We saw Irene at the Folk Art Center recently; I fell in love with her work and actually purchased a set of very colorful polymer clay magnets! Gorgeous stuff — check her out online! 🙂
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When you visit Chimney Rock, you have the option to take a 1.0+ mile hike out to see this waterfall. A recent visitor told us how disappointed they were because it was HOT out and the falls were barely a trickle 🙂 From the card: “Spectacular Hickory Nut Falls has a vertical drop of 404 feet, making it one of the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River.” (When it’s flowing, I guess! Also teaches you not to always believe the flowery adjectives on the backs of postcards–I know at least two people who would disagree with the word “spectacular” as applied to this falls!) 🙂
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Another from my daughter’s visit
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I’ve seen this several times at the Folk Art Center but have never wanted to dish out the $$ for the postcard. This time, I did 🙂 It’s very hard to read, but says:
Take time to
Work … it is the price of success
Play … it is the secret of perpetual youth
Think … it is the source of power
Read … it is the fountain of wisdom
Pray … it is conversation with God
Laugh … it is the music of the soul
Listen … it is the pathway to understanding
Dream … it is hitching your wagon to a star
Worship … it is the highway of reverence
Love and be loved … it is the gift of God
Calligraphy by Michael W. Hughey, Arden, North Carolina
www.craftguild.org/calligraphy
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I’ve noticed lots of traffic on my blog of late, likely because I just posted a bunch of new cards 🙂 Readers, I’d like you to know that this blog houses much more than New Zealand cards, which seem to take up the first several pages since my sister now lives there and since I’ve visited twice.
If you take time to explore beyond the most recent postings, you’ll find many postcard treasures, including a few of my favorites:
1. Finnish handcrafted dishware
2. A funny-faced fountain in Italy
3. Busy street scene in Hong Kong
5. Official card from the People’s Republic of China for the 2008 Olympics
Enjoy!
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Since I’ve stuck out my postcard hobby for many years now, and since I’m so tired of the L-O-N-G, complicated process of putting each card into a flatbed scanner, scanning it, cropping it, and then navigating over and over again to the right folder to save it, I finally gave in and purchased this Epson Workforce Pro Scanner.
It’s awesome! I scanned 45 postcards in about five minutes–a HUGE improvement! Now, we can scan in those albums of old photos we’ve been holding onto, plus our own photos as well. And I can easily scan in all of my postcards — I usually just pick the best because it’s such a long, tiresome process!
If you’re looking for a good scanner, this one is so far proving to be an awesome investment. If you’re reading this many months after the fact and are curious about its performance since, send me a note. I’ll let you know how it’s measured and held up over time!
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My son Matthew received this card at the counter in a mall in New Zealand. We later saw “Ronald” dancing and singing in the mall for lots of smaller children 🙂
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“A volcanic island about 60km off the Bay of Plenty coast, White Island was once the site of an unsuccessful sulphur and gypsum mining experiment. This island is now an official sanctuary, harbouring many varieties of native birds in its pohutukawa forest.” The card does not mention, but this is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano! You can actually take a tour out to the volcano, during which you must wear hardhats and masks and ride aboard an inflatable dinghy to get there! We considered it, but only briefly, as my foot problem would likely have made it difficult to make the trek.
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This is a public park in Rotorua with lots of bubbling pools and mudholes, showing you that the area is truly alive geothermally! It also has a geothermal footbath for all, as well as a really cool playground for kids big and small! My kids thought it was one of the highlights of their trip!
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Saw lots of these in Rotorua!
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“Aerial view of the Champagne Pool, Artists Palette and Sinter Terraces at Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.” This truly was amazing to see in person! I am so glad we went!
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“Fast flowing water spills this green lake with steaming ground on its eastern shore.” This is at Wai-o-Tapu, just outside Rotorua. It is billed as a “Thermal Wonderland” and it really is just that! Fantastic!
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What? We thought this was the visitor’s center so we never stopped in because we had already stopped in a smaller one! The back of the card says, “Built in 1908 in Rotorua’s Government Gardens as a spa and health centre, this magnificent tudor building now houses the Rotorua Museum of Art and History.” Maybe this wasn’t the building we saw after all…. 🙂
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(Doesn’t really look like night to me, but that’s what the card says!) You can see all the steam rising from various places around the city though, showing how active this area is. And yes, it smells like sulfur in many places!
