#996 ... Legs Eleven

Calico Jacks Boutique in Ghuznee Street ... an interesting blend of colourful stockings & street reflections.
Photo taken by Rumi Shivaz ... thanks mate

#995 ... Sticky Words

All part of the "inspiring words" festival in Wellington. This cube was covered in magnetic words for everyone to have a go at creating some "inspiring words" ... we all have creative bits inside us ... we just have to let them escape and flourish.

#994 ... Home Grown

Heading to the Home Grown Music event on the Wellington waterfront ... 5 stages all NZ bands and music ... all on an awesome day

#993 ... Scorching Bay

Scorching Bay ... great place for summer barbecue or picnic plus a salty swim.
Surfarama Cafe ... turquoise building in centre of photo (previously Chocolate Fish cafe)

#992 ... Everything is Yellow

Rodney Solialo, Hurricanes No. 8, being interviewed at Midland Park, Conrad Smith in the background,

The Phoenix and Hurricanes squads at Midland Park for a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity on Friday afternoon from 1pm-2pm. A free BBQ lunch was be provided to fans and tickets to both big games will be available for purchase at the event. Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast was there to show the city’s support for what promises to be one of the most exciting sporting weekends ever in Wellington!

The Wellington Phoenix football team, will make history this Sunday as they play in their first ever home semi final. With a huge Wellington crowd behind them, the Phoenix will be looking to push on to another final!

Phoenix and Hurricanes united for huge weekend
The day before the Phoenix play the Perth Glory, the Hurricanes take on the Western Force at Westpac Stadium in their first home game of the Rebel Sport Super 14 at 7:35pm.
It’s a unique double-header weekend and the two great sporting codes have united to encourage Wellington to get out and support both teams this weekend.

#991 ... Liquid Summer

Warm but wet today ... take the bus and keep dry. Rain on steamy windows. Bubbled out, passing the Old Bank Arcade.

#990 ... Fire Sky

The sky this morning ... only lasted for a few minutes but very impressive ... the last few mornings have been like this but I haven't been quick enough to catch the colour. Looking east from our driveway in Ngaio.

#989 ... Peddling for Care Kids

A lot of peddling BUT going nowhere (distance wise that is) ... but really going along way to helping others ... through "careKids". Cycling for a cause outside the Ibis Hotel in Featherston Street.
Check out the careKids Adventure cycling races

#988 ... Stripped

Stripping the Strip
The old Liks strip joint in Vivian Street ... next to the Victoria School of Architecture ! ... a nice play on concepts ... "stripping the strip joint"

#987 ... The Taste of Yellow

The Yellow Pages has been running a promotion campaign to find someone to track down the unique flavour of Yellow chocolate ... and then arrange to get it made. This was the MISSION
See the web site here,
... and this is a photo of the final result.

CHOC TASTING NOTES: a mid yellow colour, with a smooth white chocolate texture on the tongue with hints of pineapple, after tones of banana, mid flavours of nearly ripe mango and maybe a hint of golden kiwifruit. Will not benefit from cellaring. Made to be eaten NOW

# 986 ... en foot

An amazing pair of shoes on Featherston Street ... Wellington ... a superb finishing statement for red jeans

#985 ... Bubbles

The bubble making man at the Lagoon ... he has succeeded in making them 30m+ long ... the bubbles look magic when floating on the surface of the water.

#984 ... Morning Welcome

Morning sky as viewed from our driveway looking east towards Khandallah ... muted tones with a golden edge

#983 ... Sevens Montage Two

More amazing creativity from the Sevens weekend

#982 ... A Zen Moment

A quiet serene spot behind the City Art Gallery. Rusted steel reinforcing mesh provides a rich earthy aged background.

#981 ... Seven's Montage

#980 ... 50s Film star

This is Mandy who has a real passion for films and movie stars from the 50s ... the ink work was exceptionally well done with a range of grey scales and highlights of red. The tattoos had been done locally in the Hutt Valley ... mandy was delightful to chat to and like us was enjoying a cool beer on a sunny summer Wellington day

#979 ... Running of the Bulls

Simple yet effective when "en masse" A cast of 100s for the Running of the Bulls ... here at Courtenay Place ... on the way (maybe) to the Stadium to watch the rugby ... YEAH RIGHT

#978 ... Plastic Soldiers

wow ... what a day ... the weather, the city, the people ... I took so many photos I have to work on a montage so you can see the diversity of costumes for the Sevens weekend.

However if you are someone of my age you will no doubt remember the khaki green plastic soldiers we played with as kids. Well these guys have interpreted that as their uniform for the Wellington Sevens weekend. As is often the case ... simple execution of a concept produces an awesome result. WELL DONE SERGENT

#977 ... KUKRI

Since 1999 Team Kukri has shown what real teamwork 'can do'. They have
over 6 million, yes that's million, design options online... you can choose from 36 different fabrics in 22 different colours and over the past 10 years they have really got carried away with ourselves and now supply team wear for over 50 different sports.

