Mōrena Pōneke. #mōrena #atamārie #pōneke #evast #hannahslaneway

That green light, we want it. #pōneke #mōrena #morning #light

Morning light in Te Aro parkMorning light in Te Aro parkMorning light in Te Aro parkMorning light in Pōneke

Today Pōneke was sublime #pōneke #wellington #sun #light #sublime

View along Cable St towards Tākina convention centreTākina convention centreView of the Rowing Club and buildings beyondSeaside kina sculpture and buildings beyondMajestic centre in evening lightCuba Stree Bucket FountainGhzunee Street with purple skyFloriditas building on Cuba Street

Riding into the future. #wellington #pōneke #cycling #trees #sublight

Two cyclists on Willis St Wellington. Sunlight through trees. Blue sky on a winters day.

Two cyclists on Willis St Wellington. Sunlight through trees. Blue sky on a winters day.

Mōrena.

Even on the hard days, keep at it.

Early morning gym photo in a mirror with a weight rack in the foreground

Fire in the Sky #mōrena #morning #sunrise #pōneke #wellington

bright orange, pink and red sky over a cityscape

Just a little party. 🌈🎉 #CubaDupa #HouseParty #EvaSt # HannahsLaneway #Pōneke

collage of various house party pictures

A Night to Remember

Fantastic party for Mayor Tory Whanau's 40th. Wonderful party, great people, and a chance to recover and catchup the day after. #party #wellington #pōneke #torywhanau #billhastings

A night to remember

Pōneke - a collage #tepapa #toiartgallery #stjohnsbar #goldings #pōneke #sun #autumn #sammckay

Poneke collage - sunny waterfront St Johns bar, art gallery, Goldings bar

If anyone in Pōneke needs an in-depth guide to the Scythians and other historical steppe peoples I can probably help 😂. I actually did not set out to create this collection… but now that I have it I love it 😍 📚 #books #history #scythians #steppe #collection #serendipity

A bookshelf with 10 books about the ancient Scythians or related steppe peoples

Storm on the way…. #CycloneGabrielle #storm #Wellington #Pōneke #Aotearoa

Stormy view across the harbourLight and dark clouds over the city

Early morning Pōneke #Pōneke #Wellington #EvaSt

Lights in a tree reflecting in waterOld brick building with heavy graffitiRed lights in a bar

Bougiest chickens - got their own holiday home… #chickens #hokio #wellington #holiday #HolidayHome #VisitingForTheWeekend

Two chickens outside their 'holiday coup' underneath olive trees

Te Aro Park, early morning. #TeAro #TeAroPark #pōneke #wellington #mōrena #AtaMārie

A pohutukawa tree lit up with festoon lights reflected in a tiled pool of water in an inner city park

Happy New Year! Had a fabulous evening partying with a wonderful and eclectic group of people. Such fun :)

Two friends celebrating New Year's Eve. Party and laser lights reflected on their faces.

New Year’s Day walk, Mākara Beach. #Mākara #walk #nyd2023

two people on a hill side track, by the sea

Ōtaki Expressway first drive

Today I drove on the new Ōtaki Expressway from Pēka Pēka bypassing Ōtaki township for the first time. It was a great road to drive on, and despite it being only two days until Christmas there was barely any traffic. There was a very short slowdown as traffic merged back into the single lane highway beyond Ōtaki.

There has been a lot of debate about the expressways being built north of Pōneke (Wellington). I wish that these had been matched by similar investment in rail. But these roads are replacing very unsafe single lane highways, and provide resilience through a second road north out of Wellington.

Ōtaki township can now become its own centre, rather constantly jammed with state highway traffic.

The final stage of the expressways will take the modern road past Levin, where two state highways head off in different directions.

I strongly support upgrading rail between Pōneke and Palmerston North. But these expressways are also critical.

Here are some photos from traffic cameras on the new road today:

traffic camera view of a new, largely empty expressway traffic camera view of a new, largely empty expressway

Continuing exploration of shading trees in Pōneke. These are on Cuba Mall. 📷 #Shade #Trees #pedestrian #public #greenery #WellingtonNZ 🇳🇿

Trees shading a paved pedestrian mall. Trees and plants shading and filling a pedestrian mall.

Shade-giving trees in inner city Pōneke. 📷 #trees #shade #InnerCity

Trees and undergrowth in an inner city area. Footpaths, crosswalks and roads under shading trees. City buildings beyond. Trees and undergrowth in an inner city area. Footpaths, crosswalks and roads under shading trees. City buildings beyond.

Today’s book purchase: “Procopius: The Secret History” (Folio Society, 1990) from the excellent Ferret Bookshop on Cuba St, Pōneke. 📚#Books #SecondHand #History #Roman #Byzantine #FolioSociety

Hardback book with cover in the form of a full red and green mosaic showing two figurative lovers. Book sits atop a plain cream coloured cardboard sleeve.