More autumn

Another autumn walk, taking in more of the river path this time. There wasn't any sunlight for the photos- but in another week (or two) I am aware the leaves might be mostly gone from some of these trees. The day didn't look all that inviting from my bedroom, but it was actually warm enough, and the rain didn't happen. (Maybe if I hadn't taken my raincoat it would have poured down...

(Strava still doesn't seem quite right at present. My pace in the first km was slower than that, but also I walked further along the river track, then returned, before I headed up stairs to the carpark by the train shed. Not sure why that bit doesn't even show. I am pretty sure I walked more like 3km.)

 The piles are in place for the new cycle/walkway over the river onto a path that will eventually go as far as Linton.

 Soon the cherry trees will be bare until spring time arrives again...

Footnote: After this walk I had a special event to go to- a workshop for World Dance Day- organised by Tania Kopytko with an Indian Dance teacher, and a Nepali dancer. So interesting, and such a lovely group to be part of for two hours. But I was tuckered out in the evening!

Autumn in the Esplanade

Yesterday was very windy, but today has been beautifully sunny and calm- perfect for a Sunday afternoon stroll in the Esplanade with my camera. It was interesting to find out how far I typically walk when I wander there- Strava tells me 1.73km - as I had no idea.

It was autumn photos I took today: the deciduous trees were very colourful.

autumn advances...

Autumn is moving slowly onwards.

autumn tree in the Esplanade, Palmerston North

I feel the need to grab it in both arms- as when I return home in July, we will be in the depths of winter.

autumn leaves, Esplanade

And it still seems almost too strange when I think that next week I will see some beautiful blossom trees... springtime in Paris...

subtle autumn

It is all a wee bit strange at present, noticing just the first changes of autumn around me. So far, the changes have mainly been quite subtle, though in places the deciduous trees are starting to look more obviously autumnal. The strangeness comes from the fact that I know when I reach Paris in less than three weeks now, I am going to be plunged headlong into spring, with blossoms blooming, and leaves budding out in spring green. But then when I start walking at a higher altitude, I will 'step back' again towards winter where some trees might still be quite bare.

But for now, I am still home in the southern hemisphere, in the subtle part of autumn. Out walking this morning I even saw a tree in full blossom- a native lacebark, which rather unusually does flower profusely in autumn.

And back home in my garden, I looked at the magnolia that is the first garden tree to blossom when the spring arrives. Its leaves are only just showing the first signs of autumnal browning, but when I looked closely, I was surprised to see the buds that will burst forth in a few months time are already forming.

This blog will have a little hiatus soon. For those of you who want to follow a little of my exploits in France, I will try and blog when I can at another blog, Festina Lente.

138: Three seasons

Quite suddenly, after the winds of recent days, more than a few deciduous trees are now quite bare, giving a wintry look to the surroundings. But, strangely, there are still a few roses in bloom, and in the background here, a tree still holds onto its autumnal leaves. 

131: Morning Light

a school fitness trail, early morning

One  of the things I love about mornings in late autumn is the gentle quality of the light. And it is angled low, casting interesting shadows.

126: Victoria Avenue

I put up a photo of the view down Victoria Avenue just a few days ago,  but today it is looking even more autumnal. Soon those leaves will all have fallen.... but for now it was a glorious arcade of colour to drive through.

124: Autumn advances

After a swim I popped into the Esplanade for a short walk. Autumn is advancing and the deciduous trees are mostly laden with coloured leaves. A few trees though, like this large one near the playground, have already adopted their bare winter look.

123: Joseph St Kitchen

The sun has returned and it is like a summer's day today- t-shirt weather. I jumped on my cycle and went to a friend's "Joseph St Kitchen". Apart from his great hot chocolate and afghans, he has done fascinating things with the decor.  This is the view out one window, through some autumn grape vine leaves.

April Selection

I am aware that quite a few of my readers have opposite seasons to the ones we have here in the Southern Hemisphere. As you have been greeting the emergence of spring from your sometimes very cold snowy winters, we have been watching autumn take hold. Here is just a random selection from this past April, our autumn.

This first picture shows the Pacific Monarch, a sculpture by local artist Paul Dibble, outside Te Manawa, the local art gallery. Yes, there is also a big bug on the wall of the gallery, but not a real one. The bicycle in the bike stand is mine: I have become quite confident back on the bike again.

Next photo is at a friend's house. I was helping to get a photo slideshow ready for a 21st birthday and got distracted by the laundry hanging outside... but you can see the autumn tree in behind... (You think taking laundry shots is weird? I think friends and family are getting used to me taking shots in their kitchens!)

