gorgeous. Tapanui, West Otago, New Zealand. Click on any photo to enlarge. Blossom... Continue Reading →
Two 1885 V class steam locomotives rescued; they've sat in a riverbed near Lumsden for more than 90 years. The first was hoisted out at the end of January 2020. The second (which the team initially thought they'd leave) was retrieved later, in February 2020. "In the wake of the First World War, the value... Continue Reading →
Evil snarling beast with wicked teeth.. "HOONIGAN" showed up as we were crossing the carpark. Tapanui, West Otago, New Zealand.
Saturday evening I saw our PM was to do a Covid announcement at 9pm. That had to be bad so I watched. Auckland immediately into alert Level 3, the rest of NZ into Level 2 ('immediately' is my word but the new alerts took effect from 6am Sunday). Level 2 limits gatherings to 100 people... Continue Reading →
Great cafe and gift shop at Mossburn (which is on the route to Fiordland). When Nigel was over that way for work on 24 November I asked him to check if this place is still open. Still very much open (yay!) and he was able to get refreshments there. Southland, New Zealand. Toad of Bracken... Continue Reading →
Exploring Colour 