Down by the Riverside

 It's hard to believe we are still having so much lovely weather this winter. The ground is sodden underfoot after several nights with heavy rain, but daytime conditions have mostly been partly sunny and calm. This afternoon there were a few drizzly patches, but there was still plenty of time to get outside along the river for a walk.

 A work party from the Council seems to have been chopping up branches etc, and a few piles of  chopped wood were dotted around.  I realise I have a bit of a 'thing' for taking photos of chopped up firewood!

 Here is a view of the Manawatu River itself, with such lovely brown tones along its banks.

 Winter trees always look better with blue skies! The cliffs behind run alongside the river.

 And here's a view that shows more of the cliffs.

A few people have houses up near the cliff edge. Not sure how/why permission was ever granted, as you could take bets on how long they've got before the cliff slips away into the river...

And here's another 'winter tree with blue skies' shot to finish off with. I know I enjoyed these winter moments of happiness while I was out walking... Palmy Pride!

177: riverside in winter

Another lovely winter's day. Bit drizzly at times, but often gently sunny with no wind. The ground is sodden though, as the rain has fallen heavily overnight.

The cliffs behind are looming up from the Manawatu River.
You can see more photos from this riverside walk here.

176: winter sun

Winter sunshine in the Square this morning.

175: rain puddle

Yesterday morning it was dark and raining hard. This morning was much more pleasant, with reflections in yesterday's puddles...

173: a special corner

A special corner on my lounge wall- includes my Compostela and some Camino photos from France and Spain. This time three years ago was the day I arrived in Astorga, with the mountains ahead heralding that I was coming to the end of a very long walk...

170: reflections

I was downtown today in a street I am not often in, and noticed the reflection of a building on these windows.

169: looks like winter

Looks like winter, feels like winter.... but it is nearly the Shortest Day after all.

167: Mandarin Season

Yum. Delicious. NZ-grown Satsuma Mandarins are in season and plentiful.

166: Cosy Animals

 

After the children had all gone, I realised that somebody had made sure that the animals in the book corner were all cosy together for the night. 

159: Night spacehip

I arrived a little early for my night class, and took a photo of the petrol station over the road. It made me think of a spaceship and aliens...

Random Collection

 First three photos are from last weekend's short walk down by the river, near the Ruahine St entrance to the walkway. You can see there were lots of active striders out and about- but I was just a dawdler.

 I had to take this photo as I saw it in the process of whizzing past me. It reminded me of the 'shadow' pics we used to take on the Camino.

 And here is one of the many 'dog walkers' down by the riverside.

Back home, I was pleased to see the sunshine still out, so took a photo of my shell/stone collection on the deck.

Last week I was teaching a class that were experimenting with cameras- and I was more than happy to share that experience with them. Here is a random shot I took in the classroom when talking to them about 'interesting angles'.

 Yesterday I was in the Square, and saw this duck waddling in the autumn leaves.

Today I thought it was going to be raining, and that I would be indoors. But when I finished a morning swim, the sun was shining gloriously, and it seemed like it was t-shirt weather. I decided to head out for a cycle ride across town, and wanted to use this shared cycle/footpath along Pioneer Highway. Lovely to be separate from the cars.

 Eventually I found my way down to the river, and after passing by Panieri Park I ended up stumbling down to this lovely isolated section of the river. Obviously dog owners know it well, but it was the first time I had been there. I am sure I will be back: it felt like I was a million miles away from the city.  And you can see I was not the only one who thought it was t-shirt/cycling weather.

And I will leave you with this view down over the stopbank to the river at Dittmer Drive. Another good place for a picnic, and not far from the Lido at all. And as it turned out, it was 21C today, a June record around here. No wonder I wanted to wear a t-shirt!

156: River browns

I went for a swim this morning, thinking I might do some indoor jobs afterwards. But the sun was shining, it was calm, and everything was announcing 't-shirt weather'. So I changed plans and took off out for a decent long cycling route around town. I ended up down by the river near Panieri Park and Buick Crescent, cycling past some parts of the Manawatu River I simply hadn't seen before.

155: Posters

It is quite dreary outside this morning- no sun- bare trees- looks like winter. So it was good to see this cheerful lot of posters that promise some varied winter entertainment.

153: Farewell Flowers

I was given this beautiful unexpected gift today - this lovely bunch of vibrant flowers. 

Thank you!