Colourful Murals
This post will take you to a few different places, thanks to my archives.
The following slideshow of photos were taken along a shared pathway in Brisbane’s outer suburbs. We rode our bikes along here most days while we were in the area and loved finding different murals each time. Use the arrows to move through them.
A selection of bright murals
The following photos were taken in various parts of New Zealand including Dunedin, Napier and Kawakawa and who could forget the living mural of bras at Cardrona.
Napier Murals
Kawakawa and Dunedin Murals
Thongs and bras in New Zealand
Prolific thongs 
Lots of bras at Cardrona in New Zealand
Some posts I wrote while travelling in New Zealand
The first known use of the term of endearment Debz
I’ve been called Debs or Debz for quite some time now but when did it start?
I know the topic is Colourful Murals, but I was desperate to find this photo, of the first time I remember Debz being used.
I found the photo!! Back in 2006 we had a special birthday get together for our daughters’ birthdays, as they were turning 23, 21 and 18 and they were all in the same country – bonus! I organised a weekend in Sydney for all of us, together with their boyfriends, and I remember putting a lot of effort into the itinerary. I’m happy to say the weekend went off splendidly!
On our way back from dinner one night, we went through a tunnel known for its graffiti wall and we all lined up to leave a message – and this was done by one of the gang. It’s the first known use of Debz and I’m happy to say from then on it became a term of endearment which the girls all use to this day. I am known as Granny Debs now as well!
My Twitter handle is still @wonderwomandebz and I remember my work colleagues getting in on the action too.
The photo itself isn’t anything spectacular, (as I’m sure you’ll agree), but it’s very special to me and deserves to be included in my mural post!
(Aside: You don’t want to know how long I have been looking for this particular photo, and what we found in the process of looking – let’s just say oh the memories and leave it at that!)
Is there a link between murals and graffiti, do you think?
I’d love to know what your favourite image is from my selection!
Terri is having a break from #SundayStills this week, and Natalie has kindly taken over hosting duties. Make sure you visit Natalie to see her post and her wonderful photos. It’s always interesting to see what others are posting for the prompts too.
Next week Sunday Stills is Going Back, hosted by Terri.
Thanks for stopping by and take care!
Debbie 🙂
All my Sunday Stills posts can be found here
Recent posts:
- Bonjour Noumea, it’s been a while!
- Autumn Colours in Tumbarumba
- Re-grouping as the years move on #SundayStills
- An Apple a Day and all that! #WOYP
- It’s the little things that count #SundayStills
You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.
Everyone has a story to tell!
Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here
Copyright © 2021 debs-world.com – All rights reserved
Deb's World 
Glad you found the photo you were looking for. My sister had a favorite photo of her 3 year old son shortly before he died and misplaced it. She looked all over the house for a long time with no luck. Then one day she was standing in the closet and it fell to the floor!! We believe Andrew, her son, sent it to her.
Beautiful murals. The koala looks so realistic!! That frog is a pretty casual fellow…just hangin’ out.
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Hi Leslie, what a lovely story about your sister finding that photo of her son! I’m so glad it happened that way too. Yes the koala and frog were fantastic murals.
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Yes, I’m late to the SS party, Debz (heehee) but I wanted to read a few of the ones shared while on my break. You managed to find a ton of street art and cool murals. Those ones in Napier are amazing! Honestly, I never see anything like this unless I go to some of the central cities downtowns, but here in my rural heaven, I might see some graffiti. I suppose I could stop by the railyard to look at the train graffiti in downtown Spokane…or not. BTW, I love that you found an image of your nickname–pretty cool, and I’m sure worth looking for. Thank for the mention in your post and have a wonderful week!
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Hi Terri, thanks for popping by, I hope your break was enjoyable! I think the murals in New Zealand were exceptional and I’m glad I could collate them all in this SS post.
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Hey Debs, Great post. I learned a little bit more about my friends. Your murals turned out great. It’s nice to see different murals around the world. Were the thongs and bras a public display of art? If so, don’t forget to link this to PPAC #13, hosted by Cee this week. She’s taking my week to give me another bit of a break. 🙂
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Thanks Marsha. Yes the bras and thongs were a public art display so I’ll try to link up. Enjoy your break!
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There you go. I’d love to have you link up. 🙂
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Hi, Deb (Debz) 😀 :
I absolutely LOVE street art and murals. The ones that you have showcased here are particularly stunning! Thank you for sharing them on #SundayStills.
