This Country: #3

Last Friday I travelled to Waiheke Island, 40 minutes by ferry from the Auckland CBD, 

to walk the sculpture trail along the headland of the island.

The track was about 2.5 kilometres, and was dotted with 31 sculptures. 

My favourite was the one on the top left; it was made up of a number of thin mirrored 

vertical slabs which created myriads of interesting collages.

It was an EXTREMELY hot day, and a long one - from where I live 

it's a 2 hour drive to Auckland. 

It was also quite crowded, as it was one of the last few days of the 

exhibition - but it was well worth the effort.

Here's a shot across the harbour looking back to the city:

This country: #1

I'd like to share some of the beauty of this country with you. 

My country is small and new, wild in parts, and relatively sparsely populated. There are problems here as there are everywhere, but there are also stunning vistas and wild shores, grasslands stretching forever, ragged mountains and captivating animals and plants.

This photo is the work of New Zealander Trey Ratcliff.

It shows a jetboat on the Shotover River, which is located in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. The name correctly suggests that this 75 kilometre-long river is fast flowing, with numerous rapids. The river flows generally south from the Southern Alps on its journey running through the Skippers Canyon, before draining into the Kawarau River east of Queenstown.