Gloriously weird.

“I’m so grateful for the glorious weirdness that is my life 

and for those who travel this beautiful twisty road with me.”

~ Nanea Hoffman

This crazy Auckland weather has given us a daft day or two.

Rain. Rain.  And more rain.

With still more of the wet stuff  forecast for the weekend.

Webbed feet come to mind.

That and PUDDLES!

I mustn’t complain.

The rain is necessary.

It does rather put a damper on outdoor markets though,

two of which I have this weekend.

Rainy days at the shop are the perfect time to journal 

the hound’s and my adventures of the past few weeks.

No one, and I mean NO-ONE, 

wants to try on swimwear when it’s raining.

Can’t imagine why.

Our Tuesday rambles have, for the most part, included Carol and Sam.

We’ve explored Half Moon Bay Marina, 

both the clifftop and the beach at Musick Point, 

and chased balls along Takapuna Beach.  

I explored Northhead too.

Sans hound.

We’ve also bid her most recent rugby ball farewell.

It’s final resting place was in the waves at the base of Musik Point.

Only the second ball that Sam’s managed to drown.

He’s good like that.

He always provides her with another ball though.

Courtesy of his COFFEE money.

( .... not sure WHO drinks the coffee he’s saving up for.)

The two hounds have an odd arrangement where rugby balls are concerned.

They ALWAYS swop balls when they ramble together.

It’s something they’ve done ever since Sam became part of the Lahood family.

They have a connection that’s beyond our ability to understand.

And one we wouldn’t dream of interfering with.

Half Moon Bay Marina

... the start of another of our rambles.

The boardwalk that connects Half Moon Bay Marina to Bucklands beach.

The further we walked, the clearer the skies became.

The Musick Memorial Radio Station at Musick Point.
It was opened in 1942 to communicate with ships and aircraft. The isolation of Mucick Point, with it's absence of man-made electrical interference, made it an ideal radio receiving site.  Following the closure of all the coastal radio stations in 1993, the non-profit Musick Point Radio group took a long term lease onthe building and maintains a radio museum in the building.

This lovely lady was learning to play the saxophone and comes up to Musick Point to practice.  

It was so lovely listening to the songs she was playing

 .... quite magical!

The beach below Musick Point.  

It's low tide and Browns Island looks so close.

We did quite a bit of boulder hopping and bum sliding.

Heading back up the steep stairs to the top of the cliffs.  

50 odd stairs were no problem for mountain-goat Sam and Carol.  

Waggle-bum (the hound) bought up the rear.

Takapuna Beach 

... another Tuesday morning ramble with Sam.

.... and the Labs were out in force!

The clouds didn't take long to follow us back along the beach.

The view from North Head on Sunday afternoon after a market.
It was absolutely beautiful.

Looking across to Mission Bay and Okahu Bay

and,  in the image below, Browns Island in the distance.

"Time is like a river.  You cannot touch the same water twice, 

because the flow that has passed will never pass again.  

Enjoy every moment of your life."

~ unknown

Something new

Hund (n) (of German origin): dog hound

I’ve been criticised in the past for calling the hound just that, a hound.

In some research I’ve been doing of late on the etymology of words (a fascinating subject) I chanced upon an article defining the word “Hund” as above. Interestingly enough the photo accompanying the article is of a Labrador Retriever!

I think that vindicates me calling her a hound.

You might have noticed the change in the title of my blog.  The time seems right to focus on this new chapter in my life and move in a slightly different direction, hence the new blog.  I’m frequently asked at markets if I keep a weekly log of all the photos I take and where they’re taken.  
To date I haven’t.  
The change in direction of my blog is designed to remedy that.  
I want it to be a photolog of the locations we ramble at that I can then share to my website.  

So why the title?

A tongue in cheek reference to the prevalence of hashtags on social media.

I know. I know.  They're here to stay so best I use them appropriately.

To put our rambles into some perspective, the hound and I ramble on average between 30 and 35kms a week in and around the Auckland metropolis.  When time permits we wander further afield.  
Now that life has settled somewhat, this wandering further afield will hopefully happen more frequently. 

Hitting the road before the sparrows fart allows for catching the sun before it actually rises.  There's something about the early morning solitude and tranquility that I wish I could bottle.  
It feeds MORE than just the soul.  
Whilst I marvel at Mother Nature, the hound catches up on p-mails.
It's our kind of world and we love it.

Sun Rise at Achilles Point

From Pt. England and the Tamaki Estuary to Browns Bay beach and Cornwall Park we've rambled more than our average this week.
It's been wonderful.

The weather's been a tad challenging with plenty of rain and overcast skies.

Tuesday was my day off so we spent all morning rambling!
Part of our ramble was the coastal path between Glen Dowie Park and Coultis Street.

A view of the bay from the Glen Dowie Boating Club

 Next up was  Cornwall Park.

Typical of Auckland's "4 seasons in one day" phenomena,
we revelled in sunshine and blue skies whilst we were at Cornwall Park

Someone was feeding the army of birds when we arrived and the Guinea Fowl and Roosters were thoroughly enjoying the feast.
Guinea Fowl always make me think of balloons on legs 
with their round bodies, tiny heads and spindly legs.

The park  itself is centred around a volcanic cone, One Tree Hill.
 The volcanic peak  can be seen in the distance in the shot below.

One of my favourite parts of the park is  Twin Oaks Drive.

All the trees along the drive were planted from acorns grown in the park.

The Daffodils are flowering at the moment too.

It's all so gorgeous!

 Small gated gardens wthin the park.

After walking the circumference of the park 
we hopped in the car and drove to the summit of One Tree Hill.

 By this time the hound and I had covered just on 15kms in the 
few hours we'd been out and she was feeling a tad tired.

She chose to sit in the car and watch whilst I climbed the stairs to the top.

A last gorgeous shot of One Tree Hill as we head for home.

Wednesday morning's sunrise took me by surprise.  
The skies had been heavy and overcast when we set out, so to arrive at Pt. England and find this kaleidoscope of colour reflected in the water was incredible. 

The red skies though were just a foretaste of the weather we've experienced the rest of this week.

Rain. Rain.and.more.Rain.
Good job I enjoy walking in the rain!
"Life is a succession of moments, 
to live each one is to succeed."
~ Corina Kent