September reflections

Just over halfway through September and the warm weather continues.  Despite - or perhaps because of - the start of term, summer days have carried on as if there is no other way to be. Surely this is Someone's Law? The Law which says that September will be hot and sunny as soon as the children go back to school?  This year, more true than ever. The evenings have been incredibly warm: I have been reluctant to go to bed, sitting on the warm stoop at 10pm, watching bats flitting back and forth in the dark.

The mornings have been so beautiful that I have frequently scampered out of bed and along the cliffs before cycling off to school...

From the bedroom window

Gardening has been a delight: cucumbers galore, butternut squash appearing, leeks, spinach, curly kale, potatoes...

School is a new year's helter skelter: new Maths scheme, new English, new way of teaching writing, new children... the last 'new' is all good: it is such a privilege to get to know these intriguing personalities and journey with them over the year.

Richard has been so busy at home: laying new paving slabs for parking; cutting and trimming trees and bushes; fixing our broken bike barn, after the roof of it blew off in a summer storm; repairing my faithful food processor, which stopped working after 28 years...and celebrating 32 years of married life with a beautiful reminder from Cat:

And every weekend has involved hosting friends old and new, getting to know our lovely neighbours...such a privilege to be able to use this lovely house as a meeting place.

#blessed #contentment  #hospitalityissosatisfying

Endless. summer.

Nearly the end of August, and the summer continues. We have seen rain on approximately four occasions since the beginning of July, although Cat and Andy had a couple of damp days during their visit. This was due, in part, to being away from Guernsey as the island endured fog and rain for several days, but since we have been back we have had a morning of rain and a thunderstorm. Otherwise, one sunny day stretches into another...

Bliss. I am into my ninth week of school holidays - unprecedented, I think, in my career - and enjoying every minute. Cycle rides - some functional, running errands; some social, visiting friends; some just for fun, exploring the nooks and crannies of parts of the island I've rarely ventured into. Cliff walks - first one way from our house, then another: we are five minutes' walk from the path. Sea swims, although it is never 'warm', just tolerable. #LovelyOnceYouAreIn

Rocquaine in the evening

The Cup and Saucer - Fort Grey. #MartelloTower

So warm on the rocks

Vazon

The time to relax. Gardening: planting vegetables, trimming shrubs, filling pots with compost and herbs, preparing a compost heap. Beach: with husband, with friends, soaking up the sun in sheltered spots. We even helped as marshalls in the car park for the North Show, visiting it afterwards to look at all the amazing produce and creative displays...

Large vegetables

A very hungry caterpillar. Half the length of my hand.

This morning, I woke before the sunrise. Too good an opportunity to miss, so within minutes dog and I were out of the door. It is a five minute stroll to the cliff path and the sky was beginning to lighten.

Mist lingered above the dew-dampness, the gorse and heather glistening in the pre-dawn light. Silken nets, spider-laid traps, waited for flying insects to be lured into captivity. My feet stirred dust up lightly from the rocky path, its dryness a stark contrast to the moist green of bracken and bramble.

The dog was in heaven: more interesting rabbit smells than she knew what to do with, each leading off fruitlessly into tiny runs through the undergrowth.

The sun came up, the world changed...

...and then there was sunset.

Dawn at Rotorua...Dusk at Dotterell point

My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being.

Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!

I WILL give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples’ I WILL sing praises to you AMONG THE NATIONS.                                                                                                                                                                Psalm 108

Dawn at Hot Water Beach, Rotorua. Unwittingly, we had chosen a campsite next to the historic Maori village and the lakeside. The dawn over the lake was heralded by black swans and red-billed gulls, with the odd scaup, shag and puheko.

Then off to Dotterell Point, a long spit of land sheltering one of the many little harbours which make up the Bay of Plenty coastline.  Plenty of dotterels – a flock of banded dotterels and several pairs of New Zealand dotterel.

And, apparently, the Variable Oystercatcher – which has seemed ubiquitous to us as we have journeyed down North Island’s east coast – is a rare species....

An added bonus: we’d been here just a few minutes when a young seal lolloped painfully across the grass in front of us. He kept stopping, lifting his head, before dragging himself into the dunes.  He looked thin...

....but we were pleased to see that he had taken himself off by the next morning. Another beach walk, sand stretching further than the eye could see...another sunrise...surfers already out at the break, having walked across the shallow estuary at low tide, then out on the sandbanks.

After days of intermittent rain, the sun shone brightly in a clear sky, glinting on the puddles. A Caspian Tern (taranui, an uncommon native gull – though found frequently along the east coast) flew in to the end of the spit. It seemed as if everything breathed a sigh of relief after the windy wet storms...

Full days.

Sometimes, a day seems like a very satisfying meal. Climbing up a hill before dawn was so beautiful.

And the birds: the native pigeon, the Kereru, in the Coral tree above our heads, the tree itself, Erythrina Caffra, a close relative of our African 'lucky bean' tree. Then there was the striking purple gallinule, the Pukeko, strutting across the path as we made our way down from our 'sunrise' hill; the silver-eye, flitting among the aloes in Auckland's Botanical Gardens...and the ever present myna, garishly eye-catching.

So many impressions in the last couple of days: the lively worship of Life Church felt like coming home; the sun warmed us the whole afternoon as we watched Cat and her friends in an energetic, fun-filled frisbee game; friends and family so warm and welcoming; gannets, and even a couple of seals, at Muriwhai...