Bamboo Tiger

 

Photo taken at K'Road - Auckland 2024

Seems like a strange name for a bar. This particular part of Auckland Central is a vibrant place full of ethnic businesses. Back in the 1980s and 1990s Karangahape (K'Road) Road was known as being very seedy, full of strip bars and prostitutes walking up and down trying to drum up business. These days it's more upmarket and even the nearby suburb of Ponsonby use to be a slum area but now it's posh and houses usually sell for nearly the $1 million NZD mark. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Kia ora

 

Photo taken at Karangahape Road in Auckland City - November 2024.

"Kia ora" is a Maori greeting said here in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It means hi or hello.  It's the end of another week. I've recently come to the realisation that I have developed possible arthritis in my hands and arms which is hereditary - my dad has it and so did his mother (my nana) so at the moment I've found taking Glucosamine in capsule form can help. If you have this condition and have any ideas please leave me a comment.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Pitt Street

 

Along Karangahape Road - the pub in the photo was licenced in 1862 to Mr George Pearson as the Naval Hotel but the licence was petitoned against by 90 local residents. It was the first on this road of Colonial Auckland but it is good to know that it is still being used as a pub.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Flight Centre

One from Auckland city near Karangahape Road. Flight Centre - one of the places here that people can book flights through but has anyone actually done Japanese Karaoke?

inking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Afternoon

 

One from Auckland on the corner of Karangahape Road (K-Road as it's known). One person walking their dog along the busy street and one to the left on his cellphone. It's been stinking hot here so far this Summer. We bought a blue plastic paddling pool for Bug, my daughter's dog but so far the cats have shown more interest in it than she has.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Crossing

 

This is one of my favourite inner city roads - Karangahape Road in central Auckland City has changed over the year. When I was growing up it was full of pubs, ethnic clothing shops etc and was a home for prostitutes to hang out in their various spots. After prostitution was legalised here in 2003, it became less common to see them walking up and down the road. Now K Road as it's now called is mostly full of bars, restaurants, cafes, artist galleries, businesses etc. It's becoming more upmarket.

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

Smart

 

I do like it when people take pride in their appearance. Unfortunately these days we tend to see more of the jeans hanging down off people and scruffy fashion. I spotted this lady when we were up in Auckland last year walking along Karangahape Road., I think she looks very smart. 

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Pitt Street Mural

 

Near the top of Karangahape Road and Pitt Street in Auckland City is this religious mural (as I think it looks) on the side of the one of the old buildings, it seems to be situated right next to the Methodist Church. I'm not sure who it is meant to depict but thanks to Tom the artist is Owen Dippie from Kawerau.

Linking up with Monday Murals.

Flight centre

 

Another scene from near Karangahape Road in Auckland City. This one caught my eye because in this part of town there seems to be nearly every building that has posters glued to it advertising promotions. Whenever we have travelled we have never had to use travel agents, in fact I've been reading news stories lately about how they've mucked up peoples tickets or itineraries. I don't know if they really do - have you ever used a travel agent? I think it's just as easy to book your own tickets, in fact we are about to book ours for another trip to Auckland in November as my oldest son and his partner are getting married.

Edited to add: I've just discovered in my blogger spam folder hundreds of unpublished comments, my apologies for that, no idea why they were in there but it's been sorted now.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

City of sails

 

I have to say I adore Auckland. Having been born and raised there for 25 years before moving north I don't think I would ever live there permanently again but I do like going back once in a while to see how things have changed. I worked in the central city for quite a few years and it's interesting to see how old things have been updated. This is along Karangahape Road just out of the main street of shops.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Wesley Bicentenary Hall

While strolling around Auckland City near the top of Queen Street and Karangahape (K) Road I noticed this rather imposing building hidden behind some of the more modern ones. Upon research I found out that the Wesley Bicentenary Hall was built to commemorate the 200 years since the conversion of John and Charles Wesley in 1739 and the founding of the Methodist Church.

