My Town Friday Shoot Out

So the topic this week is "random", huh? On Tuesday I decided to set out with my camera and see if a theme presented itself. I saw a row of pampas grass looking pure white, shining in the sunshine. But do you think I could get a shot of it? No matter how I walked up and down the road, from every angle there was either a power pole or a fence post getting in the way.

Why not embrace the enemy, I think. So my theme today is Power Poles and Fence Posts. Like so many other things they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The fences in my photos are just the ones that got in the way, your every day, down to earth, farm fence. There's nothing aesthetically pleasing about them, there purpose is purely practical.

But one day armed with a camera has changed how I view power poles. They are so much more interesting than I'd given them credit for. From the most humble old pole to the truly magnificent pylons, there are so many different "characters". I know they all serve a practical purpose but some do it with so much more style knowing their purpose is greater than the others and look down on their more humble kin who just carry power to a single house.

This is "my" power pole, the one that brings power to my house, then carries on up the valley to the neighbours' farms. This morning it had its toes in the frost. And I had my bum in the frost a minute before taking the photo! I'd slipped on ice on my back steps and bump, bump, bumped down the three steps, coming to a stop on the frosty ground. Thank heavens there are only three steps!

These serve a very important purpose - they lead to my hairdresser, Tracey.
They do their job - then stop!

Power poles keep the fences company along the sides of the roads.

A humble rural power pole dwarfed by the higher purpose pylons.

There are lots of pylons around Ruakaka. The green building in the background is the old Power Station which has now been sold off and will be transported overseas somewhere (can't remember where - was it Pakistan?) to burn coal.

The power lines criss cross the road leading to the power station

go thisa way and thata way

The old power station seen through the security fence (even some fences have a higher purpose!)

The serious end.

Sky lines

The 13 sentinels that watch over the Marsden Point Oil Refinery port,
allowing the tankers to load and unload at night.

At nearby Marsden Cove the pretty blue power poles show off in front of the sentinels.


Hope you can make out the pylons as they march on and on, heading north

And at the end of the day, the power poles and fences continue to do their job.
Serving us well.