4th

Orange
I never really thought about oranges
but now I see them growing
oodles 
on trees
not my trees, but friends trees
who deliver, bags of oranges
heavy bags
oodles of oranges
that scent, the bright colour, the warmth they bring
to winter
I never thought they were a winter fruit
but it makes so much sense
nature. seasons. all very clever really
when you think about it
I love the imperfections
the muffins we make
that freshly squeezed juice that kick starts the day
orangeness


August Break 2014 day 4

Back to the Zoo

With Joni Mitchell's 'The Circle Game' playing away in my head I see through this blog time going around and along. Back here and here  we headed to the Zoo with Poppy. A friends little girl. Both times it's been winter and last time it was August so took a staring role in the August Break. Here we are again. This time it was Poppy and her sister Willow. Where are my years going.

The girls devoured the sushi for lunch. For a child free couple they were a dream to feed

We've all been to the zoo a few times, but still needed help to get to the kiwis

Every single water fountain had to be used. This day wasn't so much about the animals 

The sushi wasn't enough......

Very willing participants in my desire for photos of footwear

The marvel of the timer option. We had several attempts and gave up in the end

A traditional part of a zoo trip. Sit on elephant and have photo taken

Winters sun and seals. 

Walk 13 - Karangahake Gorge

An escape from the city, a good run in the new car and exploring Indiana Jones style. Boy do I love my weekends. Winter has given us another blue sky kind of day and it's Karangahake Gorge. This is a seriously interesting place. An historic walkway, a cycle track, loads of tunnels to explore, bridges and  ruins of the old mine. I should also mention the free parking. We completed the tunnels walk and had come equipped with better torches than last time so could have a really good look. My mind jumped from Harry Potter (chamber of secrets), Alien, Lord of the Rings (they call it a mine) and then any scary movie in the dark. Then of course I started on what action to take if an earthquake were to hit while we were inside the mountain/mine tunnels. Of course none of this actually detracts from a fabulous day out and a wee walk. Really do need to be a bit more energetic but still so exhausted after work can't really find the energy for much more.

Walk 12 - Maraetai

Not long, not tough, not much effort but it was outside and involved walking. Every little helps I reckon . After a brief stop in Clevedon it was along to Maraetai for a beach walk. More photos of shoes, I even tried shoes of strangers, but still don't quite have the hang if that. Being a winter's day in Auckland there were people swimming in the sea. Well I saw one person. We ate our lunch on the beach. Walked. Then refreshed ourselves with coffee. Then for some reason on the way home we brought a new car. All rather exciting really.

Auckland Zoo

A sunny Saturday in winter and when I say winter, this is the type of winter you can wear a t shirt and just have a warmer top in case. It was a glorious day and off to the zoo we go. Auckland Zoo is a popular place so we walked with a crowd towards the entrance. This reminded me of arriving at Disneyland Paris bringing on another homesickness pang.
To take my mind of that I took lots of photos, but I have a lot to learn about photography and it turns out animals are a challenge. I think I like the flamingo ones best. I became obsessed by peoples shoes but didn't manage any photos of those either.
Either way, a great time at the zoo was had and another day without alcohol - July is still Dry

Will we see any of Adam's photos, that is the question frequently asked of this animal

There were a lot of converse seen today but I became rather conscious of taking photos of strangers so Adams feet it is

Walk 11- Piha

A wild, windy and wet day in Auckland. Of course we could have stayed in bed, or moved to the lounge and curled up in front of the fire, reading. But no, the beach called. I needed windy. I needed to walk in the rain. Piha beach is a classically wonderful west coast beach. The wind pushed along the beach one way as we jumped into the streams and compared the waterproof nature of our shoes (I won). I struggled with the camera in a tricky light, trying to capture the wild nature and the crazy wind blowing us around. The walk back the rain was actually moving horizontally, my right side was soaked. I have a great coat as well as good shoes so I felt snug and well wrapped up, though my legs were starting to feel the chill of the rain.

Of course wild New Zealand does have it's fair share of marvellously placed cafes so after the walk we sneaked a corner seat in the Piha Cafe. Deservedly popular on a wild Sunday, we partook in a classic margarita pizza, crumble, coffee and hot chocolate before heading back to be curled up in front of the fire with a movie to help us slide through the afternoon and into Sunday evening.

Wet but still dry......
Donate to my Dry July Challenge here

The wind winning

The dog having the time of it's life

The beach goes on forever 

Warmed ginger syrup with milk

Coffee and crumble

My lovely man 

Twenty-second

There is a pile of washing, a fair amount of housework and even more garden jobs to be done, so what do we do, we head out of Auckland, nip to the Coromandel and walk up the Pinnacles. Oh boy, it was tough. Tougher than I thought, with some rather scary, well out of my comfort zone bits thrown in. But we had the track to ourselves, stunning winter weather and those amazing views.  Number 18 maybe,  and while it was hard work and scary at times, each step I took and particularly those I struggled with, I appreciated the ability to be there, do it, to be alive and well.

While I get rather scared on a swing bridge, Adam loves them

I look up to distract myself from the constant never-ending uphill 

I keep looking and can't seem to work out how I can possibly climb to the top

The climbing is getting exciting now

Looking down

At the summit

On the way down