TP 223: Fly!

Carmi's latest photographic theme is "Fly", which is rather timely for me as I flew up to Auckland last weekend. I had a window seat on the way home, and I indulged in a little photo-taking with the camera.

 Soon after we had climbed out of Auckland airport it was all cloud below- and I didn't think I was going to see very much of interest from my window seat.

 However, by the time we had reached the central North Island, much of the cloud had cleared, and Lake Taupo was clearly visible down below. I was mindful of friends who were in Taupo for the exertions of the round-the-lake cycle ride.

 At the southern end of the lake, a small part of Ngauruhoe poked its head out from cloud, but nearby Tongariro was largely swathed in white. Tongariro had put the wind up me just a few days before with a smallish unexpected eruption, and I hadn't been sure I would get to/from Auckland. However, all was well in the end. Apparently there were some gas emissions in all that cloud as we flew nearby, but no ash.

Ruapehu was unmistakeable. Scientists have warned that they are expecting a possible eruption from this volcano in the coming weeks.

 The crater lake is looking 'pristine' at present, and the snow is all very white looking. An eruption could change all this...

Once south of the volcanoes, we were flying over the Rangitikei region, and were soon landing down at Palmy airport. I love the view of the cliffs on the Rangitikei River from above.

PS Later in the weekend I might indulge in another Auckland post, with some more photos from the big city.

TP 222: rectangular

This week Carmi has set 'rectangular' as the theme for Thematic Photographic 222. And I've just spent a weekend up in central Auckland where there was a feast of rectangular sights to see.

I arrived in the city late morning and had time for a 'walkabout' before check-in at my hotel. I headed towards the waterfront area, then from there headed towards Victoria Park, before settling into my bedroom for the night on the 13th floor. Along the way these were a few of the rectangles I spied.

 Window frames maybe a standard shape, but the reflections they hold can vary in unexpected ways.

Down in the Wynyard Quarter was this walkway. You could climb up, climb down, walk along under.... I don't know if it ever had any other purpose, but the Wynyard area was like that- industrial but being made over to human-friendly.

With rectangles on my mind, I spied these 'seats'. At least I think they are meant to be used as seats.... industrial fragments meet the imagination down this part of the waterfront.

 As I headed back away from the water I passed many marine shops- and some 'wasteland'. Not sure what these were here for, but someone will know.

 One of the buildings was painted in stripes...

 What I love about looking up at city windows, is that so often 'straight' rectangles hold the most bizarrely disorganised reflections.

 This was the view from the tiny balcony on my abode for the night. I liked the variety of buildings- so many sizes and shapes of rectangles.

And this morning when I woke, there was a different quality in the light reflected on nearby buildings. This shot included reflected parts of St Patrick's Cathedral just up the hill. Again, the straight rectangular windows held reflections in such fragmented ways.

I've more Auckland photos I want to share. I'll be back later in the week...

Spider Web

I was working at home yesterday, and enjoyed seeing the sun shining on the deck. Then I noticed this spiderweb- which I am posting just cos I like it!

TP 221: Windows

Carmi's theme at Thematic Photographic this week is Windows. I've chosen two photos I took this past weekend on a trip down to Christchurch for a 21st birthday party. (Some of you will remember that Christchurch has had a series of devastating earthquakes.)

The 21st birthday party took place outside in a large courtyard at the back of the family home. One of the windows overlooking the party had been decorated with these lava lamps- inviting and quirky at the same time.

The second photo shows some of the damage to the catholic cathedral. The broken window here was part of one of the towers at the front of this building- which used to have a small dome on its top.

The combination of these two photos speaks to me of the way friends and family in Christchurch are seeking to support each other with warmth as they live with the devastation wrought on their city.

Birds at the Lagoon

Down at the Lagoon here in Palmy, there are still quite a lot of signs of spring. Even on a gloomy, slightly drizzly day, there was plenty to see...

 The lawns near the lagoon were thick with lush growth and many daisies, 

and the ducks of various kinds were mostly choosing land over water while I was there.

 And though the skies were grey, exquisite little feathers by the water's edge were like jewels.

 I was hoping I wasn't too late to see some very young coots with their very cute head colouring.

 I discovered there was even a coot still on a nest, so I will have to come back to see the chicks soon...

 And this family of swans with their cygnets was actively feeding. The parent swans dived deep into the water, and the young ones were able to feed on what was brought closer to the surface.

TP219: Somewhat worse for wear

Carmi's theme for this week is "Somewhat worse for wear". It took me a while to think about what to depict, as I didn't want to put something on here that was just old and sad looking...

It's possible all my readers will think this cushion is somewhat old and sad- but for me it is a most treasured possession. When I was about nine years old we got to do some craft at school, over a period of about ten weeks. The girls got to make a cushion with cross-stitch and the boys got taught how to knit a jersey! It took many weeks to do all the cross-stitch for the front of this cushion.

Then my mother found a piece of fabric I absolutely loved for the back of it. It was a delicate light green and I thought it was really pretty. She sewed it onto the front I'd made, and then made an inner with stuffing. I was in heaven with my precious finished cushion!

 As you can see, the material on the back of the cushion is now very much 'worse for wear'. I have thought about replacing the back, and tidying it all up. But then I decided quite firmly against doing that: the way it is, it holds very special memories of my mother.

And just to finish off- from the garden this afternoon when the sun finally emerged a little- here is a 'somewhat worse for wear' spider web on some 'somewhat worse for wear' flax leaves. They look as if they were made for each other...