The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane road bridge over the Waitemata Harbour, joining Freemans Bay in Auckland City with Northcote in North Shore City, New Zealand. It spans a total distance of 1.15 km with a main span of 243.8 m, rising 43.27 m above high water.

Prior to construction of the bridge, the quickest way of getting from Auckland to the North Shore was via one of the regular passenger or vehicular ferries. By road, the shortest route was through West Auckland via Riverhead and Albany, a distance of over 40 kilometres.

Severe traffic congestion at peak time remains a major issue (and has led to the bridge sometimes being referred to as "The Car Strangled Spanner" in a parody of the national anthem of the United States of America).

The bridge took four years to build and was opened on May 30, 1959 by Prime Minister Sidney Holland, with four lanes of traffic, two in each direction. Four men were killed during construction, and their names are recorded on a memorial plaque underneath the bridge at the Northcote end.

Auckland International Airport (IATA: AKL, ICAO: NZAA) is the largest and busiest international airport in New Zealand serving over 12 million passengers a year. The airport is located in Mangere, a western suburb of Manukau City, and is 21 km south of Auckland city centre. It is the central hub for Air New Zealand.

Auckland airport is one of New Zealand’s most important infrastructure assets – it provides thousands of jobs for the region, is the country’s second-largest cargo port by value, contributes around $14 billion to the economy, and brings over four million visitors to New Zealand each year. Around 70% of international travellers arrive or depart here.

In terms of total passenger numbers, it is the fourth largest in Australasia, after Kingsford Smith International Airport (Sydney), Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) and Brisbane International Airport (Eagle Farm). However, as both the CEO of Auckland Airport and the Prime Minister of New Zealand have recently noted, it is second largest airport in Australasia in terms of high-yield international passengers, being around 50% larger than Melbourne Airport.

330 feet long palm leaf in labyrinth.

Send by: TomG

Circular saw shaped building.

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Marina Dalmacija - beautifull marina in Zadar, Croatia

Send by: Milan Tepes

Split (Italian: Spalato, Latin: Spalatum, Greek: Aspalathos) is the largest and most important city in Dalmatia, the administrative center of Croatia's Split-Dalmatia County. It is situated on a small peninsula on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea. The majority of its citizens are Croats: 95.15% (2001 census).

Split is situated on a peninsula between the eastern part of the Gulf of Kastela and the Split Channel. A hill, Marjan (178 m), rises in the western part of the peninsula. The ridges Kozjak (780 m) and Mosor (1,330 m) protect the city from the north and northeast, and separate it from the hinterland. Split has a Mediterranean climate: hot, dry summers (maximum air temperature in July reaches 36°C) and warm, wet winters (average annual rainfall is 900 mm). Split is one of the sunniest places in Europe. Vegetation is of the evergreen Mediterranean type, and subtropical flora (palm-trees, agaves, cacti) grow in the city and its surroundings. Marjan is covered with a cultivated forest.

Poreč (Italian Parenzo, Latin Parens or Parentium, archaic German: Parenz), is a city and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria county, Croatia.

Poreč is almost 2,000 years old, and is based on a harbour protected from the sea by the small island of Sveti Nikola (Saint Nicholas). The city's population of approximately 12,000 resides mostly on the outskirts, while the Poreč region as a whole has a population of approximately 17,000 inhabitants. The city area covers 142 km², with the 37 km long shoreline stretching from the Mirna river near Novigrad-Cittanova to Funtana-Fontana and Vrsar-Orsera in the south.

The local climate is extremely mild, free of oppressive summer heat. The month of August is the hottest, averaging 30° C in conditions of low humidity, while January is the coldest with an average of 5° C. There are more than 2400 hours of sun insolation a year, an average of more than 10 hours of sunshine during the summer days. Sea temperatures can reach 28° C, higher than one might expect compared to the coast of southern Croatia where the air temperatures are higher. The average annual rainfall of 920 mm is equally distributed throughout the year. Winds here are "Bora", bringing the cold, clear weather from the north in the winter, and "Jugo" (jug = south in Croatian) or "Scirocco", warm wind from the south bringing rain. The summer breeze that blows from the land to the sea is called the "Maestral".

Rodeo Drive (pronounced Spanish: "ro-DAY-oh") is a famous three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops in Beverly Hills, California, United States. It is known as one of the most expensive shopping districts in the world. The center divide on this street was a horse path until the early 1950s, thus the name, but the shopping district as presently constituted developed in the 1970s. The business district, though small, is at once an exclusive shopping district, but also a major tourist attraction. The "Rodeo Drive" business district also includes those businesses on the streets that lie for a few blocks in either direction. Some of the more famous retailers include Giorgio Armani, BCBG Max Azria, Bally, Bijan, BVLGARI, Burberry, Gucci, Cartier, Celine, Chanel, Christian Dior, Coach, Dolce and Gabbana, Fendi, Geary's, Harry Winston, Hermes, Lacoste, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sergio Rossi, St. John, Tiffany & Co., Tod's, Valentino, Versace, and Yves Saint-Laurent.