Travelsmartplanet

You just never know who you might meet when you travel. This wooden sculpture of a male is inside the Arataki Visitor Centre and Himione Heketarere is carved on the bottom.

Tags: Arataki, Arataki Visitor Centre, Auckland, Centre, city, Heketarere, Himione, Himione Heketarere, local, male, Nature, nature trail, nature walk, New Zealand, NZ, outdoors, range, regional park, scenery, sculpture, sights, sightseeing, south, Tasman, Tasman Ocean, tour, tourist, travelblogger, visitor, visitor centre, Waitakere, Waitakere ranges, Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, wood, wooden

From the Arataki Visitor Centre in Waitakere, you can see the Hauraki Gulf (Pacific), Rangitoto, and north past Auckland city centre. If you gaze south past Auckland Airport, you’ll glimpse the Bombay Hills and west will lead your eyes to Manukau Harbour (Tasman Ocean).

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Outside the Arataki Visitor Centre in Waitakere NZ, you can often see a local bug, the Weta in this hotel especially built for them. The second image is what they look like. Wetas are over 100 million years old (they knew the dinosaurs!) and haven’t changed much in all that time.

Tags: Arataki, Arataki Visitor Centre, Auckland, bug house, bugs, Centre, hotel, local, local bug, Nature, nature trail, New Zealand, NZ, outdoors, range, regional park, sights, sightseeing, tourist, travelblogger, visitor, visitor centre, Waitakere, Waitakere ranges, Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, Weta

This impressive 11-metre high pou (post) stands outside the Arataki Visitor Centre as a guardian to the centre and Waitakere ranges. The whakairo (carvings) are carved from Kauri trees by Te Kawerau Maki, the local mana whenua (guardians of the land). The story it tells is of their ancestors.

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We love the contrasts of architectural styles as we walk through cities. This one’s in Seattle, WA.

Tags: architectural, architecture, building, city, city of seattle, cityscape, downtown, downtown Seattle, edifice, emerald city, evergreen state, high rise, historical, History, modern, pacific northwest, PNW, Seattle, Seattle Center, Seattle history, sights, sightseeing, street scene, streetscape, style, tour, tourist, touristy, travelblogger, Washington, Washington State

Even way back in 1909, the city of Seattle made sure to honor Chief Seattle, its namesake, with this fountain.

Tags: attraction, Chief Seattle, city of seattle, city view, downtown, downtown Seattle, fountain, History, honor, namesake, New Seattle, old Seattle, pacific northwest, PNW, Seattle, sights, sightseeing, street, tour, tourist, touristy, travelblogger, Washington, Washington State

Poster reminding us who lived here first. “Chief Seattle Now the Streets are our Home”

Tags: attraction, Chief Seattle, city view, district, downtown, downtown Seattle, History, New Seattle, old Seattle, pacific northwest, PNW, poster, Seattle, sights, sightseeing, signage, street, tour, tourist, touristy, travelblogger, Washington, Washington State

“Far away brothers and sisters we still remember you” is a poster found in downtown Seattle.

Tags: attraction, city view, district, downtown, downtown Seattle, fire, glass, glass square, Great Seattle Fire, light, New Seattle, old Seattle, pacific northwest, pavement, PNW, purple, Seattle, sights, sightseeing, tour, tourist, touristy, travelblogger, underground, Washington, Washington State

The purple glass squares were set into the pavement to shed light on the city below the city. New Seattle was built on top of old Seattle when a fire destroyed the central business district on June 6, 1889.

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Seattle’s history of architecture styles can sometimes be glimpsed all at once.

Tags: architectural design, architecture, building, cityscape, downtown, downtown Seattle, emerald city, evergreen state, History, pacific northwest, PNW, Seattle, Seattle Center, Seattle history, sights, sightseeing, street scene, streetscape, style, tour, tourist, touristy, travelblogger, Washington, Washington State