(Nang matapos) ang 30 minutong paglalakbay...

...ikaw ay makakarating sa beach ng Muriwai. Maraming magagandang lugar o tanawin ang mararating ng 1 -3 oras na pagmamaneho lamang mula sa auckland - ang beach ng muriwai ay bantog sa itim nitong buhangin at colony ng gannets na namumugad dito.





Muriwai Beach one of the most ruggedly, picturesque wilderness beaches in New Zealand. Pictured is one of only 2 onshore Gannet Colonies in the country, flowers of the Pohutukawa Tree - New Zealand's own Christmas Tree, which abound the landscape - looking north along the Kaipara Coast with Flat Rock in the foreground, and provides access to some of the best surf fishing in the world.

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simula pa lamang...

Simula pa lamang pagkabata ay nakikita ko na ang mga ganitong tanawin sa mga kommersyal ng gatas sa tv. Mga tupa at baka pinapastol sa abot tanaw ng iyong paningin.

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Eksena ng masasayang batang tumatakbo o pamilyang nagpapagulong-gulong sa gitna na malawak na damuhang napapaligiran ng mga tupa o baka - STOP!

....kasinungalingan! ang tutuoo eh hinding-hindi mo gagawing tumakbo ng ganuon dahil malamang magti-tip toe ka ng dahan-dahan para lamang makaiwas sa sangkatutak ng ebak na nagkalat.

Myth: New Zealand has 3 million people and 60 million sheep

According to the latest statistics, there were 40.1 million estimated resident sheep at 30 June 2006 and an estimated resident population of 4.18 million people as of 2006 - which means that the sheep-person ratio has halved in the last 20 years, and now stands at 10 sheep per person.

However, to put this in an international context, New Zealand's ratio is still twice as high as Australia's, which is currently less than five sheep per person. As with New Zealand, this is due to declining sheep numbers and a growing human population. There were 132.6 million sheep in Australia in 1994, but this had fallen to 101.3 million a decade later, with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics's Agricultural Census putting the figure at 91.9 million sheep at 30 June 2006 - the lowest estimate since 1925.

- dami pa ding sheeps hehehehehe.

SIDENOTE:

- 4th in world's top cities offering the best quality of life (read) - not bad, not bad at all.

harbour bridge

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Looking out our second floor balcony you can catch a glimpse of the waitemata harbour and beyond that is ragitoto island. The name Waitemata is generally considered to mean “sparkling waters”.

Few of the world’s developed harbors have survived unscathed by bridges. Auckland managed to use ferries to resist the need for a bridge until 1955. Since its completion in 1959, the bridge across Waitemata Harbour (parly covered by tree above) is almost single-handedly credited with opening up the North Shore to rapid development. Previously, the North Shore was a vacation destination with pockets of development. Now it’s become a collection of modern suburbs (prefered residential area by pinoys in auckland), and with that transformation came problems with traffic congestion. An innovative approach was taken in the late 1960’s when two lanes were added to each side of the bridge. The expansion was created by a Japanese company, and thereafter became known as the "Nippon Clip-ons." These served the city well until the late 1980’s, when congestion once again became a problem. By 2000 160,000 vehicles were crossing the bridge each day and now the city is considering adding a second span, or a tunnel so people can get across the harbor.

click to see aerial view of bridge via google map

gusali sa queen street

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ang queen street sa downtown ang matatawag na "golden mile" ng auckland city, karamihan sa mga malalaking kumpanya ay may opisina rito. kapansin-pansin sa queen street ang sari-saring style ng arkitektura ng mga gusali - mula sa moderno tulad ng imax theatre sa larawan (gitna), art deco tulad ng civic centre sa gawing kanan at classical na torre sa may kalayuan.

mapapasin din na lahat ng intersection sa kahabaan ng queen street ay maaring tawirin diagonally ng mga pedestrian at hindi lang perpendicular tulad ng ating nakagawian.

