Sibling Love

Sometimes it seems like Gwen and Simon squabble non-stop. But then they have an afternoon like this, and everything seems right again.

Long Beach

Slowly, we're trying to explore the all beaches around Waitati. Today after school we tried Long Beach. It took us a while to organize ourselves, throw a picnic together, and then drag the kids away from their respective playdates. But finally we were off. Fog keeps being a mystery to us here. The fog seems to hang low over the water and in the valleys of the mountains. But as soon as you get up higher, it's brilliant, bright, blue skies and sunny (except for when it does the opposite, and hugs the mountain tops....). So we set off for our beach adventure in clear weather, and as we descended steeply into the beach below, we hit a thick layer of soupy fog. Eerie and beautiful!

 

The kids dove right in, climbing rocks and digging sand holes. David and I explored, looking at the seabirds, and then settled in for our picnic dinner, on a blanket in the sand.

We were feeling pretty adventurous with our mid-week, deep fog, rising tide, evening picnic. But then we started to see much hardier New Zealanders emerging from the fog. There were intrepid rock climbers, belaying off the steep rock face to our left. There were hardy surfers, braving high surf and cold waters (but still at least in wetsuits). And then there were the rugged kiwi kids, jumping in and out of the waves, wearing almost no clothes at all, seemingly impervious to the cold. A hardy and adventurous group, the New Zealanders!!

Albatrosses galore!

After having our albatross tour cancelled in Feb, it took us a while to reschedule. Finally, in early April, we got ourselves together. So glad we did! It was well worth waiting for. A seabird paradise. Above - Buller's Albatross

An (enormous!) albatross chick, patiently waiting. 

And another one, getting fed! This is the father. Can tell by the bands researchers put on its legs, otherwise male and female are indistinguishable.

Observatory at the Royal Albatross Center, on the tip of the Otago Peninsula.  

Nesting colony of endangered cormorants - the Otago Shag.

 

Here another albatross species:

the white-capped albatross

Running on the water to take off!

 

2 meter wingspan!

New Zealand fur seas

 The maternity colony - the pup here nursing from its mom.

And this is a male, from the bachelor colony around the point.

Later we discovered this cool real time webcam - focused on a developing albatross chick on the pennisula (the very one we saw when we were visiting the observatory).

http://albatross.org.nz/live-royal-cam/

They have it projected on a huge column at the Dunedin Library, so cool!!

St Claire's Beach, Dunedin

After Simon's futsal games on Wednesdays, we sometimes head to St Claire's Beach in Dunedin. Now one of our favorites. Love how the South Pole is so close, New York so far!

Colorful murals, even with a happy (random) bat :)

 A favorite for urban surfers.

 Checking out the cafe scene.

Settling in for gourmet fruit popsicles. 

 Yum!!

 Followed by tree climbing.

 And a squished but happy family selfie.

Mopanui

Each of the three classrooms in the Waitati School is named for one of the nearby (extinct) volcanoes. The smallest, Mopanui, is Simon's classroom. We discovered that the mountain is a beautiful, easy climb, very close to our house.

 The climb up....

 Mother-daughter selfie.

Cool spiral-y fern.

Blueskin Bay from above.

 

The summit!

Love of Dunedin

I love Dunedin!!!! I love being able to have an amazing cup of coffee as I work on a manuscript in a cafe, then walk down beautiful old cathedral-lined streets, passing funky stores and museums and bookshops.... Panama has culture too, but it's not like this. We've been loving it all - the theater, the music festivals, the art shows, the farmers markets, the great restaurants and cafes... Trying to soak it all in.

 

And did I mention the amazing coffee....

Koru

The fern is full of significance in New Zealand:

The koru (Māori for "loop") is a spiral shape based on the shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond, symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace. It is an integral symbol in Māori art. The circular shape of the koru conveys the idea of perpetual movement, while the inner coil suggests a return to the point of origin. [Wikipedia]

I love how fern designs seem to permeate every sphere here. The one above is by the NZ artist Raewyn Harris. You find them everywhere - from the Air New Zealand planes, to the steamed milk of cappuccinos, to the beautiful greenstone traditionally carved by the Maori.

 

A koru from my trip to Pureora.

And one on our mailbox in Waitati :)