I Shoulda

…taken a photo this before I “octopied” it….

…the original artist tried to sell at the price in the picture below….

….and when it appeared in one of my local charity shop haunts it was priced at….

…which I considered to be way too much for the amount of beige it contained….waaay too much….

…then, after a long period of time, it popped up in the “free-bin” out side said charity shop….and feeling the need to adjust the amount of beige in the composition …it became…. …and was immediately claimed by Dee…who also likes partially covered beige…and the Otago harbour….…but not cruise ships….

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Wassat

…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!).

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Taiaroa Head Blown By Thousandth Post

…boom…1000 posts…

…is there a prize?

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From The Other Side

…Aramoana spit from Taiaroa Head…

…unidentifiable brown lump in harbour…

…possibly Nessie on her hol’s….

…possible sight of low cost budget package tour accommodation Nessie booked thru ropey holiday website…

…mmmm….leaky caravan adjacent to road works (Harbour Cone in back ground).

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NZ Fur Seal

…NZ Fur Seal!…

…NZ Fur Seal!….

….Nz Fur Seal.

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Thar She Blows

…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).

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It Is Written On The Stars

…both sides…

…it’s also in the numbers on the pinnipeds….

….and the way the sand lands…

…we thought we saw the signs… …and now the signs are up!

…(….on a salt marsh, on a harbour mouth far, far away….)….

….(if you have the time, check out….

http://naturewatch.org.nz/projects/aramoana-biodiversity

…mmm…biodiversity!)

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Washed

…up???…foot???…seaweed???…WHAT?….

…the Otago harbour sometimes does that annoying answer-to-my-question “magic-8-ball” thing…

…also recently washed up on the beach…

…another female sealion on a break…

…that’s the third in as many months (note the tag on the near side flipper…something not present on the other two)…

…nice to see them using the beach so regularly…

….mmm…sealions…..

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When Is A Log Not A Log

…when it’s a female sea lion of course…

…careful where you tread.

…(much larger than the last lass to drop by near my good friend Dee’s place…but no less stinky!…mmmm…nothing beats the great smell of sea-lion in the morning….).

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