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You are seeing the lift that returns luge riders to the top of the hill after exciting luge rides down. We rode the luge, although my daughter did not like it as it was VERY rough riding and hard on the hands. My boys and husband loved it though and rode several times! From the back: “A view from the top with Lake Rotorua in the distance. The Skyline is a hugely popular gondola ride with a restaurant at the top and other amusements, such as the Luge ride. The lift closest is bringing people back from the bottom of the Luge.”
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1 km long Luge Track — they actually have three tracks. All riders must first ride the “scenic” track, which is the longest and easiest. After navigating that, then you can move on to the intermediate and advanced tracks, which my sons and husband tell me are much faster, much more treacherous and much shorter! Glad I didn’t ride those — the scenic track was hard enough for me! 🙂
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The gondola rides high above Rotorua on Mt. Ngongotaha overlooking Lake Rotorua
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Alas, although we were within eye’s view of Mt. Maunganui, we did not make it over to the Mount itself during our stay in Papamoa. From the back: “With apartment blocks and cafes springing up along the length of Mt. Maunganui’s Ocean Beach, this area is becoming one of New Zealand’s most sought after recreational/residential localities and a magnet for holidaymakers.” You’ve got that right–it’s beautiful! I’ve actually look at real estate in the area myself! 🙂
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This is Maori Warrior Renata Kawepo Tama-K-Hikarangi as painted by Gottfried Lindauer (1839-1926). I think my sister got this for me because the warrior’s name was Renata! 🙂
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New Zealand’s agricultural heartland, which we drove through on our way to and from Papamoa. “The lush, undulating plains of Waikato district have the distinction of being amongst some of the world’s richest farmland.”
Top left: Dairying near Matamata (the site of the first English settlement in 1865)
Top right: Horticultural blocks, Cambridge
Bottom left: Agricultural field days, Mystery Creek
Bottom right: Stud farm, Cambridge
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I fell in love with one artist’s representation of the Pohutukawa flowers, although I did not buy the piece — maybe next time! From the back: “Growing profusely around the North Island’s north-eastern coastline, the pohutukawa presents a blaze of colour during the Christmas period when its rich, red blooms are usually at the showiest. It is sometimes called the New Zealand Christmas tree.”
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“This charming town on the Waikato River has a distinctly English flavour with its old churches, stately trees and a village green.” This is also where we stopped for lunch during our drive to the holiday home in Papamoa — we actually stopped at that redish building in the upper right cutout! It housed a gift shop on the lower floor and a cafe on the upper floor. We had sausage rolls, mince pies and other New Zealand treats 🙂 We also suspect that Nettie got sick from her meal here! Oops!
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I saw this bottom view with my own two eyes–although it was during my last visit to New Zealand in 2009. This trip, we visited Muriwai Beach, although I found the Piha card on this trip and not a Muriwai Beach card! I suppose I’ll find that one next time 🙂
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The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, originally uploaded by CarolinaRen.
Another card from Maria’s trip to Qatar — this represents one of the prizes of my collection since Qatar is not an easy country from which laptop travelers like me can get cards! I love the city view in the background as well, showing how contemporary Doha is, at least architecturally!
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Can you believe this card is from Qatar? Yes, my sister went there, as well, and picked up this very cool art card!
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This card and the NZ cards that follow come from my sister Maria — thanks! 🙂 According to Maria, this is where New Zealanders come for holiday! From the back of this card: “Named after hot springs which seep through the beach. Visitors can scoop out their own hot pools in the sand to relax in.” Would love to visit here one summer!
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Had I purchased this card, I would only have been able to tick two of the boxes: Auckland and Rotorua! Obviously there is much more of NZ left for me to see! 🙂
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Another lovely view on the Coromandel Peninsula.
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“The Cathedral, a gigantic arched cavern which gives an air of grandeur to the whole of the beach, is about 20m wide by about 10m high and was formed by sea action.”
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This neat card shows lots of the sights in the Auckland area! Very neat!
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