14 December, 2020

Bizarre Bras - Te Papa - Wellington

aBRAcalypse Now by Wendy Moyer - Mexico, heralds the Mayan end of days.


Prickly Heat by Wendy Moyer - Mexico, inspired by the fabled breasts of Mother Earth to nourish mankind. These cacti are known as Horse Crippler, suckling is not advised.


Renewal by Alexa Cach, Moidrag Guberinic, & Corey Gomes - United States

This sculptural bra relates to themes of renewal and the persistence of the cycle of life. The captured light of a spring sunrise, roots stubbornly penetrating a rocky soil, finding sustenance to nourish budding leaves.

Web of Time exhibit - Te Papa



I want the viewer to reflect on their inner self, on their life, their past, their present, and their future ...

- Chiharu Shiota


Numbers comfort us. We share dates that are important to us, and they help us to understand ourselves.

- Chiharu Shiota

These numbers - scattered like stars in the night sky - represent meaningful dates in history, both collective and personal.

- Chiharu Shiota

In The Web of Time, countless intertwined strands connect numbers across time and space.

13 December, 2020

Putangirua Pinnacles - Wairarapa



Putangirua Pinnacles Track is on the South coast of the North Island. Located on the Wairarapa Coastline near Cape Palliser, these large stalagmite structures featured in The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli rode along the Dimholt Road to meet the Army of the Dead.

Around seven million years ago, the Aorangi Range was an island. As the mountains eroded, scree and gravel were washed down to the coast, where they formed a sedimentary layer.
Over the past 120,000 years, the Putangirua Stream has exposed this ancient layer of gravel to the erosive forces of rain and floods. Some of the sediments stayed concreted together, while others washed away. The result is the Putangirua Pinnacles

There are three routes leading to the Putangirua Pinnacles or the Pinnacles lookout:


1. Walk up the streambed to where the Pinnacles tower overhead.

2. Take the easy bush walk that starts approximately 10 minutes along the streambed from the car park. This leads to the loop track junction and on to the lookout above the Pinnacles.

3. For a more direct route to the lookout, walk up the streambed to the base of the Pinnacles and turn left onto the loop track. This track climbs steeply to the lookout and meets up with the bush walk.

As the day was hot, we chose the bush walk and zigzagged up the bush clad hill to the look out. This took about half an hour.


After a quick snack and quenching our thirst, we continued on the loop track downhill, which was quite steep,  and walked up the streambed to the base of the Pinnacles. 

The trail is not marked along the rocky stream bed. We just wandered up the valley, and the columns greeted us.


Fascinating landscape, and we spent about 3 hours there, wandering around and looking at the rock formation.

About 20 minutes drive further along the road is the Cape Palliser Lighthouse. There is also a bay where the fishing boats are brought in by bulldozers.
A cast iron light house on the cliff, built in 1897. Climbing the 253 steps took my breath away.
The Cape is also home to the North Island's largest fur seal colony.  We spotted some pups along with their parents enjoying the sunshine.

06 December, 2020

"... and three birds in a Christmas tree!"

 

Ratbag didn't destroy too many decorations

Total hid amongst the red decorations. Perhaps they are her favourite colour?
Smokey prefers the silver decorations, as they match his feathers.

10 November, 2020

Quinn's Zoo

Today Quinn finished his worksheet that he was colouring in for Tourism, and did some painting.

He painted a zoo. A lion, giraffe, elephant and an ostrich.  

Did I mention he is in Year 12 at school, and 17.

Super proud mama.

31 October, 2020

Halloween 2020

Emmett and Lucy joined us to celebrate Halloween.


The urchins made "Jack o lanterns' with orange balloons and black pens.
The T Rex tried to help, but his arms were too short.

Vampire wee and frozen hands

Jack o lantern pastries
The trick or treaters going out with the T-Rex.
We had to tape up the T-Rex's tail, as it kept dragging on the ground.




The penguin candy was delicious. Berry flavoured. It was weird eating penguins.




Happy Halloween!

28 October, 2020

Purple in Kuirau Park

The wysteria at Kuirau park has overgrown the bridge.


The bees are enjoying the purple flowers, they were quite noisy.