16 July 2012

Greenhouse!: Photo a week challenge

Monday is here again!  I've gradually shifted from posting this blog Saturday morning before starting the weekend to Sunday evening after completing a busy weekend to Monday, because I keep forgetting post a freaking blog! LOL  This weeks pictures was taken yesterday....so I'm not sure which week it actually belongs to, but.....

I bought some old windows last spring.  I used them as a kind of greenhouse shelter for my seedlings.  I leaned them against the house with the seeds behind.  There was a lot of airflow, but it warmed them and sheltered them a bit.

So, this year I wanted to have a proper greenhouse!  I'm hoping to get it finished by the time I go to the USA next month.  I'm hoping to even have a few seedlings in it! (Dave says he'll water them for me).  I have only 3 weekends left before hitting the states, so this last weekend was a big one for getting the greenhouse assembled (as I still have much painting to finish).  Dave spent half a day working (for pay) Saturday morning and then went shopping with me to pick up timber, plywood, and hardware.  We then spent the majority of Sunday in the shed cutting and measuring.....okay, I didn't do any cutting or measuring, I just stood around and lended a hand when necessary (holding timber while it was cut, moving the plywood sheets, etc etc).  To be honest, it was pretty boring!  But, since Dave was giving up his time to do this for me I wasn't going to leave him all alone while I went and read my book!  We were also trying to get this done quickly so it was done well before dark, therefore I didn't get to try my hand at drilling our screwing (this is what Dave does for a living, so he's FAST and I'm sssssllllllooooowwwww).

Anyhow.....this is the end result of yesterdays work!  It will look heaps better when there are plants in it, but it's crazy big!
14 July: Mel's greenhouse....built by Dave

09 July 2012

Lifting of the fog: Photo a week challenge

Here I am, again two days late in posting! It's not like I didn't have time yesterday, I just couldn't pull myself away from my book long enough to remember that i had a blog to do! And Saturday was out of the question - to busy getting up stupid early to ride mountain bikes in Auckland.

Thursday and Friday here in Thames were chilly foggy days. The fog set in all day Thursday (as did the chill!), but the sun broke through Friday afternoon....right about the time I finally got my butt in gear for a walk to take fog pictures!!! (figures).

I got a few good shots on my walk, but I think this one is my favorite.....the fog has been pushed back to find refuge among the hills while the sun light filters through broken clouds.

Lifting of the fog: 7 July, Thames

01 July 2012

Happy new house card: photo a week challenge

I made my very first (awesome) card this week!!!!  I am so crazy in love with it that it's amazing it actually made it in the mailbox and onto it's intended recipient the next day.  I suppose it's not actually my first card, I made my mom a mother's day card this year....but it's the first more convoluted card I've made (by myself, class cards not included).

Here it is!
28 June: Congratulations on your new house! card
Okay, I know it's just a card and doesn't look super amazing in the picture, but I still crazy love it.  The background paper worked out far better than I expected (creating a little driveway I hadn't planned) and Dave's mum had the perfect transparent stickers to match the stamped house. The bunting banner was leftover from my table runner project and didn't even have to be cut into triangles!  The inside of the cards is blank metallic blue.  For a card project done in an hour, I super pleased.  I hope the Alaskan recipient loves it as much as I do!

25 June 2012

Calzones: Photo a week challenge

Wow, it's been a slow week here. I'm 2 days late posting this photo and it's going to be a less than amazing photo.  I think we might have a winner on most boring picture of the year!  And you thought the ball of yarn picture was lame! ;)

And so I present...... Mel's first calzone.....
21 June: Pepperoni, mushroom, ricotta calzone
Yep - I warned you it was going to be unimpressive!  Unfortunately, the before and after of this calzone is the only thing I took a picture of this week!.....wait!!!! no it isn't! ......  I also played in the garden this week!