Kukri are the official clothing suppliers for the Wellington Sevens Rugby tournament. A couple of years back, it had been proposed to bring the Cheerleaders from the Hong Kong Sevens tournament over to perform at the Wellington Sevens. Well these delightful young ladies said "why do that", we can get a group of great dancers together to be the KUKRI Hip-Hop Dance Team. So here they are (from Hamilton) down in the greatest little capital in the South Pacific ... to perform tomorrow and Saturday.

They were clearly enjoying the awesome weather and soaking up, as well as, contributing to the atmosphere of our event capital. Show off your dance moves and have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping to chat.

#976 ... We do it like this !

Wellington is getting set for the Sevens Rugby competition on Friday and Saturday ... and this is the Papua New Guinea team going over tactics after their practice at Raroa Park yesterday evening ... and they are becoming competitive ... losing to the masters of the game, Fiji by 10 points in a recent game.

#975 ... Keep on truckin'

While getting photos of the race goers all dressed up in their glad rags ... these truckies yelled out "what about us!" ... so here they are and they looked more comfortable and happier that those dressed up in clothes that were not really suited to a hot day.

#974 ... A Purple Patch

These two dapper gentlemen dominated the Wellington Cup carnival's fashion contest. This photo was taken outside the Wellington Railway Station while they waited for the shuttle bus to Trentham Racecourse ... and YES they looked well kitted out to the last minute detail. Note the two tone gloves and the patent leather, chisel toe, buckle shoes.

In what is believed to be a first, a gay couple – cocktail bar owners Malcolm and Scott Kennedy-Vaughan – were crowned Couple of the Carnival on Saturday. They also believe they were New Zealand's first married gay couple, and now Scott, and Malcolm are the best dressed pair at the Wellington races.

The couple of 18 years – who once owned the Pound Bar on Dixon St and now have S and M's, a Cuba St cocktail bar – were crowned Wellington Cup Couple of the Carnival on Saturday. They wore matching suits with purple accessories to pip other couples. The pair are no strangers to winning competitions. In 2005 they won a radio contest against five other gay couples to win a Hawaiian wedding. That was about two years before civil unions were permitted in New Zealand. One of the big benefits of winning Saturday's competition was showing other younger gay people it was okay to be openly gay, Scott said.

#973 ... Race Day

Saturday was an awesome day as well ... not so today ... rain and cooler ... but the weather Gods shone delightfully on the Wellington Cup Day at Trentham ... alot of sore feet, sore heads, sore wallets and sunburn !!!

These young ladies were getting sorted to catch the train to Trentham ... about a 40 minute ride ... so no problems with drink/driving.
The dark blue blonde would have made a horse strapper proud with shoes like that ... although the red and the electric blue took the sensible approach and wore their shoes on their hands or handbag !!!. This photo taken at the Wellington Railway Station.

#972 ... Working!!

Well Wellington produced a day to die for ... two cruise ships in port ... passengers; mostly Australians flooded the city and those that I talked to, were enjoying every moment.

I was forced to meet some colleagues at Dockside for a cool refreshing beer ... YEAH RIGHT.

This group were making the most of the day ... note the courtesy black straw hats.

#971 ... 2 CRUZ OR NOT 2 CRUZ

The harbour this morning from the top of the Wadestown Hill ... again no wind .. and the misty fog rolled in .. disrupting air travel. One cruise ship had berthed and the second one was just nudging into the wharf. The capital is buzzing at present ...AC/DC concert last night, another on Saturday night, Wellington Cup Racing carnival this weekend, Seven's Rugby next weekend, Festival of the Arts next month ... I love this place !!!

#970 ... What's your horse?

Obviously discussing the form of the horses ... Midland park promo for the Wellington Cup Day on Saturday at Trentham Racecourse ... Wellington's annual big day at the horse races ... here's hoping for the best weatherman being on duty!!!

#969 ... Calm & Serene

The Lagoon and NO WIND ... magic ... and as a bonus we get some reflection ... visual & mental !!

#968 ... Morning Missed !!!

Morning fog on the Harbour ... looking from Post Office Square towards Queens Wharf across the otherside of Jervois Quay

#967 ... walkin' on water

The latest attraction at the Lagoon next to Frank Kitts Park ... put yourself in a bubble of plastic ... blow it up ... and seal ... then walk or roll yourself across the lagoon ... this young girl couldn't stand up ... but was having a lot of fun anyway

#966 ... Street Music

The neat thing about buskers ... young and old ... love 'em or hate 'em ... they do add a lot of aural colour to the city.

#965 ... The Civic 'un' Square

The Civic Square in Wellington ... City Art Gallery to the right ... the building with the spots, next is the Library, then the suspened fern ball, with the Majestic Centre behind, then the pink & cream City Council Administrative building ... all on a very calm sunny summers day ... YES we do get some of these.

#964 ... A Hard Task

Every city has them ... usually young backpackers looking to make some money and help a very good cause at the same time ... this young lady raising funds and awareness for the work of the Red cross ... very timely given the earthquake disaster in Haiti ... something Wellingtons have some identity with given that we live on an earthquake fault line.

