 hurry up spring Hello friends and family, On Monday morning Pauline drove down from Christchurch to return Bruno. I was thrilled to see them both! In the afternoon, I went to Dunedin airport and picked up grandson Daniel and girlfriend Amber. Their flight from Auckland airport was 3 hours late, so we had Burger King for tea. The driving through thick fog was interesting, to say the least. The team came out on Tuesday morning and did the rounds with the kids.  more fungi magic Wednesday was surgery day, so we set off at 5:50am for a 7 am appointment. I spent an hour and a half in surgery, with local anaesthetic, getting my face put back together again. All the cancer has been removed so all I must do now is heal my face.  looking innocent The team did the rounds again on Thursday. There were a few penguins at home, and conditions were slippery. The kids worked on setting up the new sanitation station by clearing vegetation and moving rocks. We celebrated Matariki by going to the tavern for tea. Another interesting drive. We saw 5 red deer, 2 does and 3 stags. Regular fences do not hold deer – soon they could become a problem to our plants.  caught in the headlights Yesterday the sun shone so the kids did some sightseeing. I had a quiet one and relaxed. Have a great week! Rosalie   nest 6 - much loved by the penguins Hello friends and family Winter is certainly here. It is dark outside until nearly 8am and cold and damp. The team came out on Tuesday morning and braved the cold, wet conditions. I had developed an infection in my face and so went to the doctor in Oamaru. I walked around with my hoodie obscuring my face and got the jobs done. At the pharmacy, I jumped on their scales and had put on 2 kgs in the last month!  The pied shags have now moved onto the rocks On Wednesday morning I attended an online meeting of the NZ Sealion Trust, with my camera off, and was impressed by their inspiring vision of welcoming the NZ Sealion home. Unfortunately, in the 200 years since humans drove them to local extinction here, we have built roads along the coast. As sealion numbers increase, encounters along SH1 at Katiki beach have increased. Jan has spent 2 nights this week removing a sealion from immediate danger. Not a sign of welcome, or sustainable.  add moisture and the world springs to life On Thursday the team did the rounds, and we finally trapped the cat down the hill that had been on Facebook. That, along with 2 rats was the catch for the day. Trii arrived on Friday to do a day volunteering in the tree nursery. The young trees showed their gratitude immediately by looking great.  Up before the sun for the solstice She stayed over in her bus for 2 nights and was great company for me, stuck at home. Have a great week! Rosalie  after the rain Hello friends and family I had a quiet start to the week and then the team came out on Tuesday, and we were visited by Amy and 3 of her friends. They are all conservation activists. 2 of them are observers on fishing boats and their trips to sea can range from a week in a 4 m fishing boat to 3 months in a large trawler. They spend a lot of time on the southern ocean and have stories to tell.  home time It was a mutual admiration celebration. They are having a month off, meandering around the South Island, sleeping in a camper and loving it. In the afternoon, they went to the Bluffs and planted trees and saw penguins!  It was so dry the finches were using the troughs for water On Thursday the team came out in the morning, and we braved the cold to check down the hill. I gave up after that and left the Okahau check to Robbie, Jan and Mark. I worked on our SOP for controlling pathogens and it is creating lively debate. In the evening the rain arrived, and we got 22mm overnight. This is enough to break the drought and bring life to all the tiny trees that we have planted over the last few months.  The seal pups escaping the weather Grey, cold, gloomy weather – it is enough to depress anyone. I am lucky because I have a visiting Bellbird in the Kowhai tree that sings a lot. What a buzz! On Thursday night we finally got rain – 22mm. This was followed by 12mm on Friday night – the drought is broken. Those 100s of trees that we have planted in the last 3 months have a chance to thrive.  rough seas roared Last night we got another 14mm of rain. I am inspired. I will spend the day potting up tiny trees. Have a great week! Rosalie  Heading home Hello friends and family This has been a different week. Maria went home on Monday, thanks to Robbie and Barb for taking her to the airport, and the team came out on Tuesday morning. Their urgent task was to collect penguin poop for our workshop on Thursday. No supply shortage there!  We made it! On Wednesday, Lynn and Michel arrived for a visit after attending the Birds NZ conference in Nelson. What a wonderful opportunity for the team to have such expertise on hand for a few days. On Thursday, we were joined by Henry from the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony and Lynn demonstrated the process of making slides for Faecal analysis. The team went down the hill, collected new samples and then made slides and observed the result under the microscope.  beating the waves It is surprising to see such life happening in a tiny lump of poop! In The afternoon, Lynn and Michel took me to Oamaru to get the stitches out of my face. Afterwards, they visited the Oamaru Blue penguin colony to talk with Pip and see their facilities.  Hello neighbours Living behind my surgery is a bit strange because I can’t see it and it feels like I am wearing glasses. I catch myself trying to take them off, to no avail! I can’t wear glasses but can fortunately see well enough without them to be able to function almost normally.  Home time From the other side, I look bizarre. A bridge of skin connects my forehead to my nose where the graft is slowly returning to a normal colour. There is no point in me going out in public because the surgery is such a distraction. Robbie attended the Hui on Friday, and Lynn and I worked through our new workflow sequence for next season when we will pre-empt Bird Flu by using a better routine.  Mischief wrapped in fur Lynn and Michel are heading home today. I was so lucky that they came at this time to keep me cheerful. Have a great week! Rosalie  rough seas on an otherwise sleeping rock Hello friends and family, For all of May, my phone was switched off for an hour and a half while I was flying to Auckland. Sure enough, I got a call that could not be returned until Monday morning – my surgery at Dunedin hospital was scheduled for Wednesday morning – at 8:30am. Everything fell into place – Maria flew down on Tuesday evening and we stayed at the Leisure Lodge in Dunedin for the night. It was easy to get to the hospital on time the next morning and Maria went to work at the local office.  amazing cloud formations are common here in winter My surgery is disfiguring until I get the second part done in a month. I was warned about this, but it is still shocking to look in the mirror and see that I look like an Avatar from a movie. Fortunately, my phone still recognises me so I can function in this modern world.  winter colour in the garden We came home on Thursday and have been quiet ever since. Maria has been looking after me with great care and so I am making good progress. I get my stitches out on Thursday. Have a great week! Rosalie. |
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