Exercise

Photo from our travels through Taupo in the central north island of New Zealand - taken about 4 years ago.  These sculptures symbolizing exercise are down by the waterfront as the town is mostly flat and very popular with walkers, runners and cyclists.

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

Giant Marlin in Paihia

 I've seen this sculpture of a Marlin in Paihia many times but after taking this photo of it last week I thought I would do some research into it. Apparently a family named "Fuller" of the "Fuller's Cruises" here in NZ donated it in 2017 and pays homage to the fishing industry here in the far north. 

Marlin are a type of big game fish up here and you need a really big strong rod with lots of patience to reel them in. I've never caught one but New Zealand ones can get to between 70 and 220kg with a length of up to 4 metres. The heaviest ever caught was 224.1kg here in the Bay of Islands.

btw that's my daughter in the photo 😊

Linking up with Timeless Thursdays and Skywatch Friday.

The Moa and the Kiwi

This week I have been busy at home starting the packing process, going through my linen cupboard to decide what we kept and what we really didn't need. There was no need to be ruthless we really did have alot of stuff. In the end I put things like sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers, dvd movies and kitchen appliances on local Facebook pages for people to pick up - let's just say each thing went very quickly.

Anyway last time we were in Waipu I spotted this wooden carving outside the local vets. Apparently in 2016 two gum trees which had grown too big were due to be cut down. One of the trees was carved into a dog but this one was carved into a large moa bird and a smaller kiwi next to it.

A chainsaw sculptor named Peter Hardie was responsible for the handywork and the locals of the town were very happy with the end result.

Linking up with My Corner of the World.

Cable Bay sealife sculptures

Cable Bay also known as Taipa in Northland, NZ is just absolutely stunning. We stopped off here on our road trip to check out this beach and couldn't help but stop and admire these sculptures for sale on the grass verge.

These fish, whales, dolphins and other sea creatures are made from various types of wood and include pieces of paua shell for eyes and other decorations.

The young man who was selling them owns his own gypsy type truck and looked like a bit of a hobo but honestly those are the best type of people to meet in life.

Let me tell you I was very very tempted to buy some. They were ranging from $50nzd to $500nzd and they would've looked great on a wall in our apartment but sadly all of our money was destined to be spent on petrol and living expenses while we were up there.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday for this one :-)

How's the water Mr Frog?

One of the many sculptures at Te Puna Quarry Park is this huge frog located in a lily pond near the entrance. He looks very comfortable there sitting on his rock eyeing up flies.

I wonder if the water is cool enough for him? It's been sweltering and muggy and humid there, recent rain has cooled the temperatures down but now we're back to heat and blue skies. Bring on Autumn I say!

The dreaming stone...

The dreaming stone - Te Puna Quarry Park...

The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened. ~James Arthur Baldwin

Winter skies and sculptures in Taupo

Taupo, such a lovely place especially with it's snowy mountains and expansive lake. This particular morning we stopped by it was .5 degrees celsius - very nippy indeed. This sculpture is named Upane by Steuart Welch who is a farmer and owns a nursery at Marton. Apparently he started making farm gates from objects he found here and there. Now after many years he has progressed to making sculptures like the one above and exhibits in the central North Island of NZ.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday :-)

Driftwood sculptures at Sullivan's Bay

While going through the archives on my external hard drive I found this amazing shot I took last year at Sullivan's Bay in Mahurangi of a driftwood sculpture someone made and set up. This is one of my favourite places to visit, sadly I haven't been there in quite sometime but isn't it beautiful?

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