Walks with a view

Here are a series of shots of the views we have when we walk the 20 minutes to the beach and the esplanade. First, we're quite high on the hills above south Dunedin.

These are similar to the views we get from our property.

Walking down the hill doesn't take long, but we get some good looks at the homes along the way. It looks like a long way to the beach, but it is really only about four blocks.

Here's the esplanade. It was high tide, so the walk was wet with spray. The local kids were trying to outguess which wave would splash them.

Further up the beach, the esplanade changes to a path shared by walkers, swimmers, and surfers.

Of course, the esplanade has a few coffee shops and cafes. Always a good way to pass the time.

Not all surfing is done in the water.

Karen liked the look of this garden and wanted to perhaps do something like it, so I took this picture.

This is the little market just down the hill from us. Karen often walks down both for the exercise and to get milk or pop.

And this is the alternate to walking back up the road to our house--steps--218 of them, according to Pete. They get you about two-thirds of the way back up the hill, then a path winds up to a street that goes up the rest of the way to our drive. We're just past the crest in the road.

New Lodgings - in Dunedin

A new day dawning--and rather colorful at that! I go up the drive daily to get the paper. This morning was so beautiful that I rushed back in the house and grabbed the camera to capture it. Even the picture doesn't do justice to the twinkling city lights contrasted with the bright colors of the dawn. Double click on the photo to get a better view of it.


Karen has put her certain touch on the kitchen. Look at the top of the cabinets!


The view out the kitchen window is awesome.


Here's a better look.


Let's walk down the hall into our living room, or lounge as it is usually called here.


We love the art-deco etched glass doors. They also help keep the heat in the living room.


Here's looking across the living room toward the dining area and the sliding patio doors.


Out on the patio, Karen has just painted a new planter and is spending her time watching paint dry.


Another shot of the patio showing some of the flowers along one side of it.

On the terrace above the patio we have a wee grassy area and lots of plants. Karen wanted a pohutakawa tree, so there it is. After living with it for a week, though, we think it needs to be further from the fence. They get fairly large.

Our bedroom--or at least one wall of it. Finding places for all our pictures has been a real challenge.

Pete had his bedroom decorated before we knew it.

Switching places

I started a new job in Dunedin, but the family stayed in Invercargill for a few weeks. That meant weekly bus trips for me, but I coped, as you can see.

The first trip was the hardest and everyone turned out to see me off. The bus driver even took our picture.

Bon voyage. Big bus for only 3 people!

Peek-a-boo

Hello goodbye hello goodbye over and over

Hellooooo

My sweet Invercargill girls

A trip to the park

Sara showed us the new animal additions to the park, like this pig

The chickens were interesting

Especially these chicks that climbed on their mom's back

John showed us an aereo he'd gotten

And Sara showed us her handiwork in the winter gardens--pretty impressive!

Painting 46 Venus Street

It was a team effort

And a creative effort

Lattice is a real pain to paint

But it really adds to the look

Voila!

Le piece de resistance

Kapiti Coast

James took us up the coast for a bit of a trip. It was really pretty.

Unfortunately, Karen often had her back to the camera

See what I mean?

Turning around, the architecture of the place wasn't bad either.

There was a path,

so we took it.

A natural arch in the rocks was an inspiration for photos

Mom & Pop

James through the arch

Wetta

We broke open a rotting log and found these wettas in Jamie's back yard



Big, aren't they?