A Challenging Day in Many Ways

Wednesday 20 August

After a few mostly grey, wet & miserable days, the sun popped out to say hello. I walked down to Amano and picked up the best croissant yet, and a monkey bread for me (no wonder the scales are chastising me!)

Passing the port on the way back there were a bunch of Aussie caravans waiting for delivery to the Kiwi dealers - it was cool to see 5 Snowy Rivers there amongst them. I took a few pics and shared them to the Kiwi Snowy River FB site to see if anyone recognised their new order!

I was also amused by the sign denying people the right to walk along the top of the glass bus stops in lower Albert Street - this seemed a little over zealous - but I presume it has happened otherwise they wouldn't need the sign!

It was a fairly quiet day back at the apartment as Louis was having a down day after perhaps walking too much the day before. I completed a fabulous stylised puzzle of Santorini, then after lunch popped upstairs (or up elevator as the stairs are behind locked fire escape doors) as the Bernstone representative to see Jean & Don, who had Jean’s cousin Jan and her daughter Katy over to visit. They had a visit from the abseiling cleaners while I was there so I snapped another pic - in awe of their lack of fear of heights.

Checked on Louis who was still feeling a bit off, and left him to rest up while I visited the World Press Photo Exhibition which is always fascinating and challenging. This year there were even fewer uplifting images than usual - the core themes were war, migration, climate change, environmental damage, persecution and despair - with only one or two positive photographs.

Clockwise from top left:-

• Images of war & uprising in Kenya, Gaza & Sudan

• Presidential images - Trump’s attempted assassination and Venezuela’s opposition leader rallying support when she was banned from the election by the incumbent, Maduro.

• Standing up for indigenous rights in Te Urewera, NZ

• Images of migration - Mexican border and Central America

• Kolbars smuggling western goods into the Kurdish area of Iran over treacherous terrain - every transaction is in forbidden US$.

• Resilience against the odds - Uganda

Above left - images of climate change & environmental damage - floods in Brazil, drought in the Amazon and nickel mining in Indonesia polluting the air and its deforestation causing floods.

Above right - images of oppression - celebrating queer culture behind closed doors in Lagos, Nigeria, female mannequins in Kabul stores, with their heads covered by paper & plastic bags, women of the Embera Dobida indigenous people of Colombia mourning their husbands, Tigrayan refugee women offering social support to each other - many have suffered rape & torture.

For me this was the most powerful photo - the composition was like a Renaissance painting of Christ brought down off the cross. An injured conscripted Russian soldier in an underground Donbas Field Hospital located in an old wine cellar. His left arm & leg had to be amputated. He came from an area of Ukraine which was annexed by Russia early in their campaign and conscripted to fight against his original countrymen.

And this was the one ray of light and happiness - the most joyous image - from the Olympic surfing competition in Tahiti - a perfect moment in time.

It was almost surreal emerging into the everyday hustle and bustle of Queen Street after being subsumed by these fascinating but depressing images and photo essays, but real life is a lot less bleak for Aucklanders. I passed the Windsor Hotel where our gang had a fabulous weekend between Covid lockdowns, and was entranced by the lego Westpac rescue helicopter in the bank lobby next door. You really can do anything with lego these days, you just need enough blocks!

A walk along Princes Wharf after dark raised my spirits a little. We may have our economic and political issues here in NZ, but we are very fortunate compared with so much of the world. 🌏