Over Christmas, Martin and I were in Whangarei visiting his parents. One highlight was visiting the (then-not-quite-yet-opened) Hundertwasser Art Centre. I thought it I'd left it too late to post photos from our trip, but a Swiss friend mentioned she loves Hundertwasser's work so I thought, rather than just sending her our photos, I'd put them up here :-)
It's a striking and delightfully fun building!
On Tuesday, Martin and I got back from a week on Pōnui Island at Scripture Union's only annual camp for grownups - their Bible Study Camp. I'm still exhausted, but it was such a good week. It was a beautiful location, people were so friendly, and the teaching times have given me good stuff to ponder on.
We traveled there from the stunning Kawakawa Bay, somewhere I don't think I've been before:
Recipe instructions revised December 2022 :-)
Pōhutukawa flowers are such an icon of New Zealand summer :-)
Over the past few weeks, more and more have come into flower around here.
I love the way they turn the footpaths red.
But I had no idea they had culinary uses until I heard about pōhutukawa cordial on National Radio the other week.
Last summer I was regularly swimming at Blockhouse Bay Beach. I would take the bus, walk down the hill and then swim. I built up to 8 'widths' of the bay, which is about 1.2km and took me about an hour.
Then the weather got colder, and by June/July I was only staying in for about half an hour and swimming 600m. I'd expected to be biking there (rather than busing) for these shorter swims, but I ended up going with a neighbour in her car instead. I would swim while she walked her dogs at Craigavon Park.
Then Covid arrived in New Zealand for real. At level 4 we weren't allowed to swim. At level 3 we could swim in open water, but I was no longer keen to catch the bus and share everyone's germs. So I started biking to the beach: initially swimming 4 widths, then 6, until today when I made it to 8 widths - 1.2km again :-) I was super-pleased with myself. Last week I swum 900m in 44 minutes; today I did 1.2km in 61 minutes. I even kept to the same pace for the last two widths :-)
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| A happy Heather at the end of the swim. It's been a gorgeous day today :-) |
This past weekend Martin and I had a 4-day holiday. We'd been hoping to go camping and tramping in the Waitakere Ranges but, with overnight stays away from home not allowed at the current Covid restrictions, we hatched a new plan. On the Thursday, Saturday and Sunday we slept in, had a late-ish breakfast then biked to Coyle Park for the day; on the Friday we still had the slow morning, but then we drove to the Waitakeres for a day walk.
Martin's bike, loaded with a surprising amount of stuff for the day:
Last summer I bought a dress on TradeMe. It turned out to fit OK, but to hang like a sack :-(
I've been avoiding Oakley Creek/Te Auaunga since we went into lockdown back in August. The paths are narrow and it's super-popular - I found it impossible to stay 2 metres away from people there. But today, on a somewhat grey day, I decided to take the risk and head down right as the 4pm levels adjustment announcement started. I hoped that most people would be glued to their radios and TVs and I'd have the place to myself. I was right :-) And it was so good to be back!
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| A bend in the Creek right near the entrance from our street. The water was running high and cloudy after all the rain last night. |
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| A cabbage tree/tī kōuka in flower up near Harbutt Reserve |
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| New growth on a young tōtara - coming in a much greyer colour than the more brownish/yellowish established leaves. |
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| I loved all the cheerful clumps of daisies in the grassy area on the other side of the creek from us. |
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| A tiny mānuka (or kānuka?) flowering its wee heart out :-) |
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| I love the vivid golden yellow of kōwhai at this time of year :-) |
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| Another stretch of creek as I headed back towards home - so lush with all the spring growth around. |
It's such a treasure having the Creek so close, and it was a delight to spend time there today :-)
