Market Day

Two or three Saturdays ago we caught the bus into town and visited the inaugural Market Day. It was beautiful day and the crowds turned up. The city had put on free buses for anyone who wanted to attend, so we took up the offer. The market was held in the main street and stretched for four or five city blocks. 

Market day is an annual event. Once known as Thieves Alley and held in a small side street it has now outgrown its space. A popular event, there were thousands of people there and numbers were swelled by passengers from the two cruise ships that were in Port.

There was street entertainment  

and stalls of all kinds.

Plants, crafts and food stalls amongst them. I'm afraid that hubby and I sloped off into the mall to eat though, to have a respite from the crowds and also to get out of the sun for a while. Remind me to take a sunhat next time. After several hours we headed back to the bus to join the others who were waiting for their lift home. An enjoyable day out.

Activity around us. We watched scaffolding go up on the house across the drive from us and the next day watched the chimney being demolished. It's a big old house, one of the original on the street and well over one hundred years old I would think. The following day a big storm blew through so there was no activity and the next day I got up and threw the drapes back and there were men up on the roof. Whoops, close the drapes, get dressed, then open them again. I'd forgotten all about the work going on on the roof next door giving anyone who cared to look a great view into our bedroom :)

They removed the old roof and replaced it again all in a day. Pretty quick I thought. A couple of days later there was a man up on another neighbour's roof doing an inspection. We're not about to follow suit though as our roof was fixed a couple of years back.

A house being transported past our place this week. It was in two parts. We'd had notification that this was happening but the route showed that they were using a road further down than us and we wouldn't have access. I don't think we were the ones who were mixed up either as there were cars parked on both sides of the street further down which they had to manoeuvre around. I'm sure they would have been moved if they had thought a house was being transported past them.

That's all I have for today. 

Autumn officially starts tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. Perhaps the weather will settle for a while. I certainly hope so.

keep well until next time,

Diana

Catching up with the Aussie branch

We've had two nice days this week and one of them was Friday when the family sailed in on the Ovation of the Seas. A blessing :) We caught the bus into town and they caught the shuttle from the ship and we all met in the city. They were in Starbucks when we arrived so we joined them for a hot drink then bro and his partner went in search of the Scottish Shop, which had moved since he lived here. 

We sisters went in search of replacements for things one of us had left in the hotel in Sydney! I won't name names :) My GKB knew just where to take her he said and he proved to be right. Then we headed back to the mall and same sis bought MORE stuff for me to distribute amongst the little people, five and under. So we had to find somewhere to sit and sort it all out as I had one or two things for them to take back with them as well.

This is another little break we took while I was trying to contact another one of our brothers to tell him when they were heading back to the ship - he works on the pilot boat and they thought they might all be able to catch up at the Port somewhere. I still don't know whether they did or not as he was working. I hope so.

I'd booked a table at a nice wee cafe that was tucked away in a little shopping court off the main street. A couple of the family members work just a couple of blocks away and were able to get extended lunch breaks to join us. I think everyone had a good time, I hope so. We spent a good hour and a half or more just chatting and eating, several conversations going on at the same time and maybe a lot of talking and not a lot of listening :) But a lot of laughter.

And then it was time for a stroll back to The Octagon to catch the shuttle back to the ship, say our farewells and wave them goodbye. The shuttles were supposed be running every half hour on the hour and half hour but they were more like a production line. As one filled up it pulled away and another one came into line at the back of the queue. Maybe it was the time of the day, people not wanting to be late for gangplank up (is that what it's called these days?) and it was starting to cool down.

The line of shuttles through the centre of The Octagon. We watched as we waited for Vanessa to come round with the car to pick us up, she became an unofficial shuttle for the rest of the family heading back to our homes :)

While we were sitting I spotted this carved gateway and went to have a look. Apparently it has been there for about five years but I've never seen it before. We don't normally go to The Octagon when we're in town, we usually stay a couple of blocks further north, so it was new to me. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to discover it is an aluminium replica of the gateway at the Otakou Marae and not a carved wooden one.

And I think I'll finish there.

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing.

Diana

A trek up Baldwin Street, Dunedin

Baldwin Street is the steepest street in the world. 

On Saturday a small group of us walked up it at granddaughter's request. She has set herself a monthly  challenge and the January one was this walk. She invited people to go with her and nine of us set off from the bottom. Seven of us made it to the top.

