Author Archives: RDoug

About RDoug

Published author, amateur photographer, amateur astronomer, expert bridge player, gourmet cook and wine connoisseur, handguns, extensively traveled.

January 10, 2021 · 4:00 pm

Postponement of This Week’s Series of New Zealand Articles

Recent events have overtaken even this blog. As such, this week’s continuation of my series on circumnavigating New Zealand is now rescheduled to resume on Monday, 18 January 2021.

I cannot in good conscience continue as though nothing has happened, for indeed something profound, historic, and devastating to our nation and our international standing did in fact occur. Therefore, for the first week since I started this blog nine years ago, there will not be the usual three or more articles. Instead, the entire week will consist of just one featured letter.

That letter is one I wrote to my Senator, the disgraceful and disgraced Ted Cruz of Texas. Tomorrow you shall have an opportunity to read precisely what I told Senator Cruz as to his culpability in last week’s insurrection, and his complete and total abrogation of his responsibilities to himself, his family, to the oath he took, his position in the United States Senate, his country, and to the Constitution of the United States of America.

My apologies to those of you who were looking forward to the continuation of my New Zealand series, but it shall return in just eight days.

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Filed under Author, Opinion Piece, R. Doug Wicker, Writing

Tagged as Capitol building attack, editorial, insurrection, opinion piece, R. Doug Wicker, sedition, Ted Cruz

January 8, 2021 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Napier Favorites 2

It’s Fun Photo Friday, and here are my Part 2 picks of Napier favorites:

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Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Tagged as Fun Photo Friday, Majestic Princess, Napier, New Zealand, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, vacation

January 6, 2021 · 5:35 am

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Napier Architectural Detail

Believe it or not, Napier is known as the Art Deco Capital of the World (although, for my money, Miami Beach deserves a shot at that title as well). You may think that strange that a city founded in the middle of the 19th century would find fame in the Art Deco movement that came to prominence in the 1930s, but there’s a reason.

This seeming incongruity derives from an event that occurred on 3 February 1931 — the devastating Magnitude 7.9 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake that pretty much laid waste to the entire downtown area.

Not all building in this area feature this architecture, however. For instance, here is the decidedly more modern Napier Civic Administration Building:

Here’s a closeup view of that mosaic-looking design feature:

This building is located on Hastings Street, about 1,200-foot/360-meter walk south of the main downtown area. And as you head south, if you turn around and look at the south-facing side of the Civic Administration building, you’ll see this rather striking mural:

Another non-Art Deco feature I found was this unusual wood façade adornment at the corner of Hastings at Albion:

Before heading back north to downtown, I’d like to show you a couple of artistic features from our previous excursion along Napier Beach and Marine Parade: