Reopened Auckland Art Gallery

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Breakfast coffee in the cafe in the reopened gallery

Very good coffee, attention to detail and highly recommended

(food is also good and staff friendly and helpful)

Front entrance

Flowers which inflate and deflate in the gallery lobby.

Great idea .

(Will return with a better camera than IPhone)

"Lunchroom by night"

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Breakfast

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The simple things done well equals perfection

Breakfast by the Cheese maker

Runny eggs , crunchy toast and crispy bacon

oh yes , very well done

but wait ... the next day ... add cold smoked salmon

a breakfast fit for the brain work that followed

Inside the cloud

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Rugby World Cup "Party Central" (before the party )

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Ferry building and the Rugby World Cup "cloud"

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Ferry building

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Sunrise on my umbrella

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Birkenhead sunrise

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for my "soup maker" - pork, chicken, carrot and apple - oh yes :))

Rugby World Cup fever hits the office

Marty, these are for you 

Sunrise on my way to work

- for you Wenying to help you relax when you study

 

Simple but so delicious

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Sometimes it's the simple things that are just so

perfect. One slice of toast, a light spread of cream cheese,

two slices of cold smoked NZ Salmon, a squeeze of lemon and

just a little gherkin pickle. Eaten off some of Mums remaining

unbroken china (following the multiple big earthquakes in the last year

in Christchurch) . Oh yes I'm in food heaven.

Smoked salmon fishcake and coffee and caramel cheesecake "The Vicarage" Christchurch

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More fog .......

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Fog at the regional park

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Auckland at night

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Looking south from the Sky Tower

(Eden Park, main home of the  2011 Rugby World Cup

- the bright area top right)  

Looking west from the Sky Tower

(Auckland Harbour Bridge  - upper right)

Retirement cupcakes for Bob Gibson

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Recently a long time (and much respected in the traffic safety field)

work college of mine (finally) retired.

These are three plates of cupcakes made by Karen Johnson

 (the cake god) in our head office (I don't work there ) .

Nice one Bob enjoy yourself , you will be missed as you were the walking encyclopedia.

NZ Government Transport Department - Traffic Engineering Workshop 1964

Okurukuru Winery and Cafe

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View from the cafe

(oh yeah baby I never wanted to leave)

I don't know what made me think this wasn't

going to be enough for two when it came out.

What you can't see is all the smoked

salmon behind the "shubbery".

Excellent menu choice Minx.

View Larger Map

Two views of Awakino beach mid-winter - before the storm

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(Photo by Minx)



Sunrise in the cold waiting for my ferry

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Fog over Auckland Harbour

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Very "Lord of the Rings"
NZ is "Middle Earth" !! 

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Sunrise in Auckland through the Chilean ash cloud

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(Photo Lynette B from my former Auckland team)

Beach people

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Taking in the views, almost on the shortest day

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Flax and the mid winter sun - west coast beach Auckland

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Autumn fog

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I love fog, and the  way it can just roll back

in the morning and reveal fabulous still autumn days

The last days of autumn

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Autumn mist and those leaves ...

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These are for you Minx.nz - photos from the jungle.

Smiths Bar, right by the Downtown train and bus station - Auckland City

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Oddly charming

Fog, reposted from a year ago with a poem by Joan

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(Fog on the drive way where I live)

A poem by Joan

I never meant to be here.

All my plans were made when the sun shone.

Then suddenly the fear

And all the signposts seemed to me, gone .

The road led on and took me on my way ...
And so I travelled, knew I wouldn't stay.

But still, it was a moment, with a peace its own,

That grey soft silence, as I watched alone.

Cheese cake and tea Ohinemuri Winery Cafe - sharing recommeded !

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see this link Ohinemuri Winery location

Very early morning near home

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Dusk in our biggest city - Auckland -1.4 million people

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(Central city from the top of Mt Eden
Photo by Minx.nz  Canon 50D)

Day slipping into night ......