Small Beginnings

Several weeks ago, Cashel Mall reopened with 'pop up shops'. Virtually all of the shops in the mall were demolished during or after the quakes. Now, they are replaced by temporary shipping containers converted cleverly into shops.
Ans so, the inner city's heart begins to beat again, albiet very quietly and in a tiny way - but it beats.
We wandered through on a Sunday morning - the silence was palpable - everybody was either whispering or chatting quietly.
We were impressed - and moved. In my wildest dreams I never imagined I would shed a tear as I walked back into Ballantynes. Sad boy!









Part of the south side of Cashel Mall with Ballantynes in the background.
















Duelling jibs!! Two of the cranes being used in the deconstruction of the Grand Chancellor Hotel.

Bob Dylan

"The Times, They Are a Changing"

- so wrote Bob Dylan all those years ago. He remains amongst my favourite singers.

It certainly has been a rather 'topsy-turvy' few weeks. Do not fear, I'm not going to bore you with the details! But there is a bright side in there somewhere. I can feel it.

In amongst this shite, I am craving some peace and quiet. I was thus reminded of this jetty I photographed for the umpteenth time a few weeks ago. The jetty at Lake Mahinapua. It was a dull evening, the day was almost over, and I popped my x10 ND filter on. The exposure was of the order of 30-60 seconds. There was no-one else around. Pure bliss! That is, apart from the black swan who would not go away and kept swimming into my image. Fortunately, she (it had to be a she) kept moving and so wasn't recorded. Lucky me.

And to finish off now, my apologies to all my followers - there must now be almost 10 of you judging by the comments re my lack of blogging activity. Mea culpa, mea culpa..............

In 11 days I am off into my beloved mountains for 5 days. Following that adventure, there's bound to be something of interest.