​Hello friends and family
On Sunday, Murray and I visited the Point Bush sanctuary out the back of Waimate. We went in their new Leif so caused no emissions on the trip. We wanted to see their fence which excludes predators. It was interesting in many ways. Firstly, it was built around remnants of ancient forest that had survived in gullies. It is on private land so there were daffodils by the path, poison stations for rats by the traps and a large stand of pines that will be removed later. The 2 additions they had made to their deer fence were a 1 m high fine mesh and 3 hotwires at the top of it. This could be an affordable option for us to make a staged effort to turn the Bluffs into an ecosanctuary. Exciting times!

​On Tuesday when we did the rounds, there were 17 nests already. One is a 2-year-old that we beeped by the hide last season as a juvenile. In the afternoon Jan and I went to the pre-season meeting in Dunedin to make sure we are up to speed with the many requirements for the new season. Jim, our DOC liaison person gave us the traps and cameras that he had procured for us. Thank you, Jim!

​There were more nests on Thursday and yesterday we found 12 nests at the Moeraki colony and 20 here. In the afternoon we went to the Bluffs and found 2 nests at the south end and 3 penguins at Kawariki bay behaving like they will nest there.

​All 3 were 3 years old and chicks that we had hand raised because of predators killing chicks in our colonies. How wonderful!

​Hello friends and family
We have eggs! The new season is underway, and we found the first eggs on Tuesday – one here and one at the Moeraki Colony. I feel so very grateful to the penguins for having another go at this breeding lark. Both pairs have a history of Malaria and last year they both lost their chicks early on. They have not given up, and neither will we.

​On Wednesday I had my second COVID booster so am up to date. I could not resist buying tomato plants, but they will have to sit in their punnet until the 1st October otherwise I talk a lot of rubbish. I am not alone in this. While I was waiting in the queue to be served, a man advised me that if you plant grafted tomatoes, you can re-use the same soil, year after year. Who would take a punt on that advice!

​On Thursday our team was joined by Wyn and her husband to discuss trees. Robbie took them to the Bluffs so they could see the challenge we are embracing. Jan, Murray, and I did the rounds here and found another egg. In the afternoon I talked with Pauline who will be our vet going forward. 

​Friday was a day for tackling the list of jobs. I planted 30 weeping rosemary plants at Hampden in the morning and cleaned up the flax work area in the drive in the afternoon.

​Yesterday we had our AGM. Only lucky people attended. We were treated by Jennifer’s superior catering and Hiltrun’s very informative talk about NZPI. Some regulars were absent, which was a shame. Before the AGM, Hiltrun and I did the rounds. We now have 8 nests with 9 eggs.

Awesome.
Have a great week!
Rosalie

​Hello friends and family
Two weeks can be a long time. My dear friend, a trustee and our vet, Sue Robb died after a long and painful illness. May she rest in peace.

​I went north and spent time with my family. They are such wonderful people and make a fuss of me which is nice. My dear friend Dot came over to Hahei with her sister and we caught up in person for the first time in a couple of years. Our Daniel has made it to the Basketball national championships so well done him! He says it is nice to not be the tallest person in the room sometimes!

​Travel is always unpredictable. On my way north I flew via Auckland. The airport was chaos with flights delayed in every direction. My suitcase go lost in the turmoil and was not delivered until the next morning. On the way home, I flew south to snow on the beaches at Christchurch. The bus home was cancelled. Fortunately, I was able to hitch a ride with one of the other people on the plane and made it home safely.

​On Thursday we did the rounds and found lots of penguins at home. There were 19 pairs here and ten at the Moeraki colony. All very busy. At the Moeraki colony, 3 penguins in the same area had bleeding flippers – a sure sign of fighting. We just let them behave naturally.

​The fence is finished. It is well made and a credit to the contractor. There are lots of lambs on the farm, so I am driving carefully. My PHEV is so quiet some lambs don’t hear it.

​Hiltrun came yesterday and we had a good catch-up and began the process of preparing the calendar. We found different penguins at home - the season is close.