What can you do but laugh really? We even rated a mention by Jim Hickey for our amount of rainfall. It rained steadily all night......
finally.... a day for putting the deck chair out on the deck...... (but maybe not tomorrow)
We had a marvellous start to spring, but things have deteriorated: we have all been suffering 'cabin fever' with the rainfall, wind, cold, even sleet in the city.... Plus last week I was revising for my genetics exam. My body was screaming for exercise.
But today the sunshine finally reappeared, without the wind. I had planned to go to an aquaerobics class, but my bicycle started calling my name... I cycled off down Napier Rd where there was ample evidence of recent rainfall- and a 'river' where one doesn't usually run...
Today the 'windmills' were in plain view on the Tararuas. We have been acquiring more and more of these industrial monstrosities over recent years. And at present, Mighty River Power is arguing to put even more up, with many of its turbines planned to be in our Turitea Reserve where the local water supply is sourced. There is a David-Goliath battle on to try and stop these beasts. Enough is more than enough: our ridge lines have been defaced already.
I turned off down Te Matai Rd, peaceful in the sunshine. But this is yet another area where environmental madness threatens. Some of the best remaining horticultural soil left near the city lies here, and there has been talk of taking land for a bridge here, as well as building houses. It floods here people, that's why it's so fertile...... let's leave it for the farmers to plough in the springtime, and put in the next lot of crops....
Finally, I headed off along the Bridle Track down by the river. I hadn't been here for ages, as last time I came I got a puncture! I was surprised to see how much fresh erosion there had been in some places. The little picnic table where I used to sit down for a break is now 'off-limits'.
It was about a 20km round trip, welcome exercise on a lovely sunny morning. But I have to confess that in the last few kilometres I could feel it in my muscles. There was a time this cycle ride would have been easy, but fitness now needs to be re-built!
Poor Arohanui has been stuck inside a lot lately: putting it politely, the weather has been c**p. But today TO decided the sun was shining, the wind wasn't blowing, work wasn't calling, and it was time to head out on a wee cycling expedition.
Arohanui thought TO was stopping to take way too many photos, but Arohanui still enjoyed a chance to play PN's Next Top Model by posing in this cabbage tree trunk down Te Matai Rd.
They eventually reached the Bridle Track. TO had forgotten to put in Arohanui's little raisin snack, but in the end it didn't matter. It turned out the ground around the picnic table had all been eroded away by the river.
So Arohanui contented herself with playtime on the bright orange fence, which was a bit like an adventure playground.
After a good 15km or so on the bike, it was time to indulge in a hot chocolate, and Arohanui came home via Muffin Break. In her opinion, this place makes the best hot chocolate, and has the most friendly cafe staff in the city!
Everyone who has walked the Camino will identify with this video: snoring in the dorms. But the nicest thing about this video is the way it shows how much laughter there is on the Camino. There must be something about the rhythm of all that walking that makes people laugh a lot!
Finally, my Massey essay was done and the sun was shining- so I went visiting a friends' farm with my new dslr in hand for a bit more practice. Their cat seemed rather curious about my endeavours.....
..... and kept appearing around different corners...... Did the cat know I was a novice? I have lost some of my initial trepidation about using the camera....but still have a lot to learn before I feel I am in control of the camera, rather than randomly receiving its automatic offerings!
If I was more diligent about gardening, the local birds would be missing an important food source. On a cold, miserable, Sunday morning, it is gratifying to know that a couple of finches can find some food on some tall, flowering, seeding weeds that any respectable gardener would long ago have dealt to!!!
I *should* be writing my Massey essay, but while procrastinating I noticed two finches out the window. I have only just begun experimenting with the dslr I bought recently, but this seemed like a good chance to try out the long zoom lens. By the time I got organised, only one finch was left on the plants. And that one finch didn't want to show a front view to the camera.
These shots are by no means perfect bird shots, but it was good to have my hands on a camera again where I could play with some depth of field, and focus on something at distance. And I think the finches enjoyed their meal!
