From the Food Files

Rotorua. May 2009. Ajr

Pre-dinner nibbles at Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort's

Mokoia Restaurant, Rotorua

www.waioraresort.co.nz

A Wellington Favourite

Wellington. April 2009 Ajr
This is Scopa on the corner of Ghuznee and Cuba Streets, in Wellington - one of my favourite spots to sit and drink coffee and watch the world go by. It's a great people-watching spot, although this time I turned the tables and watched the people watching the people. Opened in 2006, it is the brainchild of Italian brothers Leonardo and Lorenzo Bresolin, sons of the late Remiro Bresolin of Il Casino fame. It was a sad day when Il Casino closed down after Remiro's death in 2007 but at least his sons are continuing the family tradition with a terrific menu that pays homage to their Italian roots. They've also branched out and opened Duke Carvell's just up the street a bit; but I still prefer the openness of Scopa. www.scopa.co.nz

At Home in the Dome

Christchurch. July 2009. Ajr

The Arts Festival Ice Dome is up and I'm pleased to say it's going to be my new photographic plaything for the duration of its life in Cathedral Square. The ice skating rink inside it isn't completed yet but I'm going to the opening of that on Friday 24th July, so will have separate photos then. In the meantime, consider this the first of many of the exterior. I love the slightly alien feel it has, wedged among seventies highrise and classic Victorian architectural icons, with all the modern-day busyness rustling around its 'feet.' The 30-metre dome has been erected on a sand base and its beautiful, satiny, transluscent skin will allow spectactors outside see the shadowy forms of up to 150 skaters performing inside. Can't wait.

StreetscapeNZ - 36

Town Centre

Blenheim, South Island

April, 2009. Ajr

For others in this series click on StreetscapeNZ in the label line below this post

Glasses and Roses

Two Panoramas

Petals & Shadows

Christchurch 2009. Ajr

Melbourne - A Street Art Perspective

Melbourne 2007. Ajr
Last night I was reminded of my passion for two (or many) things - Melbourne, my favourite Australian city; and street art/gaffiti. Turns out one of my blog readers is a graffiti fan too and last night I followed him all around my blog as he wrote great comments here and there along his visual journey. (Thanks BF; Love it :-)). The trouble with a blog is, once it gets to a certain age, it has this HUGE backlog of material in its archives that many people never visit - that I never re-visit myself; so last night's little trip through the archives was fun. It reminded me of just how many postings I've made about gaffiti - and it also reminded me of how many hundreds of photographs I still have to share. So here's two of them - from one of Melbourne's back lanes where graffiti rules - and in a good way! And whatever, your interests, I do hope you'll take time to explore the deep inner recesses of my blog - you never know what you might find. :-) Just put a word into the blog search box (top left) and away you go.

More From the Shoe Files

Sue

By Campbell California

If you're a shoe fan, click on Shoes in the label line below this post to see others

Bus Stop

Christchurch. July 2009 Ajr

Walking down Colombo Street the other day, I was distracted by a bright burst of colour out of the corner of my eye - the waiting area at the Christchurch Bus Exchange. I don't know how I could have missed it on previous walk-bys. Maybe the doors were shut then? Once spotted, twice snapped!

For Meatlovers

If you’ve been to Queenstown lately, you’ve probably heard all the hype about Botswana Butchery, the new restaurant in Archers Cottage on Marine Parade overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Like anything (reasonably) new, it’s being held up as the best thing since sliced bread and those who’ve been there generally talk about it with an air of superiority that I find tedious – like wine snobs, the ‘literati’ and people who talk about buying art as if they’ve been blessed with an intellectual alchemy and a power of discernment that the rest of us apparently lack. Maybe that’s why – in a perverse and probably ridiculous act of defiance – I photographed the sign on the workers’ entrance to the restaurant rather than the sumptuous interior.

