This little Ve'a | Buff-banded Rail potters around on the grass at our Resort. It seems like a smaller version of a NZ Weka. 🐦
The gardens here are lush and I've seen other birds flying around. Making the most of a post-breakfast laze though. 🇼🇸
Sinalei Resort in Samoa. Bit different from Waikawa Beach eh! Also, about 25C. 🇼🇸
This is Bellabot which brings plates of food to the tables at the Sudima Hotel in Auckland. It takes away the empty plates too.
The cloud lifted enough to show snow on the foothills near us. Brrr. 🥶
Perfect weather for going somewhere else. 😆 🇼🇸
I totally enjoyed the 4 episode French series The Best of Us on Acorn TV. 📺
When local star athlete Abel Guérin is found dead in a snowy field, a bullet in his head, his little village is in shock. Awa Sissako, a young police captain from the city, is dispatched on the case to support the local lieutenant.
Another enjoyable read from Marion Todd: A Blind Eye (Detective Clare Mackay Book 7). 📚
a local solicitor is found in his car, throat slit.
DI Clare Mackay … learns that Harry was not the upstanding man he seemed to be. … Then the wife of one of Harry’s colleagues is discovered dead…
Waikawa Beach where I live is at about 40° south of the Equator. We get a great view of the Southern Cross, but never see Ursa Major.
Samoa however is about 14° south of the Equator. On checking Stellarium today I find I should be able to see both constellations! ✨ 🇼🇸
Last year the Blackbird couldn’t figure out how to get at the feeder. This year’s another story. 🐦
The birds queue up to let me know it’s dinner time! 🐦
There is also some grumpiness about the throng at the feeder.
Others, like this Waxeye, wait patiently.
Today I drove to Paraparaumu — the closest location for my phone provider One (was Vodafone) — and they switched me to use the eSIM in my iPhone 13 Pro Max. Then I started packing for Samoa. Luckily we can take 1 carryon and 1 checked bag each and we'll be staying in one place. 🇼🇸
It’s been an intensive research day for our upcoming holiday in Samoa. Put together useful travel info in one Apple Note (thanks @annahavron for (sort of) suggesting that in one of your posts). Worked out the best deal for Internet while there (Vodafone SIM for tourists). 🇼🇸
Went back to a book I started weeks ago, and recalled why I stopped reading. I'm now declaring it abandoned at 18%. Spite Your Face (Detective Carol Wren Mysteries Book 1) by Emmy Ellis isn't for me and I shouldn't have bought it. It takes us into the mind of a depraved serial killer. Just No! 📚
Breakup: … when Alaska awakens from its Arctic slumber. Snows melt. Rivers flood. Winter's secrets emerge.
Kate is having an extremely bad day. Then things get worse … and worse … and worse.
Another excellent read: Breakup (A Kate Shugak Investigation Book 7) by Dana Stabenow. 📚
This morning Tiu | House Sparrows are enjoying hanging out on the dead panicles of the Tī kōuka | Cabbage tree only a couple of metres from my bedroom window. 🐦
The snow on the hills nearby has come down even lower, I think.
Greedy developers are looking for ways to exploit resources the Native people should be controlling. Luckily Kate gets pulled into the whole thing by her grandmother Emaa.
Blood Will Tell (A Kate Shugak Investigation Book 6) puts Kate and Mutt in Anchorage, a place where Kate does not want to be. 📚
Sometimes you glance up and wonder, where did the world go?
Apparently the Library in Levin has a Friday lunchtime concert — a singalong. What a cool thing. Most folks attending seem to be older. One table of about 8 are chatting away all through — in NZ Sign Language. 😆
An experimental photo. I'm hanging out in the Library in Levin while my car has a service and an annual Warrant of Fitness check.
This photo was taken using the front facing (and only) camera on my M1 MacBook Pro, using Photo Booth. Not bad.
