Sunday 11th June 2023

home time

​Hello friends and family.
I prepared for the promised rain – planted out and potted up – it never came! The cold did arrive, and we have had the best frosts for a couple of years. Six of us did the rounds on Tuesday morning so we split into 2 teams and did a reserve each. The penguins were all out fishing. After a cuppa, some of us planted more flaxes and the others went to the island and repaired the little penguin boxes that had been damaged by the seals. 

chilly morning

​Wednesday was my day at the TopTip and I was very pleased to have my hot water bottle for the first hour before the sun warmed the place up. It was busy all morning, people dumping rubbish and buying pre-loved treasures. 

The rare plant

​We had a change of routine on Thursday. Jan did the rounds here and Robbie and I went to the sealion beach to help with a rare-plant protection project managed by DOC. Both of us took our electric pruners and could cut through the lupins in no time at all. It was a stunning day and very enjoyable.

the sealions were curious to see us on their beach

​After morning coffee with Elaine on Friday, I went to Shag point to do the trap round with Jan. Much of the path is on clay and very slippery through the winter. I did indeed manage to fall over – on my back – into a gorse bush. There was nothing to hold for leverage to get up again that wasn’t prickly, but thank goodness, Jan was able to pull me out! The eggs in my backpack were not broken, but I spent the rest of the day pulling thorns out of my clothing.

The beach at Shag point

Hiltrun came up yesterday and delivered our penguin from the Dunedin Wildlife hospital. In the evening, I went to dinner at the tavern with Elaine.
Have a great week!
Rosalie