I don’t know that The Daily Mail is a news site to trust… but, I think this article is worth a look. After the 9/11 attack most news sites went text-only to even be able to deliver info. This article has screenshots: 9/11 and how readers followed drama with no Facebook or Twitter
For our last holiday adventure we ate a magnificent dinner at Plato, a restaurant set in an unlikely, deserted, industrial part of Dunedin. My panfried hapuka photo doesn’t do the food justice by any means. The restaurant is quirky, full of knick knacks; the food spectacular. ☺︎



I already wrote a little about the Royal Albatross Centre, but wrapping up our recent holiday, here’s more. We viewed the birds from a hide, through glass. Several adults swooped right past the window and huge chicks were just outside. Older chicks weigh more than adults. 🐦




We arrived in Ōtepoti, Dunedin, in miserable weather. We were hungry so we parked near The Octagon, and after some wandering, found ourselves at The Perc Cafe.
I enjoyed a very delicious green pea and ham soup with bread.
We returned the next day for coffees and snacks.
It’s a rare occurrence for me, but last night I slept 8 hours without interruption and the sleep quality was good. Today I feel as though I could do anything!
A darn good read: Project Charon 1: Re-entry by Patty Jansen:
Tina needs money, and needs it fast. Another creditor is impossible to find. That leaves her one option: to return to the world she fled fifteen years ago and Kelso Space Station
📚
Well written, unusual, gripping.
I so much enjoyed Project Charon 1: Re-Entry, by Patty Jansen — one of the books in the Cosmic Visionaries StoryBundle! I’ll definitely be buying Book 2 in the series. If you enjoy space opera take a look at the bundle, available for another 18 days (ummm, to ~08 September 2021)
People have assumed that attention and executive functions decline with age… our large study indicates that critical elements … actually improve during aging, likely because we practice these skills throughout our life.
The Catlins portion of our holiday ended with Purakaunui Falls:
a short walk from a car park area through impressive podocarp and beech forest.
We did stop to look at a couple of fossils in limestone but that wasn’t very impressive. Next stop: Dunedin, Ōtepoti.




Just signed up for this inexpensive course: Joy of Birdwatching | Bird Academy • The Cornell Lab.
Vroom vroom. 🚀 Today’s the day!
Before the postie came:
VDSL modem: DOWNLOAD Kbps 10799, UPLOAD Kbps 693.
After the postie:
4G modem: DOWNLOAD Kbps 100575, UPLOAD Kbps 27696.
10x download speed and 50x upload speed.
🎉🥳👯♀️


As probably everyone expected, Aotearoa New Zealand as a whole stays in Level 4 shutdown till midnight Tuesday. There are now 3 community cases in Wellington. Makes sense to stay shut down.
On 10 February 1982 I spent the afternoon in a second story cafe in Bodø, Norway, watching rain showers pass across the harbour. I was thrilled to be in the Arctic Circle. I nearly fell on the icy footpaths though.
// @odd





I’m not always happy with what our Labour government is doing or has done, but as I watch our Prime Minister speaking at a Covid press conference I’m still in awe at her excellence. She’s clear, straightforward, friendly, caring and responds to questions with calm facts and info.
Nice quote about space opera:
Or is it mostly just that space opera is so gosh-darn cool? The ships…the technology…the planets…the ray guns and laser swords. In many ways, it’s the ultimate escapist genre, transporting us to places and situations that dwarf our everyday troubles in every possible way. And yet, at its heart, space opera is all about us, about what it means to be human and how we can triumph over our limitations.
Via StoryBundle.
In The Catlins, Nugget Point, Tokata has a lighthouse, a spectacular view and rocks that resemble gold nuggets. It was really windy up there, with sheer cliffs beside the track… One false step and that’d be the end of you. Fabulous views on a sunny day though.





Currently rationing the bird food for the Waxeyes. I was intending to buy more today but with the Covid shutdown the shop is closed and I shouldn’t be going out anyway. The birds will just have to go a bit short for a few days.
Heh, healthy Kiwis. 😀 People are panic buying because of the lockdown, but:
According to Foodstuffs, bananas and broccoli are top of the list of what people are buying. Toilet paper is at number 5.
After another thunderstorm around 5.30 am the power has come back on. Immediately made a cup of tea. Thanks to the lines workers out in this awful weather and under a level 4 shutdown keeping us powered up!




