golden

 Two views of Broadbeach on the Gold Coast - the beach and the river.

We've had a short trip to Australia to visit my husband's mother - who is ninety-one and just decided it's time she gave up international travel.

For those of you in Auckland Fabric-a-brac is happening again on Saturday 5 September 9.00 - 12.30 at a new venue - St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont St, Ponsonby. See you there.

Reading: Until further notice, I am alive by Tom Lubbock
and Style council : inspirational interiors in ex-council homes by Sarah Thompson.

kaikoura

Five days in the South Island. Best place - Kaikoura - a small seaside town surrounded by snowy mountains. We went there to see whales and were lucky enough to see sperm whales and humpbacks as well as Hector's dolphins and albatross. I really wanted to see whales in their natural habitat and whenever we're walking along clifftops near the sea I'm always looking out for whales but I've never seen any. But even though the whales were great the fur seals were my favourite. They were everywhere along the coastline swimming and lazing in the sun on the rocks and you can get quite close to them. So cute.

Reading: The buddha of suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. This was written in 1990 and made into a four-part TV serial. Have you seen it? I'd love to.

winter picnic

We took our little van down to the Clevedon Farmers' Market a couple of weekends ago and stocked up on fresh salad greens and tomatoes, spicy sausage, local cheeses and bread. Then we found this spot on the road to Maraetai to tuck in to our simple picnic feast. That's Waiheke Island across the water. It felt like an adventure - that we'd discovered a hidden treasure - and not that far from the big city.

Reading: Fashionable Selby by Todd Selby. This is a great book. The best quote is "Cats are like living ornaments that don't need dusting" said by designer Natalie Gibson who has twelves cats - Cool Dude, Blondie, Pansy Puffball, Precious, Scaredycat, Orlando, Florence, Sweet Lorraine, Tiger Lily, Archie, Smokey Robinson and Monroe (who was originally called Marilyn until it was revealed she was a tom cat). Meet Natalie here.

Watching: Fargo (TV series) and Borgen

forty-six days later ...

Easter is the last long weekend in New Zealand to get away before the weather turns colder so we headed off in our van to the winterless North again for a few days at Pataua South and Mangawhai. It was too cold for me to swim in the sea but we did lots of walking including part of the Te Araroa trail along the clifftop at Mangawhai. On our last day at Pataua we ate the best ever hot chips bought from the campground store on their last day open until Boxing Day. Sadly we didn't have the same luck at our favourite ice cream shop at Waipu Cove. It was already closed for winter.

- footbridge over the Pataua River
- bach at Pataua North
- view from our campsite of the estuary and sandbar at Managwhai at dusk
- the village butchery at Matakana

This is my first post since 11 March. It's been so long I even forgot my password. I've had a sort of photography equivalent of writers' block. I was (and still am a bit) feeling stuck.

Anyhow, the big blog break has given me a longer list of reading to share with you:
The guest cat by Takashi Hiraide - beautiful simple story about a couple's friendship with a neighbour's cat
The Rosie project by Graeme Simsion - popular novel about an autistic man's search for love
Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton - interesting photos of people taken on the streets of New York
Letters of note: correspondence deserving of a wider audience compiled by Shaun Usher
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell - 1982 in a village in Worcestershire as told by a 13 year old boy

taranaki

These are my favourite photos from a few days of camping in New Plymouth. The first two pics were taken on the coastal walkway - our "best thing to do" in New Plymouth - although we did eat some nice meals and drank some good coffee and enjoyed the rhododendrons at Pukeiti.

The third photo/second beach is Oakura Beach where Tom Cruise stayed while filming The last samurai in 2003. The locals still talk about it.

And the last one was taken somewhere along the Forgotten World Highway on our way to the tiny, remote settlement of Whangamomona. The locals declared the town a republic in 1988 after a boundary dispute with local government. The town's most famous resident was Billy the goat - the first animal to be elected as president.

dancing queen

We were in Australia last week staying in Melbourne and Apollo Bay. One of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting the Cape Otway lightstation. The photos show the road into the lightstation, one of the many koalas that live in the gum trees in the area, the lighthouse built in 1848 and the view from the top deck of the lighthouse. In the 1880s it must've been an isolated wild place. It's hard to imagine that Mary Anne Ford, the wife of one of the lighthouse keeper's from 1848-1878, birthed seven children on her own and managed to feed them all on rations delivered once every twelve months.

It was also a surprise - as it seemed so out of place - to discover the delicate pink wallpaper. It was a Christmas gift to the daughters of a lighthouse keeper back in the 1960s. A small piece was left intact during the restoration of the lighthouse and surrounding buildings. Did those little girls dream of ballerinas? Did they grow up to be dancers? Or, maybe, they became lighthouse keepers themselves?

Reading A sight for sore eyes by Ruth Rendall + Listening to Desire lines by Camera Obscura

through windows

Here are some iphone photos taken on last week's South Island holiday. The first two are a couple of shots taken from the car while driving from Haast to Greymouth. I like the out of focus blurriness of them. Most of that part of the trip was like that as we drove through mist and rain. But it wasn't all bad weather. I put some sunnier landscapes on instagram.

The last two photos (also taken through windows) are of Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer Springs that closed in 2003.

north

We've had a few lovely, sunny, cold, misty days up North staying on the Hokianga.

- mist on the harbour
- sunset at Omapere
- cobweb
- magical tree of cobwebs somewhere between Opononi and Rawene
- fishing boats on the Waihou River

Reading Travels with Epicurus: a journey to a Greek island in search of a fulfilled life by Daniel Klein

and repeat

 

Another good weekend away in Northland again but this time in a hired campervan.

- red-billed gull
- from the lookout at Matauri Bay
- agapanthus, Te Ngaere 
- ice plant succulent growing on the dunes at Te Ngaere

Reading A slow passion: snails, my garden and me by Ruth Brooks

a good weekend

We left the city for the weekend to celebrate a birthday and catch up with family. We ate well, enjoyed good company, tried the local wine and drove home the long way.

- on the road near Ruawai
- steer with panda eyes
- hens at Ake Ake vineyard, Kerikeri
- oranges at a roadside stall near Kerikeri
- on the road to Maungaturoto
- a sheep called Eric
- grapevines at Ake Ake
- old Raupo ferry landing on the Northern Wairoa River 

 Christchurch

 Christchurch

 Christchurch cathedral

 Lakes Alexandra and Tekapo taken from Mt John observatory on a misty afternoon. 

Mt John is a designated international dark sky preserve.

 Lake Tekapo, the following day. 

Taken from the car on the road to Dunedin, near Twizel.

As you can see I've had a few days away in the South Island - flying to Christchurch and then driving to Dunedin via Lake Tekapo. It's the first time I've been back to Christchurch since the earthquakes and it was quite a shock to see the damage to the city centre and also to Lyttelton. We were lucky to go to a Lawrence Arabia concert held in the beautiful old wooden St Michaels and All Angels church built in 1871 and now probably one of Christchurch's oldest buildings left standing.