Freedom Camping Under The Stars In New Zealand...

Starry starry night.
Freedom Campers at Red Rocks,
not far from Island Bay on Wellington's South Coast.
Mark Gee took this photo showing amazing clarity in the night sky just a few kilometres from New Zealand's capital.
It's worth a visit...

The New Zealand Government Thinks New Zealanders Are Really Stupid...

Prime Minister John Key and his government have no mandate to do so but have just voted themselves, by one vote, (given by independent MP Peter Dunne who has a diddly-squat percentage of the national vote), the right to take some well performing national assets, assets that the New Zealand public already own, put them on the open market and invite New Zealanders to buy back shares in what they already own, in what they already own, in what they already own.
Someone is really stupid...

Tiny Simple Rustic Dwellings In Natural Surroundings...

Let's go back to the world of simple living shelters, recycled organic materials and beautiful natural surroundings.
There's some tiny rustic dwellings over at two of my favourite sites, Cabin Porn and Tiny House Swoon you might like to have a look at...

Living Life In A Gloriously Coloured World...

Colour me anything but please, please, please, colour me! Colour me fun!
What a drab, boring old world it would be
without colour.
What marvellous expressions of life and vitality these images show.
How wonderful that the town planners and city ordinances have allowed such 'in your face' creativity to exist in these urban surroundings.
Colour. It's a way of celebrating life!
From the top, there's homes in London, then Venice, then Portland Oregon, Ireland, Burano in Italy, Houston, Nicaragua, Buenos Aires and Tubinga Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany.
Let's put more colour in the world...

Give Generously...

This man is involved in important scientific work.
Please give generously...

A Place In The Sun...

It's the middle of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere but that doesn't mean there's no beautiful fine and sunny days.
The Flying Tortoise is at a favourite place, the Department Of Conservation campground at Northland's Uretiti Beach.
The beach is as beautiful as ever with just a few nudists soaking up the Vitamin D.
TFT has the extra 'tracking' solar panel out to catch all the sun possible on these shorter days.
And summer's on the way...

Lonesome George. The World's Rarest Living Creature Dies...

Lonesome George, his species thought to be extinct, was only discovered in 1971.
He was the last remaining Giant Pinta Island Tortoise and seen as a conservation icon.
He was described by the Guinness Book Of Records as the World's Rarest Living Creature.
George died last Sunday.
Estimated to be well over one hundred years old, the cause of his death remains unclear.
There were once 600,000 giant tortoises who made their homes on the Galapagos Islands which were also  home to some of the most distinctive species on this planet.
It was here that Darwin's ground-breaking theories of evolution and natural selection were inspired.
Now, with Lonesome George's death,
the world is one species poorer.
As an aside, George was a 'traditionalist tortoise' and for many years fought bureaucracy to keep the vehicle speed on the world's highways at no more than 1-2 mph.
Throughout his long life he wasn't ever in an accident involving speed and the idea of 'flying' never occurred to him.
We will miss you George...

The Magic Realism Art Of Rob Gonsalves...

Canadian painter Rob Gonsalves surrealistic paintings portray two seemingly different realistic scenes that magically merge into one.
He injects a quality into his realistic art that is really uncanny.
Have a good look at these.
You'll believe what you're seeing and then you won't believe it.
There's more to view here in a larger format.
Gonsalves work is much influenced by Dali, Tanguy, Magritte and of course, the perspective illusions of Escher.
The transitions that occur in his work are flawless, the detail amazing.
Look carefully...

Gorgeous Tiny Whimsical Houses...

Arthur Millican is a former Disney artisan who usually works on small scale tiny houses for fairies and gnomes, such as those below, but this full-sized gorgeous whimsical playhouse is ready for kids of all ages.
Arthur collects old objects and timber that can be recycled and incorporated into his designs.
The salvaged materials add much character to his delightful works.
If you'd like to see more of his fantasmagorical world, have a look here at the Whimsical Fairy Gardens...

When Love Is In The Air...

When Love is in the air.
You can jump for joy about it.
Or do with it what you will.
It's up to you.
It's in your hands...

Gypsy Lifestyle Forever Threatened...

From the early 16th century to today,
no ethnic group has aroused as much curiosity, envy, romance, hatred and fear as the Gypsy Travellers.
Often misunderstood, usually maligned, most people's perceptions are based on a mixture of romanticism, prejudice and ignorance.
The hundreds of thousands of Gypsies and Travellers living in the UK and Europe deserve better.
What a terrible day it is for Britain, wrote one Gypsy, when people are discriminated against merely because they don't conform to 'normal' behaviour.
Legislation was passed in the early 1970's to provide sites where Gypsies can stay, thereafter nobody was able to camp or stop on the road, even for a day.
In New Zealand in 2011, the same sort of draconian legislation relating to Freedom Camping was passed with huge fines able to be dished out for the slightest infringement of this dubious law.
It is yet to be tested in a court of law but tested and thrown out it will be.
Why did people go off to fight in wars asked Duncan Williamson, a Gypsy Traveller of Fyfe.
"But what did they fight for and why did they die?
For freedom to wander around.
But where can we wander, there's no place to go.
For they're closing our camping grounds down".
Latcho Drom my friends...