Sunday Stills:New Beginning’s

All these photos are taken in Western Springs lake, my favourite part of Auckland. I take it for granted now, I live about 15 minutes walk, and I used to drive pass everyday.


This is a remake of the Ugly Duckling, New Zealand version. Our swans are black. May be our swans are banished from the Northern hemisphere by their beautiful white cousins. Or was it their clean pristine white feathers turned black after they fly all the way now here. I believe in Perth, Australia, they also have black swans.





Ducklings, look at the ugly monsters, don't play with them.



This is a repeat. I love this so much that I want to show it again and again.




This is not a photo shop.



A Sunday outing at my favourite Western Springs park got me all excited. Do count, how many goslings there are. I counted 17 or 18.

Ka Pai aka good job, Goosey Lucy and Daddy Gander.

In a previous post,http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/2009/09/goslings-in-western-springs.html I mentioned there were aunties, and indeed, there was an adult goose tagging along mummy and daddy. They swam a whole stretch of over one hundred meters each way like a fleet of naval boats.

I invite you all to come to New Zealand to witness this marvelous sight.

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ans

SundAY STILLS: Through An Opening (March 4th)

Sunday Stills-Through An Opening (March 4th)
Posted in Uncategorized on February 26, 2012 by Linda

For this next Sunday Stills challenge find an opening (a window, knothole, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffence…) and use it to frame something on the other side. I found it harder than it sounds.

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Sunday Stills-Liquids

No commentaries this week, for you to guess.





Sunday Stills-Liquids
Posted on January 29, 2012 by Linda

For this next weeks challenge get some shots of liquids……any kind. You can get lake water or coffee, I don’t care just NO ARCHIVES!!!


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Sunday Stills-Nature’s Frames

This challenge was moderately difficult. I enjoyed it. Thanks Linda.





Sunday Stills-Nature’s Frames
January 22, 2012 by Linda

This next weeks challenge is to get something framed by nature. Trees making a frame over a stream, a branch making a fork around the moon…nature does a lot of this if we’ll just open our eyes and look.



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Sunday Stills-Corners

To go to Omaha bird sanctuary, you go down this many corner bridge to the beach.

A trap to catch rodents before they eat the chicks and the birds. Reminds me of an old fashioned school desk.


A sea gull was sitting on top of this 4 cornered bird sign.

This is a million dollar sight, the Godwits fly from another corner of the world, from Siberia to visit us.

The shape of this trailor attracted me, Pete of the Surf school stores his sails and boards.
Surf sails have lots of corners, and they don't shape the sa,me.


I had a great day yesterday at Omaha beach, and the coastal engineer went to see the sea wall, and I found the birds. It was a fantastic sight. Not something you see everyday. I wrote to the Omaha Shorebird Protection Trust and they replied the same morning. I had watched on TV about the Godwits, and never in my imagination would I think I will see them, especially when it wasn't a planned journey.

Ka Pai and Paki Paki to these lovely people at the bird trust who answered me so quickly.

Hello Ann,

The birds in your photograph are bar-tailed godwits, or kuaka. They are easily identified by their very distinctive beaks, which are clearly visible in your photo. We have a very large group (perhaps 600-700) that roost on the spit at Omaha at high tide from late spring to early autumn. They feed on the mudflats of the Whangateau harbour at low tide and rest on the spit for a few hours each high tide. Although the birds look black against the sky in your photo, they are in fact speckled brown. Towards the end of summer the godwits begin to develop their breeding plumage of dark orangy-red. This is a sign that they are preparing for their long migration back to the Northern hemisphere where they breed. You can find out more about these birds on line, for example at the following address.

http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/kuaka.html

In some cities in NZ the godwits are formally welcomed back to NZ in spring. It would be nice to have a similar ceremony for our Omaha godwits. They are sight faithful, with the same birds returning to the same feeding grounds year after year.

Best wishes,
Marie Ward
OSPT shorebird monitor


Sunday Stills-Corners
Posted in Helpful Hints?, Sunday Stills, Sunday Stills Challenge of the Week on January 9, 2012 by Linda

This weeks challenge it to photograph corners…..corners on buildings, boards, streets…..just find yourself a corner and play with light and shadows.

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Sunday Stills: favorite photo from 2011

Twenty minutes walk from my house, close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park is MOTAT. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles. An ongoing programme is in place to restore and conserve items in the collections. This work is largely managed by volunteers many of whom have been associated with MOTAT for upwards of four decades.

This is my favourite photo, it is not cropped. It shows the plane in the middle, lots of sky, and the plants around, I think it ia a balanced photo.

