…last sunset for the weather tree…
…things were built…
…shit got real…
…Tiny Pieces of Eight played under a bridge…
…well, next to a bridge, but still my gig of the year….
…then Dee bought me a kitty…
…so I gave kitty an octopus…
…and wrapped it up…
…and gave it back to Dee….
…happy new year….
…soon.
…in the water there…
….oh…a bloody great leopard seal…
…never seen one in the water before…let alone on the harbour side of the spit…and I’m sure the bugger was sizing us up as snacks….
….I think I’ll stick to dodging sea lions on the beach….
…female hauled up beyond big male pictured above after lunch…(his flipper in the foreground)….
…or viewing fur seals from above…
….mmmm…pinnipeds.
…(if we’d seen a sea elephant we’d have the whole set!).
…seals at the head of the Aramoana Mole…
…and at the Northern end of Victory Beach….baby seals left to there own devices whilst their mothers fish…
…meanwhile back at Aramoana’s Shelley Beach….large male sealion at rest…
…sea lion pup, Janet, practicing challenge charges in the dunes…
…whilst mother, Pattie, and another female sealion take a nap…
…next morning, Pattie & Janet napping on the beach…..
…later that same day…Janet most definitely not napping…
….and to top the day off…..
….”lunch” with unidentified female sealion….
….I had the Croissant with Camembert.
… everything was made indistinct and distinctly damp.
…dune & clouds….
…dune & clouds.
…NZ Fur Seal!…
…NZ Fur Seal!…
…NZ Fur Seal!….
….Nz Fur Seal.
…out walking on the Aramoana Mole when we noticed the Monarch (local tourist boat) edging in on something large….
…humpback whales!!!….Mum & calf (not caught on camera) flollopping about at the harbour mouth for a good 6 or seven dives before we abandoned play because of an incoming Southerly front…
…got back to the crib, grabbed a cuppa, wandered out to the beach to see if they were still about and was treated to one or ‘tother slapping their tail on the surface 7 or 8 times then proceeding to flip over and slap the water with both flippers ….(too busy waving my arms about and shouting encouragement to take photos, sorry)…then they proceeded to swim into the harbour channel, which at their closest put them within 30 meters of us, so we followed them on foot as far as the extreme southern end of the Aramoana spit….not far on an incoming tide! ….till we lost sight of them almost opposite the Otakou Marae…
….not many photos, I know, but there was so much running and looking to be done, I couldn’t find the time.
…(yay, whales).
…and all I got you…
…was this photo of the sun setting over Taiaroa Head.
…or just go out and enjoy animals in nature and leave the photo stuff to the professionals… …royal albatross wingtip…at the top… 
…royal albatross frightening the crap out of a shag, causing it to dive…that’s the splashy bit bottom right… 
…royal albatross picked out of long shot …thus very, very grainey….
….the royal albatross from the Taiaroa Head colony have been flying in the Aramoana beach/Otago harbour mouth area over the last couple of days…normally they don’t seem to fly this side of the heads that much…very good views of them were to be had from the Aramoana mole…for those of us stupid enough to be out there in a South/South Westerly gale!!!…I’m sure I could of got some better shots if I hadn’t been in awe of their 3 metre/10 foot wing span and grace in the air …flying less than 30 meters from where we were standing..er..leaning into the wind…gob open…lens shut!! …I’d like to thank the Aramoana Mole for being such an accommodating viewing platform… …(and before anyone asks…”none-oh-none” instead of “101”).
…she’s back…
…and sleeping soundly…
…because the pinky blob that is on the grass stuff just below her flipper in the first photo is what’s left of an octopus….
….mmmm…octopus.
…(and her previous visit…
https://boredinarecordshop.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/sealions/
…mmm…sealions)….
…(and while we’re on the subject…my new favourite time waster….
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/walrus-cam-round-island
…mmm…walruses).
Bored with a record shop. 