Summer in Paradise

Another hot summer day here in Paradise.  How hot?  Well, Jenny’s little blue Astra car (called Lazuli if you please!!) has a  thermometer fitted to record the outside temperature.  Jenny is hard at work all day in a huge hanger type building with the air conditioner going.  When she left for home this afternoon the temperature (according to Lazuli) was 30 degrees.  The TV weather report  stated that the temperature for Wellington was in the high 20s today.  So 30 degrees for Upper Hutt must be right on the button!!

Check this temperature!!

A message from Muffy

Hi, Muffy here. You know me, I am the beautiful blond one of the family. I thought I would tell you all about the fun I had last night. It was another one of those hot summer days. It was too hot for me to eat my dinner so I went and stretched put on the bed. Robin and Jenny opened up all the doors and windows, and had the fan blowing too, anything to cool the place down. They went outside and sat on the deck in the early evening as it was cooler out there than in the house. I had enough of resting at this stage and ran outside onto the back lawn. "We'll have trouble getting that cat inside tonight", I heard Robin say.

I had a nice luxurious roll on the concrete path which was still quite warm from the sun. The birds were twittering as they put themselves to bed and I chased a few moths as the dusk slowly changed to night. "Muffy, Muffy", I heard them calling me. I wasn't ready to go in so I ran away and hid. "She'll just have to stay out then", I heard them mutter. They went inside, shut the doors and windows, and turned all the lights off. Must be time for bed.

Not for me though. There were lots of interesting smells to sniff and check out. And little scurrying sounds under the deck. I was really enjoying myself outside in the warm evening. After an hour or so I heard the door open and Jenny came out. As she walked up to me I thought, "No way am I going in, it's much to early". I waited till she reached out, then, quick as a wink, away I ran. "You can't catch me", I thought. Back she walked inside, and off went the lights again. Oh, this is such fun.

Another hour went by and I heard her at the door, calling me. I don't think she could see me, but she was perfectly clear to me. Us cats have really good eyesight at night. I moved quietly away in case she spotted me, but I don't think she did. Bang went the door, then all was in darkness again. Once more she came out, padding down the concrete path in her bare feet. I was getting just a little bit lonely by this stage, so I stayed where I was and let her pick me up and carry me inside. "You really are a naughty girl, Muffy", she said, "keeping me up half the night, worrying about you being outside". Guess it was time for bed by then, but I certainly ran rings around them, didn't I?

Blue Dome Days

We have had wonderful weather this weekend.  “Blue Dome” days as the weather presenters say.  Hot days with perfect blue skies,  without a cloud to be seen. We went to Wellington yesterday and came across this band of Palestinian expats.  They were performing on a corner with a big sign asking for donations to provide medical aid for the people of Gaza.

Collecting for medical aid

Coming home we took a detour through Island Bay.  Hard up against the hill was this replica lighthouse, built as a family home.  Imagine walking up the steep stairs in this house.

Fancy living in a light house?

Looking out to sea we saw the inter-island ferry in Cook Strait, returning to Picton in the South Island from Wellington.  It would have been a great day for a trip.

 

Muffy finds all this hot weather a bit much to cope with.  She likes to stretch out on the bed and snooze the afternoon away.  What an easy life she leads!

Walk in the Wind

Last weekend six intrepid campers decided to brave the wind and walk around to Turakirae Head.  The name means   “headland coming down to the sea”.  Access is gained by way of covenant on private property and visitors must keep to the seaward side of the fence-line.  We can remember visiting the beautiful old Riddiford homestead which stood on this property.  It was burned to the ground in 1990 in suspicious circumstances.

We drove down from the camping ground, parked the cars and walked over the Orongoronga River Bridge.  It was easy walking at the start with the strong wind at our backs.   We had the  rocky shoreline on one side, and rough farmland bordered by the Rimutaka Ranges on the other. 

The start of our walk

We soon passed the sign which denoted the start of the Turakirae Head Scientific Reserve, which has five earthquake raised beaches.  These provide a continuous record of geological upheaval over the last 7000 years.  The most recent uplift occurred in 1855 which raised the beach 2.5 metres.

Aerial view of earthquake raised beaches

The rocks on the track made walking difficult at times as they moved under our feet.   There were a few New Zealand fur seals on the rocks close by the beach, basking in the sunshine.  During winter up to 500 seals gather here building up condition before moving on to breeding colonies.