I do not take "people" photo. I have seen mistakes by others making their subjects very short. For 2012, I like to learn from other bloggers to take good photos.





Post your favorite photo from 2011 and your photographic hopes for 2012.

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Tis the Season

Carolling in my School, an open invitation to the community.


We (Mt Albert Baptist Church) entertained thousands of guests, raised money for Plunket for children aand dug a well in Thailand.

My Canadian Roommate MaryAnne invited me back to her parents home in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada for my first White Christmas. I see her mum make mince pies, and my first bite wasn't what I expected. It was sweet, made of fruits. I had expected it to be savory, made of minced meat. That was the best Christmas I ever had.

This is the goodie bag that we gave out 3000 of them. Some people didn't want them thinking they had to pay for the,. Some people asked more more though we told them it was one per family. One insisted he had 2 kids, and one balloon wasn't good for them. I must tell the organisers. Perhaps next year, we should have spare balloons in our pockets.

A night of sugar! sugar! and more sugar!. During the later part of the evening, I decided I won't ask the kids, I asked the parents if the kids were allowed. It was Christmas, and most parents said "Yes."

I enjoyed this photo more than most, I used this to teach the children and adult students," Compare and Contrast" the tradition Santa and our Kiwianna/New Zealand Santa.

The Crossing is a Bi-annual issue by Mt Albert Baptist Church. This is included inside our goodie bag with carols to sing by candle light. It also has an interview done by me.

For a bit of fun, I bought this apron as a gift. Rudolph the red nose reindeer.

Presents! presents! presents! I got a very pleasant surprise this year. My group of adult ESOL students banded together and gave me this present.

Lollies, sweets, candy canes, gums came out of this bag for the kids that came to the Christmas in Rocket Park. It appears gums were most popular. Some kids wanted to swap, and I told them, sorry, perhaps you can swap it with friends.

End of the school year. we had a secret santa. This was what I got. We were told to give something between $5 and $10. Someone obviously bought something more than $10. It was anonynmous, so nobody knew what I bought. I did not buy $5 worth, neither did I buy $10. I remember the Kris Kringle incident when I was first in Canada. As residents of Laurier Hall in the University Of Windsor, we blind chose our Kris Kringle. As freaky as it sounds, my Kris Kringle was also the one who I was Kris Kringle to. I recycled some of her wrapping paper, and at the end of the party, we were asked to guess who our Kris Kringle was. She named me and I almost died of embarrassment. Today, as an environmentalist, I advocate recycling, but not in 1975 as as a 20 years old. I tell this true tale on Christmas day. I wonder if this American gal would have done the same.

I wore a head band with 2 Santas on my head to school the Monday after Christmas in the Park. I wore them during the Christmas in the Park. The teachers and kids LOL.



People ask "what are you doing at Christmas?" "Are you going away for Christmas?"

Christmas is a bit of Christian religion, a bit of fun and lots of memories.


Christmas as a child in Borneo,
Was going to Mid Night Mass,
Was having a supper after church,
Decorating a tree.
Dad had lived in England and brought this custom back.
Christmas was Open House,
People came to visit, and mum made tit bits.

Christmas in Canada was wonderful.
My first white Christmas,
Mince pies, pecan pies,
Seeing Canadian geese.
Kris Kringle for a week.

Christmas as an adult,
In New Zealand, Singapore and Australia,
was a mixed bag.
Lots of fun,
Lots of parties and presents.
Secret Santas.

For the last 3 years in New Zealand,
We have Christmas in Rocket Park.
This I feel is the real meaning of Christmas,http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Sharing the Good News to non Christians,
The Good news that Jesus came.
Sharing a happy time with other Christians.




Sunday Stills-’Tis the Season (December 18th
Posted in Uncategorized on December 11, 2011 by Linda

What represents this Christmas season to you? Is it lighted trees, decorations, food…..snow? Photograph whatever represents this season to you.


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Sunday Stills -Backlit

Sunday Stills -Backlit (December 4th)
by Linda

This next weeks challenge is to back light something. A while ago I saw the most perfect aspen leaf on Flickr……the light was behind it and every minute detail showed up.


Hi Linda,

I am not sure about this week's challenge. Looks more bokeh to me.

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sure about this

Sunday Stills: Potluck with a purpose

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Another difficult challenge. One bad photo, try to improve it? is this right, Ed?

Sunday stills:In the dark

It was Guy Fawkes night, a perfect night to go out to take photos of kids and parents lighting their fireworks to celebrate the foiling of the gunpowder plot which Guy Fawkes and his friends planned to blow the House of Lords with their King, King James in 1605.