 

Looking up from the corner. The bottom is tar seal, the top concrete so vehicle tyres have something to grip. Someone tried to get up on a motor scooter while we were there but never made it.

Not one of our team making hard work of it. Some walked on the road and others, like me, took the steps.

We noticed that the locals were in tee shirts and the tourists were all in sweatshirts, jackets or hoodies. Too warm and muggy for that.

Pausing for a breather and looking back at where we'd come.

A not very flattering shot of Jacqui, me and Vanessa at the top with Arlo. 😄 Contemplating the downward journey. It was very steep, I saw one older man having trouble and trying to go down sideways but he decided the steps were the best bet. 

I decided I wanted to walk down the opposite side to what I came up so had to cross the road. I'd slipped near the top on a little patch of gravel so Vanessa took my hand. I thought I was well past having to hold hands to cross the road but apparently not. 😏

We'd been promised drinks and protein bars when we reached the bottom and here we are gathered around with them. It was fun. I think her next challenge is to donate blood but I can't do that due to the medications I'm on unfortunately. Still I'll join in where I can. 

 One of my sisters in Aussie has decided she'll try and do the equivalent with us. She walked up to their local lookout, not as steep but a greater distance.

Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about Baldwin Street if you'd like to read a bit about it. I think it makes an interesting read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street

That's it for today, stay safe, stay well and enjoy life, 

until next time,

Diana

Record rainfall

As I sit here typing the sun is shining after a very wet few days. We've had a bit of a weather bomb dumped on us. I'm fortunate in that it hasn't affected me or my family but not everyone has been so fortunate and at the moment nine homes have been red stickered with possibly more to come.

Early in the week we were forecast for one months rain in a period of two days. As it turned out we had two months rain in a couple of days. The rain started on Wednesday morning and we woke on Thursday to be told 80 families had been evacuated from their homes overnight.

 The worst of the flooding, but not all, was out in South Dunedin which is mainly built on reclaimed land. Thankfully the Silverstream at the bottom of our street didn't breach the flood bank, but it came close. But not all the damage was done by flood waters, some was through land slips. 

Eventually the rain stopped late on Friday night, the city having recorded it's highest rainfall for over one hundred years. Roads were closed or cut off to the north, south and west with the sea on the east.

I am very grateful to have escaped this weather bomb unscathed. We didn't even get much water lying around in the yard which is unusual in heavy rain.

The rain has stopped but now the cleanup begins.

That's it for today. 

Keep well, keep safe and I'll be back in a few days.

Diana

The heavens declare...

Over the last few nights the Aurora Australis has been putting on a wonderful display and although I haven't got any decent photo's myself I thought I'd show you some of the ones my grand daughter in Palmerston North took.

And here are a couple my grandson took in Dunedin. 

I love the last one.

Palmerston North is halfway up the North Island, Dunedin is near the bottom of the South Island. These were all just taken on the kids cell phones so you can imagine how much better it was in reality. I think these are pretty good though.

 Have a great week,

and Happy Mother's Day to those of 

you who are celebrating today.

Diana

150 and still going strong

Well it may be spring but this morning we had a good ol' frost on the ground. This did mean it turned into a lovely sunny day with warm temps later though.

It also meant it was very cold in St Paul's Anglican Cathedral where we were celebrating 150 years since the Dunedin Diocese came into being.  I certainly wished I'd worn a warmer jacket while I sat through the service. But it was great to be there with other like minded people to celebrate. The choirs and music were fantastic and reminded me why I love the Anglican tradition. Although it was fairly traditional it was also reasonably relaxed. After the service doves were released from the cathedral steps, some of them seemed somewhat reluctant but eventually they all took wing and soared away, and that was followed by a tree planting to commemorate the event.

I met my GKB afterwards, he arrived in time to be photographed on the steps with the rest of us - almost front row centre as well -  which made me laugh as he is not a churchgoer. We were actually going to head off for a lunch date but also had movie tickets and because of the length of the service lunch didn't happen. Instead we took popcorn and hot drinks into the theatre. A naughty lunch really but it only happens occasionally. And if we can't be a bit naughty sometimes life would be very dull :)  We saw Downton Abbey which I thoroughly enjoyed and which my GKB said was okay.