The building was built in 1939 and opened in 1940. The architect was a Herbert Clinton Savage (1890-1957) and was designed in a modernised version of the Gothic style to harmonise with a nearby Pitt Street church. This structure replaced a wooden building dating from 1877 which was moved to Mission Bay and used as a school.

It was originally for the administrative offices of the Methodist Church of New Zealand as well as an auditorium on the ground floor. In the 1990s a lift shaft was carefully added to the front of the building. I'm not sure what it's being used for now.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Souvlaki

So while we've been in Auckland this week we made a point of driving out to the city. While we were there we walked around trying to find somewhere to eat lunch along Karangahape Road which is well known for it's ethnic restaurants and cafes.

In the end we settled on a Turkish Cafe. I'm one of those people who loves trying new food. When I was growing up my father knew people who owned restaurants and once in a while we ate out at different places. I was lucky to have the opportunity as a child to try Chinese, Turkish, Japanese among others. 

I ordered a Chicken Souvlaki with hummus and flatbread on the side. It wasn't actually that spicy or hot to eat, Just a bit of this and a bit of that. It left me so full that I didn't want dinner last night.

I literally haven't been up this end of town since I was in my 20s before I got married so it was cool to see all the changes that had been going on. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Totems + Milk

On our recent re-visit to the Symonds Street Cemetery right next to the Jewish section is this mural painted on the side of an old building. Named "Totems + Milk" it was painted by artist Reuben Winter who sadly was successful in committing suicide in 2020 with the dates "1994 - 2020" signifying his birth and death. 

Young Reuben suffered from chronic pain and fatigue illness, he also worked with many influential New Zealand artists. Such a talented young man will I'm surely be well missed.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Karangahape Rocks

I've been wanting to take a photo of this sculpture for ages, when I lived in Auckland many years ago I wasn't really interested in it but now I think it's just so weird and unusual. Here's what I found out about it:

Greer Twiss's bronze 'Karangahape rocks' (1967–69) sits in a park on the corner of Auckland's Karangahape Road and Symonds Street. It is a water fountain but the flow is modest – Twiss had the water trickle gently down the grooves in the large discs so it would not spray out in high winds. The water feature broke down in the late 1980s and was only repaired in 2012. 

It's like a focal point where it's located, at an intersection of Grafton Bridge and is easily seen if anyone is sitting in their car at the traffic lights. Greer is the Godfather of contemporary sculptures, for more than 50 years he has made them, exhibited, been collected, been commissioned, taught, been reviewed and written about. He has also been a pioneer of cast metal here in New Zealand and has also held exhibitions overseas.

 Linking up with The Weekend Roundup and  Weekend Reflections.

The old Grafton Bridge

How did your Halloween go this week? It came and went for us, we had a few groups of children knocking on our door and we already had a bowl of sweets ready to give out but apart from that it was pretty quiet.

Anyway earlier this week we traveled to Auckland to pick up the other half's step daughter from the airport. On the way we explored parts of the city - now I grew up in Auckland and worked in the central city for many years so sometimes I miss it.

This iconic structure named the Grafton Bridge is on the outer fringe and opened in 1910. It links up Grafton Gully to Karangahape Road, Auckland Hospital and the Auckland Domain. At the time it was built it was the largest concrete bridge arch in the world. Originally the first bridge built was made of wood at 360 feet long and 85 feet high - this one was built in 1885 but as population grew people voiced their opinions about the safety of the structure.

In 1907 the Auckland City Council took tenders to build the new concrete bridge (still there today) which measures 296 metres long with a central span of 320 feet, rising 84 feet  with a height of 142 feet off the valley floor.

In recent years the wave shaped like cover was put over both sides to prevent people jumping over onto the busy motorway below. Underneath the bridge exists the Symonds Street cemetery, one of the oldest places in NZ which houses the remains of mostly early settlers in the 1800s.

(photo from Heritage.org.nz)

These days this part of the city houses mostly University students and only a handful of the old colonial properties still exist.