Photo hunt: curve

This is the fruit of the choko plant, in case you are wondering what a choko is. It is similar to a marrow, but has very prickly skin. It also has a sap that makes you itchy. That is why I don't harvest my fruits. I am a lazy cook.



My sister Rose likes to cook the tendrils. They taste very nice, but again the lazy person in me stops me from going to pick them, as they make you itchy. I will rather not eat than to suffer.

http://tnchick.com/

The tendrils of the choko plants curve around looking for a host to twine on. I have a vine at my back yard, the leaves die in winter, and grow again in spring.



http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2008/11/memories-of-mum-and-gardening.html

Weekend Reflections: Car recovery truck

http://newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com/

There are people who will come and take your "Old bombs" off your property for free. I thought it is rather cheeky of them. But apparently there is a need for this service. The operators then take your old car to the wreckers and get paid for it. Call it recycling. I remember the headache my parents had when they couldn't get spare parts for the old Fiat we had in Borneo. They had to wait for parts to come from Singapore.

I was at the traffic lights when I looked in my side mirror and saw one of these operators.

Sky Watch Friday: Who stole our summer from the cookie jar?

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

December 1st was officially our first day of summer. It seems that the Grinch has stolen our summer. For the last few days, we had 100% humidity, a sudden heavy downpour in the mid day yesterday, and it is freezing cold today. There was non stop rain.

Severe storm warning in the north as wild weather continues, my collegue rode his motorbike across the Harbour Bridge and said, there was gale warning.

A severe storm watch is in place for Auckland, Northland and Great Barrier Island, with 430 lightning strikes detected in the last hour. 30 mm of rain is falling in an hour and hail was expected to fall this afternoon.

You couldn't see the volcanoes as the clouds were very low and gray.

Thursday Challenge for fun and learning.

My friend P got married in this church.

WOOD (Buildings, Furniture, Toys, Trees, Boards, Pencils,...)

Timber buildings of the yester-year were so beautiful so full of character.

Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning.

http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html


http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2009/02/alberton-2.html
The Alberton:
This romantic timber mansion began as a farmhouse in 1863 and was later expanded to 18 rooms, with fairy-tale decorative verandahs and towers. It was owned by the Kerr Taylors, a leading family in Mount Albert, until it was left to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1972. Allan Kerr Taylor was a landowner, investor and provincial and local body politician. His wife Sophia was an outspoken advocate of the vote for women, as well as a singer, gardener and mother of 10.
Alberton was famous in the 19th century for its balls, hunts, garden parties and music. It contains a wealth of original family furniture and other possessions, and several rooms retain their 19th century wallpapers.

MOTAT is located on Great North Road in Western Springs, 5 km (3 miles) from downtown Auckland. Displays consists of a working tramway and railway, vintage cars, carriages, air craft, the development of printing and photography, calculating machines from the abacus to the computer, and a colonial village where buildings are preserved and stored. A special feature is the remains of Richard Pearse’s aircraft, which flew successfully twice in March 1903, three months after the Wright Brothers and ‘Meg Merrilees’, a F class saddle-tank locomotive built in 1874 by the Yorkshire Engine Co. of Sheffield, England.

This was what Auckland looked like in the 1890s. Lots of wooden buildings. I took these photos at MOTAT. Museum of Transport and Technology. These buildings were built from Kauri timber which is very strong.

In fact, many of these buildings are still lived in. I lived in a quaint little villa like the one in the photo. It was in Kingsland, and friends joked that we were kings.

ABC Wednesday: Letter T :Phoenix Palm Tree

http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/

Phoenix canariensis
Everywhere you look around in Auckland, you see the giant Phoenix palms. These palms are kingpins in the booming subtropical style of gardening and feature in parks and expensive housing developments.

Introduced to Auckland a century ago, their recent surge in popularity for landscaping projects is alarming native tree advocates. They argue that it is evading the native nikau palm. New Zealand's Landcare Research has classified the palm as a 'sleeper weed' - "a plant that spreads slowly and goes unnoticed until it becomes widespread"

It is hardy, adaptable and spines can inflict poisonous wounds. The average height that the Phoenix canariensis palm grows is between 50 to 60 feet. The Pineapple palm flowers late spring early summer and has numerous orange seeds which ensure its population.

These trees are found at a central city park, Meyrs park.

Outdoor Wednesday: Snow drinks

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com

12 flavours of snow drinks, which shall I choose?

Spotted at the Parnell Rose Garden Festival.

Watery Wednesday: Picton Ferry terminal

http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

New Zealand comprises of two very big island, one smaller island and lots of tiny island. The Cook Straits divides the North and the South Island. You can drive from Auckland in the North. Catch a ferry at Wellington, land at Picton, and then journey south.

Interislander’s Cook Strait Ferries travel between Wellington and Picton New Zealand. The 92km voyage takes 3 hours and has been described as "one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world"

My sister Margaret will be travel soon from Christchurch.

I hope the weather is good, and the sea is not choppy. Most of all, I hope there will be no cancellation as she is on a very tight schedule.

If you are renting a car, you can arrange with the car rental company to leave you car at Wellington Terminal, and pick up another car at Picton. This saves you from spending a hefty sum to ferry your car, and also you don't need to queue up to drive your car into the ferry, and out of the ferry when you reach the other terminal. This was what we did.

http://www.interislander.co.nz/