Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wellington, New Zealand

Another pictorial postmark from New Zealand. This time it's Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. The postmark has an image of the Wellington cable car on it. The cable car has been in operation since 1902 and provides access to the Wellington suburb of Kelburn.


Bjørnøya, Norway

Bjørnøya or Bear Island is the southern most island in the Svalbard archipelago. It's about half way between the Norway mainland and Spitsbergen, the main island of the Svalbard island group. In 2002 the entire island was declared a nature reserve and the only people living on the island are the personnel who operate the  weather station.


At one time the post office at the weather station was using a pictorial postmark with an image of an arctic loon on it.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Indonesia

Komodo National Park encompasses an area of over 1800 sq-km and includes the islands of Komodo, Rinca and Padar. It protects the habitat of the komodo dragon and is also a UNESCO world heritage site. Thanks Irene.




Friday, August 3, 2012

Whanganui, New Zealand

Whanganui is a city near the mouth of the Whanganui river on the south shore of New Zealand's North Island. New Zealand post has their "Collectibles and Solutions" center there, where they fulfill orders and carry out other philatelic services.


The postmark on this cover has an image of a steamship on it. At one time these were used on the Whanganui river for passenger and cargo transportation. The image on this postmark might be of the PS Waimarie: a restored paddle steamer that now offers tourist cruises on the Whanganui river.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Lyon, France


The French Olympic stamp without the Olympic logo (apparently a few stamp issuing nations followed this trend) and a pair of stamps featuring the legendary Edith Piaf and Miles Davis. Thanks Eric!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

London Olympic Postmarks

A couple of 2012 Olympic postmarks from Royal Mail. Both are available from the London SHC for a full year with the E20 postmark from 27 July 2012 to 26 July 2013 and the W2 postmark from 5 Jan 2012 to 4 Jan 2013.