The Ruakākā Rec Centre gym didn't really work for us so we signed up with Ruakaka | Z 24 Hour Fitness.
They have fabulous machines by Inotec which are really smooth and easy to use.
Unfortunately I was too enthusiastic in trying out the hip adductor — my inner thigh muscles are rather sore today.
A few hundred metres from our new house is a dune lake.
Dune lakes are rare ecosystem types on a global scale yet, Northland is home to over 400 of these lakes.
Via: Northland’s dune lakes - Northland Regional Council.
The other day after a little exploration I found it. The Bream Bay Coastal Care Trust is looking after it.
By 12.30 today:
- the guy we thought was coming yesterday turned up at 11 with his bobcat and moved in 15 minutes two loads of soil that would have taken us hours of hard labour to shift
- the dishwasher repair guy who was supposed to arrive before noon turned up about a quarter past. He fixed the dishwasher the builder had told us wouldn't work by turning it on …
- the person we expected at 1030 to discuss the garden still hasn't been heard from
Glad I double-checked the venue for the Meet the Candidates (City Council elections) event before I went along tonight … It's on next week. 😆
Three different locals who are moving took away all our packing boxes and some of the mountain of paper the packers had used.
Today I found my way to the Uretiti recycling centre, a 10 minute drive away, with the rest of the paper.
Now, with luck, we'll be able to get both cars in the garage.
Such an interesting 45 minute video — Sleep, Neurodiversity & The Myths Holding Us Back:
Ben Branson sits down with Dr. Nerina Ramlakhan - a Neurophysiologist, Author and Sleep Expert … Nerina brings rare honesty and depth to the conversation about why humans sometimes find it difficult to sleep.
Together they explore the hidden science of sleep, how neurodivergent brains seek safety and rest, and reveal why the choices we make every day can dramatically improve the quality of our sleep.
After years of struggle to improve my sleep I have made progress, but this is food for thought.
A sofa we bought 10+ years ago had some kind of black fabric stapled across the bottom. That fabric rotted and turned to 'soot'. Today we carefully unwrapped it from bubblewrap and removed what remained.
Nobody needs their new carpet covered in 'soot'.
Now we can offer guests somewhere to sit. 😆
You never get too old to rescue puffins: it's part of who we are.
Summer Puffling Patrols: Saving thousands of baby puffins from light pollution 🐦:
In this 13-minute Wild Hope video from Nature on PBS, biologists Erpur Snaer Hansen and Lucas Canas document the Atlantic puffins that breed on Iceland’s Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), where roughly 400 puffins exist for every human resident.
DOC director-general Penny Nelson said research showed 89 percent of New Zealanders thought the country's nature was in good shape - which she described as "disconnected from the reality of the situation".
"There are just 238 kākāpō left, fewer than 40 tara iti (New Zealand fairy tern) and 4000 native species that are threatened or at risk of extinction; 63 percent of our ecosystems are on the brink of collapse. These are the numbers we want everyone to be aware of."
A westerly breeze on this east coast beach at Ruakākā makes for gentle waves. For the Pacific Wave Appreciation Society. 🌊
And look how clear the water is!
Woke around midnight with the most excruciating cramp in my left calf. Eventually went back to sleep, after rubbing on some magnesium cream, but this morning it's still a bit sore. 😾
I've finally retrieved my childhood teddy bear (now at least 65 years old) from amongst the myriad packing boxes.
// @alexandrawolfe.ca I'm pretty sure you posted recently about a specific brand of teddy bear and I said I had one of them.
Hah, an excellent turn of phrase:
last week Prime Minister Chris Luxon officially identified as non-spinary over the escalating carnival of war crimes that Gaza has mutated into.
Via: The Daily Blog.
We drove 5 minutes to the Porthouse Bar & Eatery, where we shared 6 enormous chicken wings in honey and soy sauce, and a rocket salad with cheese, pear and walnuts.
It was fine.
We were the only lunchtime customers until another couple arrived as we were leaving.
There were small deep patches of shells on the beach — such diversity.
Yesterday late afternoon we enjoyed a walk on Ruakākā Beach. It was sunny and warm, and with the wind from the west (on this east coast beach), the sea was calm.
This photo looking north towards (probably) Bream Bay Head.
I’d already read book 1 of The Maybridge Mysteries — three gripping cozy murder mysteries by Liz Fielding and enjoyed the next two as well. 📚
Welcome to Maybridge, a picture-perfect Cotswold town where the roses bloom, gossip runs rife — and murder is never far from the flowerbeds.
Hmmm, I checked my Micro.Blog profile and discovered I follow loads of people — Micro.blog - [@Miraz](https://micro.blog/Miraz):
Following 872 users
The problem is, I don't recognise most of the names.
So I've started checking the unfamiliar ones and unfollowing those who haven't posted since 2023, 2022, and earlier, even 2018!
Today I enjoyed an exploratory 6.5 Km bike ride around Ruakākā.
It took me past the NIWA research facility, the Marsden substation and along the first part of the track parallel to the Ruakākā Pipeline road track (then the puddles got too big for me so I backtracked).