Old and New

Historical cottage and Rutherford Hotel in back drop. @ South Street.

South Street

Pastel Sky

Quick snap from this morning...

Autumnal

I thought this past weekend was the end of Daylight Savings, giving me one extra guilt-free hour in bed, but noooo, it's next weekend! The light is changing, the wind is changing, we're definitely heading towards my favorite season.

Look!

From the archive, at the Abel Tasman NP.

Oyster Catcher

Garden Work

This reminds me... I have to work on mine...  Long due fir mostly weeding again.

Tuesday Sunset

I wondered if I should crop it, but it was so strange and magnificent I didn't feel like tempering with it.

View From A Beach

From the same stretch of walkway somewhere in the further...

Able Tasman NP

Proud to be ...

Kingfisher

I haven't seen this for while but come to our place yesterday.

Clamped...

A warning for people? But I did not see a parking receipt on this one either.

Welcome

Change of Plan

In case you hadn't picked it up, Ben and I are Japanese, and we had planned a three-week trip home covering what is called in Japan "Golden Week", when there are four national holiday between April 29 and May 5.  (United Nations used to tell us we worked too long hours, so the government went a bit crazy setting up a bunch of new holidays in the 1980's, though this particular period always included three traditional holidays.)  Public transport and venues are silly-crowded, but workers potentially have yup to 10 days off, factories close and we have clean air and lovely skies; the weather is nicer and settled by then, so we thought it'd be a good time to hang out.

It would have been only my second trip home "for no reason", and Ben's first since we've come to New Zealand.

As you know situations have been unsettling in Japan and we've canceled our trip this morning.  All our family and friends came out unscathed, all things considered, though my 80+ parents had to spend the first night in a department store as all trains stopped, and my Brother-in-Law walked for 4.5 hours to get home.  The earthquake was big, tsunami terrible, but the nuclear situation is beyond comprehension.  Coming from a line of staunch anti-nuclear family, I'm aghast at the level of support for nuclear power development still, in the one country we would have thought should know better.

My brother is taking his family and our parents away from Yokohama for a few days just so they can catch up on sleep. 

Our thoughts are with those who suffered losses, and our thanks go to those who are trying to help Japan.  My special prayers go to the New Zealand, and other, USAR teams who had to rush from Christchurch to Miyagi. 

* * * * *

If you have family and friends in Japan, this Facebook source appears to be fairly reliable, but as with everything else right now, take it with a pound or two of salt.  Information is starting to get much more muddle and confused now, and people's anger and frustration is starting to erupt. 

Some facts you may not have heard on the mainstream media:


This year is the worst on record for hey fever suffers in Japan; we were told this as far back as last November.  And people are reporting back that it's bad, especially in combination with dust and soot.  

There is very little looting in Japan; that's something outside of our thinking. But there are scams, including fake fund-raisers at train stations.  Water and petrol were stolen at night from the Self Defense Force by evacuees.  

In a small country like Japan, we have two different electricity system. East (of Shizuoka, roughly, inc Tokyo) is on 50Hz and West (incl Osaka) is on 60Hz. After the country opened up to the world in 1868, Europe (mostly Germany) helped developed the Eastern half of the country and the US, the West. Because of the cost, we never unified the systems; not a lot of countries have two different systems. (I think we are the only one.) This also requires transformer stations (not sure what the proper term is)  for Western Japan to send power to the East, but I understand it has been happening.

Peace.

Big Sky

Alton St

Practice

Airport Feature

Hardy St

Vanguard St

Turn the camera to other direction...

And if you like Nelson sunsets, click on JB's sunset shot taken a week ago.  He took this on his PhancyPhone during a rugby match.

Post Boy Hotel

After work...

A Weaver's View

This morning's (and probably afternoon's) task.  If you know the structure of a loom, I am sitting between the back/warp beam and the shafts/harnesses, (the frames holding the white strings,) and about to start threading one red warp yarn through one heddle (white string) eye at a time, according the draft, (or the plan.)  I have 1072 warp yarns/ends in this project, so it'd be nice to get through half today.

I have a Terry Pratchett tape for company.

New World

Well, it's a super-market.  I had a call to bring a milk home and turn my car to this direction on the way home. It was more card there when I arrived there.   

Sunset

We had quite changeable weather yesterday. Some sunshine, rain and cloud. In the evening the sky present another great sunset.

Morning Flight

This morning, little bit late for orange sunrise but I caught a plane.

Sunset (Last Evening)

With plastic lens and bit of slow shutter on hand held. Sorry for blur.  It was another good sunset last evening and colour was just great!

Ceramic Gull

City Bike Hire

From the front of cathedral step.

Maitai River

Another favourite place, this is Maitai River and there is a walkway way up to the stream at side.

Theme day: Your favourite part of town

Cathedral steps: This is one of our favourite place in town. 

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