Anyway, I have decided to let my computer do the work and upload a bunch of pictures instead of typing.
The following pictures are from Virginia Lake, where I went for tea and a walk with my friend Kirsten a while ago. It is in St. John's Hill (a suburb of Whanganui), and it involves a lovely lake, a "winter garden" (greenhouse), and an aviary. Kirsten and I had a wonderful talk and walk, and as you will see by the pictures, we really enjoyed the area.
These pictures are from the lake itself...
This is a pukeko bird. They are native to NZ, and very neat looking. It was brighter blue in person.
These next pictures are from the winter garden (greenhouse)...
The last two pictures are from the aviary...
My favourite birds were tiny, fat ones whose whole bodies were that orange-tangerine colour of these birds' throats, but I couldn't get a good picture of them.
Ooh, birds! Some of these are not native though: the green one and probably the white one in the first pic look like (Indian) ring-necked parakeets. The rainbow one looks like a rainbow lorikeet(?) which is native to Australia or New Guinea I think. The peach-faced lovebirds come from Africa. But NZ's fauna is so rich with birds found nowhere else; you must go find a kiwi! My favorite though is the kakapo, a very highly endangered native parrot, flightless and the largest parrot in the world. I would love to meet one someday. I have met Keas, snow parrots from South Island. When I was in NZ the one thing I asked the hosts for was to see native birds, and they took me to an aviary but I have no idea where it was relative to Hamilton (’home base').
ReplyDeleteI hope the bug is subsiding; it sounds like you acquired the nastiest available local flu pretty quickly. Try not to give it to J. And do look after yourself; it's so much worse being sick in a new place with less support.
Hi Ruth. No, I don't think many of them are native (except the Pukeko, of course). We are DEFINITELY going to go find a kiwi sometime. There are pictures of them around town, and I am so excited to go and see them eventually. We want to go to Eketahuna (in Tararua) to see them, as well as other native species. Our list of places we need to go is so long, we're going to have to live here forever!
DeleteI don't know what it is that I have. The doctor said the main problem is my sinuses, but my throat still hurts worse than it should just from drainage, so who knows. I'm sure the antibiotics will fix me right up.
emma ,The parks , the bridges, the children's statues,the aviary,the winter garden...it gives the impression that people enjoy where they are, that they enjoy their own beauty.
ReplyDeleteand thank you for sharing it with us. Dean D
Thanks, Dad. I think people are good at enjoying being outside here, which is nice.
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