Nick Thompson
@suthfor.bsky.social
Historian of religion at University of Auckland: Early Modern Christianity, religious violence, and religion in Aotearoa/NZ. Home brewer. Gen X dilettante. Ambulando solvitur.
Poster for a new course at the Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, and seven months to get it ready!
October 13, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Poster for a new course at the Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, and seven months to get it ready!
Garden right now.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
September 8, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Garden right now.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
A praying mantis, which has not yet figured out the art of camouflage, crawling over the winter-red leaves of my blueberry bushes. NB. its piratical black eye. #nzgardening
July 8, 2025 at 3:35 AM
A praying mantis, which has not yet figured out the art of camouflage, crawling over the winter-red leaves of my blueberry bushes. NB. its piratical black eye. #nzgardening
Manu aute (Kite) Day for Matariki on Puketāpapa, Auckland
July 6, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Manu aute (Kite) Day for Matariki on Puketāpapa, Auckland
Last of the summer pomegranates, burst by the midwinter rain. #nzgardens
July 5, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Last of the summer pomegranates, burst by the midwinter rain. #nzgardens
I marked Matariki by giving the roses their winter pruning. These are the stragglers I rescued from the devastation. #Matariki #midwinter
June 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
I marked Matariki by giving the roses their winter pruning. These are the stragglers I rescued from the devastation. #Matariki #midwinter
June 18, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Insofar as Auckland has seasons, this is winter in Auckland #Kikorangi #winter
June 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Insofar as Auckland has seasons, this is winter in Auckland #Kikorangi #winter
My* homage to Francis Bacon's Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953)
*ChatGPT's.
*ChatGPT's.
May 3, 2025 at 11:12 PM
My* homage to Francis Bacon's Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953)
*ChatGPT's.
*ChatGPT's.
Better late than never #hotcrossbuns
April 19, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Better late than never #hotcrossbuns
Necessity is the mother of invention
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
March 21, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Necessity is the mother of invention
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
Four days of summer left, and I have dealt to the fig glut.
Fig jam with lemon and brandy.
Fig jam with lemon and brandy.
February 24, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Four days of summer left, and I have dealt to the fig glut.
Fig jam with lemon and brandy.
Fig jam with lemon and brandy.
By NZ (and later UK) cartoonist Sir David Low (1891-1963) and a bit à propos once again.
February 14, 2025 at 12:43 AM
By NZ (and later UK) cartoonist Sir David Low (1891-1963) and a bit à propos once again.
Rescued from the wasps this morning 🇳🇿🌱
February 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Rescued from the wasps this morning 🇳🇿🌱
Mercer's Loop track and then down to Piha this morning.
I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in West Auckland for 14 years without knowing that this walk was more or less on my doorstep.
I need, as they say, to get out more.
I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in West Auckland for 14 years without knowing that this walk was more or less on my doorstep.
I need, as they say, to get out more.
February 2, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Mercer's Loop track and then down to Piha this morning.
I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in West Auckland for 14 years without knowing that this walk was more or less on my doorstep.
I need, as they say, to get out more.
I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in West Auckland for 14 years without knowing that this walk was more or less on my doorstep.
I need, as they say, to get out more.
First fig of the season 🇳🇿🌱
January 29, 2025 at 10:26 PM
First fig of the season 🇳🇿🌱
Six kilos (5.96 actually, but who's counting) of blueberries picked today. A lot of my gardening career seems to involve things dying on my watch, but blueberries have been very resilient and/or forgiving 🇳🇿🌱
January 19, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Six kilos (5.96 actually, but who's counting) of blueberries picked today. A lot of my gardening career seems to involve things dying on my watch, but blueberries have been very resilient and/or forgiving 🇳🇿🌱
Luisa plums in today's early morning sun. This is a replacement for one of three trees I lost to Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. It's well staked in, but I still feel apprehensive about what La Niña may have in store for us later this summer - or next 🌱🇳🇿
January 14, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Luisa plums in today's early morning sun. This is a replacement for one of three trees I lost to Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. It's well staked in, but I still feel apprehensive about what La Niña may have in store for us later this summer - or next 🌱🇳🇿
I took the first shot of Franz Josef Glacier in December 2024 and the second (slightly closer) shot in December 2010. In the mid-20th century the glacier extended right down the valley shown in the first photo. Not sure how much of this is climate change, but my guess is at least some. #Aotearoa #NZ
January 12, 2025 at 12:46 AM
I took the first shot of Franz Josef Glacier in December 2024 and the second (slightly closer) shot in December 2010. In the mid-20th century the glacier extended right down the valley shown in the first photo. Not sure how much of this is climate change, but my guess is at least some. #Aotearoa #NZ
January 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
West Coast.
Wet Coast.
Two whole days of good camping weather was probably too much to expect
#Christmas #Aotearoa
Wet Coast.
Two whole days of good camping weather was probably too much to expect
#Christmas #Aotearoa
December 20, 2024 at 4:36 AM
West Coast.
Wet Coast.
Two whole days of good camping weather was probably too much to expect
#Christmas #Aotearoa
Wet Coast.
Two whole days of good camping weather was probably too much to expect
#Christmas #Aotearoa
It does stand out. It was closely modelled on the London Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle completed a couple of decades earlier.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
December 4, 2024 at 1:20 AM
It does stand out. It was closely modelled on the London Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle completed a couple of decades earlier.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
Elderflower to elderflower cordial - one of the most refined tastes of summer.
Elderflower grows like a weed in my hometown Dunedin, but Auckland doesn't have the frosts needed to set the seed shat out by birds. I'm grateful you can at least grow the trees from cuttings smuggled north. #nzgardens
Elderflower grows like a weed in my hometown Dunedin, but Auckland doesn't have the frosts needed to set the seed shat out by birds. I'm grateful you can at least grow the trees from cuttings smuggled north. #nzgardens
December 1, 2024 at 9:23 PM
Elderflower to elderflower cordial - one of the most refined tastes of summer.
Elderflower grows like a weed in my hometown Dunedin, but Auckland doesn't have the frosts needed to set the seed shat out by birds. I'm grateful you can at least grow the trees from cuttings smuggled north. #nzgardens
Elderflower grows like a weed in my hometown Dunedin, but Auckland doesn't have the frosts needed to set the seed shat out by birds. I'm grateful you can at least grow the trees from cuttings smuggled north. #nzgardens
I felt a bit conflicted visiting the new University of Auckland recreation centre yesterday. It's a genuinely beautiful facility, but when funding is said to be so tight, it's not hard to imagine more effective ways of providing for student and staff "wellness."
November 29, 2024 at 9:06 PM
I felt a bit conflicted visiting the new University of Auckland recreation centre yesterday. It's a genuinely beautiful facility, but when funding is said to be so tight, it's not hard to imagine more effective ways of providing for student and staff "wellness."