Pukeko

My most popular Postcrossing postcard at present (only a few hours after being uploaded, which is when you get most of the favourites). Featuring a pair of pukeko:

Waterfalls for Finland

I've been sitting on this beautiful postcard of the Catlins Falls in Southland for some time. They were formed when an earthquake caused the land to shift. The Catlins are a beautiful and wild region of the countryside, and I hope to visit there one day soon. It is one of hte only parts of the South Island of New Zealand that I have not yet been to.

Another for my flock

Another fine fowl from Finland has flown into my collection! Together I hope the two don't start fighting for territory!

From Belarus

Received today from Belarus, the stamps are AWESOME!

Animals from Sri Lanka

Courtesy of the lovely Ravi:

Turkey

This package also arrived today, courtesy of Nenderthal in Turkey. She wrote a wee bit about each on the back. And a sweet note too. It was very kind of her!

The Tallest Eagle and Smallest Primate

As promised, here are some postcards of the Philippines Eagle, the world's tallest eagle (the Harpy eagle below is the heaviest). These cards flew in from from the Philippines today.

And here is the world's smallest primate, the tiny tarsier. Or as the Philippines Eagle likes to call him - a small between-monkey snack.

And here we have a few other Philippines critters.

World's Largest Eagle?

This chap is the National Bird of Panama:

The Harpy Eagle of Central/South America is the HEAVIEST eagle species, outweighing the Philippines Eagle by several kilos. The Philippines has a longer wingspan, however.

But the Haast's Eagle of New Zealand bet them both - but it's extinct now - alas.

You'll see the Philippines eagle in this blog soon!

Christchurch Cathedral

Our Cathedral and the "lovely" Chalice (Aka the giant bong)

This one is off to Finland tomorrow.

Art Cards from Afar

Model Airplane with elk antler from Finland

"The Procession" (1927) by LS Lowry

Lake Matheson

New Zealand's most postcard featured lake. Here's another one, from the Craig Potton range.

Lord of the Rings Country

Right, this fellow in the Philippines would like me to send him some "Lord of the Rings" style landscapes. These are not necessarily the exact ones used in the film, but they are the best I could find locally. These are the Craig Potton range. Craig Potton is a highly acclaimed NZ photographer. He has a good eye for dramatic landscapes!




In case you can't read the captions:
From L to R.
Top:
the Southern Alps (aka The Misty Mountains)
Key summit of the Routebourne
Westland Rainforest (Fangorn forest)
Bottom:
Southern Alps across our favourite lake - Lake Matheson
Lake Pukaki
Waterfall in Milford during a storm (not very LOTR, but dramatic!)

Also, a couple of cute natives:

The Kiwi - our iconic National Bird.

Hoiho - penguin love!

An Official from China

Received another "Official" Postcrossing Postcard today - this one is from Gaomanyan in China. It is a street in Beijing. Lovely image and tone and also very nice postage stamps!

Charlotte, NC is sparkly!

I sent a package of cards and art to a woman and her 4 year old daughter - whom she is trying to educate on the world. This is the first of two promised cards. It is from Charlotte, North Carolina and it is all sparkly!

If you are interested in helping her or learning more of her project, her blog is here: Teachable Moments from Around the Globe

New Zealand, my beautiful country

Here are some of the wee 6x4 postcards I currently have on hand.


* Aoraki (Mt Cook) buried under snow
* Mitre Peak, in Fiordland



* Sign of the Takahe, looking across the Canterbury Plains (Christchurch)
* Lake Matheson again, this time its spring.

It's the Librarian!

Isn't he handsome?

Lovely art from Serbia

Atcs and a giftcard from Vox, in Serbia. She's very talented - I love her style.

Bonanza from the Netherlands

A bunch of postcards from a young lass I made art for.

Adorable Feline from Moscow

This gorgeous Lynx flew in today from Russia. He was photographed in the Moscow Zoo by RedLynx. Isn't he magnificant?

Christchurch Landmarks

Probably the most distinct single landmark of Christchurch is our cathedral. This was completed in 1904 after over 30 years of hard work. It is situated in the centre of the city, surrounded by a sea of concrete and dwarved by the hotels. Beside it now is a monstrosity named "the Chalice" although given its leafy decoration it has been often compared with a giant marijuana bong. It is conveniently out of this photo.

The problem with this postcard is that large section of dead space in the top right. It needs to be there, because you ahve to see the whole belltower, but seriously, couldn't they have chosen one with some interesting cloud formations or something? I kinda wanna stick a picture in there of something - anything!

And this is the Peacock fountain, situated in the Botanical Gardens, near the museum (which you can see in the background. It is a beautiful example of Edwardian design. There are no peacocks on the Peacock fountain - those are herons and dolphins (the mediaeval kind) and it is considered by some to be a bit of an eye-sore. Alledgely, it was sinking into the Avon river and had to be restored.

I like it, even if it is a little overly-garish.

Feathered Friend from Finland

I've received a number of postcards from Finland and the eastern/northern European countries, I guess they are more "old fashioned" with their communication then say, the US and England. Although I've had a few from the States. None from Australia or NZ yet though. Time will tell...

Anyhow, today I received a Western Capercaille from Finland, with a nifty moomin stamp and sticker on the reverse. I scanned them up and superimposed them on the front.

Canterbury Plains

Here's a couple of Canterbury Plains postcards I have picked up. The plains are a flat area surrounding Christchurch city and intersected by a number of braided rivers, including the Rakaia Gorge. They were once tussock grassland and swamp forest but now form a vast, flat patchwork quilt of pastures. Here sheep and cattle - and occasionally deer, llama and emu, are farmed. Both these postcards feature the same area - the Rakaia Gorge cutting through the center and the Southern Alps, with Mt Hutt, to the top left.

Lush and green - they're hardly ever this green! Must have been a good rainfall that season.


In winter - time to go skiing at Mount Hutt!

From Poland!

This is the largest church made of brick EVER, apparently. Not sure if that's just in Poland or the whole world, but gosh, it's massive!

From Berlin

Misty Mountains to Malaysia

This card is going to Malaysia - the person requested something from Lord of the Rings with a non "NZ Post" stamp.

It's Lake Matheson, looking over to Mount Cook and the Southern Alps (the "misty mountains" in LOTR). Seriously, Lake Matheson must be our most photogenic lake. I have quite a few postcards - from various companies, featuring it. Probably because you can get some awesome Southern Alps reflections in it.

Here's another:

And I have at least one more I haven't sent yet as well.

Today the Lithuanian Post came

I guess the Lithuanian post all gets delivered to New Zealand at once, because today I
received two letters, both from Lithuania.

The Lithuanian start bird is the Stork. This is what delivers babies folks!

And also from Enorca, a set of amazing dragons:

Lithuania has AWESOME stamps!

I also thought it might be fun to start scanning all my inwards non-postcard mail too, so you can see the awesome ATCs I receive. If you wish to see the art cards and assorted other art pieces I send, visit my daily art blog.