Category: Location

Te Matau ā Pohe

It was a crisp clear winter’s morn

The town was still waking

The bridge was awash in early morning glory

Breathtaking beauty in a moment

Of luxury and peaceful contemplation

These moments are cherished

The moments where our existence

However minuscule is in perfect harmony

With the world around us.

 

Alison Jean Hankinson

 

Te Matau ā Pohe is the name of the bridge in Whangarei, it was opened on Saturday 27 July 2013. The bridge spans the Hatea River from Pohe Island to Port Road. Its name means the fish-hook of Pohe.

The symbolism of the fish-hook, it represents strength, good luck and safe travel across water.

This was written in response to d”Verse poetics. Link here:

d’Verse poetics abridged

I took the photos on the morning described, I had taken Ellen to work very early one winter’s morning and just had to pull over and take in the beauty of the moment.

#d’Verse

 

11.55 Piccadilly to London Euston…Christmas Eve.

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Is this seat taken?

I do hope not, it is such a long journey when you have to stand.

I was going to catch the earlier train but there was an accident on the M62.

Can I just squeeze past to put my bag on the rack, and then I’ll be out of your way,

I know how irritating it can be when people expect you to move.

Are you going to London too?

I do hope so.

It can be such good fun when you have company on a long and busy train journey.

You can get to know someone really well in such a short space of time…

Has the refreshment trolley been?

I do hope not, I was running late and didn’t get chance to get a bottle of water at the station.

Are you on facebook?

I do hope so…then I can add you as a friend….

 

In response to the Daily prompt. HOPE…please accept with goodwill….by the way I  always come equipped with way too many bags…..and can never find my ticket…

In my youth I worked at Piccadilly train station, as a Barista in the days before they were called Baristas……

Hopeful

The resilience of trees.

 

In response to the daily prompt Photo challenge.

This is one of a stand of Kauri trees at AH Reed memorial park Whangarei which we visited last week. Kauri trees grow for thousands of years. The size is not possible to fathom without human interaction. The largest living Kauri in NZ is Tane Mahuta and he majestically resides over towards Kai Iwi lakes in the Waipoua Forest and is about 1500-2000 years old.

They are the epitome of resilience, they have survived and bear witness to time beyond our time and understanding. When you stand beneath them you are made very aware of how short our existence and life is in real terms and how our plights and pleasures are relatively insignificant when put in true perspective next to such greatness. What would they say if they could talk.

Resilient

Portpatrick

Going out to dinner

Romantic you and me

I forgot my wallet

Hurry let us flee.

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Image- Wikimedia- Portpatrick- Photographer Arnold Price.

Sorry it probably isn’t the slightest bit poetic. We accidentally did this not once but twice in the same pub/restaurant…

It was New Year’s Eve and a group of us would brave the weather to travel to a tiny place called Portpatrick to experience a real Hogmany. We would arrive and were usually relatively “not sober” by dinner time and wandered around the few pubs and eating establishments rather merrily……my husband and I always ate our evening meal in the same hilltop restaurant on NYE, the first year we accidentally left without paying drunken and happy beneath the stars- we went back and paid later in the stay. The second year we were jovially recounting our tale-drunk as skunks in the harbourside bar when we suddenly realised we had done it again. We did return to pay the next day.

Flee

Beauty in the eyes of the beholder

Tutukaka and Wellington’s Bay from the Lookout point.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but I suspect you would find it hard to find someone to fault the beautiful day and the beautiful vistas. We took a trip out to what have been some of our favourite local haunts over the years. Tutukaka for lunch and to take in the Marina and the sound and smell of the boats, and then on to Wellington’s Bay which has always been our safe beach when the children were smaller and our family favourite. Today I wanted to visit the lookout point as I had never ventured there before. It was  a little windy to say the least but it was worth the effort and the views from the top were stunning. A good day to live. A good day to be out and about.

Musings on moons and life at 50.

So in one of the photos I am definately younger than now…confession over.