I had a surprise Thursday off work so I planted a lot of the succulents I brought back from Rotorua. I created a little succulent section in our "flower" bed (everything is sleeping at the moment as we start towards mid-winter)
19 June: Transplanted succulents

I'm afraid it's still not much of a winner for photo of the year, but it is probably a bit more interesting than my ugly (yet tasty) calzone! (the next calzones created looked heaps better, by the way).  However, it is nice to know that I had more in my life to photograph (using my phone) than just cooking creations :)

15 June 2012

Wood Pigeon - Photo a (belated) week challenge

So - I didn't get around to a blog last week! A little disappointing, but considering I wasn't able to get out of bed until 4pm Sunday afternoon (due to self-induced illness from the night before) I won't be too hard on myself......(I'll also just pretend that Saturday mornings aren't actually my posting time!)

Here it is Friday night. I've just finished a super lame shift at the restaurant - 9 people, really!! I haven't taken a picture for this week's challenge and we are off to Rotorua super early (9am!).  So, I guess I'll just have to live with a missed photo week.  However, I think this pic is epic and will make up for it!

4 June: Fatty in a tree:  NZ wood pigeon (Kereru)
at the Arataki Park visitor center
Dave and I headed up to Auckland 2 weekends ago to pick up my cousins.  They were in NZ for a total of 6 days! They were in Auckland for even fewer days. Fortunately, the Monday they were here for was a public holiday (Queen's birthday observed), so Dave and I were able to spend the day giving them a bit of a tour outside of the "big smoke".  We started at the Arataki visitor's center: gateway to the Waitakeres.

4 June: view from Arataki Visitor's center
We were just leaving the second viewing platform at the visitor center when I happened to spot a big fat wood pigeon in a tree!!!!  Perfect timing.  This guy looks like he's been eating at a local McDonalds parking lot, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and just say he's fluffing up to keep warm ;)

The next stop we took Bob and Connie to was Piha beach.  It was a great day to watch the surfers, not too windy and rough but some decent breaks.

4 June: Far end of Piha Beach
We ended our day trip of the Auckland surrounds by hitting two wineries for some tastings. Getting out of the car at the first winery (just off the road on the way through Kumeu) I heard lots of birds.  But one bird call in particular caught my attention.....a TUI!!!!!  I love tuis!  I love the little puff under their throats, I love the sound they make, I just love them!  Fortunately, the bird must be used to humans, as it didn't bat a wing when I creeped around the tree looking for him.  Dave found the optimal viewing spot, and all four of us had a spy.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera with me!    But still.....the fatty wood pigeon was a treat!


03 June 2012

Bougainvillea: Photo a Week Challenge

I was again going to take a picture of the hibiscus in our neighborhood, but I became distracted with this nearby bougainvillea instead. It's not an amazing picture, and I'm disappointed at how bad my closeups came.  Do I not have the patience, or is the camera actually getting worse? Someday...I'll play more with manual focus options...  Not today though.  Today was a just a quick walk to get his picture and get it posted before heading to Auckland. (I'm meeting my first family to land in NZ in 3 years!)

3 June: Bougainvillea in the sky

I am pleased with the blue sky background though. Similar to last weeks flower photo.  It's so nice to see that even as the temperature drops further (we've had frozen windscreens one morning) there are still beautiful flowers to brighten the day!

27 May 2012

White Tail closeup - Photo a week challenge

I had meant to take my camera up the road and try to find a good hibiscus to photograph, but I don't tend to take my camera running with me and didn't get around to walking the block up.  Plus, there should be better flowers in bloom closer to the sidewalk next week.

I spotted this weeks photo on the outside of our bedroom window today (Sunday the 27th....cutting it pretty close to get my photo this week!).  I really wanted to get a picture of the spider from the inside of the house, as the light shining through it's thin legs was very prominent in it's white stripes.  However, the camera refused to focus on anything except the cars on the other side of the window :(  So, I opened the window and leaned around to take a few pictures of one of the very few critters worth avoiding in New Zealand.
27 May: Small White Tail Spider,
moments before death by poison spray


 White tail spiders are usually feared to cause painful bites that tend to become necrotic. However, many web pages say the spider is rarely to blame for a wound becoming necrotic, that other factors may come into play.  All web pages say the bite is painful and can cause swelling.  So I went ahead and sprayed this little guy with posion, just to keep him out of the house.  I felt a little bad, but we often leave our windows open during the day to air the house out.....and I don't really want him biting my sensitive skin!

