​Hello friends and family
On Sunday I was pleased to be able to get out and walk the coast to make sure all the penguins were okay, and I was also happy to pot up the last of the Pohutukawa seedlings. It rained on Sunday night and Monday was glorious again. 

​After we released the last two Yellow-eyed penguins from care, we were down to only the Rockhopper to look after. This did not last long as we picked up a fledgling with a sore throat on Thursday. 

​Thursday was the day I began piano lessons. I had lessons for a winter, about 40 years ago and made no progress as I never had time to practice. Now I do. I will add this to my list of daily diversions which all add up to about an hour. So, there is Wordle, Sudoku, Words with friends, Flow, Woodoku and now piano. No wonder the days are flying by!

Yesterday the rain stopped when Hiltrun arrived and started again as she left. I gave a talk to the Waianakarua ladies garden club in the afternoon.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
The sunshine continues. After a quiet day on Sunday, Stewart phoned in the evening and delivered us a Rockhopper, in the moult and very underweight. On Tuesday we released the juvenile YEP and one of the adult males which has us down to 3 penguins in care. 

​I am deep cleaning the enclosures as soon as they are empty, but it does take a few days. The other job I am doing to clean up from the season is potting up the last of the Pohutukawa and Cabbage trees. I must stay off the garden centre websites until I have sorted out the plants that I already have.

​On Thursday we took blood from the Rockhopper and found he has a high white blood cell count which means an infection. As soon as we started treatment he perked up and started to feed from the hand. 

​Yesterday I attended the WReNNZ workshop, (wildlife rehabilitators network of New Zealand), of which I am vice Chairperson. It meant staying in the kitchen all day in front of the laptop while Hiltrun did the rounds on her own, but it was well worth it. The rehabbers are an awesome group of people. They are kind, respectful and knowledgeable, which they are willing to share. Like all great conferences, I came away with knowledge to change my behaviour which is what it is all about.

Hello friends and family
The months are racing by, and the sun continues to shine! On Sunday we threw more rocks and on Monday went to the orchard, repaired the bridge and cut down some gorse. Tuesday’s rounds were followed by a trip to the Bluffs as Dan had not been there before. 

​On Wednesday we set off for Clyde in Central Otago with Elaine on board and went to visit Walter and Therese. The purpose of the trip was to acknowledge their contribution to our work with Life memberships of the Katiki Point penguin trust. Therese spoiled us with a beautiful, cooked lunch and Walter entertained us with stories of Moeraki from years ago. We continued our trip, through the Lindis Pass and down the Waitaki Valley to dinner at Oamaru.

​What a fabulous trip, with autumn at its best from start to finish. We left the coast to its drizzly grey day and travelled in glorious sunshine.

​Luckily the sunshine followed us, and Thursday was very pleasant for the penguin rounds. We picked up 2 penguins that had been in care and then not gone out fishing after being released. The problem seems to be Fungal throat. They are responding well to treatment. In the afternoon we sorted the fish out so now I only have one freezer operating through the off-season.

On Thursday, the plumber came and replaced old, worn-out valves in the system. He also found a leak that was causing problems with the pump. What bliss! A plumbing system that works!
Dan went home on Friday and Hiltrun came up yesterday.
Have a great week
Rosalie