Holidays are good for you

This week's Thematic Photographic topic is Vacation. I am in the middle of a 2-week winter school break but I'm not planning any trips, other than to the supermarket or down to school to work there.
My first thought was to look in the albums of the overseas trips I've taken in the last few years. But then I decided to stay here in New Zealand, and chose some pics from a road trip a few years ago. These were taken on the shore of Lake Rotorua, in the central North Island, as the late afternoon light deepened into dusk...

Click to enlarge

 

 "Holidays restore what everyday life steals from you" 

~ Advertising slogan on a campaign currently running on some of our TV channels.

The Friday Photo

I took this about 18 months ago, on the shore of Lake Rotorua, so he's an inland gull, a member of one of the hundred or so gull species; these red-legged ones are the most common we see on our coasts, along with the bigger Pacific gull.

The sun was just starting to set, and there was a nice quality to the light which picked up the colour of the rust on the pole.

 

Happy Friday - and Happy New Year.

3 Things that Make me Happy on a Monday

Mondays aren't great, traditionally.  Although you're supposed to have rested up over the weekend, and be full of energy, it really seems a very long time until the next weekend.

Plus, it's been a long and busy day at school (aren't they all??).

I thought I'd do the positive thinking approach and post about 3 things that bring me joy.

#1 Lighthouses  There's just something about them: strength, pride, danger, loneliness. This one's at Castlepoint, a (normally) wild and windy place on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

Castlepoint Lighthouse

#2 Mosaics   I've dabbled a little in making some, and plan to do a lot more - some day, when time expands. One of the reasons I went to Turkey was to feast my eyes on the beautiful mosaic work:

 

Mosaic above door, Green Tomb, Bursa

#3 Water  Always makes me feel happy and peaceful, whether it's a lake, river or the sea.

Lake Rotorua, New Zealand

What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.

~ Leo Buscaglia 

What cheers you up on a Monday?

Alexia