Progress of a Wellington garden

12 Mar '08 8:19 am

Aren't digital pictures the beginning of a beand new obsession? I love seeing all the quirky shots you've taken, too. With a film one often plays it safe, and misses out a lot of fun shots. Wellington must be an amazing place to have a garden. Birds in the bush? Hopefully there aren't any possums. Thanks for posting, Cheers, M

12 Mar '08 6:28 pm

Quirky shots?Just who is quirky round here!
A few more.I wish I had taken a few more pics of the cable cars around the hills as they are fascinating-It is always a mission to get materials to a site for renovations.I do have concern at the safety in case of fire etcthough the tracks go in all directions.Earthquakes are common here.Gordon-you would really love living here-everyone has the same ideals and are protective of the native bush and the bird life.

13 Mar '08 4:43 pm

Oh, Boy!! More great pictures!! I loved the beech tree - it has a lovely, windswept appearance similar to some of our arbutus trees! And what are those wonderful stairs made of? It looks like concrete, but what's the pattern of round dots made of? That is just SO cool!!

And cosmos and washing tomatoes at this time of year seems so wonderful, when it's still freezing on and off at night here! However, my cyclamen, heather, crocus, scillas and hellebores are now in full bloom, so I guess I still have something to be grateful for, eh? The giant allium seeds that I planted last fall outside in a giant, flat pot are coming up "as thick as hair on a dog's back". I wonder how many years it will take for them to grow to blooming sized bulbs? I definitely intend to take them with me whenever I move.

I heard on the news today about the 2 beached whales in New Zealand who were saved by a porpoise today (or maybe it was yesterday). How wonderful to have something like that happen with eyewitnesses watching to prove that animals really CAN communicate! It was on a national radio show here this evening.

Are those cablecars owned by the community, or does each home have its own? Who maintains them? And how do folks get materials up there to build those homes in the first place? This is all so unusual!

Anyway, cheers, and enjoy the rest of your summer!

-gordonf

23 Mar '08 1:55 am

Dixie, what a wonderful holiday with your family and thanks for bringing us along. Their home is in such a fantastic place and all their work on the gardens is even more impressive in light of the difficulty with bringing in all that stone and heavy wood. This takes true dedication. They have created quite an oasis for themselves. I know you love visiting with them and seeing both them and all their latest efforts.

23 Mar '08 6:48 am

I have a few more photos and have just seen the questions,Gordon.
the cable cars are each owned privately,and are an expensive option for those who choose to live in such a private place-you never get door-to door salesmen for instance as the effort of dragging a vaccuum cleaner or encyclopaedias across the hill puts them off.It is a painstaking job to get materials to a site-the neighbours who built the bridge next door paid a local rugby football team to carry the big beams.
dixie.

23 Mar '08 7:06 am

these are a couple of photos of the central city where the NZ parliament is.It is over the other side of the harbour from my family and takes nearly half an hour's drive.
the pic with the houses is not my photo-it is a postcard.

23 Mar '08 1:50 pm

Wow, again! Thanks for answering all my questions, Dixie. I gather that there is very little level land there; so why was a city built there? I gather it must have been because of the harbour in the early days, but where do they find land for large commercial buildings?

These pictures were wonderful, with the central city ones reminding me of Sparks St. mall in Ottawa. I think my favourite one was the one with the sign warning of the penguin crossing!

It feels as if it might snow here tonight - the wind is really cold for this time of year. I didn't even go into the garden today because of it, but I did get out to buy a new tent for the summer's travels. It now looks as if I'll be away for parts of April, May and June, so I'm sure I'll need a tent somewhere along the way to save money! And since I haven't been able to locate my other tent for 2 years now, I decided to give up on it and get a new one.

All the best!

Cheers!
gordonf

20 May '08 7:30 am

We have just returned from another trip to Wellington.This time we drove and the Autumn scenery was so beautiful.The snow on the mountains of the central plateau was down ,and was so pretty.
Dixie.

20 May '08 2:49 pm

Continuing later...For some reason the site'froze' this morning and I could not finish the update.
Anyway,we arrived safely in Wellington.A neighbour kindly offered us the use of the flat built under their garage,as our family's house is very small.
.With no road access to the houses,the garages are built into the sides of the cliff-sort of on fresh air !
I have no idea why the people designed their home to look like a ship protruding from the hillside.Their garage is the same light green as their house,and the flat where we stayed is under.The first pic is taken from my daughter's house deck
dixie.

20 May '08 5:15 pm

they sure do look like ships. I've been here before. What a facinating set up with the cable cars and all.

Your daughter and baby are both lovely. Looking at them together must be wonderful for you. She looks as sure of herself as any mother anywhere and quite happy. I'd say you've done well your share of providing for the next generation.

That looks like a rather large fern tree near the playset on that only flat area, my favorite perhaps? Cyathea medullaris? The golden leaves of that tree in the picture are also wonderful.

Nice to see this beautiful corner of the world again. Thanks for bringing us along,

-Mark

Progress of a Wellington garden

Continuing

Wonderful holiday

Welly again

central city

What a Hilly City!

Another trip

continuing

Hi Dixie,