Sealions

…this big lad at the pilot’s wharf on the Aramoana spit…

..and this “lovely” female in my good friend Dee’s Roses…

…(top left, below the purple flowers)….

….(outside toilet left in shot for scale)….

…awwww….she’s sleeping…

…no she’s not…

…crap…flight or photo…

 

…the thing with female sealions is that, unlike the males who will challenge, charge,  then stand their ground, the females will follow you for some distance….

 

…like, right to the back door….

…maybe we’ll hold off admiring the roses till next week.

Orokonui Ecosanctuary On A Wet Day

…what better use of a wet day than going somewhere with an umbrella…

…and having it pretty much to yourselves…

…especially when you are approached by endangered species like the Takahe…

 

…sure look tasty , but there aren’t that many left, so they’re off the menu…

…the counter staff said we would of been lucky to see one, let alone be approached by two!!!…

…my good friend Dee is a critter magnet….

…I won’t bore you with lots of grainy, rain soaked piccys of native song birds (apart from the ones of Dee below)…but I’ll say that it has been a couple of years since we went up there and it is amazing to see what “predator-free” has done to bird population as well as what the lack of “four-legged-grazers” has done to the undergrowth…

…New Zealand, the way it used to be…

…(except for the steps, Dee, & the umbrella)…

 

…damn glad I’ve got stuff like this in my back yard…

…if you’re in the neighbourhood, check it out…

http://www.orokonui.org.nz

…then come down the shop and buy a record!

Oh to be a seal

…without annoying bendy appendages it is so much easier to relax…

…although with hands you can wave the flies away from your nose….

… and legs could walk your sluggish ass down to the dentist every once and awhile.
 … so that’s a “no” to being a seal…