All that aside, owner and executive chef Leungo Lippe seems to be doing well. He opened the first Botswana Butchery in Wanaka in June 2007, tucked into cute little Post Office Lane with a couple of other popular night spots. Now he divides his time between the two, mustering his staff to turn out a menu heavily slanted in favour of the meat-eater. This is a place of prime cuts, wild game and things organic. You pay accordingly. Main courses range from NZ$28 to $80 and you pay another $6 to $9 for any single serve of vegetables on top of that. I may be showing myself up as a philistine but if I’m paying (on average) $35-$45 for a main course, I want vegetables included. Maybe I’ve lost touch? Whatever! At least the restaurant décor is easy on the eye and I do like their sign. I'll leave you to make up your own minds about value.

Queen Street by Night

Auckland. April 2009. Ajr
I love the crazy unpredictable nature of night photography - especially the random way I approach it. You could never call me technical that's for sure. I'm much more interested in a mood, a feeling, an essence, an explosion of colour and texture than I am in technical facility and a perfect rendition of a scene or object. I love the spontaneous and the candid rather than the planned and orchestrated. That's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it.

Small Moments of Beauty

Queen Scallops

Zygochlamys delicatula

At Auckland Museum

Shapes

Christchurch July 2009. Ajr

It was a dull, grey winter's day when I returned to capture building progress on this new inner city Christchurch office complex on Worcester Street, just across the tram lines from Christchurch Art Gallery. That didn't bother me, in fact for me, the chill skies lent a little something to the steely, sleek shapes of the building itself. It's the first 'green' office building in the South Island I believe and a new cafe/restaurant opened at ground level earlier this week. I'll be along to investigate soon folks. We could certainly do with another smart cafe addition on what must be one of Christchurch's busiest walking streets.

Barry's Provocative Unpublished Minutes - 59

"And so, as Vonnegut would have said, it goes."
And with this work, we head toward one hundred in the series of (largely) inkjet prints by one of New Zealand's leading printmakers. You can see others in the series by clicking on Cleavin in the label line below this post.

From the Food Files

Dinner at Pescatore anyone?

The George, Christchurch

www.thegeorge.com

Three Men Under a Tree

Christchurch July 2009. Ajr
What More Can I say?

Auckland From Above

Image Courtesy of Sky Walk, Auckland
I love this photograph - one of the many spectacular views given to me to use by the team at Auckland's SKY WALK, that crazy adventure that sees the brave and the courageous walking around the rim of SKYTOWER. Click on Sky Walk in the label line below and you'll find a whole lot more. Much less terrifying than actually being there I can assure you! www.skywalk.co.nz

A Fine Wine Experience

Both Images Courtesy of The Rees, Queenstown

I’ve prattled on about The Rees Hotel & Luxury Apartments in Queenstown before – both the hotel itself and its terrific restaurant True South and the beautiful dishes they tempt you with, from both a visual and a taste perspective. This time we’re taking a peek into their wine cellar – small but perfectly formed you might say. This is where they store New Zealand’s best collection of Bordeaux wines in partnership with the best of Central Otago. You can sample your fancy in their bistro wine lounge, Bordeau at The Rees – in fact, if you’ve gotten that far, you may as well go for the whole hog and try their full wine and food experience, setting the best of Central Otago against the best of Bordeaux, all matched with exciting seasonal foods from New Zealand and France. Their resident sommelier guides you through the experience and talks about the strong French influence in New Zealand’s winemaking heritage. Maybe they’ll even tell you why they spell Bordeau without an ‘x’ in Queenstown. And who knows, maybe your resolve will weaken and you’ll crack open a NZ$4,250 bottle of Chateau Lafitte that they have in the cellar. www.therees.co.nz

Looking Left, Looking Right

Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

I have dozens of photographs of "Ferns, the sculpture by Christchurch-based Neil Dawson, which hangs above Wellington's Civic Square, but these are two of my favourites - not so much for the work itself but for the little line of pigeons in the foreground, all turning their heads left and right in unison. It was as if one among them was giving the command. Just another of those quirky little moments that most people never see because they're too busy rushing about without ever really looking, without ever really appreciating the tiny details of life. For me, the beauty of life is in the detail - in the forgotten, the overlooked, the bypassed. www.ferns.co.nz