We had over 18mm rain last night, and there was probably much more in the hills. Which will be why there are clumps of river weed near the river mouth this morning.
And my other beach find — a little 5-armed starfish.
At the west end of Homer Tunnel, from a carpark below, we can see the avalanche and rockfall protection roofing, and the amazing view down the Cleddau Valley.
On the east side they're rebuilding the avalanche roof which was flattened by a rockfall.
This is wild country.
On our bus tour to Milford Sound we had to wait for 10 minutes to drive through the Homer Tunnel, a 1.2km-long tunnel through solid rock. This was on the east side at an elevation of approximately 800 metres.
Before the tunnel opened in 1954 after 19 years of construction, there was no road access to Milford Sound.
Last week a friend generalised something I said then used it in a way that undermined me within a group we both belong to. There was more to it than that, of course.
I was angrier than I've been in a long time and it's severely damaged our friendship.
It's as though a space rock hurtles down out of nowhere and hits your foot. First you'd be hopping mad, then after a while maybe just hopping. It might take quite some time before you're walking normally again. And venturing outside may even be connected with a bit of anxiety for fear of future space rocks.
The friendship will probably recover … eventually.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world people have much bigger problems, but this has preoccupied me (decreasingly so) for the last week.
This morning I joined a couple of other members of the Horowhenua branch of Forest and Bird to do a bird count at Waikawa Beach estuary. We don't have so many birds around at the moment, but along with the usuals we spotted a flock of maybe 60 white-fronted terns, and also 5 banded dotterels. 🙌🏼 🐦
What an excellent idea from Kāpiti Coast District Council: Encouraging chatter that matters:
Chatterbox seats aim to normalise a culture of chat. They help connect communities and strengthen people’s mental health and wellbeing. People are encouraged to sit on the Chatterbox seat if they want to chat to someone, and anyone walking past is encouraged to join them for a chat.
One feature of the book Tempting Fête was that every character was introduced with a reference to their race. 📚
That did effectively raise my awareness of my own assumption of default whiteness. So that's something I can work on …
I bought Tempting Fête (Men Who Stitch Mysteries Book 1) by Kate Silvers partly because its designation as A Diverse Cozy Mystery
intrigued me. 📚
It was OK, but the diversity message was truly hammered home. In fact I suspect the diversity aspect was more important than any other elements.
After a recent excellent holiday I fell into a slight slump and finally realised the last 7 years have been intense with local community activity. I need to step back a bit.
I declared the @ custom Micro.Blog finished. That's one.
I also stepped back from the newly forming Waikawa Environment Group.
I didn't manage to find Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks on this very clear night, even though I went to the beach to have a clear view of the western horizon.
I did manage a photo of Orion above the remains of the sunset though. ✨
There were numerous satellites too, everywhere I looked.
Deb had a social engagement in Palmerston North today so I went along for the ride. I enjoyed an excellent Chicken Teriyaki dinner and a bit of a read at Mr Choi's.
An excellent movie, inspired by true stories — The Beautiful Game 🎥:
Advocates to end homelessness, organize an annual tournament for Homeless [people] to compete in a series of football matches known as The Homeless World Cup.
Grim reading: There's an Awkward Link Between Plastic Production And Pollution We're Not Considering:
Our new research found the relationship is direct – a 1% increase in plastic production leads to a 1% increase in plastic pollution, meaning unmanaged waste such as bottles in rivers and floating plastic in the oceans.
Another in a series I enjoy: Silence in West Fork (The Pegasus Quincy Mystery Series Book 5) by Lakota Grace. 📚
Pegasus Quincy and her former partner, Shepherd Malone, have some difficult choices ahead when Shep’s daughter is caught with a murder weapon in her hand.
We really enjoyed the hilarious and heartwarming film The Phantom of the Open, based on a true story. 🎥
Maurice Flitcroft, a shipyard worker in the north of England, entered the Open Golf Tournament in an attempt to win the big prize. He'd never even picked up a golf club before …
A mere 29 Km (by road), 25 minute drive south of Waikawa Beach is Peka Peka Beach. Small waves at Peka Peka Beach with Kāpiti Island in the background. For the Pacific Wave Appreciation Society. 🌊
Now I See You (Mountain Resort Mystery series Book 1) by Shannon Work wasn't a favourite read, though I kept with it. It uses an Omniscient viewpoint that I found annoying — we were in the heads of half a dozen (or more) characters, including the perpetrator(s). All a bit much really. 📚
On our bus tour to Milford Sound we stopped for photos at Monkey Creek.
What’s in a name? | New Zealand Geographic:
Monkey Creek … commemorates a downpour that flooded a creek and washed away a surveyor’s dog, called Monkey. He fortunately made it back to camp the next day.
In the last couple of days Deb and I have watched Vera S13E01 and My Life is Murder S04E01.
That's some good quality telly there. 📺
This week I've tracked my sleep. Estimating Sleep Stages from Apple Watch:
Apple Watch contains 3-axis accelerometer signals that track motion. They record not only large movements … but also more subtle movements … [Then] an algorithm classifies the signal every 30 seconds (epochs) into one of four stages: Awake, REM sleep, Deep sleep, or Core sleep.