St. Davids and Newport

We are in Pembrokeshire in welsh Wales. Their city is St. Davids, a site associated with the patron saint of the country since the fifth century. We visited on a damp, grey day so the pictures are a little murky in places.

The cathedral is large and quite uncluttered inside. It is built nestling in a hollow so as to be invisible to marauding Vikings from the coast. The present building was begun in the 12th century and has suffered damage at the hands of Roundheads and the elements. It was largely restored in Victorian times. Click here for a virtual tour.
This is the manificent western wall

 

and some tourists cavorting in front of the one remaining gatehouse.

 

Next door is the Bishops's Palace, the ruins of the 14th century building that gives some idea of the wealth and power of the church in those times. This is the great hall

 

which was accessed by this grand staircase and magnificent doors.

Here are two magnificently bedraggled tourists.

Today we travelled to Newport - this is a panorama of the bay.

On the beach looking north,

a well-protected Noreen striding purposefully through the surf

and a panorama looking south towards Parrog.

Lastly, a local oystercatcher as a representative of the rich bird life in the area.

Landed in London

We arrived to a foggy and cool morning. As promised, the first stop after dumping our luggage at Jen's was the pub, for beer and roast lunch with Yorkshire pudding.

The next day we got into the swing of Yuletide by visiting  Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.

It was a glorious collection of fair ground rides, faux-Bavarian bars and cheap tatt.

But we lapped it up.

The next few days we visited museums, did some shopping, saw a show and frequented many old and deliciously quaint pubs. Unfortunately they were not too conducive to taking good photos. This morning we went to the Duck & Waffle for breakfast. It's on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower and is reputedly the highest restaurant in Britain.

The views are spectacular, but a combination of mist and dirty windows meant the photographs were not so wonderful. This is looking east along the Thames and with The Gherkin in the right foreground.

Noreen was looking for inspiration for her next chandelier.

Many of the old markets have been converted into retail venues. This is Spitalfields, once a fruit and vegie market in the open countryside.

Nowadays you can buy tasteful Christmas jumpers for the man who has everything.

On Monday we are off to Wales. I hope to be able to post an update then.

Boulcott Gardens

Boulcott is a suburb in Lower Hutt. There is an area full of very up-market properties that back onto a golf course. Part of the golf course has been sold to a retirement village operator who wants to build a fairly high density development there. The locals are not impressed and are taking legal action to try and stop, or severely modify, the plans. Last weekend they organised a tour of selected gardens as a fund-raising activity. We duly went along and inspected what was on display.  Here is a selection of photos from our tour.

There were some large houses and larger gardens.

This is a Bird of Paradise plant

A tui feeding on sugar water.

Pink flamingos lurking in the undergrowth,

an angel (or possibly a fairy),

meerkats checking for danger,

restful seating spots,

shady bowers.

And to finish off, beautiful roses.

We head off to the land of the short grey days soon. I'll try and post some updates but service may be even more spasmodic than usual for the next couple of months.

Otaihanga Domain

We used to come up here often when the children were little. The plan for Labour Day was for something a bit more vigourous but we decided that discretion was the better part of valour (forgive american spellings) so opted for a leisurely stroll by the banks of the Waikanae River. 

The heavy rain had meant that the river was quite full. I remember it being a gentle stream only a metre or so wide.

Further up the track there were views inland towards the Tararuas.

The day was significant as it marked Noreen’s return to the walking group after her knee surgery.

Johnston Hill

I haven’t done this walk for a while. The first part is uphill from Karori. 

It was a pleasant enough day, warm but overcast and a bit misty so the view north across the harbour to Petone was a bit blurry (or maybe my lens needs cleaning).

Obligatory summit snap.

We came down through the new path that was being cut the last time we did the walk. Once into Otari the bush closed in and we were in the primæval forest.

This is kahikatea – the king of the southern forests (kauri being naturally confined to the north of the north island).

We emerged at the bottom of the gully in the middle of Otari bush.

Then it was a short climb out of the gully to Jenny’s for a pot luck dinner. I spotted this kereru attempting to hide in a tree.

This is kaka beak growing in Jenny’s garden.

Auckland

We haven’t been up to Auckland for a while. When Sam was at university there we visited several times and prior to that we have spent some time there over the years.

New Zealand’s biggest city has been described as a collection of suburbs. It is certainly spread out over a vast area and travelling around can be a nightmare. But each area has its own character and it doesn’t really have the feel of a big city, except perhaps in the small central zone.

We went for a 70^th birthday party. The venue was in Panmure on the shores of the Tamaki Estuary.

The house has a wonderful garden making the best use of a fairly limited area.

We went for a bike ride 

amongst the mangrove swamps,

saw pukeko

and the distant mass of Mount Wellington.

The next day we ventured up its slopes. There are good views all around. This is a panorama looking north

and a close up of the crater (that big structure is a water tank) with Rangitoto in the distance.

On the way down we had a good view of Stonefields, a new residential development in a disused quarry.

As it was quite hot we needed ice cream!

Then it was back for the party at which there was Morris dancing

 and cutting of the cake.