It was quite peaceful falling asleep to the sound of rain on the roof, but the storm had all cleared up by the morning. Instead of our usual breakfast, Brian made porridge (or oatmeal, as we might call it).
How cute! A pukeko bowl!
After breakfast, we drove down to St Claire, a beach suburb of Dunedin, to pick up Millie (their daughter-in-law). We drove down to a small cafe on the beach and chatted for a bit.
The beachfront
I thought my chai was lovely...
... but then I saw the gorgeous silver fern on their lattes!
Then Millie and I walked down to the beach to see the "most photographed item" of the area... not the surfers, not the boardwalk, but the old pier that was falling apart.
The boardwalk, overlooking numerous surfers
A Red-billed gull
What's this lovely bell for?...
... Oh. Millie said it was rung a mere three weeks ago.
We picked our way over the rocks and down to the sand. Apparently the level of the sand fluctuates greatly here, as in up to many feet.
The sand levels can reach several feet high against this retaining wall.
This effects how much of the pier is exposed. Currently there was quite a lot of it visible.
The colors and shapes were lovely! No wonder it is so popular with photographers.
There was a large piece of kelp lying on the beach, so Millie ran up to it excitedly. These kinds of things apparently also interested her, as they do me. She, however, actually knew something about it.
This was called Bull kelp. She pointed out the "hold fast" which is how the plant anchors itself to the sea floor. She told me how the Maori used to cut the plant open and use it for sacks. It was VERY tough material.
Bull kelp
The hold fast
Demonstrating how the Maori used to tear the seaweed open
She then lifted the seaweed up a bit, and dozens of micro-tiny cricket-like things (correctly called sandhoppers or sand fleas) bounced away in a frenzy and buried themselves quickly in the sand. She then asked me to look around for more kelp. There wasn't any. Well, this was because of the sandhoppers. They actually bite little pieces off and bury it to then eat. Even though this piece of kelp was huge, there were enough of these little bugs to keep the beach nice and tidy.
Each time she moved the kelp, the air was filled with tiny things fleeing for their lives.
If you look directly in the center of the picture, you can see the back end of a sandhopper as it buries its way into the sand (you can get a sense of scale from the grains of sand). It also seems to be dragging a piece of kelp (the green bit) with it. In a mere moment, both were gone.
We then decided it was time to get back because she had an appointment to catch. We had a very lovely conversation about marriage, kids, travel, and the pros and the cons of both lifestyle choices.
A long way out
We dropped her off home then returned home ourselves. I still had lots of time before my flight, so I went with Judy on her usual walk around the Ross Creek reservoirs.
We walked a couple blocks from the house, then entered the bush. The vegetation was lush and thick. Judy laughed as we passed a sign stating "Caution. Track Under Repair. Care Required." Apparently it has been up for six months or so already... and all it did was warn of a small water channel in the path.
I'd hate to see the Doggy Don't bags!
The "damaged" path
We walked past the first reservoir which was quite small. As we reached the second larger one, we noticed a truck parked on top of the dam. It turns out the man was taking core samples to see how much water the dam is holding back or letting though. The findings will then will be evaluated to see if something needs to be done to improve the dam.
The first reservoir
An unexpected "est"!!
According to Judy, the water levels were about 12 feet below normal.
The core sample
The top was dry, and the bottom was thick, moist clay.
Hmmm.... concerning. The man taking the core samples had told us that he won't drink the water from the dam... he gets it from Speights!
We then began our way back alongside the other side of the reservoir.
An overflow channel
The path took us along another overflow channel. The drop was quite sharp and deep and was a bit intimidating (let's just say one didn't want to stop paying close attention to where they stepped because of an interesting conversation, for example)... but in the sections such as this where plants lined the way, it felt oddly safe. The brain is a funny thing!
Piece of a cement retaining wall from 1949
Our mystery flax weaver strikes again!
We had lunch around 12:30 pm. Judy made omelettes with tomatoes. There was also home-made bread with black cherry jam. It was a new jar and we didn't realize the fruit was on the top and that it had to be stirred. So which we joked that Judy ate all the good stuff because she was the first to have it! Brain, as usual, then cleaned up and did the dishes. They shared the chores that way.
