Life at No.22, Snapshots of Tauranga

Snapshots of Tauranga #60 – Wild Gale Slaps

Suzanne

When September rolls around, we humans and our gardens thankfully start to brighten up, popping our heads into the sunshine with more vigour. Well, most days. Though our weather is still very changeable, I won’t mention my thoughts about those spring gales that don’t gently caress but just slap.

New Fairy Houses out of that nasty wind. These wonderful creative delights usually appear at the same time as the school holidays.

If you’re a keen walker and a gardener like me and you’re out and about wandering around, you see the subtle changes. A few blossoms here and there, more bulbs and generally more colour about the suburban and public gardens.

Then there are the real physical changes that tell you that spring is on its way. And so that’s when you could think something primeval kicks into the human condition as well. Like, I have this sudden urge to start digging up good old compost and spend way too much money on plants, though I never regret it.

Talking about compost, I needed more humus in our garden, especially as we have been warned about a very hot summer coming our way. So off I head down to Otumoetai. Every town or city has a “guy”, a local who stands out for perhaps odd reasons rather than an altruistic cause or ordinariness. Anyway, I had to make contact with our oddity one and a Pinto horse named ‘Apache ‘, who resides in Tauranga, last week.

Well, after a few words about the weather and such, with a horse and their owner, locally known as Ngatai Rd’s ‘Johnny the Indian’, as you do on a Wednesday morning. Thankfully, the horse owner just happened not to be wearing his Apache outfit and headdress; I’m not sure I could have kept a straight face if he had, and yes, I do find it all a bit tacky, though I suppose he has a purpose for doing it.

Anyway, those gentle horses kindly, on cue, deposited a fair amount- a few bags full- on the ground, which was what I wanted; well, to be more precise, it’s what the garden needs. This gardener, happy as a dung beetle, turned around and headed home.

The following day, ignoring the wind, I dug that lovely, rich horse manure into the garden; I’m sure I could hear the worms scream with delight or was that the neighbour when they got a whiff via that wild westerly.

As there’s not much to photograph in the garden, here are a few images from my morning walk just a few hours ago.

At Sunrise

Looking towards a fishing boat moored in the harbour and the harbour bridge to the left.
Tauranga’s new museum, Te Whare Taonga o Tauranga, part of the Te Manawataki o Te Papa civic precinct project, is progressing quickly and is scheduled to open in 2028.
Looking back towards the bridge and beyond, the Tauranga Port has now been given permission to expand.
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Published by Suzanne

I'm a lover of creativity and movement, expressed through photography, words, travel and sports. . . . . . .

27 thoughts on “Snapshots of Tauranga #60 – Wild Gale Slaps”

    1. Is that “someone” you, Nilla? Is WordPress not allowing you to comment even when logged in? Thanks, and yes, it was a lovely, still morning, if a bit chilly, so appreciative of having no wind.

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  4. Love those fairy houses but that’s the childlike part of me coming out. Bit like the cowboys and Indians! That sunset shot with the fishing boat is gorgeous Suzanne. Happy Spring! 💗

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  12. I get a lot of horse dung around here, but I thought you had to leave it for a few months before using it in the garden so I’ve never collected any. Fab sunrise BTW. And I hope things are going as well as they can be. You are often in my thoughts.

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    1. I won’t be planting vegetables in that part of the garden until the end of October, mainly tomatoes and chillies, etc., so no salad leaves. The other part will be for flowers. We’re still having cold winds, and there’s no point putting in tomatoes until the soil is warmer. Thanks for thinking of us, Jude and ditto for you. Les is progressively becoming weaker and has lost so much weight, as expected, of course. Some days are harder than others, and I try not to overthink. There are still a few adventures left in me, and he will haunt me if I mope around here 🙂

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