New Country or Entity # 262 and More Great Cards

Hello again, thanks for dropping by. Well, it's been over a year , last March in fact, since I added a card from a new country or stamp issuing entity. At that time it was Guinea, # 261. Today, it is (drum roll please) Penrhyn Island, of the Northern Cook Islands. So Penrhyn is # 262.
Penrhyn Island is the most remote and largest atoll of the cook Islands.in the south Pacific Ocean. The land area is 9.84 sq km  , with a maximum elevation less than 5 m . The population in 2001 was 351 but by 2011 it had decreased to only 213 inhabitants. ( Make no wonder it was so difficult to get a card from there these past number of years ) .
Penrhyn has two villages , Omoka  - the main one and Te tautua - with a population of just 50 or so. Early Polynesian settlers called Penrhyn " Tongareva - a name still in use today- meaning " South of the empty space ".   The modern name of Penrhyn comes from the ship , Lady Penrhyn which passed by the island on 8 August 1788.  So here's the bird's eye view of Penrhyn .

David used 2 stamps from a 2013 Definitive set of 12 Fish.

Now I can knock another one of my list of places from which I still need a posted card sent to me. The list is slowly getting smaller. With Penryhn out of the way, I have just 12 countries or entities left , so just in case you're jetting off soon  to any of these obscure places , here they are : Australian Antarctic Territory, Central African Republic, Congo ( Democratic Republic ) , Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niuafoóu,  Sierre Leone, South Sudan,  Tokelau Islands, and of course South Ossetia and Transniestra. So come on all you intrepid travellers and Travelers' Century Club members and 1.3 million Virtual Tourists out  there who seem to be going everywhere, drop me a postcard from wherever and hopefully it'll be one of the twelve listed above. I know there are collectors out there that use a somewhat different list than me and have received cards from some really obscure places and those are the ones for a rainy day after I have the aforementioned missing twelve. 

A card from The Island of Jersey is next. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, between England and France. An independent, English-speaking territory with a mix of British and French cultures, it’s known for its beaches, walking trails along cliffs and inland valleys, as well as its defensive castles. On Jean Pierre's card we can see Elizabeth Castle from the air. Below the castle are Grosnez castle, Tesson Mill and a WW2 German Tower. Jersey was occupied by the Germans for 5 years during World War !!. Strangly, Jersey is not part of the United Kingdom but the U.K. is responsible for the defence of Jersey, should it ever become necessary again.  

Jean Pierre used a couple of quite recent stamps here. On the left is a Europa Think Green stamp . It is from a set of 4 issued this year. On the right is a 2015 Shield Definitive from a set of 11. 

Next are 3 cards sent by Mike and Ashley of West Chester , PA, USA.First is an overhead view of Citizens Bank Park, home of Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies. This 43,500 seat ballpark opened its gates for its first official game on April 12, 2004. The ballpark was built to replace the now demolished Veterans Stadium. More than baseball can take place here - on Jan 2 , 2012 the park hosted the fifth annual NHL Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers before a SRO crown of 46,967. 

Mike & Ashley used stamps from the same set on each of their 3 cards. The new U.S. Planets set of this year. They are a really great set of 8 showing the planets. On this card it's Neptune and Uranus. Also you can see the 2015 Additional Ounce Penguin stamp. 

My second card from Mike & Ashley gives us a view of a number of New Jersey Lighthouses which have guarded mariners sailing the Atlantic Ocean and intercoastal waterways for more than a century. The lights shown are Barnegat, Cape May, Navesink, Sandy Hook and Absecon. I'm sure all you lighthouse postcard collectors out there will enjoy this card. 

Planets Saturn and Jupiter arrived on this card. 

Here's their 3rd card. It's one they picked up on their recent trip to Spain and Italy. It a view of the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, Majorca, Spain. Construction on the cathedral was started in 1229 but wasn't finished until 1601. 

Venus and Mercury arrived on this card. That makes 6 of the 8 in this set. I am missing just Earth and Mars. This Planets set is really a great set, with quite striking views of all 8 planets. 

  

On my next card we can see a pasta restaurant in Port Grimaud. The village is located in southeastern France, on the French Riviera. 

This is another card from Meelis and here the stamps show Saosnoice cows and a Gallic Rooster.  The Gallic Rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France as a Nation, as opposed to Marianne representing France as a State and the Republic. You can even find a Gallic Rooster atop the garden gate of the Elysee Palace in Paris. 

To end of today, I have 2 more cards sent by David from 2 more of the South Pacific stops of his recent trip. First is a card from Funafuti, Tuvalu. Formally known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu is located midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its total land area is just 26 sq km. Here's an aerial view of timeless Tuvalu.  

David used 2 stamps from a 2012 Fish Definitive set of 12.

Now here's the final card for today. It comes from Niue, located 2400 km northeast of New Zealand. Niue is a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand. Its population is around 1190. On David's card we see Matapa Chasm, a favorite swimming hole for the kings of Niue.

On this one David used a 2012 stamp featuring a shell. It is from a set of 4 , all featuring Sea Shells.

That's it for this time. A good bunch of cards and stamps. Thanks for them , go out to David, Jean Pierre, Meelis and Mike & Ashley. I just have to say again, it feels great to knock another country / stamp issuing entity of the list. Take care now and do come back again.