A lovely lunch and a beer for the road... er.. sky.
Judy then had leave to go visit George, so we said our farewells and she was off. I packed my bags and was ready to head to the airport around 3 pm.
A quick farewell photo
The drive to the airport was quite lovely, mostly through the countryside. Brian again was a fountain of knowledge and I learned even more about the area.
Saddle Hill actually started to look like a saddle from this angle.
This was a big horse-racing area, and lots of the horse had cute little jackets on.
Lavender field
These devices on the fences are used to keep the wires tight.
The airport was quite small. Brian parked and walked in with me, to make sure everything was ok. The plane seemed to be on-time, so we said our good-byes and he headed off. I used the self check-in (changed my seat from an aisle to a window seat on the left side of the plane... since flying up to Wellington would only have the ocean on the right), then headed toward the gate. Again, they don't really wait at the gates here, so I loitered around looking at various exhibits for a while.
Speight's Southern Man
This is the Stout-legged moa, one of seven species known to have lived in this area. It weighed close to 200 lbs, and had a broad body and relatively short legs. It would have been able to force its way through dense shrubbery and grassland.
Lots of gizzard stones and preserved contents have been found with this species, suggesting they had a diet mostly of leaves and fruit.
A box o' butterflies
This is Gabby, a female Northern Royal Albatross. Her name comes from the banding on her leg, which is green blue or GB. She was born at Taiaroa Head in 1963 and died in 1998 at 36 years of age from heat distress. More than 80% of her life would have been spent at sea, feeding on squid and fish, and riding the gale force winds of the "Roaring 40's" latitude. She spent her first 6 years at sea before returning to have her first chick. She would have then returned to the colony every 2 years to breed, probably with the same male bird since most Northern Royals mate for life. Oh, and note the cute "Way Out" sign in the background indicating an exit. Dude... that is soooo totally way out!
Another Air New Zealand flight prepares for take off
When an announcement was made, I headed toward the gate. Security was easy but there were zero amenities in the gate waiting room. It was actually like we were in a small fish bowl, separating us from all the lovely things on the other side. I was almost tempted to push my nose up against the glass and just stare blankly at them.
While sitting waiting, I realize that not once had my id been checked. I had signed in using just a confirmation number and I didn't need it for security. Wow, this must have been what travel used to be like, before all the terrorist scares.
The plane was on-time and VERY full. The screaming baby was directly behind me this time. I think it must follow me as encouragement for me to start practicing some deep meditation techniques. In spite of finagling a window seat, there was ample cloud cover and the sun was low enough to cause glare. Either way, it was lovely to watch this beautiful country pass below me as much as I could.
Pulling away from the fields and cows of Dunedin
Circling north
Leaving Dunedin
The mountains could be seen in spite of the setting sun.
A mountain range breaks through the thick carpet of clouds.
After about an hour, we were approaching Wellington. We flew directly over an Interislander ferry making its way across the harbor, and soon we were over the city and then... touch down.
Passing directly over the ferry
The end is almost in sight!
We rolled up to the gate and parked. And waited. And waited some more. I then see the aerobridge being pulled away. Then came the announcement that they were having difficulties. Apparently the aerobridge was broken, but they were bringing in some stairs. I watched a guy drag some stairs up to the plane... and then away again. Nope, those didn't meet the security requirements for this plane. They plane was starting to get stuffy and the baby had already started during our descent. We were then informed that they will be moving us to another gate. We sat a while longer and eventually were backed out of the spot and headed to the other side of the airport. By the time they finally got the door open, it had been another 30 minutes.
The aerobridge cometh... and departeth...
...the stairs cometh... and are taken awayeth.
I headed toward the baggage claim and met Regan as he was walking up. We grabbed my stuff then headed out to the parking lot. We stopped by the store to get a few things for dinner. I got to shower and unpack while he made a giant, delicious omelette with cheese, brocolli, onions, and also some baked potato slices, and bread with avocado. In spite of my avid protests of not being very hungry, I ate basically all of it... and still had enough room for some yogurt dessert!
