#858 ... Walk About

A creche outing in the big city on a wet day ... all decked out in the safety green fluro vests ... Willis Street ... yesterdays pavement spot is middle of picture.

#857 ... Tickle

... and yet another coffee stop in the CBD ... this is under the delightful iconic Italian mural on the wall of the old Il Casino restaurant & bar in Tory Street... friendly team ... so call in and enjoy the coffee

#856 ... Eyes on the pavement

Chalk prose on the pavement outside Unity Books ... which incidentally is a GREAT bookstore that is also very supportive of local talent. The bookies at Unity know their books ... and obviously their footpath.

Book Activists around the country have launched a month-long programme of events. It’s all about discovering, exploring and loving our Kiwi books for New Zealand Book Month 2009. The festival is designed to celebrate the work of local writers and illustrators, runs for the calendar month of October with more than 200 uniquely Kiwi events and thousands of participants.

#855 ... Transformers

A new transformer being craned into position at the Kaiwharawhara substation at the bottom of Ngaio Gorge. The symmetry of the two cranes working in tandem caught my eye as I headed home up the Ngaio Gorge Road.

#854 ... Clarity

... well at last we have a clear view. View looking south towards upper Willis Street and Brooklyn. The wind turbine can be seen on the hill just below the window cleaner's left hand.

#853 ... Start Here

Well we all have to start somewhere ... motorbike school at the Wilson Carpark between Victoria St and Wills St. During the week and on Sunday for the market this place is super busy ... but Saturday morning its the place to learn on two wheels

#852 ... Saturday Morning

Outside Peoples Coffee in Garrett Street ... Saturday morning, fresh coffee, sunshine & friends ... heaven!!!

#851 ... Aligned

Waiting patiently in line for the next road ... Lambton Quay

#850 ... Getting the News

Recording a news story or making a travel documentary ...outside Air New Zealand ticket office, Lambton Quay

#849 ... Free Parking

It is good to know that when picking up you death certificate you get reserved parking ... interesting juxtaposition of parking sign and the Births, Deaths & Marriages office. Look closely at the building sign under the veranda.

#848 ... Flower Power

Doesn't really matter what sort of camera you have .. or even if you don't ... everyone appears to enjoy the sight of beautiful flowers.

#847 ... The Diner

Karl Randal is a project manager by profession and had a dream of running his own diner, mixing the best of that old school USA scene some Kiwi twists. His partner Debbie Wakefield has hospitality industry experience and now they have taken the leap, the Cadillac Diner at 112-116 High Street opened for business on Saturday 26th September.

The couple has stamped their own mark on fit-out. A huge 1958 Cadillac parked in the middle of the restaurant, warm leather booth seating imported from USA and even a Cadillac car seat sofa with working hail lights; 50's Coca Cola, James Dean and heaps of other memorabilia decorate the walls.

Waitresses in full '50s dress complete the scene ... shame they can't be on roller skates due to OSH regulations.(Occupational Health & Safety!!)
IMAGE by rumi ... thanks

#846 ... Tulip Day

Spring Festival gets under way at the Botanic Garden next weekend with the ever popular Tulip Sunday – a great opportunity to enjoy one of the country’s biggest and best tulip displays as well as music, Dutch dancing and food.

Tulip Sunday is great way to celebrate spring and the first day of daylight saving – something people will need to bear in mind if they are planning to come along. This year's festival also marks the 60th anniversary of the first mass planting of spring bulbs at the Botanic Garden.

"The government of the Netherlands gave the city nearly 20,000 bulbs in 1948 in gratitude for New Zealanders' hospitality to Dutch refugees after World War Two," Cr Wade-Brown says. "Our tulip bulbs now come from Southland but Wellington's Dutch community still provides the traditional food, music and dancing that helps make Tulip Sunday so special. Events like this are great way to experience and celebrate the city's ethnic diversity."

#845 ... Daylight Saving

Yes New Zealand put the clocks forward last night ... so we are officially on summer time ... so save the day light for when we put the clocks back and hour next autumn

#843 ... Spotted

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is exhibiting at the re-opening of the City Gallery follwing refurbishment. Her exhibition based around dots creates a piece of installation art for the gallery itself . [Thanks to Rumi for this image.]

She has never seen this surreal vision she created for the re-opening of Wellington's City Gallery on Sunday. Now 80-years-old, she doesn't travel, so Dots Obsession Day, 2009 (a yellow room with black dots) and Dots Obsession Night, 2009 (a black room with yellow dots) were installed on her behalf by Yoriko Tsuruta, Etsuko Sakurai and Isao Takakura.

It took the trio, who oversee the installation of Kusama's artworks in museums and galleries internationally, two weeks to construct and paint the room installations, and four days to festoon them with adhesive dots and inflate the vinyl shapes. The exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years, is the centrepiece of City Gallery's first exhibition since it closed 11 months ago for a $6.3 million makeover. Last year one of Kusama's works sold at auction for more than NZ$7 million, making it the most expensive work sold at auction by a living female artist.

City Gallery exhibitions manager Gerda Nana said four giant containers had arrived bearing pieces from the artist while other works were airfreighted in. Kusama's distinctive creations will also include a public artwork made specifically for Wellington that will cover the exterior of the gallery, featuring her trademark coloured dots. Gallery director Paula Savage said the exhibition would appeal across generations. "It's an exhibition that will be unlike anything anyone has seen before."

#842 ... Majestic Internal

Internal perespective of the lobby area of the IBM Tower ... a symbolic world floatin in space ... the "crown of thorns" can be seen through the roof glazing ... often it pays to look up ... especially in places that you wouldn't normally do so
The external view of the IBM Tower ... and the "crown of thorns"

#841 ... British Empire

The British Embassy in Hill Street ... interesting in that the security guards came out again and asked me to desist from taking photos ... oh so precious!

#840 ... Fire Sky

This is the eastern sky as seen from my driveway, at 6:00am this morning ... only lasted a short time but quite dramatic.

#839 ... The fluro coats

It appears that many human groups like to feel connected by wearing the same "uniform" ... it's all about identity ... here is a group of security men at the rugby test ... which incidentally the All Blacks won 33-6

#838 ... What Action ?

Some of the rugby action from the test match ... however the security men must remain oblivious to it all and look for action in the crowd !!