People

This one from a visit to Kaikohe when we lived in the far north about 4 years ago - this is a cute town with friendly people who live there. Another one this week for Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup. 

Arts and Crafts

 

This one from a few years ago back when I use to work in Kaikohe. This Arts and Crafts store on the main street caught my eye mainly because of the Maori art displayed on the front. I don't know if it's still there though.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Taniwha Mural

 I found this mural a while back in Kaikohe on the side of one of the older buildings. Painted by someone named Cory R it looks like it was done a few years ago. Apart from the flora, flax and Taniwhas it has been sadly graffitied here and there. I can't find any information about Cory but Taniwhas are knowns as being mythical creatures that lurk in watery dens or caves and were often depicted as dragons or serpents - sounds like an Eel to me.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Northpoint Trust

Last time I was in Kaikohe for work I spotted this lady walking her dog, at one point which was being a bit naughty but instead of being annoyed she bent down and gave him a huge hug and pat, he looked very pleased with himself and was probably thinking "mission accomplished". 

So our region in New Zealand is back in level 3 again due to a positive case in Whangarei. Seems to be a woman who travelled up from Auckland with a friend using false documentation pretending to be an essential worker (meaning someone who is like a caregiver or someone who has to keep working through lockdown). Apparently they visited several towns up here on their road trip, they can't find one woman but the one they could find has been unco-operative - just what we need...not. So many selfish people around it seems with their own agendas. I will find out next week whether I am able to keep working or whether I have to wait until we are back in level 2 again.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Whakamana Reo Rangatira

 I spotted another mural on the side of a building in Kaikohe last time I was there. This one which on the front says "Whakamana reo rangatira" meaning "Lift up the chiefly language". As it celebrates Maori Language Week it was painted by local group Akau in the hope that it and the other murals around the town would encourage people to learn te reo for themselves.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Spring in Kaikohe

While we were in level 4 lockdown alot of my non-urgent clients were paused but luckily I was able to keep working by travelling to Kaikohe for 2 weeks. There is a client out there who has a brain injury and sometimes my manager asks me to cover her usual carer so that's where I've been.  One morning I stopped to take a photo of one of the trees that was covered in pink blossoms. Spring is here.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Aroha

This week's mural is a bit of a strange one. No idea who the artist is but this one on the side of a building in Kaikohe says "Aroha" meaning "love" on the front along with some colourful geometric shapes on the side. Something to brighten up this part of town.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Rainbow connection

Back roads are the best. A few weeks ago I drove down a new road where there were a few old ramshackle buildings. This one in the middle of a field looked lonely, even with the rainbow in the sky.

So we are in lockdown until the remainder of the week except for Auckland who stays in until the 31st August, understandable really as they have the majority of the positive cases. So far I think we've gotten away rather lightly again considering the rates other countries have shown. As of today we have 107 in both Auckland and Wellington.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Travel Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, Through my lens, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Waiting around...

We seem to spend alot of time on our phones - photo taken in Kaikohe.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Hibernating...

Occasionally when I venture out with B for his work, he'll stop somewhere and I'll use the moment to take photos of the surrounding scenery. More often than not it's farms we can see - this one is in Kaikohe on the outskirts of town. A handful of old shacks, bare trees, a damp feeling in the air, some disused buildings and a marae is what we normally see.

Most of our days here begin with temperatures of around 4-6 degrees celsius, the winter pyjamas and clothing has come out of hiding and we are finding little cupboard clearing out things to do on our days off. In the search for more dinner plates we discovered that we don't have enough and we will have to buy some more.

We have been invited to B's best friend's wedding next year in Melbourne, that in itself is going to require some research...do we still have to quarantine if we've been vaccinated, how long do we go for in case the travel bubble closes and we get stuck. Lots to think about...

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Northland College Mural

 I found this mural in Kaikohe tucked down a pathway next to a shop, another one painted by Northland artist Chris Wilkie in conjunction with Northland College of which Chris is the art teacher there. It symbolises the Maori culture of the area and history as part of the beautification that the town was going through. 

This was the view of the road once I came out of the alleyway.

So now that I'm alot better and over the head cold my youngest son is now down with it. I wonder why people don't stay home when they are unwell? There is plenty of advertising online and during tv commercials about it so what is the reason it's ignored? People get 5 days sick leave here per year which is meant to be increasing to 10 days (I think), maybe they can't afford it if they have gone over their allocated days but you would think with the awareness on Covid they would be more careful right?

