Sunday 8th October 2023

And now we wait

​Hello friends and family,
The weather created the drama this week. On Monday afternoon the wind gusted up to 200kph and caused local chaos. Out here the main damage was that the clothesline blew off, even though there was no washing on the line. Trees blew down across the neighbourhood and many people were cut off. It took all of Tuesday for the roads to be cleared. The power was out for hours. Caravans blew over. Patrick came out and closed the reserve early for safety reasons and checked on my welfare which was a kind gesture.

storm litter everywhere

​In the penguin colonies, leaves and twigs covered the ground and Mrs 8 had her house blow off her. There she was, sitting on her egg, intrepid. Mrs 79 laid her first egg. She is usually the last to lay and has maintained her reputation so far. By next week, we must accept that we will not get any more nests.

The gulls are picking their spot

​On Thursday afternoon, Robbie, Jonah, and I did the trap round at Shag Point. Jonah is a trapping expert and we asked for his help to reset the line as currently, it is too dangerous, slippery in the wet and too many seals for safety. As we were packing up to go, a man from TVNZ came and interviewed me about the new marine reserves. Very random.

Clematis in the Moeraki reserve

Hiltrun and Elke came up yesterday and did the rounds. I repaired damage done by the wind to our new plantings.
Have a great week!
Rosalie​