Last Thursday here in Palmerston North was just Freeeezing. The temperature was low enough at 9am and just dropped from there. We seemed to spend a large part of the day hovering around 4C. Plus it rained and rained...... It didn't seem like much consolation to say "It must be snowing in the Ranges."(Actually, it felt about as cold as it was on the day I walked across the Aubrac Plateau in France which is at a much higher altitude.)
But come Friday morning there were these tempting glimpses of snow on the Tararuas....
It was well worth enduring the cold of Thursday to see these views on Friday morning.
Just as well the rain stopped, as I was due to drive north for the Sacred Heart reunion in New Plymouth, 125th Jubilee. (For my overseas readers, believe it or not, that is quite 'old' in New Zealand terms!!!)
And it was a great weekend. Lots of my former classmates were there, and the decibel rating was high throughout!!! We are already planning the next reunion...
Sunday morning dawned fine and sunny, and Arohanui was about to discover that TO really did like walking: it wasn't all just a ploy to get out of gardening. TO had a wee backpack for Arohanui to ride in, though she had to share it with a few things like the water bottle and camera.
Arohanui found the expedition quite tiring, as she wasn't used to much walking, and her riding conditions were a little cramped. Fortunately the City Council provided this seat in a park that enabled a rest stop.
The park also had some bushes flowering all over with the joy of spring.
Eventually the endpoint of the expedition was reached, and a delivery was made into this mailbox. Then it was off home again.
But the morning's adventures were not over. Next was a cycle ride, for which Arohanui had to climb into a slightly bigger backpack, that she later had to share with a bike helmet. And the destination was the St James Gala. There TO met quite a few people she knew and she gasbagged the time away. Arohanui got a bit cross with this, as she really wanted to have a ride on the horse and buggy, but TO wouldn't leave her gossiping long enough to join the queue!!
Never mind, Arohanui thinks she quite likes the outdoor adventures she has had with TO, so is settling in quite happily to her new home!
Arohanui was created with love by one of the lovely ladies who keeps the stall for Arohanui Hospice outside Melody's supermarket. That's how Arohanui got her name. She is keeping this blog to let her siblings keep up with the adventures she has had since leaving home. This first photo shows her relaxing on the comfy sofa in her new abode.
Arohanui is more of a fan of the outdoors though. She has ventured outside to explore the garden, and has already discovered that her new owner is an absolutely hopeless gardener. This quite suits Arohanui though, as she loves finding all the invertebrates that can thrive in such a jungle.
All too soon Arohanui has to come inside. The Owner, henceforth and forever to be affectionately referred to as TO, seems intent on having a big sort out of old teaching resources. Supposedly TO is going to be ruthless and the recyling bin will be a major beneficiary, but time will tell. Arohanui is a little skeptical.
Footnote: Arohanui owes a huge debt to Gnomey, whose adventures have inspired this little blogging tale.
The forecast was promising, so I decided Saturday had to be the day I started out on some longish walks again. After the southerly a few days back, there was a dump of snow on parts of the Ruahines, and this meant a frost on the ground this morning. I passed this field early on, while I was still wearing my jacket, and in the shade you can still see the white of the frost. But behind it was the glorious promise of the sunshine!
I hadn't walked too long before I began stripping off. And it was soon a shorts and t-shirt walk. Yippeee! Even felt the need to apply sunblock and wear a sunhat. Blue skies. Wonderful.
Here's full sunshine on a shed that you walk past not long before you hit the high point on Green's Rd.....
...and here's the view from the high point, looking back down at the shed.
Spring was springing all over the place. I loved seeing all the new fronds on the tree ferns.
So that was today's adventure. I am feeling a bit stiff, so am quite glad I don't have to repeat the effort again tomorrow...!!!
It seems such a short time since I posted the photo of the first magnolia of the spring on my tree. Now it is absolutely covered in blossom!
One of my favourite moments each spring... when I notice the first magnolia flower open....
Just a few days ago I posted a photo of the daffodil buds by my back door. Just five days later, the flowers have opened up. Spring is definitely in the air!
