Saturday, July 4, 2009
Troosha says it sounds magical...
New Zealand has, among its most special qualities, the relationship of the early British arrivals with the original Maori population. Unlike many other European-colonized countries where the defacto policy towards the native inhabitants was genocide and cultural devastation, the British in the early...
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
Summing up in a poem
Aotearoa Silver The ferns, of course but too the sky the clouds and air between Sun on misty rains: Silver graced with rainbows... silver-bright the sun, the sharp-cut shades edges of trees against the blue, grey, white... Silver the stars Southern Cross and Milky Way on deepest night... Silver the...
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Monday, June 29, 2009
a few odd shots
This one, I was going for the mist-laden spider webbing, but the camera would not focus where I wanted it to, and my daughter was waiting... As we drove along the water, I was going for the waves and color... but this jogger was just suddenly there! So she is now here! A tidal pool, a small basin...
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Another trail for TAPS
Every time I walk an interesting trail, I think of our TAPS who is fond of trails leading to unknown places... Here is one near daughter's house, where she frequently walks with Cooper, my grandpuppy. And here you can see a distant trail-- the road over the Remutaka Range And this one is looking...
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Monday, June 22, 2009
Gardens, cultivated and wild...
So many flowers! Even in autumn, gardens are glowing with color! here are a few shots of flowers and their friends from around my daughter's neighborhood, and some wild ones, too... This last is a wild succulent spotted in the zone between beach and meadow at the Queen Elizabeth Park along the...
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Friday, June 19, 2009
Home for a week now...
I am loving the long days, the generally warmer temps and the lush green of summer coming on in the Northwest... It's good to be among my own critters, and to have my son home... But I am missing the bright clean air of New Zealand, and the company of my daughter and son-in-law, and all my...
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sydney: Downtown and Waterfront
Sydney was the destination of the transported British convicts in its earliest years: Botany Bay, so-called. Today, reminders of that heritage are not much appreciated, but regardless, a tour of the waterfront reveals the history through the surviving architecture, as well as how far Australia has...
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Cockatoo! Sydney, Australia: Botanic Gardens
Sydney's Botanic Gardens are a wonderful strolling-place among ancient trees, shared with strutting ibis and raucous sulfur-crested cockatoos that while not tame are not exactly wild, either. The evening we went walking there--the photos show it was near dusk--we came across a flock of cockatoos...
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Mountains
The road to Cape Palliser, where the seals are, goes over the Remutaka Range, a group of mountains that reminds me of the Appalachians in the eastern US. None of these mountains rise above tree-line, and they are heavily forested--I can't imagine trying to cross them on foot, without a trail. The...
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NZ North Island landscapes
Over four days, daughter and I made a road trip north to the volcanic areas of Lake Taupo and Rotorua. She had not been up there either yet, so it was an exploration all the way. Here are some of the landscapes we passed through. Looking northward along the west coast--it faces a long, low island...
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