Hardin...hardin...everywhere

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This photo was taken at the formal garden of "michael joseph savage memorial" , a small park on top of a hill overlooking mission bay. Auckland is blessed with a very nice climate all-year round - plenty of rain and sunshine, nice cool autmn breeze and no snow during winter; the city is unrivalled in the number and quality of its parks and beaches. How many cities offer more than 800 parks and reserves for everyone to enjoy? It's easy to find somewhere different to play, explore and be inspired! Best of all, they cost nothing to visit.

paboritong litrato

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View of the tip of the north and south islands mula sa international space station, bihira ang makakakita ng nz mula sa vantage point na ito. The closest any of us can get to this point of view is by taking the x-flight, taking off the north island and parachuting down picton sa south island....cool!

paboritong alahas

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iba ang appeal ng antigong alahas tulad ng kakaibang pocket watch na ito. ano-anung kuwento kaya ang masasabi nito kung ito ay nakakapagsalita lamang.

dito sa auckland ay maraming mga antique shops kung saan makakabili ng mga lumang alahas - kailangan lang ay masipag kang maghanap. karaniwang ini-insure sa pagkawala o pagkasira ang mga mahahalaga at mamahaling alahas dito.

Polong - Loko

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polo ng kapre?

Censya na po kayo at autumn na dito kya wala na gaanong nagpopolo dahil malamig na ang simoy ng hangin. Ang mamang ito ay umaaliw sa mga taong namamasyal sa auckland domain nuong nakaraang linggo, kapansin pansin ang kulay ng kanyang kasuotan (not to mention ang kayang kataasan).

kung mamimili ka dito ng mga damit theres only one place to go to score a good bargain with superb quality at yang ay sa Dress-Smart.

An outlet shopping centre where most of the stocks of ‘branded’ items of past seasons go. It is similar to the outlet shopping centres in the US. Brands like Just Kids, Adidas, Mi Piaci , Barkers, Canterbury, Levi’s, Fila, Cheapskates, Cue, Esprit, David Lawrence, Bras n Things and Amazon are just some of the stores that you can find there!

Click HERE for directions.

Pano!...kita-kits na lang tayyo dun at bka may sale na naman hehehehehe.

an apparition?

sa aking pagbabalik sa LP after a very very long sabatical, ang aking handog para sa LP48 ay mahahalintulad isang kaluluwang nagbabalik sa lupa.



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this ghostly image is nothing more than a "whiteplastic bag", tulad ng mga platic bag na pinaglalagyan ng mga inyong napapamili sa supermarket. sa lahat ng bag bakit ito naman ang aking napili? dito sa nz ay masyadong "environmentally concious" ang mga tao - if its reusable they'll find a way of reusing it. kya imbes na bumili pa ng itim na garbage bag ay ito ang aking pinaglalagyan ng basura - by using a simple holder na nabibili sa 2 dollar shop ay nagagamit ko ito bilang isang "chic" na basurahan - di ba mala-"ikea" ang dating! :)

how "sandflies" when your having fun.

-after a rather long sabatical (ala grissom ng csi), im back to posting sa blog kong ito. patapos na ang summer dito kya medyo late na ang impormasyong ito pero you'll never know when it could come in handy.



Native New Zealand Sandfly: Maori name: Namu , family name: Simuliidae blackfly

sandflies are quite common in nz, kya kung medyo sensitive ang iyong skin sa mga kagat ng lamok ay better prepare before you go out into the boondocks.

There are some simple things you can do to avoid the tiny itchy bites.

1. Cover your skin; Cover your arms and legs with long sleeve garments
2. Wear a hat; Always wear a hat (sandflies don’t really go for your face)
3. Cover yourself in Botanica; this is the best Sandfly repellent as it has natural ingredients and does not contain the Deet chemical.
4. Put Botanica on your hat; Cover your hat in Botanica
5. Take your vitamin B; Sandflies don’t like vitamin B
6. Eat Marmite or Vegemite; Marmite and Vegemite the table spreads contain vitamin B. Some of this on your morning toast might also help. You would have to eat a lot of this to make it your only form of defence
7. Avoid wearing dark colours; Sandflies go for dark colours

kung ikaw ay makagat - please refrain from scratching as much as possible, also the itchiness gets worse after a few days, lalo mo itong wag kamutin at bka maging bakokang yan at masira ang flawless mong skin.

"Sandflies are located in wetter areas of New Zealand and can be pests, but are effectively controlled by use of an insect repellent."

i beg to disagree, base on my personal experience once the smell of the insect repellant wears off (after minutes not hours) ay puputaktihin ka na naman ng mga hinayupak na sandflies - don't ever use "OFF" insect repellant by johnsons&johnsons pagkat ito ay walaaaannnnng kakuwenta-kuwenta.