Overcast

 

Another example of beachside apartments, these ones though are in Paihia along the waterfront - you literally cross the road to get to the beach.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Flags in Paihia

 

I was going through some of my old photos from when we lived in Kerikeri. When we first moved there in 2018 we stopped in Paihia to look around and on the footpath just before town were these flags that someone had painted. There were many more countries flags but these were the ones I took photos of. I'm not sure why they were there, maybe to show that New Zealand is multi-cultural? Who knows?

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

Pavement

 

A neat and tidy pavement lined alleyway/shopping area in Paihia.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Quest

I remember this scene in Paihia in Summer 2021. The man sitting on a chair on the left usually lives in Kerikeri, where we lived but I was surprised to see him here too but he was working on a piece of crochet with his needles, strange and cool but true. I wonder if he's on a quest to make as much as he can? Sometimes he would stand on a street with a sign saying "gratitude for a haircut" so I'm guessing he wasn't very well off but he seemed to be a nice person.

Linking up with Weekend reflections, All Seasons and the Weekend roundup.

Fudge

A street scene from Paihia in the Summer 2021. Streets were still pretty quiet with people getting out and about but wary of covid as it was just beginning to hit Northland. This was in an alleyway where there are quite a few shops, one of which is Ella's fudge. I'm not a really much of a fudge fan, I find it too sweet but their website shows some pretty yummy treats. I much prefer the Movenpick ice cream shop in the background.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Busby Manor

One from my visits to Paihia when we lived in Kerikeri. The Busby Manor resort is on the waterfront overlooking the beach and was named after one of the country's colonialists James Busby who employed by the Governor of New South Wales (Australia) to protect the more well behaved British settlers and traders in the early to mid 1800s. He also assisted William Hobson in drafting the Treaty of Waitangi.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and Weekend Roundup.

Paihia I-site

 

All around New Zealand we have little wee buildings that are designated as i-sites aka information places for tourists where they have knowledge on local places and businesses etc. This one in Paihia is located right next to the wharf and has a Maori carving (pou) on either side which were created by artist Tupari Te Whata from Tautoro which is south of Kaikohe. 

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

Evolve

I didn't enter this shop in Paihia last time we were there just before Christmas in December but I did check out their website. They make and sell jewellery that gives a nod to native New Zealand, our beaches and coasts, the night sky and a birth stones collection etc. 

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, Tom's Signs  and The Weekend Roundup.

Browsing the shops

One from Paihia showing some of the shops on the left hand side of one of the side roads. A very busy street with the Rip Curl surf shop on the left. As you can see there is a rack of what we call jandals, you may know them as thongs or flip flops - most kiwis wear these in Summer. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Telephone box

 

Another lot of photos from the Paihia St John's Op shop - when R (my daughter) and I were there last we spotted this old vintage telephone box which they were using as a changing room.

And a selfie from me, it's good to see it's still being used because it's not often these are seen in our world today.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Journey

This bird wings mural is located in Paihia, symbolizing Journey Designs which sells womens clothing and it seems they also sell colourful face masks so I may pop in there next time we are in town.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

 

Roaring into Halloween

R (my daughter) and I were in Paihia yesterday for our normal Friday mother and daughter day out. We popped into one of our favourite local op shops.

We admired their Halloween mannequins out the front of the shop along with bean bags for sale.

The shop is located down an alleyway with other various shops such as bars, restaurants and clothing outlets.

 We particularly liked this one especially because of the retro rainbow chairs that were also for sale.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections, All Seasons and The Weekend Roundup.

Tea and Tattoos

 At Paihia there are a few little alleyways leading to different types of shops. In this particular one is a clothing shop at the end, an art gallery to the right and a tattoo studio to the left. I like the vintage looking words on the wall saying "Tea 1 and6 per pound (lb)".

