Sunday 7th July 2019

A penguin heading home - still shiny from the ocean

Hello friends and family
The big dry continues. Hebes are starting to die and Akeake’s are wilting. Jan and I checked the island and there were no little penguins at home. On Wednesday, my turn at the Toptip was very comfortable with 20 degrees recorded. Hamish arrived on Tuesday afternoon and was happy to be able to feed the hospital penguins. The flax is now dug out of the front garden and the big plum tree is pruned.

An Otago shag checks out a pair of Spotted shags

​Hamish and Robbie worked on Thursday while Jan and I did the rounds. We released 2 penguins and picked up one. She was free for a week but did not leave, so is now back in care with a sore throat.
On Friday Hamish and I went to the Waitaki River mouth which was not much fun as it was bitterly cold. Lunch at Riverstone on the way back was very yummy!

The cool crowd - sleeping in until 9:30 am.

​All was quiet when Hamish and I did the rounds on Saturday morning. We did see the two juveniles that we released on Thursday and both were looking just fine.

A Weta - disturbed by my gardening.

I am slowly getting the home jobs done. Yesterday I cleared the front path of overhanging flowers. After 150 years of lighthouse keeping here, most of the weeds are flowers.
Have a great week!
Rosalie
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