17 October 2022 - ELTHAM TOY WALL - NEW ZEALAND

 

ELTHAM TOY WALL

 - NEW ZEALAND -

G'day folks,

What began as a makeshift lost and found, now exists as a unique art installation.  

This quirky little attraction in the town of Eltham in Taranaki began in the 1970s. That’s when local resident Faye Young discovered a few discarded toys in the neighboring Bridger Park. 

 

Instead of leaving the toys discarded about the park, she placed them in a nearby wall between her house and the park. Young hoped that the toy’s owners would be able to easily find their items at the wall. Instead, more toys appeared in the crevices of the wall. Mrs. Young and her family decided to cement the toys into the wall, creating a permanent wall of toys. Now, thousands of toys can be found along the wall to be enjoyed by visitors both young and old. 

5 October 2022 - THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE - NEW ZEALAND

 

THE BRIDGE TO 

NOWHERE

- NEW ZEALAND -

G'day folks,

This bridge was designed to connect a road that never came to fruition.  

Deep in the forest of Whanganui National Park is the “valley of abandoned dreams,” and a lone concrete bridge.

 

Though only accessible by boat up the Whanganui River, the first pioneers in the area believed that eventually, a road would link to the valley. They constructed the bridge in anticipation, but the road was never developed.

Left isolated, they faced a lonely wilderness too difficult to tame. Today, the area is abandoned but the Bridge to Nowhere still stands as a symbol of the ill-fated settlement.

 

11 May 2020 - Man Spends 4 Years Growing A Living Church From Trees

Man Spends 4 Years Growing

 A Living Church From Trees

G'day folks,

 When you think of a spiritual gathering place or a church, what comes to mind? I typically think of some ancient and ornate cathedral, decorated with gargoyles, stained glass and incredible murals on the ceilings and walls. I think of a place lined with pews and surrounded by stone or concrete. I think of a grand marble altar and intricate decoration and design elements surrounding the structure. 

 

Well after traveling the world and visiting churches, a man by the name of Barry Cox decided to create his own unique church and it is unbelievably beautiful. I may have been a little more distracted in a church like this as a kid but I would have looked forward to Sunday morning that’s for sure.

Now, check out his amazing work ...

 

 

Clancy's comment: Wow. Amazing work, eh? I bet many people will want to be married in this church.

I'm ...

26 May 2018 - THE LONELIEST TREE ON EARTH

THE LONELIEST 

TREE ON EARTH

 G'day folks,

Picea sitchensis, the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost 100 m tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, a Sitka Spruce growing on New Zealand’s southernmost subarctic island, is the loneliest and most remote tree on Earth. Not only is it the only tree on Campbell Island, but the nearest other tree can be found over 200 kilometers away, on the Auckland Islands.

Located about 700 km south of Bluff, Campbell Island is one of the harshest places in the world. With strong winds blowing almost all year round, less than 600 hours of sunshine and only 40 days per year without rain, it’s not exactly an ideal place to live, which is probably why, except for occasional visits by research scientists, it has remained deserted for over half a century. Trees aren’t supposed to be growing here either, a fact made evident by the wind-tolerant shrubs and grasses covering the island, which only makes the thriving “loneliest tree on Earth” so much more impressive.

 It is believed that the Sitka Spruce thriving on Campbell Island was planted by the eccentric Lord Ranfurly, a former governor of New Zealand, sometime between 1901 and 1907. It’s not clear why he decided to plant here of all places, but according to some sources, he lamented that the island was not in productive use, and took the first step to cover it in productive forestry. His idea was never going to work due to the harsh climate of the area, but somehow the Sitka Spruce not only survived for more than a century, but actually thrived.

Apart from its reputation as the loneliest tree on Earth, the Sitka Spruce of Campbell Island has a series of other particularities. First of all its shape makes it look more like a giant cauliflower than a tree. This is believed to have been caused by the repeated chopping of its trunk every year, for decades.

You see, before 1958, when the remote meteorologic station on Campbell Island became fully automated, the staff stationed here would cut the top of the Sitka Spruce every Christams and haul it back to the station to use as a Christmas tree. But it somehow survived this yearly maiming, adapting its shape in the process. Luckily, no one has been cutting the tree down over the last six decades and it has grown to a height of over 10 meters.

 Another fascinating thing about the world’s loneliest tree is that, despite being over 100 years old, it has never produced cones, which scientists claim suggests the tree has remained in a permanently juvenile state.

The Sitka Spruce of Campbell Island was recently in the news for helping researchers confirm that the Earth has entered an entirely new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. They found a radiocarbon spike, also known as a “golden spike”, in a sample collected from the core of the tree, which they say confirms our world has entered a whole new epoch.

Who knew a lonely tree growing 200 km away from its nearest cousins could be so interesting?

Clancy's comment: Another story of survival, eh?

I'm ...