20 May 2012

Neighbor Flower: Photo a week challenge

It's been a pretty wet week here in Thames. I'm not sure a day has gone by that it hasn't rained at least once.....until today that is.  Finger's crossed that the clouds sitting high in the afternoon sky don't turn dark in the next few hours.  I'll be so annoyed if it rains on the hundreds of socks that I hung out this morning, when the sun was so warm in the clear blue sky. 

This grey uninviting weather makes it that much more obvious that winter is nearly here.  So I find it quite amazing that admist the dying plants and autumn colors I should find a tall bush of large pink flowers!  Even taken with a small camera phone, you can see that they are absolutely gorgeous :)

Unknown Flower; Sandes Street corner: 19 May

12 May 2012

Knitting: photo a week challenge

I relearned to knit this week!  I have craft dates with Dave's mum every Thursday and this Thursday she tutored me in knitting.  So, Friday afternoon I decided to keep with my sedentary mood and start the shawl project I had yarn for. Little did I know that wrapping the yarn into a ball would be just about as much work as the knitting process!!!! I think it took me an hour and a half to wrap and untangle the thin, sticky yarn I am using!  But, I now have a large ball of lovely yarn....it looks just ready for a kitty to come knock around!

11 May: The beginning.....

After finally corralling all my yarn into a tidy ball, the next step was obviously to start the knitting.  Okay, maybe wrapping the yarn won't be the most time consuming part of the project......see that little triangle of work on the right needle?  Yep, that's about an hours worth of knitting!  This is going to be a long project......

05 May 2012

Strawberries! Photo a week Challenge


I finally got out in the garden yesterday! It was a gorgeous winter day (yes, winter has fully hit - it's freezing at night and Dave has lit the fire the last 2 nights).  The sun, however, is still quite warm and it was nice to get out in it and get some soil on my gloves :)  I didn't get around to planting my turnip and onion seeds, but I did clean up my strawberry plot! The 5 plants that I purchased back in Nov/Dec have turned into nearly a hundred plants!  Okay, I didn't count them all, but there have to be at least 50.

The strawberry patch is a perfect place for the plants to take over, they are under the grapevine, are in the only place to still be getting sun, and the space has never been used optimally for gardening.  However, the strawberry runners were going a bit extreme - getting tangled in the bird netting and spilling out of the garden and onto the footpath.  So, today's photo shows the haul of strawberries I planted out yesterday! I've left a few  runners attached but able to form roots in pots so I can move them later, but this is the majority of my culled plants. They were looking pretty wilty after a day of sun yesterday, but a crisp night has perked them up again.


5 May: Baby strawberries in morning light
 Oh, and my strawberry patch is producing again!  I've laid down quite a bit of slug bait, so by the time these babies ripen I might get to eat them!


28 April 2012

Cockroach sheds it skin: Photo a week challenge

This photo was actually taken the day I posted my last photo a week blog.....is that cheating? It was still taken after last weeks blog was posted...so it's within my blog week, right?

I was going to post a picture of the all the Jamaican chilli peppers I had collected on ANZAC Day.
However, this picture is just to great to not post...I'm sure you'll all LOVE it!  I'm sure it will make you want to visit NZ!

21 April: Coackroach Renewal.  

I had no idea that coackroaches were WHITE when they first shed their skin!

21 April 2012

Waihou River: Photo a Week Challenge

Every Tuesday and Wednesday morning I drive along the hills to Paeroa to work at a little cafe in town.  In the afternoons I return to Thames and relax for half an hour before getting ready for work at the restaurant.   For my return trip to Thames I have recently begun taking the straighter roads through the Hauraki Plains.  I like this route because it allows me look at the hills on my way home - particularly when I turn onto State Highway 25 for the final approach into Thames.

Waihou River: 18 April, northwest of Paeroa
 The Waihou River passes through Paeroa, skirts behind Turua, and then meets the ocean in front of Thames.  This photo of the river is taken a short way outside of Paeroa on my return journey to Thames.

