Turuturu

Hawera, Taranaki, NZ, Dec 2012: The historic Maori pa site of Turuturumōkai, as of mid 2012 was in a terrible state of neglect. However in the duration, a group of local volunteers have taken it upon themselves to return this important maori (and pakeha) archaological site to how it used to look. It’s fantastic that […]

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Battersea

Battersea, London, 1999: Some exterior photos of the Battersea Powerstation– late 99. This iconic London structure is arguably the most recognisable face of British industrial architecture today. Famous for its Pink Floyd album cover (with the flying pig)- Battersea Powerstation is also a bit of an urban exploration mecca.

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WT

Bulls, Rangitikei, NZ, March 2012: This iconic water tower at Bulls, has been a well known landmark on SH1 for half a century or so. Looking like a cross between a mushroom and a UFO, it’s always been a favorite structure of mine on the road between Taranaki and Wellington.

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Pyro

Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which an individual repeatedly and deliberately starts fires- in order to relieve tension, for gratification or for relief. The term pyromania comes from the Greek word πῦρ (‘pyr’, fire). This was just one of a dozen buildings torched by a pyromaniac over a single weekend two years ago. […]

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Tokaora

Taranaki, NZ, September 2012: Unlike all the other abandoned schools I’ve photographed, this one has a happy ending… Tokaora school- which has been empty for at least a decade- now has new pupils. A nearby school had to move premises, so have given this little country school a new lease of life…

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The Hejaz Railway – part 1

Syria, November 2005:  When I learnt that the Hejaz Railway was actually still operational, I knew I had to ride it. I’d always admired David Lean’s classic 1962 film “Lawrence of Arabia”-and to actually ride the rails that T.E.Lawrence and his band of Arab rebels had so successfully attacked and destroyed- well it just had to […]

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The Convent

This former Catholic girls boarding school and convent was closed in the mid 1980’s. The buildings have been used for a variety of purposes over the years (including featuring in a couple of Peter Jackson films), but it has now been deemed unsafe and closed indefinately. Although carrying the Historic Places Trust’s highest heritage protection […]

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