And that's it for just now. 
I am heading north in a few days to visit with my granddaughter  (and baby Alice) so will see you all when I get back.
Until then,

Diana

Tunnel Beach

A couple of weeks ago my GKB and I went in to town to pay a bill or two and then go for a bite of lunch. It was such a lovely day we decided to take a detour on the way home and visit Tunnel Beach. Click on Tunnel Beach if you'd like to read a little about
the history behind it

Beach one hour return. That sounded okay but what I didn't realize that it was actually half an hour there and half an hour back. NOT Half an hour along the beach if you decided to do it. I'd never been here before you see. Now, do you see where the people are in the photo and the path just seems to disappear? Well that's where the downhill section begins...and keeps going for 1200metres or 1.2 ks.

The views out to sea and along the cliff top were spectacular.

The sea itself was beautifully calm, not a surfers sea today.

That outcrop in the centre right of the picture above is

where we were heading...along with dozens of other people. 

My GKB decided not to go all the way down so stopped

and took photos instead. There were seats at different

places along the way and I took advantage of them on the homeward trip, along with several other people.

Eventually, read twenty minutes later, I reached the bottom.

I was going to say beach but I hadn't got there yet. I decided to walk out onto the outcrop but found it a bit nerve wracking to say the least. Most of the track is fenced for safety reasons and I had to climb the fence to go here. At some places there was only a few yards on either side where it would be easy to fall if you lost your footing.

And I have to say I think the girls in the picture above were rather foolhardy. That's a sheer drop into the sea. GKB photographed them from his vantage point up the track. Anyway now to find the beach. Find the tunnel first. Aah, there it is - onward into the rabbit hole.

The photo below is a bit deceiving as the flash kicked in and lit it up. It is actually extremely dark and as I was about to go down

I realized there was someone on the way up, I couldn't see

 them until they were almost upon me. Once upon a time there were no steps and on the steepest part there was a ladder with a rope handrail. Since it has been opened to the public the steps have been hewn out of the rock and probably makes it a lot safer.

 The tide was coming in so I didn't really see much of the beach - there were a lot of big boulders to clamber over so I just took this one pic.

Tunnel Beach was a private beach originally owned by a local politician, John Cargill. The tunnel was hand picked out of the rock to make for easier access for his daughters.

Let me tell you, it was a long slog/haul back to the top.

If I ever go again I'll make sure I have water with me,
I wasn't prepared but I still really enjoyed my afternoon :)


Have a good week,
Diana

Merry Christmas

On a cold, blustery summer Sunday we went to the Botanical Gardens in Dunedin for a community sing-a-long. 

Although it was cold there was quite a good turnout to sing some old Christmas favourites and learn a new one or two. 

The Taieri Gospel Band led the singing 

and there were one or two guests between brackets.

We ended with Feliz Navidad and as my GKB recorded it on his camera I thought I would share it with you. So without further ado, from my city to yours 

Merry Christmas

Meri Kirihimete

Feliz Navidad

sung by The Taieri Gospel Band

And yes, thats me about 1.30 minutes into it.
Diana

St Paul's Cathedral

A wee while ago I posted some photo's from inside St Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin and I still have a few photo's so thought I would share them. Some are from outside and others inside, including one or two from the first post. There are quite a few of the stained glass, but they are beautiful in my opinion, so I've put them in.

The current bishop on the day of his installation, processing into the cathedral with his entourage.

Looking from the bottom of the steps to the main doors. Most people come in through a side door, thus negating the need to walk up all the steps. I have been told that once upon a time bridal parties paid a price per step to walk up or down them, but that could be folk lore.

Detail above the big main doors.

Taken from below a set of side steps.

The perspex cross was added when the chancel was completed in the early 1970's, amidst a lot of controversy. Work wasn't completed on the cathedral earlier through lack of funds and so it is quite unique in that the first building was constructed in the 1800's, construction of the cathedral in it's current form began in 1913 with the foundation stone laid in 1915.  

The Bishops' throne

Pulpit carved from Oamaru stone.

A magnificent pipe organ often used for recitals as well as worship services.

More Oamaru stone in the form of a beautifully carved font.

And so to the stained glass.

Some of this glasswork is quite modern and the face of the current bishop 

graces one of the depictions of St. Paul. 

Looking back to the West door.

If you'd like to know more about the Cathedral this is the link.

I hope I haven't bored you 

with such a long post.

See you next week.

Diana

Linking with:
inSPIREed Sunday