On Saturday 2nd
February I went out to Port Waikato to go dotterel monitoring with DOC ranger,
Hannah. It was a lovely walk and bird
watch, apart from having to put a seagull out of its misery with a hefty piece
of wood!
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| View along the road to Port Waikato |
Sunday 3rd February – We
visited Clevedon markets and had a lovely day at Maraitai beach whilst we
enjoyed a heatwave from Australia giving us lots of continuous hot weather.
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| Enjoying the extended summer at Maraetai beach |
Wednesday 6th February
– It was a bank holiday for Waitangi Day. We waited for late afternoon for the
temperature to drop a little to walk up Clevedon hill for 360-degree views:
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| Above and below; views from the Clevedon lookout |
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| The Smyths smashing it in Auckland |
14th February – The
Smyths cover band visited Auckland for the first time! I had been waiting for this gig for ages as
this is my favourite cover band. Imagine
a band that you’d actually rather see than the original members and that’s what
I’m talking about. The Smiths’ music played to perfection without having to
deal with band member issues or Morrissey in the flesh! They were sooooo good. Sadly, Simon missed
out as he was feeling very poorly and so it turned out to be a girls’ night
with Mags and her other friend called Ruth. Very rare for me to meet another Ruth
in such a select group!
15th February – Tortie
at the SPCA
A bonus to going into the office.... the centre cats are cute, this one is, not very imaginatively, known as 'Tortie':
17th February –
Pukekohe agricultural show. We felt that
we should go and see what our local show was all about and it was a fantastic
Kiwi experience! Where else in the world can you find a sheep shearing
competition, sheep racing and axe throwing.
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| Competitive sheep-shearing - a spectator sport |
As well as encouraging kids
to have a go at milking and naming the cuts on a sheep! |
| Gotta love a John Deere! |
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| Place your bets! |
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| The runners and riders! |
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| Cattle-showing |
18th February – I am
still going to volunteer at bird rescue weekly to visit my pals like Zambesi:
I learnt about one of my weak
areas through my recent interview experiences.
I need to start learning plant species!!
Not just the good ones, but the invasive ones too. I may be more into the animal and especially
bird side of conservation, but it is clear to me now that I need to expand my
knowledge to include the New Zealand flora if I am going to succeed in the
conservation field here.
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| Plant revision.... |
27th February – back
in the Hunuas, look at this awesome stick insect that visited us at Piggott’s’
hut:
