Mt. Bruce

This is a picture of koru, or fern fiddles, one of the Maori symbols for rebirth or new life.  I took this picture after we drove up into the Wairarapa (twisty turn-y mountain roads, like W. Va. pre-turnpike, then hills, sheep--see picture #2) at the Mt. Bruce Wildlife Center where we went on Saturday.  There were numerous rare and protected birds, like the hihi, but probably the most sociable was the kaka, who let us come pretty close to the front of the center to take this picture.

 Also on tap at the wildlife center was (ugh) eel-feeding.  Kids helped with this, and I listened to the lecture about how crucial eels are, when it comes to cleaning rivers and about their amazing life cycle (Their heads become bullet-shaped and their eyes huge when, at age 35-100, they travel long distances through a deep sea-trench to spawn and their offspring, eaten here as whitebait and becoming glass eels, then elvers, come back up into rivers to do their work), but I have to admit, I still thought they were kind of scary and gross.  These were six-feet long and had been biting each other and the large trout who also live in the river.

When we left Mt. Bruce, we drove back through wine country, and stopped in a quaint little town called Martinborough, known for its sauvignon blanc.

The next day was meeting and a movie before the All-Blacks finally succeeded in holding on to beat the French in the Rugby World Cup.  Joy abounds in the land, and there will be a victory parade here in Wellington tomorrow, which will shut down the town for most of the afternoon.  The sunny weather which had been promised for the holiday weekend (this was their Labour Day) never materialized.  Yesterday we drove up the Kapiti coast for a walk along the coastline at Queen Elizabeth Park, where we saw a pair of tuis in a tree.  Later we had brunch at a cafe in Paekakariki,then home in time for me to swim.

Have been spending some time hopeful that we can work out a visit from Paul and Emily.  Also really looking forward to Patti's visit, beginning next Tuesday.