Picton NZ

Whilst waiting for the Inter Islander Ferry to travel to Wellington in the North Island we were entertained by a couple of seals frolicking around the Picton Marina.   I also managed a few reflections  in the beautiful water of The Marlborough Sounds.

Linking today with Saturday's Critters

                               Weekend Reflections

 

Leaving the Marina and Picton behind

 

 

A beautiful shimmer of sunlight on the Sounds

 

Once we reached the open waters of Cook Straight the sea changed quickly 

 

By the time we reached Wellington the beautiful sunny sky had been replaced with dark clouds and rain

A Mural of Convenience

The final mural for 2013 was taken on our August trip to New Zealands North Island town of Dargaville. The public amenities on the banks of the Northern Wairoa River are painted to match their surroundings. Featured  is the Pohutukawa Tree or is commonly known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree, the Band Rotunda and the River.

Linking with Monday Mural

The Pohutukawa in the background of this pic are not in flower but when they do they are a vibrant red.

The yellow in the mural represents the Northern Wairoa River which is extremely muddy

Monday Mural

This mural is another one from our recent holiday to Dargaville in New Zealand.  It is a tiled mosaic mural set in the Gardens by the Northern Wairoa River. It has a Maori theme about it and a splash of yellow too.

 

Linking with  Monday Mural
 

                     Monday Mellow Yellows
 

 

Monday Mural

This is an old pic that I found amongst my photo collection. At the time this was taken I had never heard of Monday Murals so I could have had a whole series of them if only I had known and not just these two with hubby posing in front of them. These ones are from Dargaville in New Zealand, representing the early township and gum diggers.  The extremely valuable Kauri gum is found in the northland region of NZ.  You can read more about kauri gum Here

Linking with Monday Mural

Monday Mural

I have exhausted my local murals, but found this one that I took a few months ago when I was on holiday  in New Zealand. It is a public toilet block at Opononi in the north of the North Island.

 

 

This is the view coming down the hill  into Opononi, quite breathtaking I think.

 

Linking with Monday Mural

Skies, Fences and Cows

A few typical country scenes involving sky and fences. These were taken on our recent trip to Northland region of New Zealand.

This cow thought I must have had some food for her. She came up to the fence to check out what I was doing. She made a nice subject behind the fence.

Linking with  Fridays Fences

              and 

                     Skywatch Friday

Pink Sheep ?

I almost forgot about this photo that I took whilst in New Zealand last month. Sheepworld is on the main highway near Warkworth. I had to do a double take when I thought I had spotted pink sheep. Hubby did the obligatory back up as he didn't believe me. We visited this wonderful tourist attraction, a  sheep farm, some years ago and marveled at the working sheep dogs, sheep shearing and feeding the lambs. I do remember having "the mickey" taken out of me because I was an Aussie but it was all in good fun. I made the mistake of putting my hand up when the host asked if there were any Australians in the audience. There has always been a friendly rivalry between Aussies and Kiwis.

 

 

Linking with Fridays Fences

Peaceful Resting Place

Our recent visit to New Zealand was mainly for hubby to catch up with his family. Catching up with some meant a visit to the Dargaville Cemetery, which has this wonderful view over the rolling hills. It is such a picturesque resting place. As he was paying his respects to various people I went off to photograph fences and sky, ever mindful that it would provide some material for FF or Skywatch.

This fence separates the cemetery from cow paddocks

This  section is for Returned Service Men and Women

Linking with

 Skywatch Friday here  http://skyley.blogspot.nl/

Fridays Fences here http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com.au/

Skywatch Friday

This sunset was behind us as we were driving back to base  from Opononi in New Zealand.  HOM had to stop the car so that I didn't miss it.

Linking with Skywatch Friday here http://skyley.blogspot.nl/

Fridays Fences

Todays fences  come from New Zealand. Last year we did a self guided tour of the South Island. These  fences are around the motel at Fox Glacier in which we stayed, The Mount Cook View Motel.

Linking with Fridays Fences here at  http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com.au/

Weekend Reflections @ Lake Wanaka NZ

This weekends contribution was taken last year on our trip in the South Island of New Zealand. The road followed along the shores of Lake Wanaka. A clear sunny morning was ideal for taking reflections on the Lake.

 

 

 

 

Check out more fantastic relections here  http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com.au/

Fridays Fences

This  pic was taken last year in the autumn in Motueka New Zealand while we were on holiday.. We were on an early morning walk, how good is it to start your day with colours like this. 

 

 

 

I am sharing this on  Fridays Fences 

Fridays Fences

I couldn't  resist stopping and taking a snap of this gorgeous fellow in a paddock out of Dunedin in New Zealand.

Linking with Fridays Fences http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com.au/

Skywatch Friday

Mt Taranaki in New Zealands North Island  was visible above the clouds as we flew over.  This was taken through the window of the plane so I apologise for the quality of the pic.

High above the clouds, linking with Skywatch Friday  http://skyley.blogspot.com.au/

Fridays Fences : Wheely

Pardon the pun, I just couldn't help myself. The house is called "King Wheel Cottage" This fence is in the town of Kingston in New Zealand's South Island. I saw that the host of Fridays Fences loves wagon wheels so I hope she likes this fence.

Check out more great fences here at http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com.au/

Skywatch Friday

New Zealand is not called "The land of the long white cloud" for no reason. These shots were taken just out of Kingston on the way to Queenstown on a beautiful autumn day in May 2012. The road runs along  Lake Wakatipu all the way Queenstown. The cloud was low over the Lake and the autumn colours on the trees were a delight.

Linking with Skywatch Friday. Check out more sky pics here at

http://skyley.blogspot.com.au/