At the Esplanade autumn is making its mark, and this couple are enjoying a walk through this arcade of trees where the leaves are changing colour and starting to fall.

 There were still plenty of colourful flowers in the Esplanade though, and sometimes where the light fell in gaps in the trees, the flowers greeted the sunlight in profusion.

This next river shot was taken on Sunday 24th, when everything was calm and sunny, and there was lots of gravel at the river's edge for families to wander on and for dogs to play on.

Just four days later the river presented a very different mood. After a couple of days rain, the river was flowing very full and swiftly. There was no gravel spot left to play on for the time being...

Just a few days later though and blue skies have returned. Here is the clocktower in the Square showing off the blue skies quite nicely!

 

And just because I like to be a bit on the quirky side sometimes... I'll finish with reflections as seen this morning in some glass windows beside the Square....

119: Autumn Parade

The road down into the Esplanade is lined with these autumn trees at present. In springtime these same trees are covered in a profusion of cherry blossoms.

117: little treasures

Little treasures collected on various walks.
And yes, it's still raining and cold outside... hence a 'still-life'. You'll know what's in my whole house by the time winter is over :-)

114: Easter Sunday

It seems like we have been promised rain now for several days, but it hasn't yet arrived. Instead, for Easter Sunday we have a glorious autumn day here today in Balmy Palmy. I have just returned home from cycling in sunshine in t-shirt and sandles, with barely a breeze.... Priceless!

And in the end I couldn't resist making this a two-fer-one post- autumn leaves in the sky, and autumn leaves on the ground, both photos taken in the Esplanade in the day's beautiful sunshine. 

109: autumn tree in Square

After awful weather yesterday, the southerly cleared to leave a beautiful sunny morning. And I cycled down to the Square to discover that my favourite autumnal tree was at its glorious best in today's sunlight.

93: autumn leaves

Almost overnight, it seems that more deciduous trees are showing autumn colours. 

I love these colours: I hope I don't bore my 'viewers' with too many autumn shades before winter arrives!

91: Autumn Leaf

Autumn leaf on the footpath by the Square

fallen from a maple tree that has a dramatic appearance every autumn

River walk-autumn afternoon

My reward to myself today once I had finished my Massey assignment, was a walk beside the Manawatu River. The forecast was for rain.... but it seems that once again the rain mostly visited the eastern side of the ranges.

It was mid-afternoon when I walked, with the sun pushing its way through some sombre clouds.
Here are some of the groynes in the river that are designed to help push flood flows more towards the other bank. We humans have tried to 'cheat' nature here by moving the whole course of the river over away from the town. But when the water is in full flood, it all wants to find its way back to its previous course.

The water is so very low at present, it makes it hard to believe that this river can ever be badly behaved...
Today it was just a gentle river under a steely sky
Autumn giving the promise of winter.
A glorious place to stand and gently be.

Square Sunshine

It was far too glorious today to stay indoors, so I walked down to the Square and took some more photos.

And yesterday I discovered how I could export a slideshow with sliding panels.... so..... I have uploaded a version to YouTube. (This is lower quality as upload speeds in NZ are sloooooooow. If any of my teaching buddies know a local teacher doing anything on the Square or Palmie.... they are welcome to contact me for a higher quality copy!)

Anyhow.... here it is: summer and autumn sunshine in the Square..... Enjoy!!

Flying South

This weekend was a special event down in Christchurch. I had booked window seats on my flights, and was fortunate to get magnificent views in both directions. Leaving home, there was a splendid view of the Manawatu River snaking its way across the floodplains.

Once we had reached the South Island, we traveled over the sea for much of our journey. Here Kaikoura pokes out into the ocean.

I saw several large braided rivers twisting through hill country until they reached the sea.

There were special times with my friends in Christchurch- and two of us walked along the beach near New Brighton on a calm, sunny Saturday morning.

There was also time to just walk slowly and take some photographs of autumn trees. This group of coloured leaves was lit behind by the sun for just a short time in the afternoon- and most of this tree remained green.

Monday morning I was homeward bound again, this time over land in the south. Surprisingly, there was a dusting of snow over the Kaikoura Ranges.

At Lake Grassmere, where seawater is evaporated to leave salt, the colours of the pools were intriguing from the air.

It seemed like we were passing over the Marlborough Sounds in no time.... and soon we were touching down back in Palmerston North, on North Island soil.