you can plan a pretty picnic but you can't predict the weather

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Western Park

Sunday, 12 November 2006 : Filed under: Auckland E-Mail This Article

Western Park
Without much to do on a Sunday afternoon, we decided to grab some lunch and head to Western Park. The sculptures in the photograph are modeled after three buildings that used to stand in Auckland. They frame the entrance to Western Park on Ponsonby Road. This is near the Brown Kiwi, where we stayed our first weeks in Auckland.

Western Park is one of the oldest parks in Auckland. It was built in the 1870’s, and is shaped like a coffin. Click here for more info.

After lunch, Beth tried to identify trees with the help of her Nature Guide to the New Zealand Forrest. Unfortunately, the trees in the park were mostly imported from Brittain and not found in the native field guide. We did locate a rather large zip line in the park. We swung down that a few times, and then some kids asked me what country I was from. They then asked if I was a gangster. I must look rather intimidating in my collared shirt and tortoise shelled spectacles.

4 Comments »

Comment by Clara Hoover — November 12, 2006 @ 11:38 am

Very interesting. I like the sculpture, especially the idea of the buildings and then being titled. And it’s interesting that so many of the trees are not native to NZ. What is a “zip line”? And how far is Western Park from where you live? It seems like a place you’d like to frequent.

I like this new format of your web site, including the neat top border and the inclusion of the Aukland weather link and the current Aukland date/time. Those are helpful to your readers.

Comment by Louise Shimon — November 12, 2006 @ 2:37 pm

Josh, all the information you are passing along so far has increased my knowledge of New Zealand infinitely. Abby has been there so I remember some things that she said. But, now with the ability to blog and pass along all of the photos (and the really good link for the park showing the original and current outlines) it makes such a difference.

We just had two trees brought to our yard from about 20 miles away. I cannot imagine all of those trees being brought from Britain how much labor and expense that involved.

The zip line sounds adventurous. I think I would have had to do it once, but would have maybe almost peed my pants doing it! Like, how high do you think it might have been and were you and Beth nervous at all doing it?

I just read what Clara wrote and agree about the weather link. You are making me want to be there.

Comment by josh — November 12, 2006 @ 3:51 pm

Here is a link explaining what a zip line is. We didn’t look as goofy as the guy in the picture. It was part of a playground, so it wasn’t that high or scary :) . It was perhaps 50m long though.

I doubt they brought full sized trees from Brittain. I just meant the trees were indigenous to Brittain and not NZ. Since this is an island nation, many of the species here have been introduced. Sometimes it can cause problems and cause native species to die off.

Glad you like the website changes. I have been meaning to make them for some time. I will be working on it more as well. The border at the top is from a photo I took of a Maori painting.

Comment by jeff — November 14, 2006 @ 11:04 am

I’ve had that problem with domesticated trees too. You need some sort of horticultural guide to figure out what you’ve got. It can be a pain for someone like me who’s not so up on the cultivated species. Like in our yard for instance… it’s confusing…

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