Henry David Thoreau...

If Henry David Thoreau was alive today he'd be 193 and probably a cantankerous old man who would keep saying, 'I told you so' and he'd probably have spent many more days in jail for not paying all the taxes that are due in today's society.
He did however die on May 6, 1862 but not before saying amongst other things, that his goal in life was to live deliberately, to front only the essentials of life and to see if he could learn what it had to teach. And not, when it came time to die, discover that he had not lived!
He also said that most men live lives of quiet desperation... and that success is not what we have but what we can love living without.
Right on Henry...

The Tsunami Height Indicator...

This evidently is one of a few Tsunami height indicators local bureaucrats have put in place in case one comes ashore in this delightful backwater. You get the idea. The locals bet on which section of the monster erection is going to remain dry and the winner doesn't have to pay rates for a year. The winner's house has probably disappeared anyway.
But for now, some of the local girls
are using it for pole dancing...

At Taupiro Point...

It was like this when I woke... and waking is always such a good start to the day, isn't it...

One Amazing Housetruck...

2 adults, 2 children, 7 popouts and 2 popups.
Here is what you might do if you have little money, a big dream, the loan of a piece of land to live on and a huge desire to follow that dream. You scrape together some cash and materials and put your very considerable imagination and innovative skills to work and you build a housetruck with seven popups, two popups, decks, a fireplace, bathroom and toilet, all to accommodate your family of four. It weighs about 20 tonnes... it all pops in and down to be road legal and it does drive...
Friends of mine built and live in it somewhere in New Zealand's Northland.
Amazing isn't it...

This Marvellous Mushroom...

This marvellous Mushroom had popped up in the grass overnight at Taupiro Point ( a few k's north of Katikati) and this morning said to me "I'm yours. Eat me!" I did. On toast. Mmmm, what a great life...

The Sheriff of Waikino...

You'd better believe it, this is Rusty Gunn. Don't laugh or he'll shoot me with that silly little gun he has strapped to his middle... and his sidekick, Hoyggiboyggi...
Rusty, says he's a Canadian who's been here a while and is the Sheriff of Waikino, a little place with a funky railway just a few k's north of Waihi. He's only slightly crazy but aren't we all. His car is well, different. The backseat is filled with enormous audio speakers and when he turns the motor on, a very loud cockadoodledoo vibrates the air around and sends little old ladies and children screaming in panic. The dog does tricks and sits on the shelf outside the drivers window when they are driving. Rusty wanted money to appear here but I told him he would be world famous and he liked that...

Postcard...

This structure is Waihi's Cornish Pumphouse. It's a relic from the past and the original gold mine that operated from the 1880's to 1952. The powers that be moved the location of it in 2006 by 275 metres.
It weighs 2000 tonnes and it took 3 or 4 very strong men to move it... it's the heaviest single structure ever moved in New Zealand's history, so they say... it was slid along teflon coated concrete beams.
It is actually vertical, I was on a lean at the time, it's a way I prefer to see the world...