GBI

No posts for a while as we have been off exploring more of Auckland, more specifically Great Barrier Island. Our main objective was the trip up to the summit of Hirakimata and we have added an article to our website to describe our journey. However we are always on the look out for other opportunities to add content to our other categories. It came as a surprise though to find a public BBQ. We don't know how often it gets used but it is in a glorious spot looking out onto Tryphena Harbour.

Having found so many public BBQs around Auckland we have split them into five groups with an article for each of Central, North, South, East and West. Not sure which of these GBI should fall into, maybe Central?

Flying around Auckland

We recently spent a good few days hunting out parks around Auckland that contain a flying fox for the kids to enjoy. To date we have found 15 parks scattered all over the city so if you are looking for a good flying fox you are probably never too far from one. Pictured below is one of a few that are double foxes in case you have more than one child in your family, you can set up some races!

Our pick of the bunch though is the flying fox in Waikowhai park in Hillsborough. This park is in a great seeing overlooking the Manukau Harbour and includes a BBQ as well as other playground equipment. Take a stroll along some of the bush trails and out onto the shell covered beach at low tide.

Titirangi Tennis

Visited Crum Park in Titirangi. Locals here are blessed with two public tennis courts in immaculate condition. Some public tennis courts around Auckland are a bit run down with some missing their net entirely. While most tennis clubs have good hard court surfaces most of the public courts are black asphalt. At Crum Park, as you can see, the courts are a wonderful shade of purple and are in perfect condition.

Updating our website

After spending a large amount of time photographing all the Sculptures, Murals and Painted Utility Boxes we know of and compiling them into Google maps we are very keen to have other people aware of these maps and to make use of them as a resource.
To this end we have applied an update to our website to add these maps as permanent links so that they will always be available to visitors to our website.

The website is available at www.mycitydiscovered.com

Here is a new mural by Flox that we have recently added to the map. This is one of the heart shaped murals commissioned as a series to promote the Heart of the City.

Native bird life

One of our ambitions in creating our book  (MyCityDiscovered - Auckland) and our website (www.mycitydiscovered.com) was to make more Auckland residents aware of the native bird life we share our city with. To date we have created pages on the website to introduce the follow species:

Putangitangi (Paradise Shelduck)
Ngutu pare (Wrybill)
Kawau paka (Little Shag)
Kotuku ngutupapa (Royal Spoonbill)
Matuku moana (White-faced Heron)
Papango (New Zealand Scaup)
Weweia (New Zealand Dabchick)
Karuhiruhi (Pied Shag)
Tieke (North Island Saddleback)
Toutouwai (North Island Robin)

This is only a small number which we hope to expand over time. Not all native species are found in Auckland so we will only be showing Aucklanders the birds that they can find in their 'backyard'.

Our latest addition in Matuku Moana

Matuku moana (White-faced Heron)

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Lunch time jaunts

On fine days we usually take the opportunity to get out into the sun at lunchtime wandering around the neighbourhood near work. We have taken a number of photographs at Rongomai Park in East Tamaki as there are a few stormwater ponds that attract a limited number of waterfowl. The other day we saw a pair of Australasian Shovellers and decided to go back the following day to take a few photos.  As happens the shovellers had moved on but fortunately that had been replaced by a group of Grey Teal.

These birds are not listed as vulnerable or endangered but they are protected, during duck hunting season it is illegal to shoot these birds however it is estimated that around 6% of the population are still taken each season by careless or uninformed hunters.

A Brief Visit to Pukekohe

Recently drove down to Pukekohe to view the new carvings recently unveiled on Pukekohe Hill. These were carved under the guidance of master carver Ted Ngataki

However, on the way there we noticed a few painted utility boxes like the one pictured below.

As we were short on time we did not explore too far but on our return home we discovered that there are around 30 of these painted boxes that we did not know about. So we have tasked a friend of ours who is resident in Pukekohe to photograph them all, hopefully we will have more to add to our map real soon.