And just down the hill, suddenly a tree is covered in blossoms that looked very beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight.
It doesn't seem very long ago that I posted a photo of autumn leaves on this same tree...... and I checked and found it was only just over two months ago....
Finally I decided I would splash out on a digital SLR. I had resisted largely because of the cost, and certainly when I walked the Camino, I wanted no more than the lightest possible camera. 
But lately I have been missing some of the things I could do with an SLR. So I took the plunge. 
Silly time to do it really- life is especially busy at present- but here are a few shots from 'play time' in the backyard!
Spring is in the air..... it isn't quite sure yet whether it really wants to be..... but there are little glimpses where it pokes its head out into the sunshine....
If you have seen the Wedding Entrance Dance I hope you will also enjoy this spoof ;-)
I have begun trying to shed the winter sloth and get out walking more lately. Today I had planned to head off to the Massey gym for a workout- seeing as how I was able to join it very cheaply since I am enrolled in a paper. But the sun was shining..... and somehow the outdoors was calling to me far more than any indoor gym. As I started stepping up Kahuterawa Rd, I knew this was where happiness lay- heading towards the rolling hills, with the wind blowing in my hair..... These were the 'real' hills, rather than the 'fake' ones that a treadmill tells you that you are on.
I must admit though, that I did think I was out for a 'winter' walk - so it came as a surprise to see some baby lambs close to their mothers!
I reached my high point for the day at the corner of Green's Rd with Kahuterawa Rd, and looked up at the hills above, but they can wait for another day....
Near the corner was this gate, and somehow the timber brought back memories of Galicia. 
I was back downhill by my car before I knew it.... but I will be back....... training for the Tongariro Crossing calls me now!
On Wednesday evening here in New Zealand we had a massive earthquake, estimated at somewhere around 7.8 on the Richter scale. Hardly a baby. Yet there has been very little damage comparatively....
The quake happened right near the south-western end of the South Island, in a remote part of Fiordland National Park, at a depth of only 12km. It occurred in an area where the Australian crustal plate is diving down under the South Island. The nearest settlement of Tuatapere is 100km away from the epicentre of the quake. The Geonet site has some maps that show where the earthquake was. And if you look at the shaking maps you can see how strongly people felt the shaking. If you zoom out of this shaking map, you can see it was felt even up here in the North Island - though I never felt it. Geonet also carries a summary page about various aspects of this earthquake, and if you read that carefully, you will find that there are various estimates for the size of this quake, and it might be 7.6 rather than 7.8. Seems it takes a while to crunch the numbers for these bigger quakes.
Today there is an interesting article on the Stuff website where GNS Science principal scientist Martin Reyners explains why we are seeing so little damage despite the size of the quake.
He says that it "ripped open a six-metre thrust between the plates throughout an area about 60km along the Fiordland coastline and down to about 50km below the surface", and also that "It occurred close to the offshore Alpine Fault but was not on it, and it was of a magnitude similar to that expected when the Alpine Fault next breaks."
He then explained:
"It started about 30km deep and ruptured upwards. Because it happened between the plates, it's a place where the rocks are what we call reasonably soft.
"So with the earthquake, when it ruptured it was more of a 'lurch' than a 'snap'. People would have felt the low-frequency shaking that's the rolling rather than high-frequency shaking, which is the shaking that causes damage to buildings."
Southland people are still feeling lots of aftershocks, but I guess we can all be glad it was in 'soft rocks' and not in the middle of a more heavily inhabited area....
The weekend in Christchurch passed quickly with friends and family to see. One highlight was seeing two of my friend's sons dragon-boating on the Avon, part of their training for the World Champs in Prague.
Before I knew it, I was back on the ferry leaving the South Island. Here we are leaving the last rocks of the Marlborough Sounds behind, 
and we even got a final last glorious view of the snow covered Kaikoura Ranges. They said the seas on the crossing would be 'moderate', but it wasn't too bad at all- I have been in much worse!!!- and before the end of the afternoon, I was 'home again'.