16 April 2012

Autumn: A belated photo a week challenge

The mornings are crisp and the nights are chilly. If it's a sunny day then it may still be warm and toasty, but a drizzly day definitely brings the desire to be wrapped in fleece.  It must be autumn!

We don't have a lot of trees that change color around here, but when you do find one it definitely stands out....Like this one I found on my Friday bike ride up the Kauaeranga Valley road.

13 April: Autumn colors on K Valley road
I like the wind wheel off to the side too :)

06 April 2012

Crosbie's Hut: Weekend Tramp

Last weekend, Dave and I completed our first ever overnight tramp!!!
Dave modelling his new bargain Kathmandu pack.
All packed and ready to go!

While I've done a fair few multi-day camp/tramps myself, this was Dave's first in his adult life.  It was also my first in years....since moving back to NZ from OZ!  Have I been super slack?  Yes.  Do I have plenty of excuses for not overnighting earlier?  Yes. But I won't list them all (but I will say I spent a lot of time working weekends before landing at Bullion Restaurant).

I started getting Dave into tramping (aka hiking) when we first met- way back in 2008. During our first road trip together, ringing in New Year's 2009, we hit several hour and two hour hikes.  On our way back to Thames we completed the only hike that I HAD to do while in NZ - the Tongariro Crossing.  It wasn't an overnight trip, but it was 6 hours of straight walking! I'm not sure that walk made Dave fall in love with tramping, but at least it didn't scare him away either!

Since returning to NZ in November 2009, Dave and I have done a fair few walks together.  Unfortunately, I didn't blog about any of them (slack as!) so I can't link you to any past posts, but you'll have to take my word for it that we did make some effort to get into nature via our feet.  However, I'd say we've spent far more time enjoying nature on two wheels with our mountain bikes.

Heading off on the trail to Crosbies Hut.
So - why an overnight tramp now?  It's probably safe to say that we wouldn't have gotten around to doing this, or any other, overnight hike in the next year if we hadn't finally set a wedding date.  Actually, it's probably setting the honeymoon location that forced us into loading our packs and hitting the trails. We're getting married 8 Dec 2012.  Dave's brother is getting married on 23 Dec 2012 - on the South Island.  We weren't going to take our honeymoon until Christmas holidays anyway, so we decided to take our honeymoon on the South Island, which of course led to me suggesting a destination I've long desired to visit......Stewart Island!  It's the most likely place that a person will get to see a live kiwi in the wild and I am desperate to hike it!  Unfortunately, taking the 3 day "easy" trail leads to fewer kiwi spotting opportunities, because you are still quite close to civilization (walking out on day 3 takes you right by the airport!).  So, of course, I want to tackle the insane 9+ day trip!  Insane, why?  Because we're talking an island where it rains more than shines, has far less paved road then Juneau Alaska, and is inhabited by more native wildlife then most of the North Island (okay, I can't substantiate that fact, but....).  Basically, the guide books tell us to prepare for knee high mud through MOST of the track!

I'm not sure how much of the Northwest Circuit Dave and I will attempt (you can pay to have boats pick up/drop off at various points along the trail), but one thing is for sure - we would probably die, or at the least be miserable, if we attempted even 2 days on this trail tomorrow!  It's not that we are out of shape, but that our fitness has not been geared towards climbing over roots 3 feet high and hauling a 40 pound pack on our back at the same time.  And our fitness certainly isn't geared towards enduring those conditions for more than 2 days......we have truly become weekend warriors!

Looking over Waiomu after an hour
or more on the trail to Crosbies
So - back to the topic of this blog..... our tramp to Crosbies Hut!  This was our starting point for conditioning ourselves for tramping.  We were supposed to complete it a week earlier, so we'd have a weekend off before our 3 day/2 night Easter tramp, but wet weather scared us off.  Fortunately, the sun shone all of last week and gave us a blue to cloudy sky on the day we set out for the trail.

2009 flashback: Our first visit
to the Waiomu Kauri grove
There are about 5 different entrance points for the system of trails that lead to this hut.  We picked the Waiomu kauri trail as our starting point.  This meant we had to drive only 15 minutes and our car would be in a vaguely populated area.  We'd also been on this trail years ago, to visit the kauri grove - so we were somewhat familiar with area.

