I ♥ Auckland

This week is the beginning of a new weekly post highlighting some of the beautiful places to be found in and around Auckland the region and city where I have lived for most of my life.

From the west coast surf beaches with their black ironsand and pounding surf  to the east coast beaches with their  glistening white sands and sparkling seas Auckland is a beautiful place to live in and to visit.

A city surrounded by dormant volcanoes, and edged by native bush there is an abundance of things to do and places to visit.

One of these places is the island of Rangitoto, the youngest island in the harbour it  emerged from the sea around 700 years ago in a series of volcanic explosions. Rising to a height of 260 metres the circular island presents the same uniform appearance and is visible from most parts of the mainland. Situated about 8 km northeast of Auckland and connected to Motutapu Island by a causeway. For more history on  Rangitoto check out the website

http://www.rangitoto.org/pages/history.htm

 

A bit of humour to get your week started...

Hope you all enjoy these and have a wonderful week full of sunshine and happiness...

Shadow Shot Sunday..

Captured this little critter while I was clearing the tomato plants out of the garden, they have now finished :(   and I will be filling the space with Winter veges..

 And then a few hours later, I took this shot in my neighbours front garden.

Does anyone else find themselves doing that? Am I the only person who takes their camera in the garden with them? I doubt it, I bet all you shadow chasers take your cameras with you everywhere you go.

Thanks Tracy for hosting, see other great shadows over at Hey Harriet..
http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/

It's official, I can feel the change happening....

Well it's here, I have felt it over the past few weeks and in particular this week. The humidity has gone, although the air is still warm, but there is a chill in the air early in the morning.

Yes folks, it's AUTUMN...Daylight saving ends this weekend and that means it will now be darker earlier in the day.

Last weekend there were a few obvious signs of Autumn when we went for a walk through the Waiuku Forest in the early afternoon.The forest is a 20minute drive from our house. There was a heavy mist sitting on top of the hills at Port Waikato, which looks very close to us in the photos, but is 70kms by road.

The pine trees in the forest had no pine needles on them, and we found a few toadstools growing, a sure sign that the weather is cooling down.

The river, the Waikato  is the longest river in New Zealand and flows for 425kms. Starting in the mountains in the central North Island it ends it's journey here at Port Waikato. Where it joins the Tasman Sea.  The water here is tidal, and once the tide starts coming in the combination of river and sea creates quite a spectacle. This area of beach and river has a reputation for being unforgiving to those who do not take care when surf casting or fishing from boats,  and the locals have a real respect for this stretch of water.