But my camera ran out of battery, so here are some archives photos of when I went to Australia, which incidentally do not celebrate Guy Fawkes, so told to me by an Australian friend yesterday.

To those of you who are not familiar with Guy Fawkes, this year, I taught my students why Guy Fawkes was celebrated.

New Zealand is not part of UK, but Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of New Zealand. Guy Fawkes day is celebrated on November 5th.

When I first arrived to NZ from Canada, my friends invited me to a party in 1978. They had an effigy of Guy, and they burnt Guy in a bon fire they built in the back yard. They explained that back in 1605, Guy went to the cellar of the Parliament house of England and tried to blow up the building and all the members of parliament. A member of his plot had a brother who was a member of the House of Lords. So he squealed on Guy telling his brother not to go to work that day. The message went to the King, and they caught him red handed. He was executed for treason.

Hence, every year to commemorate the arrest of this villain, the people of England celebrate this day with bon fire and fireworks. Many of the immigrants to NZ were Anglo Saxon. They brought this traditional celebration to their new country.

However, over time, many people do not really know the history or care to find out. It is a chance for fun. Companies import expensive fireworks, and it is quite magnificent to see the cascading "stars" from the fire works. Most people don't remember the effigy or the bon fire.

Once, I went to a park nearest to my house to watch the fire works with my son. He was frightened with the loud sounds. There were people of all ethnic groups, the Polynesian islanders, the Chinese, The Korean, Indians, Sri Lankans , and refugees like Somalian and Sudanese. They were just lighting the fireworks which I feel is money up in smoke. To them, it was just a fun time.

The day after Guy Fawkes, I asked my students if they lit any fire works. Most of them did, and most of them knew the story of Guy Fawkes. Their teachers had told them. They tell me that they spent hundreds of dollars. One boy even boasted that he spent a thousand dollars. Then he clarified that they had a party with extended family of uncles and cousins.

To end this story with a sad note, the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clarke threatened to ban fireworks if people were not responsible. One has to be over eighteen to buy fire works. Fireworks can be sold only 4 days before the day.

Hooligans burned a pediatric clinic, a teenage boy was arrested because he threw a sparkler into the bedroom of house and burnt the whole house down. This is a sad testimony, the tenants of this house were overseas volunteers to the Department of Conservation. A baby girl's face was badly burn when some firework was thrown into her pram. Household cats and dogs have been frightened and burnt. Pet owners have resorted to giving their pets tranquilizers to induce them to sleep. I am gutted by such horrible stories, and am not disappointed if the ban is on.


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Sunday stills: Rocks and rock formation

Here, Ed are rocks of New Zealand, and some photos of nostalgia taken in 2000 when all my kids are little and living at home. And No rock on my ring because it is so small that the camera can't pick it up. We were both students and couldn't afford a big rock.


The Old Arts Building of the Auckland University from another angle.

This is a monument to Sir Logan Campbell who donated the land for a public park and named it One Tree Hill. This is now dubbed as no tree hill, because protesters chopped the pine tree down in 2000 just before we went there.

Not too far from Auckland at Taupo, there is the Huka falls. The water engineer likes tot go there. These days, you can go in a jet boat.

Because New Zealand comprises of two big islands, it is easy to go to places. We walked to the Glaciers. This one is Frans Josef Glacier. The Franz Josef (Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere in Māori)[1][2] is a 12 km (7.5 mi) long[3] glacier located in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Together with the Fox Glacier 20 km (12 mi) to the south, it is unique in descending from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, amidst the greenery and lushness of a temperate rainforest.

The area surrounding the two glaciers is part of Te Wahipounamu, a World Heritage Site park. The river emerging from the glacier terminal of Franz Josef is known as the Waiho River.

It was raining and cold even though it was December, our summer. We walked and walked and reached the terminus.

We went to Fox Glacier the day before, but didn't go to the terminus.

I was intriqued by these man made shaped rocks. The water engineer says is to put on the coastline to prevent erosion.

Seals and sea lions, can you see them? These were in South island.
There are some in the North Island. Currently where a container ship Rena is aground in Tauranga, birds have died, and it is reported that sea lions and seas are affected. Yesterday, a baby whale beached. The local maori people believe that it is an Omen. A bad one.

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Sunday Stills-Rocks and Rock Formations (October 23rd)
Posted in Sunday Stills on October 16, 2011 by Linda

For this next weeks challenge Shirley over at Ride a Good Horse suggested rocks and rock formations. They can be natural, and man made and can include stone buildings, concrete, stone statues or anything modified from rock or other minerals……..including the stone in your wedding ring;


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