Friday, January 13, 2012

A New Zealand Northland Christmas - Post #9

Along the Way - Part 2  (Fun Stuff)

I want to know the people who live in this house.  I bet they are artistic and fun people, and maybe a little bit quirky!

The famous jandal fence.  People here call flipflops, jandals, and everybody wears them.  We decided the reason everyone wears them is because no one can afford shoes (VERY expensive here)!

They really cater to tourists here in many ways.  Almost every little town or village has an 'i-site' where you can pick up brochures about all the local attractions, accommodations.  There are helpful people that will answer questions, plan activities or make reservations.
Another very convenient thing is that every small town (or large town for that matter), and every beach we have been to, has clean, public restrooms that are very easily found.  In fact some are very unique, elaborate and fun.  Here is one that was actually designed by a famous architect.  

  Lovely and fun wall painting.

We found this sign outside a city building.  I think it is the most accurate weather predictor the Kiwis have! Here in NZ the weather is VERY unpredictable.  People often say that one can experience all four seasons within a matter of minutes.  We have large windows in our office and it is fascinating to watch how fast the clouds move by.  One minute there is bright sunshine and it is warm, the next minute there are dark clouds, the wind is howling and it is pouring, then within another few minutes the sun is shinning again.   

3 comments:

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

I like that tile work in the bathroom. Very imaginative.

MadSnapper said...

karen, i don't comment every day, but i do look at every photo you post. they are always always amazing. and i love what you are showing us. today i am commenting because I want to live in that house, and where they only wear jandels, hubby and I live in sandals year round here, and I LOVE THAT rest room. wow on that. I am very much enjoying your stay in this most beautiful country.

Scott Law said...

What fence. I guess the landfill is not full of old jandals because most of them are just hung on the fence. Where else would you go to the rest room just to see what it looks like?? Phun post and you even posted it on Phun Phriday.