 

The ruggedly beautiful coastline

After a particularly heavy gust of wind which felt like hands on our backs pushing us along the track we decided that enough was enough.  It was time to turn around, head into the wind, and make our way back.  Bill was keen to show us some cactus that he had noticed earlier.  We clambered over rocks and around boulders and there they were, several lethal looking spiky cactus which you really wouldn’t want to brush against.

Watch out for these spikes

After plodding along into the head wind which seemed stronger than ever, we were pleased to see the end of the track in sight.  We passed several young men in wet suits who were going to try their luck in gathering shellfish and maybe a crayfish or two.  Then it was back to camp for a cool drink and to rest our weary feet.

Easier said than done

How many people did it take to erect our awning in the weekend?  We started off with two.  Jenny was feeding the rope edge into the awning track while Robin pulled it through.  But she wasn’t doing a terribly good job so then Bruce stepped in to help.  Bruce brought the number up to three.

Robin then slipped the poles into place, no trouble there.   The next step was to peg the awning down.  This was easier said than done, as we were camping in an alluvial river valley.   Bang, bang, bang went the hammer on top of the metal pegs.  “This ground is full of rocks, my pegs keep bending”, Robin exclaimed angrily.  Bang, bang, bang again to straighten the pegs out  before tried again.  Then Peter came to the rescue.  He poked about with a pole trying to find a rock free area of earth so that Robin could  get the pegs in easily.  Peter was number four.

Finding out where the rocks are

The awning was flapping madly in the wind and at  last the pegs were all finally hammered in.  Other club members wandered over to see what was  going on.  They like to see work being done by others and generally call out all sorts of unhelpful advice!! 

The porch awning is finally up

Birds of a Feather

The Rimutaka Forest Park covers a large area of natural habitat and is home to many bird species, both native and introduced.  The  melodious song of the Tui rang out all day long.  Early settlers named the Tui the “Parson Bird” as it has a white tuft of feathers at the throat.  The most noisy birds at the park was a small flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.  These raucous birds fly around the tall trees screeching and sounding  like they are all in the middle of an nasty argument!!  These native  Australian birds  were brought into New Zealand as cage birds and the wild population are either escapees or have been released.  

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos

On Saturday afternoon we wandered along one of the  many walking tracks through the native bush.   Overhead we heard the clumsy Kereru (New Zealand Pigeon) landing heavily in the trees as it searched for karaka berries.  Standing quietly, we peered up through the foliage and were amused to see the birds hanging upside down as they gobbled up the berries.  

View of Rimutaka Forest Park

Rimutaka Forest Park is part of the  Kiwi Recovery programme.  Eggs are taken from nearby Mount McKerrow and the chicks are raised at the Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre.  When they are big enough to defend themselves against predators the Kiwis are fitted with radio transmitters and released.  A regular check is made on their whereabouts to determine their safety.

We were surprised to see some Californian Quails looking for titbits around the BBQ area early on Sunday morning.  They looked almost comical with their plumes bobbing about as  they pecked around in  the grass looking for insects.  These birds were introduced into New Zealand in 1860s as game birds and are obviously well settled in this area.

Boulders, Bollards and Birthdays

Catchpool Valley, in the Rimutaka Forest Park was our venue for the three day Wellington Anniversary Weekend.  This Department of Conservation Park has basic camping facilities and the setting is unspoilt. 

Catchpool Valley Campground

The first mishap of the weekend happened on Friday evening when Graeme and Kathryn came hurtling down the dirt track.  Several boulders have been strategically placed on the side of the road to stop people cutting corners and driving over the grass.   Their caravan ran over one of the boulders and we all thought it was going to flip over.  As he drove the car and caravan slowly towards us the strangest sound emanated, it was just like a squealing pig.  Once on site, Graeme took the wheel off to find that he had dented the rim.  The strange sound was air escaping through the damaged rim as the wheel turned around.

The damage

Then on Saturday evening the second mishap happened.  Eileen got into her car to drive back to the caravan, when bang, bang!!  She got the wheels tangled up with some low bollards, which were  invisible in the dusk. 

In between all this motoring mayhem, we had a double birthday bash to celebrate.  Graeme and Barbara's birthdays are one day apart so they decided to join forces and have a double birthday celebration.  We toasted them with  birthday cake and wine on Saturday evening.  Then on Sunday morning we had even more celebrations with a Champagne Breakfast. 

Birthday Celebrations