Monarch

 

I have here several pictures of a monarch on calendulas, and a silvereye, or tauhou, sitting on dill and the shadows of dill.  These were taken with my old camera at our house on Harvest Drive and turned out nicely.  

-djf

Bus trip to Milford Beach

Jeanne and I are taking part today in our first group outing since moving into Waitakere Gardens. We'll be going by bus to Milford Beach.  

We've never been to this beach before. It lies just north of Takapuna Beach, which we did visit briefly one day a few years back after the boys had been enjoying their birthday treat at a virtual reality game venue. 

It is very like Takapuna Beach in it's makeup. It's on the Pacific (east) side of the island and the surf is relatively mild.  It's apparently shallow for quite a ways out, and is all white sand. There are no rocky outcrops along it's length. It's a perfect beach for older folks to stroll along.  

I was very surprised when I was told that the cost of this outing was $15 pp.  For that cost we were driven about 35 minutes in each direction, were served tea upon arrival at the beach and lunch shortly after noon.  What a deal! We learned later that all such outings are subsidized by the Social Club at Waitakere Gardens, of which we are members in good standing.  

As usual, I have a bunch of pictures for you. (And we got a surprise toward the end of our time on the beach.) 

Our day started out very cloudy. We got some rain the night before and the chances of rain during the outing were set by the weather folks I rely on at about 20%.  Fortunately, we were not in that 20% area, and after we arrived, it slowly cleared up. (mostly) 

Plenty of room for us under the trees. 

Tea time.  

I hurried up after tea to the shore and shot a quick picture of Rangitoto, but Jeanne and I opted to explore the harbor and marina area first and spend some time on the beach after that.  

We set off toward the marina.  

Okay, enough of that. Let's get to the beach!  

There were six of various kinds of container ships anchored out there. (You may have followed the America's Cup races that have been taking place here, and that might be why there are so many outside the harbor area.)

I was also hoping to get as clear a shot of that island in the distance as I could.  I looked it up as I worked on this post and found that it is Rakino Island, the peak of which is over 17 kilometers from this beach.  No wonder it is a bit indistinct.  Even those tiny islands that appear closer are really almost 15 kilometers out.  

Now, here comes our surprise.  

Jeanne saw it first. She said to me, "What is that tiny white thing coming out there? Is that a ship?  

I had seen it too, but it was at the time, just at the limit of our vision. I wasn't sure what it was. 

I got out the camera and started zooming.

I had some fun researching with maps.  I discovered that there are lines that ships must follow when entering Auckland harbor.  Since that is the case, I was able to measure, based on that line and its place in front of that little island, that the ship is now about 10 kilometers from me. (about 6 miles)  

As we watched, it continually came closer, although it was still several miles away from us, even at its closest crossing point.  It was clearly heading into the harbor.  What a kick to see it. 

I did a little research into what this might be and I think I know. It's very likely that it is... 

The tall ship Spirit of New Zealand is a steel-hulled, three-masted barquentine from Auckland, New Zealand. It was purpose-built by the Spirit of Adventure Trust in 1986 for youth development. It is 42.5 m in total length and carries a maximum of 40 trainees and 14 crew on overnight voyages. Wikipedia

We were very pleased to see this pass by. Think of what a thrill it must be for those kids on board who are coming into harbor with full sails flying. Sails that they had helped set. There are probably a bunch of very proud and excited parents and siblings at the dock with cameras ready. 

We left the beach a little earlier than had been planned because the east wind was picking up, the sun had once again disappeared and it was no longer as friendly to us old folks as it had been. The ride back was quick and uneventful.  

We were told that there is such an outing about once a month. They don't always go to beaches of course, and there isn't a set schedule of where we might go. I'm not sure how it's decided, but I'm not worried about it either. I think Jeanne and I will be watching for the info regarding any upcoming trips and I'm sure we'll take part in many of them over time.  -djf

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.

I noticed that they had repainted another six-carriage train as I completed my ride into Britomart.  I had come into the city just because. With Covid popping up every now and then, the opportunities to stroll through Auckland just haven't been there lately. Recently however, the threat level was reduced once again and I jumped at the chance to wander.

For some reason, some signs caught my eye and I decided then and there, to do a post about signs.  

Some of these were new to me and some are old friends.   

Shouldn't that say, "Ride?"

I wondered if the next sign in this series might be An Arm and a Leg. 

A coffee roasting place.  

...Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

   And the hunter home from the hill.      

