All Aboard, Above and Below Decks…

In a continuation of yesterday’s post, we are on the three masted sailing vessel that is the “Shippey’s” Fish and Chip takeaway and Restaurant.

The kids race to try out some swivel barstool type chairs in the open seating area on the open part of the foredeck… the menu is short and sweet but getting  two particular tired kids to decide between burgers and fish and nuggets is astonishingly more complicated than I could ever have imagined.

(yes, sadly the Kiwidutch kids are both fussy and obstinate at times). There’s a seating area for patrons below decks too… good for winter dining I imagine and for kids birthday parties. Whilst our order is being cooked we take a look around.

(note: the upstairs looks a bit empty in my photos but that’s actually rather misleading because it was, just for a few minutes when we arrived but within 15 minutes or so people streamed in and in no time the upstairs was packed. There were also a fairly constant stream of people picking up takeaways).

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A Little Wander Around Waitangi…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

You are following our retroactive tour of  New Zealand made in December 2010 - January 2012.

At this point of the trip it’s early in the New Year and we are at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, in Northland.

We’ve just left the massive  ”waka” or  canoe and are slowly making our way around the grounds.

Himself, my friend and our combined group of children got so far ahead of me that they’ve had time to have a paddle in the sea as well as a good run around.

I’ve been taking my time, stopping to rest and plodding along carefully on my crutches.  This set of photos takes us past various parts of the Waitangi Grounds… some very important bits are coming up, but they get their own post.

We are heading towards the grass-topped knoll that I could see earlier on the peninsular when I zoomed in with the camera (from our picnic lunch spot on the beach at Paihia a few posts back). Paihia is across the bay at the extreme far right in the background of  the first photo, and the beach we were on is probably just fractionally out of shot, about another centimetre to the right. There’s another Maori Meeting House here at Waitangi too and I would have liked to have gone over and had a look inside but it was some distance away and I was getting rather  tired so decided to pass that one up. It’s excellent to get out and about but I’ve got to recognise my physical limits and know when enough is enough.

Little Mr gets disproportionately excited (as only six year old boys can) when a helicopter passes by so that photo is for especially for him and any other “plane spotters” amongst my readers (although I assume that adult plane spotters don’t emit very loud high pitched squeals when they spot helicopters LOL).  There is the possibility to walk in a large loop that would take us back to the Information Centre at the entrance but  after seeing the next two things  just around the corner  (all will be revealed soonest!) I find it’s time to call it quits on the walking, so Himself  sprints back to the car park and retrieves the van to pick us up.  Let’s take a look around this last part of the grounds …

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Waitangi… a Place of National Significance…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In a continuation of yesterday’s journal post,  we have finished our picnic lunch,  had  a rest  in the shade whilst the kids let off steam running around and now departed Paihia for the short drive to Waitangi.

Waitangi is the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed and as such is celebrated as New Zealand’s National Day on 6th February each year.

We start by looking around the Information Centre… and making our way around the site to see some very specific things and places.

This post however focuses on the entrance and the first part of Waitangi’s grounds.

I was last here as a teenager and a lot has been added and updated since then,  including the Information Centre itself, and and this very funky walkway that  leads us in under a welcome cool canopy of native trees…  The shade is very nice and much appreciated today since the temperatures today are still climbing steadily. Himself, my friend and the six kids race ahead exploring and I take my time at the rear, stopping for photos and little rests. Let’s take a look around the entrance to Waitangi…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Just One Little Bay in a Whole Bay of Islands…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

At this part of my retrospective journal we’ve reached the lovely area of  Northland called the Bay of Islands.

There are a multitude of beautiful places to see around here, accessible by road and probably half a lifetime of places to visit if we had a boat, but we are stopping in Paihia where we find a picnic table under the shade of some trees just a few metres from the beach.

Since the day is hot and the sun is out, several of the older girls  indulge in some  sea-side paddling, whilst my friends four year old and Little Mr.  only have eyes for the playground equipment located a convenient distance from our picnic table.

My friend and I break out the contents of the picnic basket, make an assembly line and soon a large pile of sandwiches disappear into hungry waiting hands.