Over the weekend my daughter and I visited finally our local Chocolate factory/shop - link to it here. We've lived in this town for nearly 3 years so this was the first time, we ended up buying some chocolate covered Macadamia Shortbread and some espresso sticks (for my cups of coffee) - very decadent and delicious. One of my old bosses from 2 years ago when I worked in supermarket retail is now one of the managers there so it was good to catch up with her, she looked alot happier in her new role. 

And lastly now that we are going into Winter, B and I have been binge watching "The Sopranos" series. It's been pretty riveting so far but once we get to the end we will need any new suggestions any of you may have for something new.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kaikohe Cycle Trail Mural

There are alot of cycle trails around the far north that are extremely popular. This mural on the back of a building in Kaikohe was painted in 2018 by artist Dallas August and blessed by local Kaumatua Ted Wihongi. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kaikohe Berries

 

Another mural spotted in Kaikohe recently, this one was painted by Charles and Janine Williams named "Kaikohe Berries" with paint donated by the Kerikeri Colour Centre. They also regularly paint other murals around New Zealand including one in I posted about in 2017 from Tauranga.

This particular mural tells the story of the town which was named after the Kohekohe fruit that sustained people in times of hardship. The diamond background represents a bird's eye view of the maunga (mountain) Tokareireia or Kaikohe Hill. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kamokamo and Kumara

 Another street/shop view in Kaikohe - this time it's a corner shop that sells vegetables. This one has signs selling Kumara for in $3 packs and Kamokamo in $20 packs. If you are unfamiliar with Southern Hemishere vegetables I'll do my best to explain what these 2 are. 

Kamokamo is kind of like a type of Squash or Butternut, it is  like a pumpkin - it's very yummy whatever way it's cooked, I like to add it to either Winter soups or a Roast Pork/Chicken dinner. Kumara is like a type of sweet Potato and is used in much the same way but it was bought here over 1000 years ago by early Maori settlers from the Pacific Islands. 

Worth trying if you can. 

Linking up with Timeless Thursdays, Skywatch Friday, The Weekend Roundup and  Weekend Reflections. 

Maori Culture in Kaikohe

 Another mural on the side of a shop that's closed for business in Kaikohe, this one again I have been unable to find the artist but the painting looks like it's showing the richness of Maori culture in the region.

We are away this week on our annual holiday, this time to Taupo and Napier - I have set some posts by date to come up but we won't have internet access so I won't be able to visit you until we return. See you soon...

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Please decide

 Another Kaikohe mural - this one is in the Marino Court area. After googling it I think this one maybe have been painted by kiwi Denis Wilford.  "Whakatau MaiRa" means in Maori "Please decide". 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Save, save, save

 If you're a fellow kiwi like me you'd recognize the sign on the front cover of the building on the right. Save Mart to us is a place where you tend to find the best second hand stuff and there are stores scattered all over the country, the best one I've been to was in Tauranga. On this particular day I did stop in there and have a squizz but couldn't find anything to my liking. Also in the photo is a phone box, this one is owned by Spark one of the major phone/internet companies here, usually they have been covered in graffiti or the glass is smashed so to see the one in tact was a surprise.

On the left is a $2 shop as it's known also called "gold coin shops" or "coin and save" or "$2 shops" because our $1 and $2 currencies use to be notes but some years ago they were changed into coins instead much to peoples chagrins (we all know how coins are a pain to have in your purse or wallet).

Just another photo from Kaikohe...

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My Corner of the World and Wordless Wednesday.

Kaikohe Culture Mural

 While in Kaikohe last week as I walked through the town I was surprised to see so many murals on the walls around town. This one was on the side of one of the buildings and although I can't find a name of the artist I can say this one depicts the Maori culture, a pigeon, a fish and cows from the farming communities around the area.

Annnnd it seems Auckland is back into a 7 day lockdown here due to a few selfish people. 2 people who are part of the latest cluster were tested and told to go home and stay there until the results came through. Instead the 1st person went to work resulting in the business having to close and the 2nd person chose to go to the gym and other places. I'm starting to wonder if people that don't do as they are told should be charged or fined to get the message through, thoughts?

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Winning Fish Shop

 I was over in Kaikohe yesterday for a look around, although we have driven through this town many times I've never actually stopped so while I took quite a few street photos this one stands out to me because the sign for the barber's shop was right next door to a sign that says "fresh smoked fish" - 2 very different things.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Over the hills and far away...

On Tuesday B invited me to go with him to work as the jobs he had were about 90 minutes away. His job means that he fixes peoples phone lines and internet problems so we drove out through Kaikohe, Taheke, Opononi and Omapere to end up in Waimamaku. This is a lookout spot we stopped at in Pakanae that allowed us to see over some of the Hokianga coastline.

 Linking up with Skywatch Friday.