Chicken Pox

Callistemon citrinus - Crimson Bottlebrush founf both in Australia ans New Zealand. The flower spikes of bottlebrushes form in spring and summer and are made up of a number of individual flowers. The pollen of the flower forms on the tip of a long coloured stalk called a filament. It is these filaments which give the flower spike its colour and distinctive 'bottlebrush' shape. The filaments are usually yellow or red, sometimes the pollen also adds a bright yellow flush to the flower spikes.
Each flower produces a small woody fruit containing hundreds of tiny seeds. These fruits form in clusters along the stem, and are usually held on the plant for many years.




My nephews and niece in Australia have chicken pox and are off school. Thomas was vaccinated and still is affected. Helen is very creative and has a lot of things to keep them occupied. My other niece S says she had it twice.

When chicken pox was spreading in Singapore, my son S said he would stop eating chicken, in that way, he won't catch the disease.

My memories go back to when we had to shorten our travels when D was 9, and we found she had pox during her birthday party.

ruby red tuesday/rednesday/red rope

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In June this year, we saw the official opening of Auckland's newest playground for children of all abilities, located in Pt Chevalier's Coyle Park.

The playground was designed to accommodate all children, and features unique equipment to easily allow a child and their caregiver to play together.

I can imagine the boy on top of this net mountain singing, " I am the king of the castle."

Coyle Park has an open environment covering nearly 5 hectares, fantastic harbour views and a coastal edge characterised by steep cliffs and rock shelf exposed at low tide. I work five minutes from here, and sometimes I spend my lunch time here.

There is significant mature coastal vegetation along the cliff top. Defined, well-structured access paths lead from the park to Pt Chevalier beach, along with a number of informal access paths down the cliffside.

Facilities: Barbecue, tables, playground, toilets. You get free gas to heat up your BBQ.

Sunday Bridges : Auckland

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An
overhead bridge in Downtown Auckland

Macroflowers: Freesias

Freesia plants stem from bulbs, so they should be planted in at least groups of three in high-quality composted soil. Grow freesias directly in the ground or in containers.

Freesias grow in my garden and bloom in winter. The winter cold


I have joined this meme for a while now, and I am loving it. First I love flowers. Second, the badge for this meme is the North Borneo Orchid.

Join Macro Flowers Saturday, a photo meme for macro photos and close-ups of flowers, garden flowers, wildflowers, blossoms, flowers with insects and butterflies (no insects without flowers), flowers with raindrops and whatever beautiful plants, plant seeds or berries you have, in close-up.

First time visitors, please read the rules. They are simple but I do ask that you, please, use a MFS badge or link back to MFS in some way. Thank you.

Macro Flower Saturday and my spending too much time on the computer means a neglected garden. Despite these, the freesias still bloom.

Thursday Challenge: Gears

"TECHNOLOGY" (Machines, Gears, Engines, Mobile Phones, Laptops, Wires, Toy Robots,...)
Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning. A theme is announced on this site each week. You may either take a new photograph related in some way to the theme or select one that you have taken previously;

This must have been a very big machine. Found at the waterfront of Auckland, New Zealand.

Ruby Red/Rednesday: Mushrooms

a signal station for shipping, artillery emplacements and various concrete army bunkers, some from as early as the 1870s.

The red and white air vents camouflaged as mushrooms on Mt Victoria were secretly painted by a couple of Devonport youths in 1988. I shudder to think if there was an air raid, the red color would give away what they are.


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On Sunday, we crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge and went to Devonport and drove up the summit of Mt Victoria. Named after Queen Victoria, the hill provides panoramic views of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour and the inner Hauraki Gulf.

Over the years the peak and upper slopes have housed a signal station for shipping, artillery emplacements and various concrete army bunkers, some from as early as the 1870s.

It has been used extensively for defence and still has the typical bank and ditch pattern of a Maori fortified site, as well as 19th and 20th century bunkers and ammunition storage tunnels which can be explored, and guns aimed out over the harbour entrance.

A newly opened park above Narrow Neck Beach is Fort Takapuna Historic Reserve which has in the past housed both Navy and Army.

This place holds nostalgic feelings for me. When my late father in law came twenty five years ago, I drove him and made the same trip as I did on Sunday. He was very game and climbed down the bunkers. I did too with my eighteen month old daughter D. So I went by myself on Sunday and took lots of photos which I will post another time.

Weekend Bridge: Auckland Harbour Bridge

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The bridge has a length of 1,020 m (3,348 ft), with a main span of 243.8 m, rising 43.27 m above high water allowing ships access to the deepwater wharf. It has undergone transformation with two-lane box girder clip-on sections were added to each side in 1969, ten years after it was built. It doubled the number of lanes to eight. The sections were manufactured by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries of Japan. People fondly called the new lanes as 'Nippon clip-ons'.

The Moveable Lane Barrier - the first ever permanent lane barrier system on a major bridge anywhere in the world - was introduced to manage traffic flows in a 'tidal' morning and evening peak system.

In the morning, the traffic is busy coming into the city. After work, the direction is reversed. In 1990, this giant machine was installed to move these heavy block dividers.There were "elephant houses" or giant sheds at the end of the bridge. This daily changing of lanes have intriqued tourist.

I am very passionate about this bridge because my second daughter bungied off it twice, and I walked under it to the mid point to watch her jump. It was quite frightening as the wind swayed the bridge and was howling loudly.