Random photos from the past weeks

I am home sick, yet again.  This year will be known for many things including recurring illness. At least it means I am getting better at making soup:


This one was particularly lovely with fresh herbs from the porch tossed in, lots of garlic, and a hand full of rocket from the porch pots.

Since I have little to do here in my bored sick stats, I thought I throw up some photos form the past few weeks.  

I am trying to get into shape which includes trying to walk more.  Unfortunetely it seems like everytime I do some really great excerice I get sick the next day.  These photos are from a walk I did to get to a party in a nearby suburb.  I have no idea why my camera put all my photos onto one image, but I rather like the collage effect.  

The  house in the bottom was my only human contact during my hour long walk.  This older man was sitting in his front window, which made me smile.  He was watching this empty suburban street on a Sunday night instead of TV.  Then he waved. I waved back.  It made my night and gave me the confidence I needed to cut through the bush walk short cut and be social at the party.

I also traveled to Napier for a whirlwind 2 days of work.  I had been feeling a bit down on myself professionally.  Just feeling like I wasn't as skilled as I wanted to be and definetely not as effective as I'd like.  There are a lot of reasons why it is hard to encourage the change I envision for my clients, as while it is only somewhat up to me, I still want to do more than I do. Here are a few photos from my Napier trip:


When I returned, the buses in Wellington were not running.  The bus company was in the middle of a lock out.  The airport flyer was still running, but traffic was very slow. I had plenty of time waiting for Trav to pick me up to watch the airport happenings.  I completely didn't realize that the Koru parking lot had bumped the airport flyer bus location.  I wonder how many people here even know about the flyer. I used to use it all the time, still do, but just not as much as when my office was at one of its stops.

 
I also got a kick out of watching this dad greet his baby.  His partner had been flying with the baby. She greated the dad and handed over the kid then proceeded to load all the luggage, car seats, and baby gear after removing a bike from the car and rearranging the seats - the dad just stood there admiring and loving his son.  About 20 minutes later they still weren't off!

We also had a chance to go see our landlord's kids in their school film production.  

It was amazing to go to a cinema filled with high schoolers and then watch a film with faces I knew already.  I had forgot that buzz of seeing a high school event where you know the participants.  Maybe that is what I loved most about the sports games, concerts, and plays -- that buzz of people gathering outside of school hours to show off what they can do.  

Sick on a Sunny Day...

Well I'm home sick with another cold... too bad its my day off.. too bad its absolutely beautiful out today.  But at least it gives me some time to post some of my recent photos.  

Midweek I traveled for work.  I can't afford to fly at the moment, so I really treasure these work-paid flights.  The planes are fairly small, which makes the experience much more like when I was taking flight lessons.

That said, this was my first experience with a classic Wellington take off.  I wish that I had take a photo of us passengers trying to traverse the tarmac to the plane.  The wind was strong.  Trouser legs were rattling against our legs.  We were carefully placing one foot at a time.  You actually needed the hand rail to climb the steps, or you'd topple over.  Upon finding my seat, I realized that the plane was bouncing not from luggage being tossed in, but by the strength of the windy gusts!  I texted Traveler; I knew he would understand my excitement and mild trepidation at the thought of taking off in this wind. Then I turned off my phone and get ready for the adventure.

The wind sock tells part of the story...




I distracted myself from the stomach in throat sensation of the initial climb out by taking photos of Wellington.





The flight time is less than an hour and often feels more like a scenic ride than commute to
to Hawkes Bay which is on the eastern side of the North Island.  Napier is famous for its Art Deco artchitechure built after the massive earth quake here.

This trip I took some time to explore a historic Pa just south of Napier.  I guess during the earthquake the ground here revealed desireable minerals and sadly this lead to some unforgiveable quarrying in this archelogical spot.  The views from the top were amazing.  I also was amazed to learn that most of the city is located in what used to be an estuary!



I also returned to a favourite cafe.  Its a simple place, but reminds me of the Hope Co-op that existed in Forest Grove circa my childhood.  

There are tons of books laying around to read, great chai tea, and even a blackboard for kids 

to draw on.  I particularly love that they serve black beans, which is a rarity here.

It was a productive trip, and soon time to head home.  Here are some shots from the flight back.



And this is the famous road between Wellington and the Wairarapa... its is crazy windy

.. and oh so scary when windy.

Napier - art deco weekend

Napier is a town that was more or less leveled during an earthquake about 75 years ago.

Because nearly all of the downtown area was rebuilt at the same time, it is a time capsule of art deco architecture. In the summer, they put on a huge festival to celebrate the 20's and 30's complete with live music, costumes, and classic cars.


We went up primarily for the dancing, which was really great. There were free concerts and dancing every night at the sound shell




and also live music in the pedestrian mall.


I particularly loved this image of this lady staking her claim for the car parade.. tapping her toes and waving her fingers along with the music until the cars drove by.


There were tons of acts on stage through the afternoons Between performances, music was often played and I loved watching the kids dance to the music. Here are some of my favorite shots.
 


There were classic cars everywhere.

Not only were they part of the very long parade on Saturday


but they also were the only cars allowed to park on the main road and on the beach.




All day long steam tractors pulled wagons of people around.



They also had a mini museum of working steam farm machines on display. They were running all day and late into the night.

More than half the people were in costume. I kept saying to myself “you'd never see this many men in America dressing up” but then again after the sevens I shouldn't be so surprised. Here are some photos from around town as well as the costume competition.











On top of all this there were many airplane displays. Each day there was a mini airshow or two over the town or water. On Sunday everyone gathered for picnics and watched the planes go over head.