Tuesday 17th July –
SPCA volunteering
Interesting time at volunteering
today. During the last week, for certain reasons that I can’t go into, one of
the main call takers at the centre has resigned. Along with some other predicted resignations
and promotions, this will leave the call centre short-staffed. The Manager,
Kevin, has approached all the volunteers, myself included, to ask about our
plans and to inform us that some paid jobs will be advertised within the next
week or two, consisting of casual roles, part-time or full-time positions.
Hmmmm, I’d only said to Simon the other day how nice it would be if I could get
some part-time work that let me carry on with my voluntary projects whilst
bringing in a little money for us. I think I’ll sleep on it and keep an eye on
my inbox! Interesting times…
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| Cat on a mat |
Meanwhile, it has only taken
three days for Lulu to figure out where the food is coming from and which house
has the heating on… She’s made herself quite at home today. It’s nice to
have a cat in the house again.
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| Trapped under a cat.... it's been a while |
Wednesday 18th July –
Hunua volunteering
The beautiful countryside and
New Zealand weather made me stop in my tracks again on my morning commute today.
As I rolled over the Bombay Hills, a carpet of fog hung mysteriously in the
valley below.
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| I guess possums can climb trees but why make it so hard for them?! |
It nearly made me late for my day’s tramping. I covered
quite a distance today and saw some bait stations hung in some very bizarre
places (left).
Having collected a great deal of weight in bait, me and one other
were stuck in the car park by the falls for ages waiting for our lift out. I thought
I might as well get some more pictures of the stunning falls:
Saturday 21st July –
Kauri day at the Botanic gardens and Nathan Homestead
There’s a very virulent pathogen
attacking one of the most majestic and long-living trees in New Zealand, the
Kauri. There’s a long proper Latin name for the pathogen, but in laymen’s terms
it’s called Kauri dieback disease. It
enters the trees underground into their root systems so by the time a tree is
showing any symptoms, a great deal of harm has already done, and the tree is
effectively starved to death. The
disease is spread by long-living spores relocated in the soil. Just a pinhead
of soil can contain 10,000 of these spores!
Whilst the scientists try to find a cure, Auckland council has closed
the majority of tracks that go anywhere near Kauri trees to try and prevent
humans being responsible for assisting the spread.
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| A bit of science for you..... |
Today the council had organised
a full day of activities to raise public awareness of the disease and the
lengths they are taking to confront it. This consisted of a couple of hours in
the morning at the botanic gardens which was more family-friendly, getting
children to understand the importance of the trees to the whole ecosystem and
planting some seedlings.
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| This cat will curl up anywhere! |
Instead of attending this part
of the day, I had arranged to meet a fellow Wednesday tramper, Robin, and her
daughter Jessica for lunch in the cafe at the gardens. After a tasty bite to eat we made our way
over to Nathan Homestead where there was a joint presentation from five
scientists. They were able to explain
more about the disease before each describing their specific research roles and
the potential for prevention and treatment. It was fascinating. I got right
into it, taking detailed notes, my mind buzzing with unanswered questions about
the research. I can fully understand the importance of people like me cleaning
our walking boots and equipment fully each time we go tramping, but that seems
to be just one part of the issue. Our
beloved Hunua Ranges are still free of this disease and long may that situation
remain. Further drastic action may be required in the not too distant future to
prevent it spreading further.
Sunday 22nd July – CRC
Speedshow at the ASB showgrounds, Auckland
The weather was looking questionable,
but not to be deterred we drove up to the City in the afternoon to attend this
car show. We weren’t sure what to expect but there was a good mix of exhibits
inside and live action out in the arena. We got to inspect some famous vehicles
from TV and the big screen – like Bond cars (below) and the DeLorean from Back to
the Future.
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| The Lotus Espirit from 'The Spy Who Loved Me' |
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| The DeLorean with a Jurassic Park car and Herbie in the background and, below, the controls inside |
Then there were some super cars (Porsche 911, right) before we moved
through to some custom-built trucks and muscle cars that had to be seen to be
believed.
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| A gold car and, below, the crushed velvet gold interior! |
There was also a chance to start dreaming about the potential
to return to our on-the-road lifestyle by checking out some beautiful cars and
caravan combinations.
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| Look at this beautiful matching combination |
Time for a coffee and a sit down
to watch some professional drivers and races in the live action arena. These
guys showed us some extreme close-quarters driving and somehow managed to never
touch.
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| The original Stig (right) being interviewed |
There was also an interview with the original Stig, Perry
McCarthy, who was giving some competition winners a driving lesson. At
the end of the session they introduced a jet car, warning that it would be
loud. Despite the warning, the volume as a jet of flame burst out of the rear
of the car still made me jump out of my skin!
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| Jet car - can't be that loud, right? |
The jets afterburner fired
repeatedly, forcing the car to crawl slowly about 100m across the tarmac. No,
I’m not sure what all that noise and bother was about either!
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| 200 Crown Points and level 2 achieved... whatever that means?! |
Thursday 26th July –
time to celebrate some personal achievements!
Despite wondering if it will
ever come in useful in my life, I am still persevering with my daily Spanish
commitment on Duo Lingo. It won’t mean much to you, but I have reached the
milestone of achieving 200 crown points which basically means that I have
completed 200 different categories and levels. I’ll have to find someone to
talk Spanish with before it all falls out of my head.
It was time for my next weigh-in
at the gym, where I got shock news again! However, this time in a good way – according
to the evil scales I have lost 2.5 kg of fat!! I may have been working hard and
trying to eat a little more healthily, but I was still very pleasantly
surprised by that. I was given a new
program to keep me motivated.
I put in my application to
volunteer for a week on Tiritiri Matangi Island, an NZ bird super-haven, and
even opened us a savings account, so a very productive day all round!
Saturday 28th July –
meeting Simpson Junior
There is a long-standing annual
tradition for rural families and schools in New Zealand called ‘Calf Club’. The idea behind it is to teach children the
responsibility of caring for a young farm animal which culminates in a series
of events in September or October, when the kids bring their lamb, calf kid or
chick along for judging in competitions. Today, I popped over to Angie’s to
meet their new addition for this year. Angie and her son Callum have cared for
a chicken and a calf before, but this year it is their first time to house a
goat. Meet five-day-old Simpson Junior.
They have built him a lovely
pen in the garden with a cosy shelter full of hay but as it was a little nippy
outside they let him inside the house while we had a cup of tea. It looks like
they will have to keep an eye on him in case his taste in furniture gets worse:
But he also gets tired very quickly and enjoyed having a doze on my foot. Extremely cute.
Sunday 29th July –
Waitawa Regional Park
This weekend’s ‘getting Simon
out of the house’’ activity took us to Waitawa Regional Park.
I had missed exploring the reserve during
tree planting sessions, but we timed it just right today to enjoy some sunny
views and walk along the wharf where there were plenty of people fishing. Just in time before the dark clouds gathered and doused us with rain.
I was sent these pics of Studsy
and Ralph who have both successfully made it into the ‘Retired Police Dogs Calendar’
for 2019/2020. Glad they’re both still doing so well.
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