Reliefs from Figgins

We've unpacked the crates containing the reliefs from the lounge at Figgins which surrounded the fireplace. They are in three pieces and here we are trying the two standing figures against a wall in our lounge at Bassett Road.
The plan is to put in a fireplace here.

Ambury Farm

Ambury Farm near Mangere Bridge in South Auckland. Here is a lava tube that has collapsed showing the void space where the lava once flowed when Mangere Mountain was erupting.

The reserve looking over to the Manukau harbour. Sheep roam around the beach.

Graduation Ceremony

The AUT graduation ceremony started with a procession around Albert Park onto Queen Street to the Civic Theatre. I am in there somewhere amongst about 400 graduands including Certificates, Diplomas, Bachelors and Masters.

The weather was beautifully hot and sunny and the procession was great fun. Traffic in Queen Street was closed off, there was a bagpipe band leading.

The Civic is an 'atmospheric' theatre which has a star field of the Southern sky on the ceiling consisting of tiny lights. One of only seven remaining atmospheric theatres in the world.

After the ceremony outside the Civic on Queen Street.

Takapuna

The walk from the North of Takapuna Beach is a favourite on a Sunday afternoon. The rocks along the way are, I think, volcanic scoria from Rangitoto Island (shown above) which is the most recent volcano in the Auckland region having erupted about 600 years ago.
Scoria is very light, with many bubbles having formed in it as the lava cooled, and most of Aucklands kerbs stones are scoria.

Kayaking at Puhoi

The Puhoi river is a great place for Kayaking at the weekend from Auckland. We did a one way trip downstream to the sea from Puhoi (where a delicious cheese is made) and were picked up by the people who rented the kayaks and taken back to our car.



It did get a bit cloudy later in the day and it rained on us in the estuary approaching Wenderholm Regional Park, but it was a great day. Next time we'll go the other way and end up at the pub in Puhoi.

Various activities in August

Charlotte left to go back to Tahiti after staying with us for 9 weeks. We had enjoyed her stay again for the second year running. We will all miss her. Photo by Joe.


Many hours were spent playing Gran Turismo 4, which resulted in one of the worst back injuries I have had!



Joe was five on the 10th and here Anita's cake for him. Lego plane built by Charlotte.

Whenuapai Air Show

We had a day out at the air show at Whenuapai, (half an hour from Auckland) during the summer. NZ don't have very many jets and had to borrow a couple of F14'a from the Australian Air Force for the show. They were extraordinarily loud, even with the earplugs that were handed out to everyone, but very exciting.

NZ air force do have some interesting planes though. Look at the size of the tailplane on this transporter!

Fencing North Championships

Tom fenced in the under 17s Fencing North competion (North half of the North Island) which was held at the Grammar shcool gym. Note above that there was even a funny mascot bear, sitting having a rest in the foreground.

Here is Tom getting kitted up with his gear.


Here is Tom in action (on the right hand side) fencing against one of the other School competitors.

We are back into term time. Tom has gone back to school and will be studying for IGCSE's and Joe is back at Parnell kindergarten. It is some kind of preparation for real school as this photo shows.
The kindys here are often situated next to a reserve which is the case with Joe's. The children often want to take a detour through it, and yesterday we had a whirlwind tour of the reserve.

The weater is hot, sunny and humid and in the shade are many creatures. Some of them bite!

The archetypal kiwi summer

The kiwi lifestyle has often been talked about and after 8 years I think I can now say that it has become familiar to us this summer. We rented a bach recently near Tutukaka. For those who may not know, 'the bach' is a New Zealand holiday home which is very simple, usually near the beach. The origin of the word 'bach' comes from bachelor, due to the simplicity of the lifestyle; consumption of barbecued food, beer, and a wooden shack to sleep in. The simple pleasures of whiling away hours at the beach, looking at the sea life, even doing some anachronistic sunbathing.
If I had to leave NZ I would really miss the native New Zealand trees. These extraordinary coastal flax plants were just back from beach at Woolleys Bay.

