Capture: Roamin' Holiday
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JacksonP, in reply to
Could not have set this one up if i tried.
Often the best ones are a bit like that. It really is a great shot.
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
Whilst you are around Gudren, I did a bit of Jacaranda spotting when returning to Auckland the other day. Got 44 along State hwy 1, so am happy to pass on the Tree is alive and well in the North Island.
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Lilith __, in reply to
the Tree is alive and well in the North Island
Last time I was in Hastings I was astonished at the number of silk trees. Every second front yard seemed to have one. Maybe obeying a bylaw? :-)
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
trees a crowd...
Last time I was in Hastings I was astonished at the number of silk trees.
I spotted lots of Jacarandas in Napier this week, too...
I was also forced to enjoy a wedding at Black Barn and spend an idyllic day at Waimarama, life is rough sometimes...
;- )
(and I also didn't notice the 4.7 quake there on Wednesday, but it was 25km deep and in the middle of the night, luxury...) -
Lilith __, in reply to
25km deep and in the middle of the night, luxury...
What earthquake-snobs we've become ;-)
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Another takeoff. Gull playing chicken with the waves, Ocean View beach, Dunedin.
When I arrived in Dn the weather was appalling. But I had 2.5 days of stunningly hot weather, too. This was one of the lovely days, a beautiful evening on the beach. The waves were big and foamy, breaking more with a muffled thud than a crash. Hardly anyone about except the seagulls and oystercatchers. Bliss.
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holiday traffic. Title is "Did you get a ticket in 2012? - 50 years of Spring Festival [i.e. Chinese New Year] in pictures. Text is all in Chinese, but the pictures speak for themselves. Some of those older photos were still true when I first arrived in China (and not just police in green and the lack of high speed trains. I've certainly seen plenty of desperate people climb through the train windows, hanging from and even sleeping on luggage racks). The overcrowding forcing train stations to set up temporary structures on their forecourts hasn't changed at all. So, if you don't have family in China, do not try to travel here at Chinese New Year.
Snow is forecast. Hope it comes soon, because this air is foul, and I'd like the snow out of the way before I have to cross a mountain range in a couple of days.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
Translation error. Should say: 50 years of Spring Festival transport in pictures.
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Sofie, thanks for hunting down those trees. I have yet to see one up close. Who knows eventually i might visit the northern parts of this country and have the privilege.
Lilith i take this gull is waiting for clearance to take off. Propellers are turning so to speak.
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Chris, crossing a mountain range in China? I remember seeing a movie called "The Road Home" In a way this reminds of of that. Very nice cinematography.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
Ah, 《我的父亲母亲》(ETA: the Chinese name literally translates as "My father and mother"), one of Zhang Yimou’s better films from that period before he started doing silly martial arts flicks that make the government happy. Zhang Ziyi’s debut, and one in which she actually managed a decent job of acting – she’s a much better dancer than actress.
The mountains I have to cross are much steeper than those in the film, though, and the mountain section of the expressway is overpopulated with heavy trucks most likely grossly overloaded, poorly maintained and whose drivers have probably been fiddling their logbooks and not taking their rest breaks, so hopefully I won’t have any snow to deal with.
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So we're entering in the last days of school holidays. (Well, some of us are at least.) Whilst I am looking forward to the new year, and all it holds, I have enjoyed being a bit of a sloth for five weeks. And nothing, really, encapsulates a summer holiday more, for me, than a walk on the beach with some dogs.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
Ah, beautiful. Reminds me of my dog, who loved a good run around (I think he defined exuberant), but never got to run along the beach before he vanished. He did enjoy running down village lanes, and even followed me up the mountains back in the days I was allowed to climb the mountains (the mountains up the back of our village are being reforested and so are a forest fire prevention zone, and my wife and her parents have been terrified I'll get bit by a snake ever since they heard a strange and clearly exaggerated rumour of a man from a nearby village dying after being bitten by a giant poisonous snake. To be fair, some of the snakes around here are poisonous, but if you don't bother them, they won't bother you). We kept him up at my parents in law's place rather than cramped in our city apartment and he loved the space and freedom of the countryside. He was also a very friendly dog, which may explain his disappearance, in that he may have accepted a ride in some tourist's car and then been kidnapped. But, damn, he would've loved a run along the beach like your dogs.
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
Oh Chris - how sad that he disappeared!
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
My wife got home from the supermarket one day babbling about this supercute puppy she'd seen and dragged me outside to see. Some people who evidently worked the dog markets (pets! don't worry, this isn't either south China or the largely Korean areas of the northeast) had a vanload of puppies they hadn't been able to sell at the dog market around the corner from where we lived at the time. She showed me this tiny cocker spaniel and we instantly bonded - y'know how sometimes you see a dog and instinctively know "this one's special"? He was absolutely filthy! But fortunately there was a vet up the road. We got him his shots and cleaned him up then smuggled him around the Beijing subway and onto two buses (this was years before we could afford a car) out to my wife's home village. We never did persuade him to clean up and we were forever picking foliage and thorns and seeds out of his dreadlocks. He was hopeless as a guard dog, he just smothered everybody in love. I do still miss my Zaizai. Ever since he vanished, we've hoped he was invited into a car by some city slicker tourists and is well cared for. It ain't much of a photo, but after a computer crash that stole a lot of my photos, it's all I've got left.
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Islander, in reply to
Aue!
Bad when you know death- much worse when you dont know how & when- -
Chris Waugh, in reply to
Yeah, I'm a big fan of being well informed, makes it much easier to deal with things. It's no good when you're left with your mind racing through possibilities, some of which, knowing the area, are really best left uncontemplated.
But we're four days short of the new year, let's get back to the happy stuff.
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Islander, in reply to
Then all I can say is, Happy Spring Festival, dragon year to all of yours & yourself--
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
And to you and yours too.
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
And really, the happy stuff is that you had the chance to have such a beautiful dog in your life. What a stunner that boy is. So lovely.
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And while we're at it, let's do very happy dogs.
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Moonlit gazebos. Waimarama campsite, Hawkes Bay, January 4, 2012.
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The Buskers are back. Not a minute too soon. Twisty Twins.
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Ernest The Magnifico
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Near Dunedin. No one on the beach but me and this rocket-propelled horse and rider. The picture can't convey the speed, or the volley of hoofbeats on the wet sand!
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