From Pukehina we headed to Tauranga for the National Jazz Festival over Easter. There were a couple of days of bands in the main street – with a fair bit of blues sneaking in. The highlight was a Jazz Village including some real jazz. The final performer was a woman called called Fantine and she was a highlight.
After Easter, with still no start for work in sight, we headed to Auckland for a few days. There were a few people we had to see and it was a good opportunity. We ended up with some time to spare and decided we should visit the Auckland Botanical Gardens. We’d always meant to but never did. Staying at Ardmore took us past the gardens sometimes getting to the motorway, so we had little excuse. And given the choice of playing in Auckland’s traffic or relaxing in the gardens, the gardens won easily. Unusually the botanical gardens are not near the city centre, but are at Manukau.
The entrance is quite an entrance, very architectural, and welcoming.
Auckland Botanical Gardens entrance
The gardens are huge and rolling and rambling. With ponds.
Auckland Botanical Gardens
The rose garden was interesting, with roses from a wide range of periods. It was interesting to see some of the older ones.
Rose – Auckland Botanical Gardens
It wasn’t all roses. I’m not sure what this red one is though …
Not a Rose – Auckland Botanical Gardens
There is something about roses …
Rose – Auckland Botanical Gardens
This yellow one fascinated me. It was like there was a whole group of small tall people in the centre of it, deciding who was going to open the batting or something …
Rose – Auckland Botanical Gardens
The following group of four roses is my favourite – for the subtle shades and the delicate petals …
Roses – Auckland Botanical Gardens
Another older style rose – I think …
Rose – Auckland Botanical Gardens
Reds seem tricky to photograph. The red seems to overload the camera. This one didn’t seem to, which was a bonus …
Rose – Auckland Botanical Gardens
But it wasn’t all about the flowers. This succulent thing caught my eye …
Auckland Botanical Gardens
Beautiful pics and what a awesome garden to visit.
Hey Ross, great to have you back with your photos and quirky comments. It is a great way for me to keep up with what you and Wyn are up to. Hope you’re enjoying being back at the old farm….
Thanks Anne. I try to keep up to date-ish, and the Breaking News section tends to be more up-to-the-day.
love the roses, could almost smell them, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Thanks Wendy. Wyn says they did smell nice.