View from the cafe at Māngungu Mission. In the end we biked 8 Km round trip at the west end of the Pou Herenga Tai bike trail.
Today’s forecast is rainy. Weighing whether to go ahead with the cycling part of our trip. We could do it some other non-rainy day…
The view at Opononi/ Omapere is so beautiful on a good day. In fact, any day at all probably.
Ten Clues to Murder (The Cat Caliban Mysteries Book 10) by D.B. Borton. 📚
Cat Caliban thought her biggest challenge this holiday season would be surviving her annual family Monopoly game. But when a member of her local writers’ group calls in a murder, the stakes suddenly skyrocket.
This book took some very unexpected turns revealing Borton's skill as a writer. I don't want to risk giving anything away, but I found this book very satisfying.
Another good (and mouthwatering) read — The Mumbai School for Murder (A Temple Hill Mystery Book 3) by Meeti Shroff-Shah. 📚
When fiery teacher Ms Venus is found slumped across her desk, the school insist she died of natural causes.
But Radhi’s not convinced. The Ms Venus she knew was in rude health, quite literally, stirring up drama and discord at every turn.
Today we're heading off to the Hokianga over on the West Coast.
We'll be visiting Manea Footprints of Kupe:
a 75-minute multisensory journey of guided storytelling – through art, taonga (cultural treasures), film, performance, digital interaction, and the splendour of Hokianga’s natural surroundings.
The descendants of Kupe welcome you, as do the spirits of our ancestors. Enter Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe, our sacred cradle of tribal histories. Walk with us in the footprints of our ancestor – Kupe the intrepid, Kupe the voyager, Kupe the discoverer.
Somehow when I got my new phone I thought Call Screening would be a good idea. Pah! Yesterday I missed 6 calls from a person I'd said could call me. Today two calls from a tradie.
Now it's OFF. How To Turn Off Call Screening On iPhone (iOS 26).
I hope that fixes it!
So pleased I thought to grab a (shaky) video of an adult white-faced heron feeding two chicks in the nest close to our house. 🐦
No sound — they were too far away for that.
A few times recently I've heard a Ruru | Morepork in the nearby trees. 🐦
Before dawn it carried on hooting for ages, allowing me to get this audio file. I used Fission to amplify the sound so there's quite a bit of background noise. There are also occasional frog croaks if you listen carefully.
Last night I went to sleep to the bangs and whizzes of fireworks in the neighbourhood. Today's first news story is a good one — Photo gallery: Pets relaxing to RNZ Concert's soothing sounds for Guy Fawkes | RNZ News:
Pets around the country are chilling out to RNZ's annual Guy Fawkes Night Concert for Animals.
All the music has been chosen to calm pets inside on Guy Fawkes night in case they're spooked by the loud noises and flashes of light.
The show will include music written for animals such as 'Mina' by Edward Elgar for his beloved Cairns terrier. 'The Swan' from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns and 'Scene by the Brook' from Beethoven's Pastoral. We haven't forgotten farm animals either, with 'Sheep May Safely Graze', by Johann Sebastian Bach.
I rewarded my gym session with a splendid brunch at The Anchorage. It's a beautiful spot — who needs to fly to a Pacific Island with this only a 10 minute drive away (or 20 minutes in my case since I managed to get lost 🤣).
Baby white-faced heron is growing and developing the white face. 🐦
Extreme zoom and crop.
In the last couple of weeks, every time we go out and about, to the shops, for example, we see hikers with backpacks and walking poles making their way around the place as they walk Te Araroa Trail:
one of the worlds’ most diverse long distance trails, spanning the length of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Today we met our friend JM at the far end of the Onerahi Shared Path, at the Beach Road Reserve.
Then we biked to Pohe Island, and onto part of the Hātea Loop Shared Path – Huarahi o te Whai until we reached a cafe next to the Hundertwasser building. After a snack we biked back. About 20 km all up.
Hooray for YouTube I had visions of not being able to go on a planned outing today and of having to call a locksmith when my working door key simply could not be pulled from the lock.
There's a simple answer, — hold the cylinder in place: Key Stuck In Lock? Try This Easy Solution!.
We went to the Bream Bay Combined Arts Group exhibition today where I scored this nice image of Mt Manaia for $35. It's done in felt!
A couple of days ago "our" white-faced heron chick looked like this. 🐦
My friend J suggested we visit the Hundertwasser Art Centre — I'd only ever been to the restaurant before.
It was actually very interesting, but my favourite part was the afforested rooftop (I had no idea about the forest).
When your ordinary is someone else's meaningful
I received this email:
Dear Waikawa News,
I am [redacted] from Natural History Museum, London, who studies animal traces through deep time. I found the photos posted on your website (https://waikawanews.nz/2023/03/09/sand-scarab-larva.html) very useful to my scientific research, therefore I am emailing you to seek permission of reuse of the photos. Please kindly advice. And I will properly credit you if the photo is reused in any kind of publication.
The credentials checked out and I saw no scammer benefit so I gave permission and added further photos.
My little post made someone's actual research slightly easier. How gratifying is that!
You never know when your very 'ordinary' blog post may have meaning for someone else.
My friend J and I visited the subtropical Whangārei Quarry Gardens:
In 1944 Hardie Brothers established a stone quarry … Severe flooding in 1974 curtailed the operation and the … land lay fallow for 20 years, used mainly as a rubbish dump, full of abandoned vehicles, concrete slabs, gorse, pampas grass, and other weeds. … In 1997 [a] group of enthusiasts … began clearing the overgrown site.
