Livissi

Kayaköy, Turkey, April 2003: My first visit to the abandoned Greek village of Livissi in South-West Turkey. A previous post on this location can be found here. Livissi/Kayaköy, is a village 8 km south of Fethiye in southwestern Turkey. In ancient times it was a city of Lycia. Later, Anatolian Greeks lived here until approximately 1922. The ghost […]

The Farm

Inside an abandoned former catholic girls farm/’rehabilitation unit’ I visited in mid 2013. Founded by a French sisterhood in 1953 – “the girls who came into the care of the sisters often had problems that could not be resolved in their normal environment and needed the loving care of others to restore their sense of self-worth.” The […]

The Lost City: part II

Olympos, Turkey, Friday Oct 28th 2005: Two years after first visiting Olympos (in South-West Turkey) I returned. I was part way through an Athens to Cairo overland trip that would take me to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and eventually Egypt. As it turned out I stayed a lot longer than planned… I ran into “Smiley”soon after […]

Bridge to Nowhere

New Zealand, October 2013: This historic abandoned suspension bridge is still hanging together a century after its construction. During most of it’s use (1918-1969) it was toll bridge for this busy agricultural area and the longest suspension bridge in the country- measuring 477 feet (154.39m) between the two concrete towers. Today it still stands defiantly […]

Ararata

Taranaki, NZ, Aug 2014: The country primary school is a rarity these days in New Zealand- at least operating ones are. These shells of former early childhood education dot the landscape- such as this school at Ararata in South Taranaki. Closed in 2000- as most country schools were around this time- Ararata school still stands, the target […]

Inhospitable

Hawera, South Taranaki, NZ, 2011: The final days of the old Hawera Hospital (1925-2012). Demolition was already well underway with at least half the complex already gone. I rigged a compact digital camera onto the hot-shoe of my DSLR to capture on video the state the place and what I was taking photos of- plenty of […]

House on the Hill

Rural legend says this house was transported to it’s spectacular hilltop location sometime in the 1980’s. Allegedly the farmer who owned the property, had intended to renovate the house and make it the family home. Apparently though soon after the building was in place, the couple separated and the man was left to bring up […]

Memorial Cross

Whanganui, NZ, August 2013: For a small country, in population at least- New Zealand has many war memorials. This striking memorial cross near Wanganui commemorates the death of many local country men (both pakeha and Maori)- who fought and lost their lives needlessly in the 1914-1918 war- 18,000 miles away…

The Watchtower of the Plains

Manaia, South Taranaki, NZ, August 2012: The Manaia Redoubt- constructed around 1880 on the site of the former pā Te Takahe- was the response by the local armed constabulary to the passive resistance of the Parihaka chief, Te Whiti, and his followers. The original wooden watchtower (35 feet high)- blown down in a storm and […]