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.

It’s a big one. 📷 #Construction #Infrastructure #Water #Pōneke #Wellington

Four men in hi-visibility jackets inspect a large reinforced hole in the ground. They are surrounded by digging machinery and safety fences. Taranaki St, Wellington and the Methodist Church in the background.

Bird flying over a Pōhutukawa tree in Te Aro park. 📷 #Pōhutukawa #tree #bird #park #TeAro #Pōneke #Wellington #AtaMārie

A bird flies over a tree with dark green leaves and red flowers. Park with water features with geometric shapes and coloured tiles in the foreground. Buildings behind the tree. Clouds with spots of blue sky above.

Pōneke and Te Whanganui-a-Tara from Mata-i-Rangi lookout; view across the city and harbour to Te Ahumairangi hill. #AtaMārie #morning #views #pōneke #wellington 📷

View of a city and harbour ringed by hills from a lookout. Green trees and vegetation in the foreground, blue skies with flecks of clouds beyond.

Summer is in full bloom in Pōneke.

Pōhutukawa tree in Te Aro park.

📷 #Pōhutukawa #Summer #Pōneke #Wellington #Aotearoa #KiwiSummer

Pōhutukawa tree with dark green leaves and bright red flowers in a small park. Blue sky above.

Apartment renovations story

Today’s Pōneke / Wellington newspaper has a story about the recent renovations to the apartment that my partner and I have lived in for 22 years:

Guests love trying to find the way in to the secret room of this New York loft-style apartment in central Wellington

Many thanks to Kylie Klein-Nixon for the story, and to Andrew & Lynnette Scott (designers & project managers, Design in Residence), Liz Mark (design consultant), Phil Maxey (builder), and Reilly Joinery for making it a reality!

Also thanks to Oliver Cain for the wonderful piece, "Jeremy + Bill", which features in the story.

Wide angle shot of a loft-style apartment with wooden floors and steel beams. A richly patterned rug in the foreground. Two men on a couch, one higher than the other. Art, dining furniture and many designer lights fill the background.

Photo: Monique Ford / Stuff.

First negroni in a long while…

Not a bad day.

view of a marina on sunny day, still blue water, houses on hills behind