Road Trip to the Wild West

On Wednesday I drove for a couple of hours over to the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, to an area I'd never been before called the Awhitu Peninsula.

It was a cloudy grey day, warm and muggy, but still a great day out!

One reason for going was to visit the lighthouse at Manukau Heads, where the 

Manukau Harbour opens into the Tasman Sea. I love lighthouses. 

Sadly this one is a replica of the real one, taken from the original drawings and plans.

It's also at a different spot (the old position was too dangerous), 

but the bonus is that you can actually climb up inside, and walk around 

the outside balcony, where the keepers would have walked.

This is looking down at the heads - you can see the beginnings of the notorious Manukau Bar, where many ships and small boats have come to grief; it was the site of our worst maritime disaster in 1863, when HMS Orpheus ran aground on the Manukau Bar and sank with the loss of 189 lives.

Looking the other way, you can see the road in to the lighthouse, with evidence 

of our hot, dry summer:

I enjoyed my day out immensely!

Happy New Year

I wish all of my blog friends a peaceful, healthy and productive 2014.
May everything turn out just the way you hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made this card on a picture by New Zealand photographer Grant Sheehan, who has just
published a book about this country's lighthouses. 

I greatly covet this book, and I intend to use my Christmas book voucher (Mr A gives me one
every year, bless him)  to buy it just as soon as I can get to a bookshop.

The picture shows the Cape Campbell lighthouse illuminated by a full moon.

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