#963 ... Harbouring kayaks

Kayaks on the harbour ... note the flat calm water !!.
Te Papa in the background on the left ... the Hikitia, the floating crane, then Mac's Brewery (brick building), then the V masts on the bridge across the entrance to the Lagoon

#962 ... "That Way"

Inline roller bladers in the Queens Wharf precinct, making the most of a real proper summers day ... the harbour was sparkling and everyone was out and about ... including the "suits" like me ... but without a tie ... YeeHa!

#961 ... "Will" give a kiss

One hopeful lady in the crowd waiting to see Prince William ... here being interviewed by the TV One reporter.
"Kia ora William, How about a kiss & a photo??"

#960 ... A Princely Wait

The press photographers and TV camera "persons" waiting for Prince William outside the new Supreme Court in Wellington ... more digital cameras than cafes in Wellington !!!

#959 ... Grey Day

A grey wet summers day in Wellington !!. View from Oriental Bay looking across to the cruise liner and the bath tub that brings all the cars into New Zealand from Japan ... container cranes to the left.

#958 ... Chat

Weekend catch up for a chat ... Plum Cafe, Cuba Mall

#957 ... Concreting Wellington

Concreting Wellington ... one driveway at a time ... Mike ..."Mr Smoother" and his concrete team had an early start on this job at 6am when the ready mixed cement truck arrived ... the finished job was just looking right for me to do my Hollywood action and leave my hand print ... YEAH RIGHT!!

Boulcott St, Wellington CBD

#956 ... Pit Stop

Even the "littlest" members of the family require liquid refreshments when having a big day out in the city .. and if you can find a place in the cool shade ... even better.

This is Plimmers Lane ... just off Lambton Quay ... you can see the Plimmer statue with his dog ... centre photo.

John Plimmer
1812 – 1905) has been called the Father of Wellington.

He was a member of the Wellington Provincial Council from 1856 to 1857, the first Wellington Town Board (1863) and was on the Wellington City Council from 1870 to 1871.

His principal public service was the organization of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company between 1880 and 1886. The township (now a suburb) of Plimmerton on the main railway north was named after him.

He arrived in Wellington from Shropshire, England on the ship Gertrude in 1841.

There is a statue of him at the bottom of Plimmer Steps off Lambton Quay, Wellington.

#955 ... Pack it away

The christmas tree in Midland Park comes down from the bottom up ... here are the last pieces at the top being de-constructed for packing way till next December.

#954 ... Spotted

Two young tourists ... colour matched to the dots on the Wellington City gallery ... maybe they could fill the time by "joining the dots"

#953 ... Tubular Fashion

You have probably heard of the music "Tubular Bells" ... well here is a Wellington take on the theme with some tubular fashion ... this family had obviously picked up these cardboard drums and were taking them back to their van .. and daughter decided to have some fun ... and smiles !!!

#952 ... Wind blown sand & dirt

Remains of the day ... the day of beach volleyball at Oriental Bay ... Saturday was good but today the Wellington wind came home!!

#951 ... A Classic

A classic Porsche parked opposite Moore Wilsons ... some classics still survive!!

#950 ... Suspended animation

A great moment in time ... that unfortunately didn't end so well ... but no bones were broken.

BACKGROUND
The world unicycle craze has hit Wellington over the past 10 days, and thousands have turned out to watch the world championships. Event organiser Lynne Klap said unicycling was so popular overseas it was part of the physical education programme in some schools.

"Unicycling is massive in Europe and Japan. A lot of schools there have class sets of unicycles and take part in national competitions. There are people in Denmark who use unicycles to commute to work."

While unicycling is big overseas, Klap said the sport's fringe reputation in New Zealand made organising the event – which ran from December 27 till January 7 – a challenge.

Bringing unicycling to Wellington paid off, with the largest-ever contingent of Australian and New Zealand riders attending the event. New Zealand even had a taste of success – Christian Huriwai took out gold in the street competition, New Zealand's second gold medal at a unicycling world championship. Lynne Klap was pleased but not surprised by the thousands of people who turned up to watch the many free events.

"We always knew once people saw the unicyclists around town everyone would want to have a look," she said. "We wanted the people of Wellington to have some fun."

#949 ... 2010 Dreams

The start of the year is a good time to reignite those dreams ... maybe a new or different car. Edmund ... thinks this could be an option at least for the summer!!!

#948 ... Jump into the New Year

This inspiration for this montage was started by Rumi who sent me the photo his daughter Sharlene had taken of his jump on 90 Mile Beach at New Year. I sent back my images taken 5 years ago at the Moeraki Boulders in the South Island ... so maybe this is what some of us do to celebrate the leap into the new year !!!

#947 ... Last Post '09

A tad late to say farewell to 2009 ... however the image taken by my son Josh ... seems appropriate ... and there was no Photoshop involved . This image was part of Josh's "rubbish" series and this instrument was lying there covered in dust and debris ... ready to be blown away for the NEW YEAR!!!