Thursday’s Special : Forbidding…

In February 2011 a cataclysmic 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand. Killing 165 people and devastating the central business district.

These photos were taken one year later and the CBD area was still fenced off and it was still forbidden to go into that area.

I don’t often take sad photos, I focus more on the beauty in this world, but Paula (Lost in translation) challenged us with the theme “forbidden”. It brought back into my memory these very sad photos of a beautiful city brought to its knees.

But I don’t like to finish on such a harrowing scene so I will show you the other side of the resilient Kiwi’s ingenuity.

This is also a year later, once the ground was cleared in this area, instead of waiting to rebuild, shipping containers were trucked in, painted bright, cheerful colours, shops were opened, coffee shops turned up, plants put along the street and into containers and business was resumed in the midst of all the devastation.

Way to go Kiwis, don’t you just love their spirit…

Here is the post I did when we visited Christchurch in 2012 https://pommepal.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/christchurch-new-zealand/

Thursday Doors : Matamata…

A couple of weeks back I showed you the charming doors in the Hobbiton village.

The village was built on a farm a short way out of the town of Matamata. This was a small, quiet country town till Peter Jackson decided it was the ideal destination for the making of the “Lord of the rings”. It has now built a whole tourist industry around Hobbiton and Matamata has become a major tourist destination. The first stop is the Information centre, in town, to buy tickets to visit Hobbiton and be immersed in all things from the Middle Earth kingdom.

The information centre is built to look like an oversized Hobbiton house, it is quite charming, and it has interesting doors.

Even the service doors around the back have character.

Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time)

Bench Series : October

This month Jude is looking for a bench with someone or something sitting on it

(any kind of bench will do, but there must be at least one person, animal or object on the bench)

Take a look at Jude’s bench, I have never seen so many people on one bench…

I spotted this fellow cruiser taking photos in the Dunedin Railway Station. A magnificent building of Flemish Renaissance design. I also took many photos. (pop over to see what we were both impressed with) I can tell he is a passenger on the cruise ship I was also travelling on, as he had his tag on so he could get back on board, can you see it around his neck…

Bench Series : August, coloured benches…

I found this colourful bench covered in mosaic in the Giants Garden,  Akoroa, New Zealand.

Created by Josie Martin an artist, painter and sculptor it was the most amazing garden I have ever seen.

(Do click here to go to the post I did about this garden)

(This month in her “bench series” Jude wants to see photos of a bench that is painted or stained or otherwise coloured in some way. Not the plain wooden variety unless there is some colour detail)

 

Travel Theme : Grass

For 40 years I called New Zealand my “green green grass of home”

It also brings to mind a song

Now that will be playing in your head all day!!!

I also like to use grass to frame the front of photos.

That is my interpretation of Ailsa’s challenge. To see how others have interpreted it go here.

Travel Theme : Old Fashioned

Just a couple of old-fashioned girls…

The vintage car show at the Tauranga Jazz Festival was a happy hunting ground for all things vintage and old-fashioned.

Bench Series : June, art effects…

The art effects had already been done to this bench without any help from me. I found this in “The Giants House and Garden” in Akaroa a small historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano in the South Island of New Zealand.

Romantic secluded and quiet, but only a few minutes walk from the centre of Akaroa. Very Unique! Playful, zany, exuberant, astounding, colourful, surprising, seriously playful, unique in the world….it will make you smile. I have a grin on my face just remembering my visit. Take a look here.

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All you creative types may like to join Jude in her quest for benches. This month the challenge is to show a bench with “art effects”.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Forces of Nature in New Zealand

The roar of the gushing waters is overwhelming as the mighty Waikato River cascades over the Huka Falls on its way to the ocean. A force of nature that is harnessed to provide almost 15% of New Zealand’s power supply.

Another force of nature in New Zealand is the geothermal power that gushes up from the ground and is captured and contained in pipes to supply more energy for the power-hungry population.

A to Z challenge : N is for National Parks

Nature is protected and preserved in National Parks.

Here are a few examples of National Parks I have walked in New Zealand.

Haast Pass National Park

The walk through Haast Pass National Park, situated on the West coast of new Zealand’s South Island, is a journey into a wonderland of native rainforest, Teatree’s, ferns and dripping mosses.

Look for the Hobbits…

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Hokitika Gorge National Park

Hokitika Gorge National Park

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Arthurs Pass National Park

Photograph taken from the Trans Alpine train travelling  across the Southern Alps of New Zealand.

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Fox Glacier National Park

This is a contrast to the other National Parks, dry and stony, the track is leading to the Fox Glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.

Fox Glacier National Park

 Huge valleys of ice that extend well below the snow-line, almost to the sea. Here the ice age is still underway.

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I searched Google for any tunes about “National Parks” and I found this spectacular video and music depicting Yosemite National Park. I hope you enjoy it.

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 I really enjoy this challenge from “Frizztext”. It is open to so much interpretation and I like to check out what other bloggers have chosen. Click here to visit other posts

Lingering Look at Windows : Napier

I fell in love with Napier, the delightful Art Deco capital of New Zealand. Go here to see my post on Napier

Today I am going to highlight more of the Art Deco windows from this city.

Dawn from “The day after” challenges us to look for windows and post them here each week. Maybe you have some you can show us.

Visit here to look through more windows from around the world.