From Queenstown we travelled to Te Anau where I was able to spend a few minutes walking round Punanga Manu | the bird sanctuary. I had a wonderful close-up view of a total of 5 takahē. 🐦
Yesterday I took a bunch of rubbish photos at the beach. Today I applied more thought. A pair of white-faced herons was keeping an eye on my process. 🐦
This Paradise Shelduck pair stood out on the lake today. 🐦
This 20 minute video was super interesting: The most important CONSONANT in English by Dr Geoff Lindsey.
The rains must have brought this big clump of weed down the river and onto the beach.
We spent a night in Queenstown where the countryside is very beautiful. The town itself is cramped and busy, accommodation very expensive. It's full of tourists and tourist stuff. Loads of cafes, hotels, outdoor shops. Utterly atypical of Aotearoa at large.
Today I attended a meeting near the Levin War Memorial. I've driven past plenty of times but never before taken the time to stroll around the garden.
Pets and mascots have always been part of military culture
They offered comfort solace and simple distraction
from the grim realities of war.
Through their unwavering devotion and boundless affection
they kept spirits high and gave many
a link to normality and peace
We honour their deeds and faithfulness
The Cromwell Heritage Precinct has old stone buildings and a view over the Clutha River where jetskis and others were hooning around.
On our holiday, between Lake Pukaki and Cromwell I just watched the scenery go by, and took a few photos from the moving car.
Fungi at Waiopehu Scenic Reserve
Today I wandered around Waiopehu Scenic Reserve. It's a dim, damp and cool bush walk where I spotted all sorts of fungi I can't identify. It was a pleasant half hour.
I was in the mood to read all day and lost myself in Murder Against the Odds (Warwick & Bell Crime Mysteries Book 4) by Janice Frost. 📚
It was a good, engaging read with some unexpected outcomes.
Morning waves. For the Pacific Wave Appreciation Society. 🌊
Murder on a Country Walk (Warwick & Bell Crime Mysteries Book 4) by Janice Frost was another enjoyable read. 📚
I like these lead characters, though in this book one of the victims / suspects was seriously unpleasant.
Interestingly, it looks like I've skipped Book 3 somehow …
Heaven forbid we feed kids just because they're hungry!
Associate minister of education David Seymour wants a “robust, statistically significant comparison that has been able to find that the [school lunch] programme has increased attendance at school.”
OK, my new endeavour: Portuguese for Beginners | Udemy. Day 1: obrigada. 🇵🇹
When Waka Kotahi built the Kāpiti Expressway they installed a sealed shared path (bikes, pedestrians, horses) alongside it. Today I did a little 12 Km return bike ride along the path.
I seem to be in a phase where I'm generally low level irritable and scratchy and want to shed some involvements, engagements and responsibilities (I don't even have many).
Someone asked me to do an easy task many others could do and I had to work up the courage to say No. Ugh.
Oh, April 2024 Photo Challenge Day 11: sky.
The sky was vibrant in scarlet for about 30 minutes this morning!
This sounds interesting. As a lover of words and language in general I'd be up to give this game a go. Scrabble: Mattel launches new version of game which is 'less competitive':
… a new version of Scrabble designed to be more collaborative and accessible … Scrabble Together, will also allow people to compete in teams.
This morning I drove about 20 minutes to Lake Papaitonga Scenic Reserve and enjoyed a shady bush walk.