It has been one of the lowest weeks I have had in the last few years and I have no ryhme or reason why, except the moon was out of joint. I celebrated my 50th birthday in style and having surgery-staying in Ward 3 at Whangarei base Hospital, but the time to heal was interrupted by the kind of stuff that saps energy and confidence and replaces goodness with self-doubt and hurt. It is a long story and it will be told but in a different time and place. You meet all manner of people who’s journeys are equally painful in life and I am eternally thankful for the kindness of those souls who give compassion and love even when their own cup overfloweth with tragedy and despair.

The moon was to have its pull in many ways and there but for the grace of God. To all who suffered from the Earthquake in the south island and will continue to suffer from the harm of aftershocks, destruction, devastation, uncertainty and all the things that will follow in the coming months and years that will drain crush and need to be conquered. Our lives are complex and often the calamaties and crisis we face are not of our choosing.

We all have battles we did not chose to fight. We all have to continue to walk on with some semblence of dignity and pray that the kindness and spirit of those around us will continue to help us walk humbly onwards on our journeys into whatever uncertain futures we are heading towards.

I have been glad to move into a new week, and know that the newest phase of my life will bring joy and heartache. A single moment can alter the course of our lives so quickly and yet a similar small seemingly insignificant moment can enrich beyond all expectations. On this positive note- I got an A for my final assignment- a wonderful 87%…and I learned something new about my Dad and those moments are the best. So Sunshine on Leith it has been indeed this week.

Whangarei Love my Life Northland.

These are some images from this last month, whilst I have been out and about walking, mostly in and around the Town Basin but also at the Whangarei Falls. Northland is a beautiful place to live. The scenery is stunning from the wild and windswept vistas of Ocean’s Beach to picturesque coves and inlets at Tiaharuru, all sheltering amongst the giant embrace of Mount Manaia and Mount Aubrey. Whenever you reach the summit of the Brynderwyn’s heading northwards you can see its beauty and you know it calls you.

The Town basin and the sanctuary it provides has always been one of  my preferred go to haunts. It is a little bustling community of bingly-bongly shops, higher end gift boutiques and wonderful eateries, with a smattering of art galleries, beautiful gardens, unusual architecture and the ever present bohemian appeal of boats from afar moored in the safe confines of the harbour.

It is a town that knows its place and isn’t afraid to try something new and reinvent itself. It is a town with pride and more than its fair share of artists and artisans all seeking to maintain its quirkiness and individuality.

It is simply stunning at this time of year, the sun shines and everything looks bright and vibrant the flowers are in bloom, the flax flowers entice the Tui, and the banks and bushes along the river and estuary are teeming, full of song and new life. A stroll along the new Hatea Loop reveals hidden treasures, a derelict pier, some fine sculpture. an adult playground with gym equipment, some excellent outdoor artwork and the occasional glimpses of Heron’s and Cormorants feeding close-by.

Whangarei, Love my Life Northland.

What Folly is this?

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What is a folly?

a costly ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park.

Well we used to have them in the UK, Dallam tower was a folly just behind the school I first taught at. It was my understanding that it was a Victorian concept, it wasn’t so much a fake or mock up but a tribute to something that was a much larger creation or edifice

Our folly is for the great Hundertwasser project. Whangarei is great fan of Hundertwasser and is set to create a beautiful piece of architecture based on designs made in the Hundertwasser style. It divided a community.Many thought the idea was ludicrous and the building would look ridiculous. I quite liked the idea, a bit of higgledy-piggledy add a splash of colour, who can possibly object to that?

So is it really a folly? It is ornamental and serves no other purpose than to be aesthetically pleasing…but it that the case? It should be a tourist draw-card and make us all feel a little bit better about our town and our lives. Hayley has been working in the Fudge Farm, a delightful little shop at the Town Basin, it serves simply the best ice-cream in town and as we made our first homage to the Folly, we stopped for a lemoncurd small cone and she said it had been “busy as” all weekend. The car park and occupied tables back this theory up to. So perhaps it isn’t a folly after all. Perhaps it is a Wislly instead, something ornamental that has a wise purpose. Love to all. XXXX