Covid news: as of today we have 31 cases and counting in Auckland and Wellington with over 100 places of interest. The suspicion has been on a person who flew back from New South Wales in Australia who was infected, possibly the virus spread while they were in hotel quarantine. We are all in lockdown for another 4 days and It'll be quite some time before we will be walking around public places again. Masks are mandatory when entering places that are essential services such as chemists, supermarkets or doctors but there are people who are refusing to do their bit in keeping everyone safe. All other businesses are closed but on a positive note the amount of people getting their vaccines has flown upwards, B and my 2 adult children have had theirs done now.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Paihia Bollards

These cuties and others sit along the Paihia waterfront. Part of the Pahia Focus Group the idea came from Katja Caulton and was discussed with members of the community who decided on finding 5 characters that represented the town. They ended up setting on a fish, fisherman, wahine (Maori woman), sailor and a diver - only 3 are shown here.

It took Russell artist Noel Wynyard 8 months to carve the bollards and Darina Denali painted them with local Grant Harnish installing them in 2017. I think they are a quirky addition to Paihia.

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

Tales from the Mosaic Chair

In 2012 the Focus Pahia Group came together to create this Mosaic seating area near the waterfront. Organisers of the Mosaic Chair project had a vision:  that residents and visitors to Paihia would relax on their beautiful artwork while gazing out at nature’s beautiful artwork, The Bay of Islands.

This project was our longest running and the one that attracted the largest number of volunteers. The mosaic chair was crafted by “hands-of-the-world” – passersby, often visiting town from overseas or other parts of New Zealand,  took part in laying the mosaic pieces!  In true phantom style sections of the mosaic were worked on at home and applied to the chair when ready. The wooden seating (wood slats left over from the Bay Belle project) was designed and crafted off-site and installed just before the unveiling. Today, the mosaic chair is photographed and utilised daily, having place of pride on Paihia’s waterfront.

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

Alfresco's in Paihia

A couple of weekends ago we visited a new restaurant in Paihia - this one is named "Alfresco's". Ever once in a while we try somewhere new to eat on our day off, this one was good. The boys ordered burgers and chips, pretty standard food and their helpings were pretty large. 

Of course I always have to be different, I ordered creamed paua (Abilone) with toast on the side to spread it on. I'm a huge seafood fan so I usually get a salad or some sort of fish/shellfish dish.

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

Moby Dick?

 This unusual sculpture of a Whale is something I saw down an alleyway in Paihia recently.  All I can think of is that it's something to do with the historical whaling history of this region, but on the wall behind it there are signs for a Swordfish Club so maybe that has something to do with it. 

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

Paihia Wharf - Pai here

Only a small portion of Paihia wharf but interestingly when I looked up the history here's what I found:

The origin of the name "Paihia" is unclear. A popular attribution, most likely apocryphal, is that when Reverend Henry Williams first arrived in the Bay of Islands searching for a location for his mission station, he told his Māori guide, "Pai here," meaning "Good here," as his Māori vocabulary was limited.

The town has evolved over the last nearly 200 years, from here to Russell it was known as the "hell hole of the Pacific" but now it is a popular tourist destination with many residents living here as well as restaurants, bars, shops, b & bs, hotels etc. 

This photo was taken last weekend but since then we have had 3 new positive cases of Covid turn up in Auckland which in turn lead to the city going into level 3 lockdown for 3 days with the rest of the country into level 2 (we are currently in level 1). Since then there have been no other cases and so everyone has now moved back to the levels they were previously on with the alert being taken off. 

It seems Summer is nearly at an end with cooler temperatures and nicer nights, I'm looking forward to Autumn.

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

Brunch at King Wah's

Last weekend in our quest to try new places to eat at we decided to give "King Wah's Buffet Restaurant" in Paihia a go. Nice outdoor courtyard area in the shade was a blessing from the Summer heat.
 

B ordered some battered oysters which to me is almost like sacrilege as I am a huge seafood fan and to me oysters are best raw with some lemon juice drizzled on them but each to their own I guess. I ordered a shrimp cocktail with pickled seaweed and coleslaw on the side - soooo good!

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

Fishing for compliments

 Another mural from Paihia this week and one I spotted on a bench seat outside a shop. Not sure who painted it but I'd say it's probably part of the "Focus Paihia" campaign. Pretty and unusual isn't it?

Linking up with Mural Monday.