-Requiem, by Robert Louis Stevenson.....My favorite poem.  (Other than The Ballad of Fred the Great.)  

Here is a sign that is an old friend. I found my first two P. G. Wodehouse first editions here.  

We found this bookstore to be suitably messy. It also smelled like a rare-book bookstore ought to. Having to climb a few flights of relatively narrow, winding stairs added to its appeal in my opinion. This place is a gem.  

Another old friend.  On this visit, I bought two cinnamon and sugar pancakes to take home.  

And a newer friend. It's right next door to No 1 Pancake.  I love those pancakes, but there is something nice about a take-away tray of eight pork dumplings ($6.) with soy and sriracha sauce, eaten with a plastic fork on a bench with crowds passing by.  

My lunch finished, I turned and headed to nearby Britomart for the return trip home. This sign greeted me as I entered the station and I saw that I had 11 minutes before the train left for Swanson. I would get off in Henderson, do a little grocery shopping at Countdown, and be back to our apartment.                                                       -djf

(Yes, I know the dates on this sign has long passed. Pretend it's a current date, okay?  It's called poetic license.)  

The Garden of Fibonacci

Okay, I admit it. The garden I've highlighted today in this post is actually one that lies between the buildings here at Waitakere Gardens.  And it is not really called the garden of Fibonacci. I made that up. I did so because of the plant you see directly below.  This is a spiral aloe, Aloe polyphylla. (I'm pretty sure) 

This is a very special aloe and I got excited to find it. When I saw it, I immediately rushed back to our apartment for my camera.(Not that it was going anywhere) For one thing, if you do any reading about growing succulents, you'll learn that this aloe is not easy to grow. I was impressed that there are several of them growing in this garden. It says something I think, about the quality of the gardening staff that works here, and also of the efforts made by the volunteer gardeners that live here. (Jeanne is now one of them.)  

It's a beautiful plant and it shares something with the items you'll see in the next two pictures.  

This is a cooks turban shell. It is a large marine snail (gastropod mollusk) that happens to be delicious.  I bought a kilo of live ones from a salt-water tank at our favorite fish market in Henderson one day. I couldn't bring myself to throw out this particular shell and now, I'm glad that I didn't since I'm using it in this post. (This one is about 3 inches across) 

This is a cactus that Arram gave to Jeanne for Christmas this year. Recently, it surprised us with these flowers. They open and close each day responding to the light.  

As I said, these three items all have something in common that is quite amazing.  I'm going to tell you about it shortly, but first, let me show you the rest of the pictures I took in and around this garden.  (It's real name is The African Garden. I guessing because of the little elephants that you see on the right) 

  

This uncurling fern is 12 to 14 inches tall.  It reminds me though of the fiddle-head ferns that I used to pick along the Cedar River in Michigan.  

These are only a few inches tall, with the curled portion the size of my thumbnail, not my fist.  

Taken in 2013, just off River Road. Of all the green wild foods I've tried, these are my favorites. 

Well, I hope that you enjoyed the photos. It must take an enormous amount of work to maintain our gardens in such perfect condition. We are very lucky. 

But now, let's get back to talking about Fibonacci. He was an Italian mathematician, and about the year 1202, was busy thinking about numbers.(not surprisingly)  Long story short, after some especially strenuous thinking, he came up with what is now known (no surprise here either) as the Fibonacci numbers. This is what the sequence looks like.  0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144...and so on to infinity.  Each number is the sum of the previous two.  

The truly amazing thing is how often Fibonacci numbers occur in nature. I have shown you three examples in my first three photos, but pineapples, pinecones, and cauliflowers all exhibit Fibonacci numbers in their spiral patterns, and lots of other things do as well. I often feel a sense of wonder when I learn about our world and get a glimpse into how it is set up. These examples absolutely floor me. I wanted to share this with you in hopes that you too, might feel delight and awe. Who knew?  (right Fred?)  

And Barb, I understand from Jeanne that you have enjoyed my posts. I hope to continue to provide something of interest.  

Until next time everyone, take care.                           -djf

And don't forget, have some pie on pi day, 3/14/21. 

Update:

I was talking to Jeanne about this post and she asked if DNA showed Fibonacci numbers?  I thought I might have heard at one time that it did and looked it up. We all know that DNA is shaped like a double helix, a spiral.  The length of one full turn of the spiral is 34 angstroms and the width is 21 angstroms.  Check out the sequence I listed above. Amazing, right?