KT and Coffee: Auckland

Showing posts with label Auckland. Show all posts

Wake up and smell the roses

Walking around the roses always makes me think of my mum and then my nan. So it's a happy time, but I miss them so. This time I also thought of our first trip to Wellington where I sought out the rose garden in the Botanical Gardens. I took photos of nearly all of them to share and show my mum. Back in Auckland we have the Rose Garden in Parnell as well as the Botanical Gardens, so really never far from my mum and nan at all.

Auckland Botanic Gardens 2015

My 2008 Rose Collection. When sharing photos of Roses the names come to life in the same way the fragrance does when you walk by them. These are all from my Flickr photo stream, so you should be able to see the title if you hover or some internet magic thing. These were taken with a Casio EX-Z1000 and I can pretty much guarantee back then I would have been shooting on auto.

Onto 2012 and the Rose Garden at Parnell. Here I am playing with the Hipstamatic app on the phone. the phone has added a whole new world to my photography but in even in the short time since I took these photos so much has changed.

Day twenty six. Sweet

Sweet As

16th

Look Down

A sort of weeks
Sadness
Newness
Learning
Firsts
Memories
and
Smiles
with the
Tears

Second breakfast
To restore the soul
Coffee
with a
Face

August Break 2014 Day 16

2nd

Pattern.
I paid attention today and the train station (and the train) gave me pattern galore.
But we managed so much more
Lawn mower taken for repair
Coffee and early lunch in a new place
Dropping the car and taking the train
Strolling and shopping here
An afternoon movie watched here before the train home

What super power do you wish for?

That question can come up from time to time, usually as a 'getting to know you' type session, or a drunken conversation or maybe just for fun. I use it to also get a point across. It's litter. There is no need and my super power would be in the form of a litter monitor. Maybe I would drop in as the litter drops and vanquish the foolish people with some stunning ray of light….or maybe, as I do now, just pick the litter up and put it in a bin.
I thought I was the only soul with this passion but it appears not. There are folks who got out more armed and prepared than me. Real super heroes. Take a peak at Instagram and the #DoNotLitter, look here in particular and join in,

This litter was all piked up on a little stroll around Cornwall Park on a stunning Saturday morning,not too much, but still, no need.

Surprise Saturday

Our challenge through the winter months and to prevent Auckland fever that can sometimes hit, we have devised Surprise Saturday. The Saturday after each pay day - (now UK folks that is fortnightly for me, six years on I cannot imagine how I coped with monthly pay) we take it in turns to arrange a day trip

Adam was first up and was feeling the pressure, when we stepped out into a glorious day he doubted his choice but stuck with his plan. I had my suspicions as to where we were heading, but no, we are driving past the Domain and and into the city.

We haven't been to the Maritime Museum for years and I have long said it is a favorite of mine. True, it's the immigration stories rather than the boat 'stuff' that mean the most to me.....I wonder why.

The question of 'why' is as pertinent now as it was then. The people and the stories are real. My own story is easy when you look at the bunks the people slept in for weeks at a time, the time the journey took is incredible when we now just hop on a plane and wish we were closer than 24hours to our family and friends.

This trip I was also engrossed in the navigation details (all my Antarctic reading perhaps) and the new exhibition on Sir Peter Blake, an iconic kiwi who until Saturday I knew very little about.

The highlight of the surprise, as the sun glistened on the water was a journey out onto the waters on the Ted Asbhy.

Ted Ashby is a ketch-rigged deck scow, typical of the fleet of scows that once operated in northern New Zealand waters.

Thank you Maritime Museum but I have no idea what those words mean. To me it was a boat with lots of sails, that looked very flash in the sun.

Time in or on the water is restorative and when you add in a lively crew, the opportunity to help hoist the sails (seven of them) you are onto a winner. The logistics and the ropes fascinated me, mesmerised I almost missed the bungee jumpers as we sailed under the harbor bridge.

We ended our Saturday with this movie to keep to our maritime theme and in a fortnights time it's my turn to find the surprise.

A long long weekend

Having decided to stay local for our leave, that is what the holiday felt like. A long, long weekend.

Porridge in bed
Soaked up the wisdom at the Auckland Writers Festival
Feeding the ducks at Western Springs
Exploring here
Cat time
Made some cookies
Using this site to make a photo book
Lots of gardening
Getting a WOF on the car
Cleaning house and enjoying the new sofa
Dinner with friends and discovering a word game I might actually like
Camping in the van for two nights here
Painting the bathroom bright yellow
Acted like tourists here
Swimming in the sea (yes, in May, in New Zealand)
Falling asleep in the sun
Sitting on the beach watching the the sky changing to dark
Signed up for this course
Walked here

Weekending in extreme over 14 days.

To the Zoo

Our annual Auckland Zoo pass has been well used. This time it's with a friend and her son. He leads the way and as we have a child in tow I don't see why we can't wear the Tasmanian Devil mask and do the quiz and learnt a lot about Tasmanian Devils - did you know they sleep for around 19 hours a day.

Of course Adam had the mask first

The new Tasmanian Devil at the zoo

Share that mask

Lunch time

My turn with the mask

The prize for the best mask face

The motley zoo crew

A night time interlude

Back in March when the world was spinning so fast and we whirled about with joy and gusto with guests we also managed a night time photography workshop. It's been a pleasure learning about photography and Adam is a very patient teacher. This was one of those special deal things and I didn't rate it that much but it was a different way to spend a weekday evening. With my little cannon I clicked away. What did I learn...a tripod and shutter release cable are essential, that and keep trying oh and of course what you like the look of the person you are standing next to really might not. These photos are just as they were taken, no tweaking or filtering malarkey.