This week, our Travel pics series is G for Gardens. Some people have a green thumb. In fact, my grandfather was once reputed to have stuck a dead, dry stick in the ground – and have it grow. Me, I’m the opposite. If I plant something, it’s almost guaranteed to die. Although I suspect that’s partly because…
This week, our Travel pics series is C, for Cruise Ships. The final image this week is of the only ship we’ve travelled on twice (so far) .. the Carnival Spirit. The Spirit is a 15 year old ship, and is the namesake of the Spirit class of vessels. She was the first of the ‘American’…
The theme letter for our travel pics this week is X (Marks the spot). And for Saturday, the X is eXaggerated valleys of New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. The region, on the southwest of the Southern Island of New Zealand, features three main sounds: Doubtful, Dusky and Milford – each of which has deeply gouged fiord valleys…
The theme letter for our travel pics this week is up to Q – so we’ve chosen Quiet Reflections. We visited Dunedin, New Zealand on a cruise ship (the Carnival Spirit) and loved the city – it was small but vibrant, friendly, historic and beautiful. But it was as we sailed out again that I was…
The theme for our travel pics this week is F, for Flowers. I’ve always called the plants Daisies – but that just goes to show how little I know. They are, in fact, Asters, growing in the bright winter sun of New Zealand. Beside the Wintergarden in Auckland that I spoke of, we also…
The theme for our travel pics this week is F for Flowers. Today’s image is another from the Wintergarden, in Auckland’s Domain. It is, of course, a Hydrangea – or a high-geranium, as my mother-in-law was wont to call them. Apparently, a more acidic soil turns them blue, and a more alkaline soil makes them…
The theme for our travel pics this week is F, for Flowers. We’ve only been to New Zealand, once – on a 14 day cruise out of Sydney. But we loved it for its beautiful scenery, its friendly people, its culture and its creature comforts. When we were in Auckland, we caught a hop-on hop-off…
The theme for our travel pics this week is F, for Flowers. Everywhere we travel, we seem to take lots of pics of flowers – even though we live in a subtropical paradise ourselves. My mum was a lover of flowers, too .. and the Hoya vine was one of her favourites. She had one…
The theme for our travel pics this week is C for Churches. Today, it’s First Church of Otago, in New Zealand. This landmark in Dunedin is one of the most impressive of New Zealand’s 19th century churches, and was built to serve the largely Presbyterian citizens of the Scottish-settled city. It dominates Dunedin, and can be…
Dolphins with droopy dorsal fins; earthquake-damage apologies; French street signs; frigid teal waters; rose gardens; mosaic galleries – we’re talking about Akaroa, on New Zealand’s South Island. The town is on the Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the country, and it’s where the cruise ships come in to visit Christchurch, around 80km away. Akaroa’s…
