Summer smoothie

The weather has been unseasonably warm in Wellington these past weeks. I say unseasonably, because it’s never this warm in Wellington, consistently, in a way that you wish you were outside at lunch time every single day, and not cooped up in front of your computer screen at work! So, perhaps this explains our lacklustre efforts to post of late, given that as much as possible, we have been outside, making the most of every bit of this wonderful golden weather before it ends (let’s hope it continues past the official end of the season tomorrow!). This photo of a scrumptious ice-cold smoothie which we enjoyed recently at one of our favourite spots just screams Summer, don’t you think? Yum.

– CIA

Photo by CIA at Maranui Cafe, Lyall Bay, Wellington, New Zealand, February 2013.

 

Weekly photo challenge: kiss

I’ll let the photo speak for itself.

– PJD

Photo by Anna Allport. This is a week-and-a-bit early, I suppose. But it is certainly challenge appropriate.

Rainbow Warrior III

There’s a new addition to the Wellington skyline at the moment, in the form of the tall masts of the Rainbow Warrior III (they’re 50 metres high!). The purpose-built flagship of Greenpeace is currently moored in the Wellington harbour, and yesterday at lunchtime I took the opportunity to take a nosey on board to check out what this impressive ship had to offer and hear the environmental message it carries.

The tall masts of the Rainbow Warrior III stretch high above the Wellington harbour.

Night time company

A stingray isn’t the only encounter we’ve had with wildlife lately. On Christmas Eve we heard an odd noise, and upon investigating found ourselves face-to-face with a tree frog*. It was a lively moment, and no easy task to keep the frog in frame.

– PJD

Photos by PJD, Auckland, December 2012

* or some other kind of frog.

Lunchtime company

Fridays are always a good day of the week. The weekend is just around the corner, and on a Wellington Friday when the sun is shining, worker-bees flock to the waterfront and eek out every last minute of their lunch-hour, making the most of the proximity of the CBD to the wonderful harbour. This Friday lunchtime, as we ate our lunch shading our eyes from the glint of the sunlight bouncing sharply off the sparkling water, the harbour became an aquarium before our eyes as we spotted a large stingray pass sleekly by. Surely there aren’t too many places in the world where a stingray would be your lunchtime company?!

– CIA

Photo by CIA, Wellington Harbour, Wellington, New Zealand, 8 February 2013. In past weeks we have been reminded that the Wellington Harbour is so full of interesting sea-life – check out some of our other harbour wildlife encounters here and here.

Waitangi

I promised a couple of days ago that I would share some more pictures from my time spent this past week in the far North at Waitangi, for the annual commemoration of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Having left the camera at home, I had to make do with my cellphone, so the results aren’t the best, but they give at least a flavour of time in this special place…

At dawn

The sixth of February is a day of special significance in Aotearoa New Zealand: Waitangi Day. This year, I had the opportunity to be part of celebrations and events for this national day at Waitangi. Spending the last few days in this special part of New Zealand has been an amazing experience; one of the highlights was marking the start of the day with a dawn ceremony. Not being a morning person, the fact I am saying that I actually enjoyed being up and about at 4:30am really says something. I was reminded that the dawn is a particularly incredible part of the day; as the depths of the darkness and the sparkle of the Milky Way gives over to the glow of sun on the horizon, it is a time of day where the world seems all at once full of possibility and overwhelming in its magnitude, whilst also peaceful, with the land, sea, stars, sun and sky all working together as one incredible whole. I will be sure to share some more pictures tomorrow.

View of the sun rising over the water from the Treaty Grounds, Waitangi, New Zealand (looking towards Russell)

– CIA

Photo by CIA, Waitangi, Far North, New Zealand, 6 February 2013.