Wordless Wednesday: Goodnight Full Moon

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Plimmerton beach

Plimmerton beach is one of my favourite beaches. I played and swum here as a child and I have lived for more than 20 years in a nearby suburb.

It has a lovely large sandy bay with very safe swimming.

And on some of the sea walls there are quotes from Shakespeare made from old pieces of brick that have washed up on this beach.

Read about those here, here and here.

It also has rocky areas mixed with sand.

It has views across the opening of the Porirua harbour to Whitireia Park.

And around in the next bay there are wee sandy coves and lots of rocks with rock pools to search in.

Hot and dry by the beach

While I was at the beach yesterday I took these photos. Plants are dry right now and many flowers are not looking their best after howling winds, humidity and low rain fall have done their damage.

But Pelargoniums and Geraniums love the heat and provide a welcome splash of bright colour to mirror the heat and the light of the moment.

The theory and practice of summer

In theory we get summer weather here when large, slow moving high pressure weather systems move over the Tasman Sea and settle above our small homeland. This seasons such systems have been very rare.

The good news for us is that right now we have such a one and we are enjoying blue skies, sunshine, hot temperatures and balmy wee breezes. This weekend has seen people out in droves enjoying our beautiful beaches and outdoor areas, putting summer into practice.

Today we headed to Plimmerton and walked along the path by the sea. I sat and relaxed for a bit and took some photos.

This red-billed gull came over to see whether I had any food on offer and rather quickly dismissed me when all I could give him was my attention and the lens of a digital camera.

It was very hot on the beach and someone had set up a make-shift area of shade using an old rain umbrella firmly attached to a long piece of driftwood.

In a very surprising turn of events the umbrella did not move. Usually it is too windy for umbrellas at the beach!!!

In the hazy distance sat Mana Island and faintly in the background the outline of the South Island of New Zealand.

And these people were really enjoying swimming and paddling in the water.

Now it is time to eat our barbeque dinner outside. It is our third meal of the day to be eaten outdoors. Mmmmmm summertime.

“When you grow up you will get your white wattle feathers,” said the mother Tui.

I have been reading up on New Zealand Birds in the past few weeks. I learnt that young Tuis do not have their distinctive white wattle until they are around 6 weeks old.

Early European settlers called our Tuis “The Parson Bird” because the white wattle feathers at the throat look like the white collar often worn by ministers of religion.

I see plenty of mature Tuis wearing their lovely wattles, their feathers gleaming black and iridescent greeny blue colours.

But I was full of delight on Monday night when I spotted this young one (around 3-6 weeks of age) resting quietly in a Pohutukawa tree, rather nicely camouflaged and without his white wattle or fine feathers. His or her dull colouring certainly assist it to remain hidden from danger. If you click on the photos and enlarge them you can see more detail:-)

Wordless Wednesday

Purple haze

There is an old homestead at Battle Hill.

It is an Information office now but look what they have planted in the garden and what was almost moving with the activity of the myriads of bumble bees working the flowers.

The scent of lavender was heady in the increasing heat of the morning.

The gardener was busy weeding and feeling very relaxed in such a lovely garden.

Down on the farm

Battle Hill is a working farm. Here are some shots of farmy things we saw on Thursday when we visited.

Bushfire sky on Saturday

The ash and smoke from the devastating Australian bushfires drifts to New Zealand’s atmosphere on the prevailing north westerly winds. We have had plenty of those this summer.

Any sunshine this morning, long after dawn, is a strange orangey red. The day is very cloudy and cool but the sky looks like this when the sun can shine through.

Gnarly trees

Not only did we enjoy the lush, green tree ferns at Battle Hill yesterday, we also came across these massive Macrocarpa ( Cupressus macrocarpa) trees.

Somehow they had crossed branches in an “X” formation, apparently from two separate trees.

Sir Peter Jackson of “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” film making fame might like to use these giant, gnarled trees as Ents or to pick out the various faces and mythical creatures we spent time spying yesterday.