Tramping through the kauri's
(sing in head to tune of tip toe through the tulips)
I'd been told that the Waiomu trail would be the steeper option, and boy was it! We encountered a set of stairs that took us straight up to the kauri grove, but after that it was straight up via high stepping onto roots.  It was a lot of effort, but pretty enjoyable - especially when a fantail would flit around the trail right in front of you for encouragement. (stupid birds never sit still long enough for a decent picture though!). We heard quite a few fantails and several tuis in the trees.  We may have even seen a bell bird???

Add caption

Action shot of Dave's stream crossing 
There were several stream crossings on this trail (the stream we followed can be seen to the left of Dave at the start of the trail).  None of the streams had bridges, but none were terribly full of water either. However, there is no point getting your feet wet when it can be avoided, so we took our time at each of the crossings to rock hop or long step our way across.  This was actually quite a fun part of the trip, as it took more thought and planning to keep our balance with heavy packs on our back.  Dave was kind enough to lend me a hand several times, as my boots are getting a bit old and have never given me great confidence on wet rocks....he is ever the gentleman when it comes to lending assistance ;)

Ah nature....the wind in your hair, bird song in your ears
and a .....phone! in your hand?
By the time the track evened out a bit we were pretty knackered, but still in good spirits.  We took the time to have a couple of snack breaks along the way, resting our legs and backs.  There were a few good views along the way as well.  We came to one lovely lookout and could see a house in the distance.  Our last sign had said we were 1.5 hours from the hut.  We were sure the house we saw wasn't the hut-because that was going to take us FAR more than 1.5 hours to reach!  But, sure enough. An hour and a half later we found the sign directing us to the hut track spur.  After 5 agonizing minutes of straight uphill work we reached the hut.....and the bright red wall told us that we had reached that distant "house".

Looking towards Whitianga from  Crosbies Hut
I was greatly relieved to have reached the hut.  I'd gotten used to having wet muddy feet - having navigated the boggy area prior to the hut a little less successfully than on prior muddy stretches (I think I sank up to mid calf?....unfortunately there are no photos of this event). However, I was very much ready to take my pack off and rest - especially after that last 5 minutes of work.  WOW, what a horrific end to a long hike!

Our original plan had been to stay in the hut overnight, but, having put off our hut reservations to see what the weather was doing, the hut was booked.  So we packed our tent and borrowed sleeping mats from Dave's mum.  We located the campsites behind and below the hut (though, thankfully, not FAR or STEEPLY below the hut!).  We set about putting up the tent and unpacking our things.....just in time too - as it started to spit a bit of rain after our fly was up!

Crosbie's Hut the morning we left
After a short rest and a few banana chips, it was decided we should head up to the hut and make dinner.....or we'd soon be asleep without food.  The hut that had been nearly empty when we arrived was now quite full with other weary trampers.  Everyone was friendly enough, but it took every ounce of my energy to focus on frying up our chicken that I hardly registered someone talking to me!  Dave took over frying duties half way through the batch process (as we'd brought only one pot and had lots of chicken to brown).  Now - chicken isn't something you'd really think of hauling up a mountain for 5 hours (oh, yes, it took us 5 hours to reach the hut....see why I was ready for sleep!), but I really wanted Dave's first tramping trip to be one of good food and enjoyment.  Nothing ruins a trip more than being hungry all the time! Granted, EVERYTHING tastes good after a day on the trail - so I probably could have gotten away with dehydrated veggies and we'd be fine.  However, I choose chicken burritos.  Back at home I had sliced the chicken and coated in burrito spice then chucked it in the freezer.  By the time we reached the hut the chicken was still cold, but not frozen.  I also pre-sliced the peppers & mushrooms and grated the cheese.  Things that made a huge difference in clean up, but also meant far less energy needed for dinner prep!  We also packed up a bottle of wine - to celebrate Dave's first hike!  It's a good thing we didn't start drinking the wine while cooking though (which is what we usually).  I'd have been on my butt half passed out with one glass before dinner was ready! LOL

The clouds had been hanging about since we arrived at the hut, so there wasn't much of a sunset, but the sun did briefly break through to illuminate the surrounding bush:
Looking towards the Kauaeranga valley.....Table Mountain?
Looking towards Coromandel....Castle Rock is nearly obscured by clouds.