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Yes the street art is always a joy to see when out and about! Glad you joined me to view them 🙂
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Those crazy old photos are a time suck hey!! Neat story and definitely cool to add it in. My fav photo – the bright coloured octopus.
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A huge time-suck BernieLynne but it would have bothered me for ages if I didn’t go looking for it! Yes the octopus is pretty special!
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Eclectic and colourful photos, Deb. Darn, I missed the bras in New Zealand.🙂 I ‘get it’ on hunting down a photo and coming across a myriad of interesting things. I recall seeing the alien-like spheres in N.Z.. Now I will have to refresh my memory on what they are called. Thank you for sharing an interesting and fun post. xx
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Thanks so much Erica, I love getting your comments as I value your photography and your opinions so much. The Moraki Boulders were the big stones in New Zealand, they were amazing weren’t they? I had fun putting this together. I’m sure the bras are still there, so on your next visit maybe!
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That’s a fantastic series of murals in different regions, Debz (love that story). I find that the murals down under are of really high quality (except maybe the Debz one :-)) compared to other city art I have witnessed. The wildlife collection is amazing and it’s hard to pick any favorites. I think graffiti became street art when the paintings became more organized, themed, and performed by artists.
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Thanks Liesbet, it’s interesting to see you think the murals downunder are of a high quality. I love the animal ones too. People are very clever!
By the way I’ve since put a review on Amazon for your book!
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These were beautiful Deb…wow. And I love the story about Debz! I would say murals are intentional and with approval, with the purpose of sharing art and a story, grafitti if intentional but done with no thought to damage, with the purpose of just being destructive. I don’t know, I could be wrong. Some grafitti is well done and I think, why don’t they channel that talent somewhere productive. Or maybe someone was commisioned to do a piece with a more “grafitti” vibe. Hmmm..
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Thanks Kirstin, the Debz story was fun to remember and I’m glad I found the photo! Yes graffiti is an interesting concept and I like your thoughts on it.
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Wow, so many wonderful murals. Love the frog, the koalas and the kookaburras.
Thanks for participating in Monday Murals and hope to see you again Debbie.
Oh, and how amazing to find the old photo of your Sydney “mural” 🙂
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Thanks Sami, the animals are so well done aren’t they? Great to join in with you.
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Your collection of murals is really impressive! So many interesting themes and colorful interpretations. It’s fun to look back and think about all the varied ways to paint a wall! I wonder how many remain in place.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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Thanks Mae, I had fun remembering the times we spent travelling and finding these murals.
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Fabulous murals, Deb. Toni x
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Thanks Toni, so many clever people out there!
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What an incredible amount of beautiful murals. Those Napier murals are beautiful, as is the frog. I really enjoyed reading about Debz, too.
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Napier was fabulous for its murals. Thanks for visiting and glad you enjoyed this selection.
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You’ve got a wonderful collection of murals, Deb and I’m glad that you found the ‘Debz’ photo. I like the frog and the parrot. The murals in NZ are beautiful, too. Thank you for linking up with #SundayStills.
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Thanks Natalie, I had fun finding them and sharing in this post. The frog was spectacular and considering it was on a toilet block, I enjoyed it even more!
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Beautiful murals! You asked about murals and graffiti… I have many, many pictures of gorgeous murals in Mexico. Sadly, so many of them are marred (in my opinion) by random graffiti. I don’t understand the need to do that.
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Thanks Janis, I get what you say about graffiti spoiling murals. I never why they do that either.
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I love the frog.
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These are wonderful, something for Monday Mural as well
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Is there a Monday Mural?
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Yes it’s by Sami at Colourfulworld but it’s a blog spot one, a link though linky..I’ll try and send you a link
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https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/?m=1
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Thanks so much Ali. I’ll check it out!
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Oh wow. Look at those murals. I now know a lot of people who live in NZ because of head and neck cancer..the FB support group is based there and I saw lots of place names I was familiar with on your post. I don’t know the geographical areas though. I was hard pressed to think of any, til I actually looked…and then I did. Great to know of your history with your name, and the photo. But honestly, what a “pain” it is to find an Old Photo! I just spent aged trying to find a photo of our then 4 yo daughter with her Abba Bag…did it. And go you, I must look at Terri’s blog to see the next set of prompts too. Denyse
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It was so hard to find a particular photo Denyse but I knew it was there somewhere and I found it!! The murals in NZ were all fabulous and we got into a bit of a habit of looking out for them and taking photos. It was good to put them all together in this post. Your post was great too!
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Gorgeous.
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Thanks Cindy, it was fun putting this together!
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