Wall of Hope

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the earth.

~ Rumi

Clear Blue Skies... 

What better place to visit than the

We were greeted by many welcoming residents enjoying the gentle breeze and natures soothing flow of water.

As we flowed through the winding walkways, we made our way to a sub-tropical alpine forest where we bumped into my Professor at Lincoln University!

We had fun at the Gnome Grotto Showcase in the Fern room!

We had some fun climbing trees... and even spotted a gnome palace!

Extracted from Serenity in the Garden Blogspot... written by me... The following pictures are by Jan Johnsen.

When you walk into a garden [designed for serenity], you feel a sort of energy. A fusion between relaxation and excitement.

...Your first rush of energy is usually captured at the entrance way...As you leave the stressful world that we all share, and enter into the garden of thoughts, dreams, and peace, you become the feather floating in mid-air....

a garden for healing - j.johnsen

You look down and appreciate as the ladybug sits on the plant's leaf, you notice the bee's pollinating the magical wild flowers, and the the squirrel keeping an eye on you as it cracks open a fresh acorn.

Rock Garden - J.Johnsen

This is the feeling of Serenity.

You become one with earth as you sit on that rock, which is perfectly situated between that ground covering of moss and the tall zebra striped grass. You feel ... its slightly vibrating rush of intensity ...

Dry Stream garden - J Johnsen

As the rock takes you in ... it forms a relationship with you. It allows you into its very diverse environment. You are now an accepted being in this garden. Whenever you enter, you will know that you are in your ...room of comfort, peace, and of course, serenity.

This is the feeling of Serenity in the Garden.

Now take that  feeling, which hopefully, you have absorbed after reading my snippet of thoughts and imagine walking out of the Bush (Forest) and into a city which is mainly blocked off by fences all around it's perimeter. Completely vacated and off limits. I stopped taking pictures because I was in complete shock... but here was the last one I took before putting my camera away.

Look closely, and you will see a crack going down the whole left side. It was terrifying to see that this brace system is common practice and a common sight to see around Christchurch... not just the city, but also at Lincoln University!

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.  

~Anthony J. D'Angelo

MB

Hanmer Springs, Wine tasting and a visit to New Zealand's first pub...

Hello America!

It's about 35 degrees farenheit... a little over 0 degrees celsius (it's the system they use over here) and I'm sitting here in my room cuddled up next to a heater because the walls are about 5 inches thick- no worries though... the views and surroundings make the shivering worth while!

So I left New York last Tuesday and arrived here late Thursday evening. Since then, I have met people from Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, China, Spain, Local Kiwis (New Zealanders), a few people from Colorado, One from Massachusetts,  quite a few (studying Landscape Architecture like myself) from Illinois, a few from Oregon, one from Idaho, one from Missouri, one from Pennsylvania... and quite a few more that I just cannot seem to remember.

We started our trip with a half hour ride to a winery called the Mud House... we sampled some delicious chardonnay, pino noir, and a few other's that I seem to be blanking on.

Then a half hour ride to Hanmer springs. First stop was a place called mikes seafood, where I had some Fish and chips... the best I've ever had, even better than the restaurant that I work at back in Rhode Island.... and those are hard to beat! Paired with some fresh crunchy wedge fries, the meal was to die for!

We then visited the hot springs!

 The ground below is literally at a near freezing temperature... or at least that's how it felt on my toes!

 When your out of one of the springs, all you can think about is visiting one of the other 20 tubs since its freezing outside...and their was ice cold rain coming down.

 Check out those mountains in the background!

Yes, they were hot!

 Check out those snow capped mountains in the background!

 Skyscraper scene at Hanmer springs...the trunks on those trees were massive, almost as big as the trunks on the redwoods in California!

After soaking for nearly two and a half hours in the springs, we headed over to Hanmer Espresso shop where we either had hot cocoa, or latte's... some even had flat whites, which is a type of coffee, sort of like a capuccino, but not as strong, and with a lot more milk, rather than foam... I just had a latte, which is just coffee with a little bit of foam.

Here's one more picture that I took while touring Hanmer Springs-

(Post your comment here)

Cheers Mate!