House Sitting

As promised, this post contains the non-kitten parts of my time house sitting. While nothing measures up to kittens, the rest was very amazing as well.

This is the house I was taking care of. Isn't it beautiful?

This is the lovely back yard, where I ate breakfast most mornings. To the right of the picture, there are also amazing views of the national park (which the house is in) over the fence.

In the crystal clear stream near the house there are these awesome eels! We threw them scraps of meat and they came right up to us to eat it. It was actually hilarious, because they're big and a bit threatening looking, and I had this image of a toothy feeding frenzy about to begin. But as it turns out, they slurp in the pieces, which just disappear into their mouths in an instant, with no evidence of teeth at any point. Very funny to watch!

Near the park is Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve, where I went for a walk while the kittens were napping. I walked on Te Ara Piko (The Meandering Path). It was truly beautiful, with the only downside being that the path was next to the road, so it was a tad noisy.

The path follows along the edge Porirua Harbour, which is lovely.

I have discovered that I love views of rolling hills over a body of water. They seem to frequently be among my favourites.

I believe that this is a heron, although I have been wrong before. In any case, it was really beautiful, and wasn't too scared of me, so I got to watch it fish for a long time. It was so graceful and stately.

The harakeke and other flowers around the river were truly beautiful.

Harakeke and those fluffy golden things are two of my favourite plants to see, and it was stunning to see them together like this.

While she was visiting, Kirsten and I went for a walk in the national park itself, which was beautiful.

This carved rock at the top of Battle Hill commemorates a battle between two Māori iwi (tribes), one of which was fighting for Māori rights, and one of which had allied with the Pākehā (Europeans). It is quite a sad story, actually, so I focused on the current beauty instead.

We saw and heard lots of tui on our walk, and J and I also see them frequently around our house. In addition to their unique call, which is a combination of staccato notes and harsh clicking, they are also incredibly loud fliers. So you always know when one is near. Getting a picture, however, is not nearly as easy, so I was thrilled to have snapped this one. Unfortunately, you can barely see the little tuft of white feathers hanging off its chin, which is the signature tui look, but still.

I had an amazing time at the house, by myself, with J, and with Kirsten. I was sad to leave, and it was very hard to say goodbye to the kittens. However, I was happy to get home to J, who had to stay in the city for work during the week, and then to be ready to launch into work the following Monday. So the timing worked out perfectly, and it was a delightful little segment of my summer.