Sunshine and happiness……

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I have been slack this month with writing, starting a new job and us getting into new routines has made for busy days! However I don’t want to overemphasize our “busyness”…

There has still been time for the beach, there is always time for the beach! 🙂

With Autumn, (Fall), officially here we are amazed at how lovely the days continue to be, to be honest everyone is, apparently this is not normal. Here is Vida baking on our tiny deck, she is one happy kitty.

We have fitted in more hikes discovering places along the way. Some more arduous than others…

A couple of weekends back we hiked a local volcano, (that is it in front of Rich, in the distance to the right)…

It was a decent climb through farmland to the top…

From it we could see a beach ,(Allan’s), that looked promising so we made our way to it. So worth the trip, a ton of seals, sea lions and penguins, plus the beach itself another glorious one.

They are looking at a seal on the rock to the right
Dancing to the beat of the waves 🙂
So many just hanging out. Luca is taught at school how to behave around sea lions and seals. You come upon them frequently. Some so well camouflaged that you can trip over them if not careful!
Yes those are sea lions on the other side and they were also swimming in the water, Rich did go in but was mindful of how close they got to him. He has swum with them before and said they were more curious than aggressive..
This cave was full of penguins, their little foot prints were everywhere, you could see them vaguely in the dark in the back of the cave. We looked but did not go in and disturb them, some boxes have been put outside for them to nest, all these boxes had a penguin in them
We could see them but it was difficult to get a photo on my phone camera and I did not want to upset them by getting too close.

My brother came down for a visit, we had not seen him since we first arrived in the country, he flew down from Auckland. It was good to see him and hang out…

Outside one of our local pubs
Rich and Nige contemplating the local fishing scene, our house is just behind those trees


His visit coincided with the Christchurch shooting which has shaken NZ to its core. Thank you to all those who reached out to us from away to make sure we were OK. Dunedin was in a high state of alert that weekend while details emerged, parts of the town was on lock down and events cancelled, (there were numerous big events on down here that particular weekend). The shooter immigrated to NZ and lived here in Dunedin for the last 2 years planning his attack. He was originally going to do it here, but changed his mind and drove up to Christchurch instead. I think NZ still in shock that this sort of horrific act has made it to our shores, and it will never be quite the same again.The rugby that Nige came down to see (it was also to be Rich and Luca’s introduction to the game), was cancelled because of the shutdown for security. They did go into town later, (I was working), and Rich had his first go on a lime scooter, he is sold! He said they are so much fun, I foresee more adventures on them!!!!!

Rich and I have been walking more around Port itself, discovering places like the old quarry. It has been transformed in a Rhododendron garden, they do rock climbing and abseiling too up at the back, this is a big sport in NZ, especially around here as so many huge cliff faces to climb.

The views from there look right down on the Port

one of the smaller cruse ships in dock

This plaque gives a brief history of the village …

Along with the rock climbing cliffs….

the caves around are very cool and some go into the hills for a long way, a good torch is needed!

Heading in……..
Emerging into the light….
then down the path to the beach
and into the surf….

I have started a garden, going for pots as know we will be moving on and want to be able to take plants with us. Here are my lime and lemon trees, already producing, they must have liked the extra warm summer we have had…

Yesterday I slept as have been on nights and Rich and Luca went to an event at the Port, lots of things going on including fishing, Luca caught his first fish, a cod, it has given him the fishing bug and so he and Rich are off this weekend to see if they have more luck. This one went back in the water so they want to catch one big enough to eat….

Speaking of Luca, he has waited many many months for a specific Lego set, having had to give most of his previous collection away when we started traveling. Finally it arrived, Hogwarts Castle. He had it done in less than 6 days, he and his mates all Lego obsessed, not a bad thing, they all spend hours going between each others houses playing with each of their collections 🙂

The kids are on holiday soon. Here in NZ there are 4 school terms, we can hardly believe the first one is almost over. We have now been in NZ as long as we were in Costa Rica, hard to believe! Until next time…..