djb

would love to drive one once. They were are pretty neat cars, engineered with some pretty neat simple ideas.

str

Tibilisi Georgia

Mr. Wiggles

Ran across this roadside gargoyle in the middle of nowhere - 15 miles north of Pittsboro NC

indyfabz

Only very sketchy information about the one-time Krensica Arboretum on line.

Mr. Wiggles

It’s pretty sketchy at the site as well. Two gargoyles guard the overgrown entrance. There’s a locked chain connecting them with plenty of “No Trespassing” signs. You can see what was once a driveway snaking its way through the trees and heavy undergrowth. I have no idea what it was like when open.

stardognine

You sure that doesn't say sanitarium? 🤔 That's the main purpose of gargoyles, keeping the crazy folks in line. 🙄😉

str

Georgia, Caucasus

Happy Feet

Great pixs str. That second one with the bike on the horse is superb. Good composition and it tells the story of what's happening.

stardognine

Agree. 👍 It also catches that weird mountain shadow thing, from the clouds. Hard to describe. 😎

tspoon

Some pictures from a just completed trip around the central North Island, NZ. The winter weather makes for fairly moody looking landscapes.

djb

oi, Mr Teaspoon, are those Kiwi mountains?
The third shot down and those very cool looking sculpted ones are very very neat.
I like riding in mountainous areas, so the shots really caught my eye.
cheers

tspoon

Haha they're just hills, although they felt like mountains at times. I think the greatest elevation from that trip was ~ 950m. You'll notice lots of my photos get taken halfway up a hill, it's easier to say "what a great spot for a picture", than "oh god, I'm too old for this hill" .

djb

very pretty hills though. Remind me of some hills I passed in Mexico last year. A local told me that they called these ones "the seashell hills", which was a perfect name for them dont you think?

but hey, "there's always another hill" isnt there.

djb

for the Kiwi, this is why it jogged the memory cells....boring photo, but similar shapes

str

thanks!

djb

stefan, hope the music turned you on as much as it apparently did the accordianist ;-)

str

here )

https://vimeo.com/354352341

djb

Thanks, was fun to hear.
Boys and drinking eh? The same in so many countries.

tspoon

A couple more from the last day. on SH43, the only State Highway with gravel sections left in NZ (not for much longer, funding is now allocated to seal the last section)

djb

very lush environment, again reminds me of some Central American places.
and pretty cool tunnel too.

an aside, as a Kiwi, what is your take (in general) on the view that Kiwi drivers are fast and aggressive? The Kiwis that I know here are super lovely people, but very much in the "gotta get there, foot down" sort of drivers. When we've talked about this, they figure that as people often have to drive a lot, and there aren't a ton of roads, folks have the tendency to very much "just get on with it" and hammer along, and this and perhaps narrow roads, can make for dodgy riding places for cycling tourists--in other words, one must choose routes carefully as a cyclist.

your thoughts?

Stadjer

You can rent them. In France but also in Belgium. It's a brilliant design in it's simplicity, they are fun to drive because you're very much involved in operating a machine and they are surprisingly good in the mountains. They have been in production for about 50 years so the ones left have different colour schemes from different era's. They are probably quite safe in a collision with another Citroen 2CV.

str

tspoon

Unfortunately it is somewhat true, which is why I generally head for the back roads. People do seem to chill out a little bit on country roads, perhaps because they aren't roads you'd choose to get from point A to point B quickly anyway.

djb

that made me smile....

djb

thanks for the comment. Kinda confirms the view I already had.
cheers