A favourite on my walk: this lone chestnut coloured fungus. It was the only fungus I noticed on the whole walk.
The 'green' walk was the furthest and hardest at Wai o Tapu, with so many stairs. My calves were sore for days!
At Wai o Tapu the Artist's Palette certainly had water and steam aplenty. I could see a red colour around the edges.
Hmmm. Guess the gender of the CHAT GPT personality — Introducing GPT-4o:
24:46: BARRETT ZOPH: The reason I'm in a good mood is we are doing a presentation showcasing how useful and amazing you are.
24:50: CHAT GPT: Oh stop it, you're making me blush.
The push towards stereotypes …
This morning's Gong Mei, 'Royal Tribute Eyebrow' white tea is perfect to start the day:
Flavour: soft & sweet, floral and citrus … made famous in the Qing dynasty in China, being served within the imperial court. It is made from the Cai Cha cultivar and is a two or three leaf and a bud pluck.
Good reminders in this 13 minute video: The #1 Most Important Exposure Rule You Should Follow, and How You Can Apply it in Your Photography by Dan Bailey.
Yesterday, after our few days away, I was absolutely wiped out — had zero energy, was so sleepy. I just went with it.
Today I've been a domestic powerhouse: washed and dried two loads of laundry, made a batch of muesli, made beef stew, washed dishes. I also went for a bike ride / beach walk. 🤠
A couple of days ago I visited Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It was a warm sunny day after a cold start, and the skies were mainly clear blue. I did all 3 walks — there were many steps on tracks 2 and 3.
We might have missed the aurora, but we were in Rotorua for the coldest morning in 50 years — Will the aurora lights be visible tonight?:
At about 6.30am [on Sunday 12 May 2024], Rotorua was recorded to have the second-coldest temperature of the month for 50 years at minus 3.3 degrees [Celsius]
Great news! Success for new giant wētā breeding programme:
The Kiwi House now have 120 young wētā, and a second group of adults are breeding and laying eggs.
It has aimed to breed 3000 Mahoenui giant wētā for release into a local predator free sanctuary.
View from Lime Cafe, this morning’s brunch spot.
On today's walk I noticed the amazing waka taua — Closing the loop on the Rotorua Lakefront Development:
Waka taua is a vessel that transports war parties, a function that holds great mana or prestige. The Te Arawa waka taua is 20 metres long and weighs approximately 2.5 tonnes.
Hooray for good news: our friend is being discharged from hospital today after all. We won't be leaving till after lunch though so will be late getting home. It's a 6 hour trip, including stops for food and recharging.
Yesterday took a surprising turn when the friend we drove to Rotorua with, also at Deb's conference, went to hospital with chest pains in what may well be a heart attack. She stayed in overnight and we're waiting to find out if she'll be coming home with us today.
Ohhhh, folks on the Waikawa Beach Facebook group have been posting spectacular aurora photos … and I'm away up north. Darn!
Made it to Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Valley.
My plan for today is to visit Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a 30 minute drive away. I'm having trouble getting started on the day though …
In Rotorua the National Kiwi Hatchery is totally worth a visit. Kiwi are nocturnal so taking photos of live birds is forbidden. These taxidermied chicks in a display case with life-size egg have to do for photos.
The recently redeveloped Rotorua lakefront area is 💯
Such a beautiful space with walkways above and around the lake, native plants, rock, tiers of smooth and rough concrete, tiered gardens full of native plants, little bays, geese and swans, a huge playground for kids with amazing play gear.