Shortly before all light was lost, we headed back to our tent.  It was a decent enough sleep, as far as tent sleeping goes.  There is always one position that is uncomfortable no matter how many times you try and no portable mattress is going to mask that fact that you're sleeping on hard ground.  Add to that the aches from a pack and walking all day and it's no surprise that you're tossing most the night and wide awake as soon as light arrives.

I'd hoped to wake to the "dawn chorus" of birds, but we woke instead to intermittent drizzle...the birds staying quiet in their beds.  We ate our breakfast (oats & dried dates & papaya soaked in water overnight) in the tent and then started packing up. We headed back to the hut to brush our teeth and fill up with water (rain water collected in tanks) to find the other trampers cleaning their breakfast dishes.  The steep climb to the hut means it is well perched for the views, but boy does the wind cut through!  I'm sure the tent sites are at least 2 degrees warmer!  The view in the morning showed high clouds that looked ready to set in:
Looking towards Whitianga the morning of our departure.


Follow the orange arrows, that's the trail.
We were taking the Karaka trail home from the hut.  This trail would come out in Thames just a street behind our house.  I'd heard this would be less steep than the Waiomu trail, but more muddy.  The overnight rain wouldn't have helped the mud, but I think it would take more than a week of sun to dry this overgrown area.  We enjoyed the bush as soon as we set off, beautiful moss covered trees.


The Karaka trail was perfect for our second day of hiking (when we were a bit more tired and my shoulders/hips were sore from the pack).  A large majority of it was obviously meant as vehicle access at one time - large ruts at wheel spacing, but the bush was making an effort to reclaim the space - which meant that the slope grade was not too steep on the ups or downs.....and thankfully there was a lot of down!  It was pretty easy walking and relatively uneventful.  The somewhat constant drizzle meant we encountered far fewer fantails that yesterday - though one little guy did make laugh by flying around nearly in front of my face.....was he after the mozzies that were following us?

The walk seemed to take ages - probably because I was sore and tired.  The trail wasn't punctuated by streams or their crossings, but navigating around big muddy bogs did lessen the monotony of getting snagged on vines and slapped with wet ferns. I even had to put the camera in my pack as all the wet ferns were hitting me right at waist level and the camera bag was starting to get a bit wet.

There were a few places that were photo worthy though:
The mist was with us most of the morning, but the bush kept most of the rain off us.
Dave checking our elevation on the GPS while I document the colorful cliffside track overlooking the bush.
 It took us 5.5 hours from leaving Crosbie's hut to reaching our door.  By the time we reached our neighborhood, the weather was hot sun one moment then drizzly rain the next! We were pleased to take hot showers and rinse our boots before getting in our brand new car to retrieve our Chariot Jim from Waiomu.  In the last hour of our hike, on a part of the track we'd actually been before, we encountered the most interesting   creatures.....  Dave spotted a congregation of at least 5, probably more, giraffe weevils!  We'd never heard of giraffe weevils before, but after posting the following picture on Facebook we had a name to put to the nose...er, antanae....er, bug.  (Thanks Olga and Kathy for helping identify!).
Say Cheese!

As I finish this long winded post I find it's time to start packing our next tramp!  Fingers crossed that the dry weather holds out for us when we visit the Whirinaki trail tomorrow......

05 April 2012

Feijoas! : Photo a week challenge

When Dave and I discussed the date of our wedding we had, to my mind, two options.  1) Pohutukawa season or 2) Feijoa season.  My hope had been that our wedding would be the excuse friends and family would need to finally visit NZ and I wanted a true kiwi experience to be had when they arrived.  I decided the pohutukawa flowers would be a better show to see, plus the weather would be better: escape from the northern hemisphere's winter to our summer :)

The reason I wanted people to visit during feija season was because I cannot describe the flavor of a feijoa.  I mean, it tastes like a feijoa.  All I can say is if they are slightly under-ripe (the way I like them), they have a slightly sour taste.  If they are over-ripe (disgusting, but Dave likes them) they have a perfume-like taste.  They have a grainy texture and are eaten like a kiwi fruit; that is, cut in half and use a spoon to scoop the flesh from the skin.  Unlike a kiwi fruit, whose skin is hairy and thin, fiejoas have a thick, smooth skin.  I find that the more I scoop towards the skin the tarter and tangier the flavor of the flesh.

