Winter is officially here. The days seem shorter, everything is always wet either from rain or from dew, and the mornings will soon be getting frosty and even colder. YIPPEE! I have been waiting for this for a long time it seems; looking forward to the winter rains, the snowy peaks and the moods Mother Nature goes through to produce this fine landscape all around me.
In less than 2 weeks, we are heading south to the South Island for a few weeks of camping and adventure. Camping in winter I hear you shriek with surprise? We have all the right equipment and look forward to the company of nature and weather along our journey. We will be fine…..hmmm.
My next journey beyond that will be back to Australia in September for the second of my residential schools for University. This time I will be spending a week out at Mt Lawson Nature Park, between Albury and Corryong, where I will be trapping and monitoring all types of flora and fauna. Much better than sitting in a classroom.
My family recently came for a visit which was great. My sister, brother in law and two nieces hired a motor home and trekked off around the North Island, while Mum came to stay with us for a week. Everyone spent the last few days here at our house before flying back to Australia again. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.
Other than that, all is well on the home range. Work continues to take up much of my time, so lucky I have a pretty good job. We try to get out and do walks or go camping or other interesting things on our days off. This helps keep that ‘holiday’ feeling I experienced when we first arrived in New Zealand. As they say, all work and no play………..