Night in a lighthouse

 We had a night in the city at the Island Bay lighthouse. It was built about 30 years ago and is not a real lighthouse, but it does look like one.

Panorama view from the top looking east over Island Bay (with its island, Taputeranga) toward the airport and bottom of the North Island.

Closer view with Qantas landing. The plane will fly behind that hill.  One of Wellington's many slips evident on the left - we have had heaps of them lately.

It was a cool and windy night so we got the full breezily noisy experience through aluminum windows in small spaces. It was great! View from the teensy kitchen. Next level up was the bedroom and then another level up tight stairs for lounging and looking for orca and dolphins (no show, sigh).

Descending with style, not falling.

Next day we had a city moment, beginning with a drive around the coast for breakfast in the old Maranui surf club at Lyall Bay, then into the city for an urban moment including  getting an ear repierced  (me) and a visit to Unity books. Back home via mum's for a cup of tea as the temperature dropped with a polar blast coming up the South Island. 

Classical on Cuba weekend in the city

Classical on Cuba is an annual event where musicians play 30 minute concerts for $10 a ticket in cafes and restaurants and music venues in and around Cuba St. This year we trained it in on Friday, got a hotel room for two nights and walked between gigs all day Saturday. It was fun!

View from the hotel, over Willis St, one of Wellington's main streets. Pretty quiet in town for a Friday afternoon.

First gig was on Friday night with the NZSO playing an hour of hits at the Michael Fowler Centre. It's great to hear a full orchestra getting into numbers like the Star Wars overture and Holst's Mars and 2001: A Space Odyssey (aka Strauss's Sprach Zarathustra).

Saturday kicked off with a classical guitar 😀 and interpretive dancing 😏 performance. Then we wandered around town and shopped and ate and listened to an acoustic guitar, violins and violas and double basses and bassoons and clarinets and saxes and one trombone. 

The acoustic guitarist (Jack Hooker) at a lovely light filled bar, Whistling Sisters. Last year at this venue we waltzed out without paying for our drinks and didn't realise until about an hour later. We went back.

In Bicycle Junction, a cafe/bike workshop, Mish got to chime in with a brass trio playing Queen's bicycle song.

In the beer quarter, about to head in for the last gig, a Mexican themed brass cacophonic thing. It didn't work well but was the most packed event of the day. Cold evening as you can see from the outfits but the day had been sunny and lovely to walk around city streets.

On Sunday, Jason came in and picked us up and we did a bit of tiki tour driving around elevated parts of Wellington he hadn't seen. From Wadestown on Te Ahumairangi hill, looking toward the Hutt valley, above the city motorway and the docks. Those white streaks are over sharpening, don't look at that - it's the lazy quick way to get the snow on the Remutaka range to stand out.

A couple of cheesy siblings on the hill.

Planter boxes

They are rather large. The big one is up and filled and planted. Rusting artistically on schedule. There's a mix of Mish faves in there: shrubby things and natives and grasses, around the crab apple tree. They'll probably be some culling later if they all grow and take off.

On the other side of the steps is the designer's mock up of a potential water feature: a smaller Corten box with two bowls and water falling from one into the other. First mock up today so that won't be what happens.

We have several bird baths around. It would be good to incorporate bird bathing into a water feature. Everyone needs a challenge. Blackbird enjoying the winter sun today.

Sue and Grace flew up from Blenheim for a couple of days, on a shocking day but they did the short flight in a calm window and only bounced in the last few minutes.

In the city we accidently caught the last day of the David Jones department store experiment. DJs had aimed for the 'most beautiful store in the world'. But it was an expensive store that didn't work on Wellington's golden mile ($5000 handbags and racks of XS clothing also mega bucks and not designed for our climate, who could have known that stock wouldn't sell well?) David Jones lasted about six years and this was their last day. A big empty store is a sad thing. Grace and Sue got some good quality gear.

Almost spring

We've had some frosts and icy days, but generally it's been a warm winter. Yesterday was chilly but today so mild I've just lit the fire at 5.30pm.

We caught the train to the city today. Bus outside our driveway to the station, then a scenic ride to Wellington through paddocks and flax, along the coast beside the sea, beside streams and then you pop out beside Wellington Harbour. It's a water ride. 

And we really appreciate our freedom to do it. Masks on public transport (recommended only) and everything open. No community cases in New Zealand for weeks. We're very lucky down here at the bottom of the world.

Vietnamese for lunch. Warm enough to eat outside! In winter! Bottom of Lambton Quay, Supreme Court opposite.

Meanwhile, in the garden. French breakfast radishes and first time fennel growing. Fennel was so easy and fast I'll be planting more of them. (And it's aniseedy delicious.) The silver shed behind me is now moved to a shady place so it's not hogging the sun any more and the lemon behind it now features in that corner and everyone is happy.

And then feet up in the afternoon sun.

It's a Kiwi lockdown life

Its been 43 days since we've been in some type of lockdown in Wellington. Plusses:

* my weight !
* lots of projects around the garden have finally been ticked off
* I've culled junk from my laptop
* We've painted interior window trims
* I've decided I'm no slouch as a hairdresser (in a crisis)
* Carolski's reorganised the bookcase & the spices drawer
* The bedroom got vacuumed, dusted and painted to within an inch of being classified as a laboratory
* I baked some great bread
* Made some watercolour inks

Here's a few images from the last few weeks at Level 4 and Level 3 lock down.