Here's a photo of a couple feijoas off our massive tree:  We can get some super big feijoas, but other trees give small feijoas.  I've shown a couple sizes in the back, as well as one of the large ones cut in half.....I made a delicious smoothie with the insides of these fruit.

5 April: Feijoa love.  Feijoa's are ripe after they
fall of the tree.

Unfortunately, it's looking like very few of my friends or relatives will be spending the money to visit NZ, but for those that do I have a special treat! (besides seeing me...)  It turns out that I can put whole feijoas in the freezer and several months later I can present a thawed feijoa that tastes like it just came off the ground that day!  YAY!!!!  I've put quite a few of the fruits in the chest freezer downstairs.  Nevermind that I still have several cups worth of feijoa pulp from last year to use! (delicious in muffins!)

31 March 2012

Kuranui Bay: Weekly Photo Challenge

This weeks photo is a bit of a cheat - as it was taken in February! Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera on my Thursday bike ride and I didn't grab it for my walk into town on Friday.  Dave and I are off on an overnight hike today (Saturday) and I doubt I'll get round to posting when we return on Sunday.   So - rather than skip a week of photo posting, I'm going to cheat :)  BUT, I just might have a proper blog to write after this hike!!


This weeks photo is of a nearby beach - Kuranui Bay.  It is found at the end of the coastal walk/bike track that runs along the estuary of town. It's probably a 20 minute walk from the house?

16 February: Kuranui Bay, looking up the peninsula, with Thames behind.

24 March 2012

Flooded Te Aroha: Photo a Week Competion

We've had quite a few days of rain here in New Zealand (pretty much over all the country, but definitely here in the North Island).  While Thurs and Fri were gorgeous days, Mon-Wed were pretty much constant rain.  We were fortunate to wake to a lovely blue day Saturday, so we headed to Te Aroha to scope out some mountain biking tracks we'd heard about.

The photo of the week goes to this lovely pasture land shot that epitomizes how much rain we've had (and remember, we've had 2 days of dry weather when I took this):
Te Aroha: 24 March. Te Aroha paddocks under water.

17 March 2012

Wairere Falls: Photo a week challenge

We hiked up to Wairere Falls this morning. It's about an hour drive from our place, 40 minute walk to the lookout, and another 40 minutes to the top.  If you remember to look at the mountains at the right time of your drive towards Matamata,  you can see this large falls from the road several kilometers away.  It's an absolutely amazing place - we saw several tuis and heard LOTS of birds.  It was a large contrast to the lack of bird sounds at Wentworth last week!

While the photo a week challenge is about posting one photo (the best of the week), I'm going to go ahead and post several, because this area was so gorgeous and it's the really the first time I've gotten into using a camera in the last year!  (hint: if you click on one picture, it enlarges the picture and opens a slideshow type view - makes the pictures much easier to look at!)

I'm going to start with my favorite photo - the one that would get posted if I had to choose just one:
Wairere Falls: 17 March 2012. Secon Bridge Crossing

Wairere Falls: Beginning of Trail

Wairere Falls: First Bridge Crossing

Wairere Falls: Tree Fern

Wairere Falls: First Bridge Crossing

Wairere Falls: Along the Trail


Wairere Falls: From the Lookout

Wairere Falls: Closeup of top half

Wairere Falls: On trail to top

Wairere Falls: at the top!

Wairere Falls: Looking Down

Wairere Falls: Head Stream

Now.....contrast that shot of looking down the falls to the one taken over three years ago.  It was taken from several feet away from the edge in order to protect myself (and the camera) from getting wet!

Wairere Falls: 27 Oct 2008. Strong winds blow
the falls water back onto Dave.