New Year's Day Upper Hutt Dog Agility Show

Dog Agility groups are alive and well in Wellington. They let Hannah enter into an event and take a wonderful dog around the course. And cuddle with a baby chocolate lab.

Happy New Years!

The traditional NZ dessert - pavlova...with a little whip cream. Here are Sue and John and their kids Jack and Isabella celebrating New Year's Eve at our place....our photo is a bit fuzzy...must have been after the wine tasting. We are still without wine glasses and have only eight plates!

Karori Wildlife Reserve Dec 31st, 2009

This Sanctuary was built in 1995 to restore the area to its original state. Most of NZ's indigenous species are birds and have little defenses against foreign small mammals so this reserve has an amazing fence built all around it to keep out predators and small mammals that eat the foliage. Some of the birds that were extinct on the mainland were brought back from smaller islands and now repopulate this area. During the day, many of the birds fly out of the sanctuary over the hill to where our house is to feed and then return to the safety of the sanctuary at night and to nest. Stephen Fry was there the day we were and we totally missed seeing him as we were peering about looking for birds.
KaKa parrot. Indigenous to New Zealand
Sue and I on the tramp
Hihi bird...another indigenous bird enjoying flower nectar
Fern trees are so cool...a series of unwinding of circular stems and then leaves.
Saddleback.
The wonderful sounding Tui bird.
Happy trampers!! Kids hike best in groups...and do circles around us!

Wellington Zoo, December 30th, 2008

Rebecca and Tessa, Hannah and Laura get up close feeding giraffe's, seeing a Kiwi up close (a one legged one at that with its own prothesis!), and meeting a baby chimpanzee.

Junk Yard Sculpture Garden on Ohiro Rd

Around 1 km South from our house is a kind of garden junk yard where the owner has made amazing sculptures all over the hill side and beside the road.

NZ Plants

New Zealand makes a concerted effort to keep its indigenous plants and animals safe from invading species. The possum is a huge threat and so they are poisoned. Cats are kept indoors at night as they kill the kiwi. The ecosystem of the island was isolated for a long time that it is susceptible to foreign species and is quite unique. James was fined $150 for accidentally bringing in an apple at customs and when we had our stuff shipped, it was thoroughly inspected as Hannah's riding gear was in there.



New

waikane

Ice cream after a day at the beach at Waikane. Around 1 1/2 hours up the West coast at the batch of Sarah, Kevin, Laura (from Hannah's class) and Jack along with the lab and the greyhound.. Nice to be back on a beach with dogs!