Second hand

 

We love second hand shopping, it's pretty cool when we find brand new items for hugely discounted priced.  Hokitika has some great shops for this purpose.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday and The Weekend Roundup.

Coffee

 

I love coffee, but one cup a day is more my style, otherwise it keeps me awake at night. When we visited nearby Fox River in late Summer earlier this years, there was a coffee tent. Normally I don't buy from coffee carts/tents etc as the prices can sometimes be a wee bit steep.

Speaking of expensive, the price of petrol here seems to be constantly going up and down. One minute the strait is open, the next it isn't. sigh. Can't wait for this silly thing to be finished.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Fun Fungi

This morning B and I were out looking for Fungi. April is the perfect time to search and we found some beauties.

This one and the one below it are a poisonous toadstool named "Fly Agaric". We walked around in roughly 11 degree celsius temperatures so not too bad.

All of the others are a mix that we saw along the trail which was about 30 mins there and back.

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures, All Seasons and Happy Tuesdays. 

Roof

 

I was filling up my car with petrol last week and further down the road I saw these 2 men working on replacing a roof on one of the nearby houses. A huge percentage of houses in my town are vintage/retro and Victorian in style. Now that we are in mid Autumn it's probably a good time to do this before Winter comes in June.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday and The Weekend Roundup.

Waiting

 

Life is starting to quiet down here with us 3/4 of the way through Autumn. The weather has been kind, so many fine warm sunny days and not a hint of cold....yet. This weekend we have plans to visit another bush walk - watch this space.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Blackball Mine Track

 

Yesterday we had such a nice warm Autumn day that B and I decided to drive out to an old mining quarry. There is a historical background to this...

Where I live on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, it's well known for a coal and gold mining history which is still going today. 

This particular no longer used coal mine has some old relics and equipment and tunnels (which are unfortunately fenced off) and the whole area is dangerous to check out up close. The walk itself takes about 25 minutes mostly uphill to a lookout at the top.

The mine was in use in the early 1900s and is apparently where the idea of a lunch break began. The miners were unhappy with having a 15 minute break and so they went on strike for 3 months in 1908 demanding the right for a half hour break instead.

The miners ending up winning and Blackball was known as a town that stuck up for New Zealand workers.

Apparently the judge had told the miners their request was unreasonable while enjoying a 90 minute lunch break for himself.

The 1908 strike was important for union history in this country and some of the leaders were later involved in starting up the Labour Party.

The mine operated until 1964 but today it is a preserved site that still has a large chimney, fan houses and equipment scattered around like old wheels.

 Some more old mining equipment...

And this is the view from the top over the nearby Blackball township which is about 20 minutes out of Greymouth.

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures and Happy Tuesdays. 

Quirky

 

Last weekend we drove out to Cobden (a suburb nearby) as I had heard that one of the window companies there were selling second hand windows. We are in the process of renovating the laundry to be the new bathroom. Currently our bathroom is located in a strange box like area which is very small so we have moved the laundry out the garage and the bathroom will move to where the laundry was.

 

We ended up buying 2 windows at a very cheap price. The one on the left is going to be the main bathroom window and the one on the right will be the toilet window, both chosen because with the type of glass, you can't see in or out for privacy. The toilet window will be high up.

Today is ANZAC Day (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) and remembered every year for those who have fought in every war but specifically to remember the anniversary of the 1915 Gallipoli landing during WW1. I have relatives and ancestors who have fought in both WW1 and WW2 that we remember and most towns have dawn services and parades. I'm down with a minor head cold this weekend so I won't be going anywhere.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday and The Weekend Roundup.