I don't know what type of flax this is. Actually I'm not sure it is a flax. I havn't found it on the internet where I have only found two types of NZ flax. The flower stalks are at least 3 metres tall. Actually it looks more like a succulent.

Being buried is one of the things Joe loves to do on the beach. Here he is on the beach at Matapouri Bay, one of the biggest beaches in the Whangarei area, which boasts about 100 beaches.

Tutukaka

This summer we have spent quite a lot of time lazing around not doing much. We did get our ourselves organised enough to travel up to Northland twice and stay at Tutukaka.

This is the second bach we stayed at in a kiwi sanctuary in the hills. It was extraordinarily peaceful at the bach. Unusually, the weather was windless and once or twice I stopped, asking for silence from my people, and listened for a distant sound of traffic. There was nothing!

This is the nearest beach, opposite Ngunguru school and facing the sandbar on the river mouth.

Kayaking around Limestone Island, Whangerei Harbour

We enjoyed an early evening kayak around a limestone island with Sharon and Mark who we hired the kayaks from. Lime used to be quarried for cement, and the ruins of the lime kilns are still on the island.

Xmas Day 2008

One of the strange things about Christmas in New Zealand is that all the symbols of the traditional Christmas from winter in the Northern hemisphere survive as strongly as they do in the old country. Santa Claus wrapped up with boots, hat and thick overcoat, the reindeer, sleigh, holly, mistletoe, everything. Being in the Southern hemisphere, as we are, there is no snow here, and it is mid summer, so we are wearing shorts, bikinis (Anita that is, not me) and the like.
The temperature is in the 20's; eating outside is the norm, and although the sea is still fairly cold we've been swimming at Tutukaka in the sea, as well as in our next door neighbour's pool, which they have lent to us whle they are away.


A cold lunch on Christmas day of delicious New Zealand smoked salmon was had on the deck, and the Drunken duck, a Chinese recipe was saved for the evening.

Trains

Duncan is a favourite of Joe's trains and is known to get a wee bit angry at times. One of his characteristics is too sway on the track, known as 'Rocking and Rolling'.

Weta

The Weta is one of the strange creatures that only lives in New Zealand.
It is an ancient species which hasn't evolved much in the last 100 million years and has seen the dinosaurs come and go.
It lives in dark places in the forest and sheds it's exoskeleten repeatedly as it grows too big for it, which can often be found. This one is however a complete but dead weta.
There are many species of weta, some small, some huge, but they are all nocturnal.

Trip to Auckland Museum

It was a wet Saturday and Joe and dad decided to pay a visit to the museum. Joe loves the museum and has some particular favourite rooms. One is the volcano room. We had to wait for a while in the car until 10.00am which was when it opened.


Joe outside Auckland War memorial museum waiting for it to open.


Prow of a very long Maori canoe.



There is a great collection of Micronesian and Polynesian carving which Dad (Ken) was very keen on when he was here in 2002, and he did quite a few drawings of these small carved figures during several visits to the museum.


Once in Joe's favourite room we were able to see this cast of one of the incinerated victims from Pompeii and a drawing of the earth with Magma inside the earth bursting up in the form of volcanoes.

Some Lego vehicles

Isn't lego great! We are all pretty keen at making vehicles with lego, and here are a few which have been made recently. I find it quite funny putting the wrong size wheels onto a vehicle which otherwise seems well proportioned. The wheels can be too small or too big, the humourous effect is the same.

The fish shop

Joe has used fish from a game called 'Let's Go Fishing' and a toy woodworking bench to create a fish shop. He is quite keen on buying and selling fish.

Should have posted this photo last Halloween 2008 but didn't get round to it. It is now a family tradition to carve a pumpkin every year and this is what it looked like for 2008. He's got a toothy grin this time due to a tea candle placed inside. Joe adores this tradition.

Club Champs

This weekend we have had club champs at College Rifles. I took a few photos of the open competition and Emma Rodgers and Kevin Dennerly-Minturn played, both winning their respective singles as well as combining in the mixed.