Beautiful Otago

Sisson range postcards ROCK. Pity they're only available from the Visitors Centre in town.

These are both of Otago - which lies further south than my home base of Canterbury. We haven't been here in years, but with any luck we'll head there next year.

Our feathered friends

I seem to have accumulated a vast number of bird postcards recently. Most of these are available for trade. So let me know if you'd like one.

Kereru - - - Kea and chicks

Kakapo (traded) --- Kaka (flown the coop)

Kotuku --- Weka (traded)

Tawaki (traded)

14 Faves within the hour!

This postcard of Lake Pukaki (another of the wonderful Sisson range) arrived in the Netherlands earlier today. Within an hour of it being Registered on Postcrossing, it had 14 faves, making it my 2nd most popular card. I wish my handdrawn cards would do so well but one cannot argue, this is a beautiful view of Mount Cook.

This view is from the eastern side, and makes a nice contrast to all the postcards featuring the mountain from the western side - over Lake Matheson. I visited Lake Matheson last week and it is indeed truly magnificant.

Here's my photo of it, postcard perfect!

I have about a dozen more photos of various lakes around the West Coast reflecting nicely. They're glacial lakes, so calm and still they're like a mirror. Beautiful!

Here's another (postcard that is, I'm not going to bore you with my snapshots):

Something special Made in China

These two pieces come from a Chinese teenager who approached me wanting some stamps. He was a few days late for me to easily acquire them, but I managed to track them down for him. He sent me these in return.

Firstly, he drew me up his own Shanghai Expo postcard. Lovely, isn't it?

And he included this gorgeous silk stamps - they're so soft! And not cheap either - so I am VERY grateful to him indeed.

Thanks Zhan! Hope your postage stamps arrive in China soon ^^

Table of Mail!

Okay, I've been away exploring the West Coast for the last few days and left my husband to mind the fort and the mailbox.

Well, needless to say, I came home to find the table covered in mail!


An Official Art Postcard from the Netherlands

A Willow Tit from Finland (also an official)


A lovely print of a building in Belarus (Official)

A wild landscape from Poland.

Petronas Twin Towers from Malaysia

A historic house from Brasil.


And a postcard from Australia - the city of Brisbane, in fact (Official).

Kaki in Slovakia

My black stilt, or Kaki, has now found a new home in Levice, Slovakia with Ushko. Here she visits a castle.

To see more of my art around the world, visit my website:
http://lemurkat.co.nz

Officials from North America

Two official Postcards received today, both from North America - one the US of A and the other frmo Canada.

Black bear, black bear what do you see?

I see another bear kissing me!"

From GrayOwl in Canada. Took 13 days to arrive.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in Washington State
is definitely not a disappointment!

From Vadalisk in Washington, USA. This one took 20 days to arrive.
I can only assume she either took a while finding it or it took the scenic route.

She writes on the back:
"One of my favourite things is sunlight shining on
water spray from a hose or sprinkler
just right to create a rainbow."

Beautiful!

This delightful illustration is drawn by Ryoji Arai, a Japanese illustrator. He has won competitions and publishes books as well, including animations. This wee work of art arrives via Ayako Yoh in Japan. I am sending her a Kotuku from Okarito in exchange.

Palace of Fashion

This quaint wee building is situated in Dusseldorf, Germany. Once a palace, it is now a School of Fashion. It arrived from Germany courtesy of Nordbaer and took 11 days to arrive.

From the Wild, Wet West (to trade)

(these two are traded)

To celebrate our 10 years of togetherness (dating that is), my husband and I did a trip we've been meaning to do for some years now - the TranzAlpine. This is a train trip that goes from Christchurch to Greymouth - and back again. It takes you through some pretty spectacular scenary, including up the Waimakariri river, through gorges that look like Middle Earth, through the snow capped Southern Alps (aka "the Misty Mountains"), and into the dripping, lush rainforest of the West Coast, eventually ending up in the biggest town over there, called "Greymouth". There is not a great deal to do in Greymouth - even the locals agree, and although they had been blessed with a week of good weather, it had finally caught up with them in the form of heavy, driving rain. So, what do do but shop for postcards?

I'm back in Christchurch now, although the weather seems to have followed me home :( But shall be returning to the West Coast in two days time to go on an adventure down south to Franz Josef glacier.

Anyhow, here's my postcard haul, these are almost all available for trading.

Hokitika: The clock town is quaint - but it's quite a long drive to the gorge, followed by a lengthy walk, if I recall correctly. (posted now)

Okarito Heron Colony: we're going to be staying near here, but the herons don't arrive until late August/September. (posted now)


Lake Ianthe: Alledgedly home to a large population of Crested Grebes, one of my very favourite birds. I am hoping to visit here too. (posted now)

Lake Brunner: The train took us straight through here, although it was rather wetter at the time! And so grey it looked like the ocean. We have also gone trout fishing here. It is a popular place for fishermen to visit on weekends. (posted now)

Punakaiki: seems to be prone to stunning sunsets. It is also home to the Pancake Rocks.
#1 is posted still have #2

And this one I've been sitting on for years - it's our rainforest. This part is near Haast, in the UNESCO area of the South West New Zealand.

Angkor Wat

From Cambodia, via Hong Kong. A personal trade organised on the PC forums.
This place is AWESOME - I'd love to visit it one day.

Officials from Eastern Europe

I seem to receive an unually large amount of cards from Eastern and Northern European countries. These two came in today:

From Florescita in Slovenia.
This one took 17 days to arrive.

From the_Teo in Romania
This one took 15 days to arrive.
It is a postcard made from a photograph taken by the sender. A lovely piece!

Sunny Days in Venezuela

They have beautiful golden beaches in South America.

Personal trade with Magabygc.