Silvereye (4) - Feeding Time

A mother Silvereye feeds her young chicks.

PhotoID: B_20131102_32159

Silvereye (3) - Huddle

Three Silvereye chicks huddle together while waiting for their mummy to come back with food.

PhotoID: B_20131102_32150

Silvereye (2) - I'm Going To Fly

A Silvereye chick accidentally flew into our house and couldn't find its way out. My wife carefully caught it (while wearing gloves) and took it outside.

This is the last close-up photo of it before it flew back into the trees to join its family.

PhotoID: A_20131102_0007

Silvereye (1) - Snug and Warm

A Silvereye chick accidentally flew into our house and couldn't find its way out. My wife carefully caught it (while wearing gloves) and took it outside.

It eventually gathered its strength and courage and flew back into the trees to join its family.

PhotoID: A_20131102_0003

Waiheke Island Ferry

A Waiheke Island Ferry docks at Half Moon Bay in Auckland.

PhotoID: B_20131028_32079

Musick Memorial Radio Station

The Musick Memorial Radio Station is an impressive building in the Modern style, which was opened in 1942 to communicate with ships and aircraft.

The station was the headquarters of the maritime coast station Auckland Radio ZLD, and of aviation radio ZLF.

ZLD and ZLF were initially operated by the New Zealand Post Office before the aviation radio service was taken over by the Civil Aviation Corporation, which moved it to Auckland Airport at Mangere. Later, ownership of Auckland Radio changed to Telecom NZ Ltd, and Telecom still uses the building for cellular services.

Following the closure of all New Zealand coast radio stations in 1993, the equipment of Auckland Radio ZLD, including most of the Oliver Road transmitters, was acquired by the non-profit Musick Point Radio Group.

The Group, which includes several former Musick Point operators and technicians, has a long-term lease on the building, and has reactivated the station on the amateur (ham) radio bands using some of the former ZLD transmitters along with a range of modern equipment.

One of MPRG's major projects is keeping the traditional marine radiotelegraphy frequency of 512 kHz alive, and it has a special licence to operate on this frequency which is outside the normal amateur radio bands. In recognition of the station's historical importance, the Group has been issued the amateur radio callsigns ZL1ZLD and ZL1ZLF. The Group maintains a radio museum in the building and operates a low-power FM broadcast station with recorded information about Musick Point.

512 kHz was an original ZLD frequency, and was used by ZL1ZLD, the amateur radio station at Musick Point, until mid 2013 when amateurs were allocated a new 630 metre band (427-479 kHz).

PhotoID: B_20131028_32110

Steps to Water

PhotoID: B_20131028_32090

Rowboats

PhotoID: B_20131028_32083

Spirit of New Zealand

Spirit of New Zealand featured at the Auckland Tall Ships Festival 2013.

The three-masted barquentine Spirit of New Zealand was commissioned in 1986, and undertakes an annual programme of around 340 days at sea.

She is believed to be probably the world's busiest youth ship. Subject to stringent, on-going maintenance surveys, refits and audits, Spirit of New Zealand is expected to be able to continue operating youth voyages until around 2035.

Source: www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/wawcs0142305/the-ships.html

PhotoID: B_20131026_32050

Cool Chilli

PhotoID: B_20131028_32076

Lord Nelson

Lord Nelson featured at the Auckland Tall Ships Festival 2013.

Lord Nelson is the first tall ship in the world to have been designed and built to be sailed by people of all physical abilities on equal terms – from able-bodied to wheelchair-users.

Her many special facilities enable disabled crewmembers to take an active part in the running of the ship. They include, wide decks for wheelchair users, a speaking compass to enable blind people to helm the ship, power assisted hydraulic steering for those with limited strength and much more.

Source: www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/wawcs0142305/the-ships.html

PhotoID: B_20131026_32011