People all around us are relaxing in the sun, playing in the water or just sleeping on blankets on the grass.

In the last two photographs I use maximum zoom to look into the distance:  a small peninsular, topped partly near it’s end with a grassy area that features a large flagpole…  this is a very special place in New Zealand’s history…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Hundertwasser is Everywhere, But to Catch Gabriel and Frederick We Need a Return Visit…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When I mentioned a few posts back that Austrian architect  Friedensreich Hundertwasser left his mark on Kawakawa, I wasn’t joking.

The quirkiness of his style is literally plastered all over the place.

There are even isolated tiles in the pavements and in walls…

Even a quick look around this small town will give you the idea that this guy’s influence has crept in almost everywhere!

The Café across the street,  gift shops and a raft of other local businesses have all been given what I might loosely term the  ’ Hundertwasser ‘ treatment, giving this small town a really special vibe.

I  can clearly see that the residents fell as much in love with  Hundertwasser ‘s style as he did with their town… a fitting  memorial to a man who’s work brings tourists from afar and puts some needed tourist dollars into the small businesses of this little community.

Hundertwasser lived close to the town of Kawakawa  for 25 years, at first for short stays, commuting back to Vienna regularly but as time progressed he started to spend more and more of his time at his New Zealand property preferring the small town community’s easy-going  and relaxed attitude and privacy afforded to him and as a place where he could enjoy an anonymity that he didn’t receive as famous architect in Europe.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’d love to come back here again one day… not just to get more photographs of  Hundertwasser’s work around the town but also because we missed another very special item unique to this little town… the trains!

Kawakawa is the only town in New Zealand to have a train track running right down the main street!

Apparently this originated back in the days when Kawakawa was called “Irishtown” and was the centre of a booming coal mining industry and coal was transported to Opua on the coast.

After  coal production ceased the line was used for other transport purposes until it was overtaken by other larger links to bigger deeper water ports.

For a while here was a vintage railway group using the line until 2000 when circumstances closed them down, but in 2006 a new Trust was formed and  The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway now runs weekend steam train excursions though the town at weekends.

We looked for “Gabriel” the famed steam engine  or “Frederick” the diesel engine but with no success. Yet another reason to try and come back here again:  I’d love a train ride!

The Trust has a website and once you take a look at the video on the first page, I’m certain you’ll probably want one too!   www.bayofislandsvintagerailway.org.nz

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Helix Bridge … DNA and Child’s Play…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

My next photographic “target” on Singapore’s Duck  Tour sits right next to the ArtScience Museum and Gallery of  the day before yeaterday’s post.

If you have been a reader of my blog for any length of time, then you will know how much I appreciate old stuff, especially old stuff made in stone, wood, wrought iron, hand blown or leaded glass.

I love “antique”, I adore “quirky” and I appreciate craftsmanship and detail in many different mediums.
That said, sometimes a little bit of “modern” can catch my eye and turn my head as well. This is one of those times.

This bridge is known as the “Helix Bridge” and so logically enough, it was no surprise to find out from our Duck Tour guide that the design is based on the double helix format of DNA strands.

Wikipedia tells me that:

“Canopies (made of fritted-glass and perforated steel mesh) are incorporated along parts of the inner spiral to provide shade for pedestrians.

The bridge has four viewing platforms sited at strategic locations which provide stunning views of the Singapoe skyline and events taking place within Marina Bay. At night the bridge is illuminated by a series of lights that highlight the double-helix structure.

Pairs of coloured letters “c” and “g” as well as “a” and “t” on the bridge light up at night in red and green to represent cytosine, guanine, adenine and thymine, the four bases of DNA. “

I just like the simplicity and cleaness of the structure… it’s pleasing and harmonous in it’s purity of line, and I find the grace of the interwoven curves mesmerising.     …And I knew I liked it even more when I found this little snippet of information on Wikipedia: “the bridge also functions as a gallery where children’s paintings and drawings are exhibited for public viewing.”

So, beautiful indeed, on so many levels.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)