Mish came back from Oz a few days before the full lock down, and she went into self isolation for two weeks. Being such a good girl she didn't even step onto the street. She's holding something you will very rarely see: a hand written boarding pass. The system crashed at the airport and she then had to prove she was a NZ permanent resident. And, eventually, they let her on the plane.

We didn't have a teddy bear to put in a street facing window for passing kid walkers, so we did a driveway display with a squirrel, the gingerbread man, and a cow money box.

Overgrown area on the right, and all up the street side bank, is now hucked out too for new plantings when we can get to a nursery.

We have big loads of green waste and flax (too tough for green waste), and clean out stuff (old paint tins etc.). and metal recycling, all ready for trailer hire when we have somewhere to take it.






But the guy around the corner is a teddy bear collector and military nut, and he went for broke.



We had a jigsaw bought years ago on Waiheke Island; attempted then and put away until - house imprisonment. Took us about two weeks to do. Haircuts already needed.

Mish in the kitchen making felt poppies for Anzac Day.
On Anzac Day, we stood on our deck in the dark and listened to the short service on the radio. Lest we forget.

The poppy collection in the driveway on a beautiful autumn Anzac Day. We've had loads of days like these through lock down.





There was baking and much recipe experimentation. Chia puddings, beans, dahl, trifle! Mish made the custard and Carol made the sponge for that one. Pretty yummy.
Mish made a Mediterranean platter for one of those lovely days and lunch outside.



Afghans of course.


There was plum jam making and peach chutney making.



A small bit of painting. Main bedroom wardrobe is now spruced up.



Gardening. Weeding. Totem making. Etc.



And standing in supermarket queues, shopping for us and doing mum's groceries. Got to have at least one queue photo. A special time of social distancing.

This was getting mum's prescriptions on a bright day, standing on my allotted cross.. (For the next drug collection I was standing in the rain in a puddle with  a brolly jammed in my jacket for about 10 minutes and no camera.)

Spring weekend walks on Wellington hills

Had a couple of walks in places we haven't been to before. This is on Te Ahumairangi Hill (possibly meaning 'whirlwind'), looking across the stadium and wharves to Wellington harbour and Miramar peninsula. Tugboat heading out.

 Mish walking up an old radiata pine.

Saturday was calm and quiet and we walked through part of the town's green belt on the Northern Walkway.















Another radiata, looking south west over suburbs.

 

Sunday also calm and quiet and warm and we walked part of the Southern Walkway and Skyline track. Views from here look north to the wind turbines. Gorse in flower everywhere.



These tracks cross paddocks so we had some cow company.  Lots of walkers and mountain bikers around too.

Rather damp weekend

Pottering around. Went for a drizzly walk in Zealandia which was nice. Cool, but not as cold as mid winter should be.

North Island robin and then a kaka parrot. 

Sound effects of other birds and rain plonking onto the umbrella.

Winter. Sort of.

Oh my gosh, such a long time between posts. Am firing off one this evening just to get going again. All good in Newlands: the grass is still green and the winds are low, and so are the night temps - but the days are autumnal still, and occasionally warmer than that. Go figure.

Waking up to global warming...

Mish on the waterfront.



And me. One sunny weekend recently. Yellow theme. What's not to like?!

Cicada action

Went for a walk in local hills we haven't explored before - Belmont hills, south of the harbour. Caught some cicada action.

The usual things we see this time of year are the exoskeleton and the adult cicada.

















We don't often see the adult emerging. Cool!

Meri Kirihimete!

Christmas eve eve in Wellington. AKA December 23. 

Got home  from the movies (At Eternity's Gate) and a Malaysian snack in town, just as the sun was disappearing over our western hill, so we recorded this song.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Mischa & Carol X

Mish is 60!

We had a night in Wellington at a quirky stone tower called The Keep.



The afternoon we arrived was cold and stormy, with big interesting seas. Next day was calm and sunny and warm and we wandered around town. Then the next day was back to winter. Mad.

Mish coming down from the roof. You push up a heavy trapdoor to get up to the copper lined roof. Very nice.




Looking south across Cook Strait.




And looking east to Houghton Bay with one of our new double deckers coming around the corner. The trolley buses have gone, wires have come down, the whole city bus system has had an update and it is a shambles. Complaints are 'down' to 80 a day, which, in a little city, is pretty outrageous.





View from the roof, with breakfast. The full fry up, mmmm.



Panorama from the roof, looking east across Houghton Bay  to Wellington Harbour entrance.

Next day we did city stuff. Wandered around, went to photo collage exhibition at City Gallery, outdoor gear shops, and cafes of course. HAD to go to a couple of hardware stores to get one of Mischa's presents, a pole pruner. What every girl wants.

Mish at City Gallery rooftop cafe, taking birthday greetings from someone.



Got home about 4, had a rest, and headed out for swanky birthday dinner at Logan Brown later. An excellent day.