A Brick Caravan?

This bricks and mortar caravan titled 'Holidays in Huntly' is New Zealand sculptor Peter Lange's piece of art from a series that reflects what he was doing with his life in the 1960's.
He was in fact living in a caravan while prospecting for valuable minerals here and in Australia.
Trust Waikato purchased this piece in 2010 and it now 'freedom parks' in the main street of Paeroa...

Artist's Gypsy Wagon...

Wandering Book Artists Peter and Donna are from Northern California and travel the US in their wonderfully whimsical sixteen foot gypsy wagon.
They've been together since 1976 when they were craftspeople working at Renaissance Fairs.
Making paper, doing letterpress printing, bookbinding and creating beautiful unique books affords them a good life on the road.
They love living in their small space,
to them it's a mixture of a boat and a caravan.
And, it's like living in a fairy tale...

Art Deco Motorhome...

This is the Decoliner.
Randy's version of 'Flash Gordon's Motorhome'.
I don't know who or where Randy is, but this twenty six foot polished aluminium beauty is certainly a head turner.
It features a 'flying bridge' with seating for five.
The bottom photo shows how this amazing piece of art deco on wheels looked in a previous life.
Anything's possible...

Images Of NZ Maritime Disaster...

These amazing images of the cargo ship Rena were captured by photographer Katie Cox who managed to get through the cordon established around the stricken ship.
The Rena is stuck on the Astrolabe Reef off the east coast of The Bay of Plenty, close to the port of Tauranga. Many containers have already fallen into the sea and as you can see, many more are about to.
Some have been washed up onto local beaches.
Much of the thick oil carried in the ship has leaked out and is polluting many of the beaches and islands in the area.
More than a thousand birds have died already and the situation isn't going to get better anytime soon...

The Port Jackson Petition Update...

I'm sorry. My apologies. It was very naive of me. Incredibly stupid really to think for a moment that 1080 signatures out of a possible 1250 would be sufficient to make a difference to New Zealand Government's Minister of Conservation.
The arrogant Minister Wilkinson has chosen to totally ignore, to not take the slightest bit of notice, to treat with complete contempt and do nothing we asked her to do on the petition that was finally presented to her in April of this year. Apart from saying that before any future changes are made at Port Jackson, some campers would be invited to discuss them.
Yeah, right...
The bollards that were removed by protesting campers in January have now been replaced.
Once again a Roundup type spray has been used on the grass to compartmentalize the camping ground so everyone now has to camp in the 'little boxes' you objected to so strongly.
This in my opinion is nothing less than environmental vandalism.
For those of you who thought you could 'freedom camp' at Port Jackson over the holiday period this summer, think again. You will now be like 'caged chickens', 'confined campers' placed in allotted squares where one size fits all, whether you have a two person tent, a large family one with awnings, a small camper or a large housebus.
The Department of Conservation couldn't care less about your wishes to keep camping simple and back to basics. They and their needs are much more important than yours. They have introduced these measures to cater to their 'bottom line' and to hell with you and me.
Good luck to the campers who are going to Port Jackson over the December/January period. You'll need it.
Good luck to all those campers who've been going there for thirty or so years and have preferred sites. Good luck with the one and only boat launching site and good luck with your complaints to DoC.
If these arrogant and ignorant politicians and bureaucrats won't listen to us then it could well be time for some old fashioned protesting and civil disobedience.
It's election time and 'open season' on politicians in November this year. I say it's time for a huge national 'culling' of the majority of them...

A One Ton Pumpkin?

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin relish, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin jam, pumpkin tart, pumpkin bread. Pumpkin for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And some for leftovers.
Don Young, an addictive and competitive and pumpkin grower in Des Moines USA is in the race to grow the world's first one ton pumpkin. Right now the record for the heaviest pumpkin stands at 1810 pounds set last year.
That's a lot of pumpkin...

Bedford Heaven...

This year's Bedford Rally will be held at Lance Cryer's amazing 'Bedford Heaven' at Puriri, just south of Thames on New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula.
This site is an unique graveyard for literally hundreds of Beddies, true icons of New Zealand's on road activities.
Rally participants in their Bedford housebuses and housetrucks will park up next to these wonderful old wrecks and enjoy a Labour Weekend of camaraderie with other like minded souls.
Of course there'll be entertainment. Foodie feasts too. Drinks will be downed and tall tales will be told around the campfires.
And The Flying Tortoise will be there, reporting from the event...