Day 8, L3: Otago, Planets, forget the meat, and ghostly historic moments
Talk about ten seasons in one day - rain, blue sky, rain, blue sky ... it went on all day.
I managed a beach walk around 3pm when there was a lot of blue in the sky up top. It was a hurried walk there and back, and I made it home just before the rains came down.
The sea was flat as a pancake, no sign whatsoever of yesterday's fabulous surf.
I simply couldn't find any new perspective to photograph at the beach today, so the beach photos of the day come from way down south. Otago. I was born in Dunedin, where my lovely aunt and cousins live, and where Michael went to university. These photos are of various beaches we visited when Brett and I visited Michael for his 20th birthday in 2016. What a stunning part of the world Otago is.
Planets ...
I have to confess to staying up later than usual last night - I got waylaid with the night sky. It was clear as a bell. I went outside and saw the lovely moon. And an incredibly bright star - or was it a planet? with an equally bright one below.
I checked out Time and Date website (fab Norwegian website about all things to do with weather, time, sky, sun, moon, stars etc that I've been tuning into forever) - it gives the local night sky is live time - and it looked like three planets were all aligned. Jupiter, Saturn - and Mars as well.
I looked through the binoculars - wow Jupiter looked like a Kaleidoscope.
I looked through the telescope - oh yes, looked even more like one. Phenomenal.
And yes, Mars, the red planet, was there as well.
OMG, I'm standing there looking at Jupiter, Saturn and Mars lined up brightly - and right outside my front door! How lucky was I!?
It was 1.45am. How lucky am I that I'm a night owl to see this sort of stuff!?
Another look at Jupiter through the telescope ... OMG it was twinkling in my eye like a child's toy. Couldn't take my eyes off it. Until I really had to, sleep called.
Here's the website that I mentioned - it's been going for many years, and I tapped into it years ago when I first started my Full Moon research. It's much more sophisticated these days and if you're a stargazer, moonlover or just wowed by space and time, this is a fantastic website. Check it out.
https://www.timeanddate.com/
Impossible to photograph this spectacle, but I saw it with my own eyes. And will never forget it.
LUNCH: filled roll
DINNER: Brie on crackers, a cheese/tomato croissant and some cashew nuts! This was not as planned ... I'd prepared all ingredients for a chicken satay meal, but one thing led to another, phone calls and whatnot, and I realised I didn't have time to cook/eat it before quiz started. So that has been put aside to be tomorrow night's meal ...
Are you noticing my meals are getting a bit more haphazard, loose, simple - and with a more of a vegetarian focus!? When it's just me, I don't care when or what I eat and it's unlikely to contain meat (but definitely fish, although that's been tricky through Covid).
This is in stark contrast to cooking when there are males to cater for that want both meat and routine. Sigh.
Having lived and hung out with vegetarians for a large chunk of my early adult years, I personally don't need meat as a component of my meals. Even as a young girl in a meat-eating bbq-ing household, I often held fire on the meat components. That's not to say I didn't/don't eat or enjoy meat, I've just never hankered for it.
I'd be happily vegetarian forever - but, coz flexibility is my middle name, and having a man and two sons who have always needed meat, that's not so simple. Actually, never been an option. Until ...
Over recent years, without nagging or suggestion from me, said males are finally understanding that meals without meat lack nothing much except animal. Yay! Now they're telling me how fabulous and delicious meals without meat are!!! I just smile and be happy!
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
A fabulous place to stay ...
When we visited Michael back in 2016 we stayed at an Air BnB that was quite unlike any place I've stayed before.
It was a huge old homestead that had once been a student flat. It had recently been converted into apartments to let. Wow what a place. So many heritage features beautifully restored, and so much space. Here are some arty photos I took, including reflections through windows through windows and back into the house. There was a huge rambling garden that had an Enid Blyton quality. Everything was so regal, with a museum-like quality. It was also a kind of spooky place, but in the nicest way. Casper may have popped out, not a ghoul. I don't think there's a place I've stayed in the world that gave me this kind of delicious tasteful spookiness. Staying there was an amazing experience we won't forget in a hurry.
And then there was Cargill Castle - it's off limits to the public, but Michael took us there anyway. It involved a ramble over stiles and fences and chaotic clambering that mother wasn't too keen about but did anyway. It was worth it.
What a place! Historic moments relived in a modern world. Wow.
I can't encourage you to go take a look coz you're not allowed to. But I'm very glad we took a sneaky look.
I managed a beach walk around 3pm when there was a lot of blue in the sky up top. It was a hurried walk there and back, and I made it home just before the rains came down.
The sea was flat as a pancake, no sign whatsoever of yesterday's fabulous surf.
I simply couldn't find any new perspective to photograph at the beach today, so the beach photos of the day come from way down south. Otago. I was born in Dunedin, where my lovely aunt and cousins live, and where Michael went to university. These photos are of various beaches we visited when Brett and I visited Michael for his 20th birthday in 2016. What a stunning part of the world Otago is.
 |
| St Clair at sunset - with surfers out - in May! |
 |
| Looking towards St Clair Pool |
 |
| Allans Beach, Otago Peninsula - rugged, isolated, beautiful |
 |
| Murdering Beach - aka Whareakaeake - west of Aramoana. Stunning |
 |
| Aramoana mole - a rugged isolated place |
Planets ...
I have to confess to staying up later than usual last night - I got waylaid with the night sky. It was clear as a bell. I went outside and saw the lovely moon. And an incredibly bright star - or was it a planet? with an equally bright one below.
I checked out Time and Date website (fab Norwegian website about all things to do with weather, time, sky, sun, moon, stars etc that I've been tuning into forever) - it gives the local night sky is live time - and it looked like three planets were all aligned. Jupiter, Saturn - and Mars as well.
I looked through the binoculars - wow Jupiter looked like a Kaleidoscope.
I looked through the telescope - oh yes, looked even more like one. Phenomenal.
And yes, Mars, the red planet, was there as well.
OMG, I'm standing there looking at Jupiter, Saturn and Mars lined up brightly - and right outside my front door! How lucky was I!?
It was 1.45am. How lucky am I that I'm a night owl to see this sort of stuff!?
Another look at Jupiter through the telescope ... OMG it was twinkling in my eye like a child's toy. Couldn't take my eyes off it. Until I really had to, sleep called.
Here's the website that I mentioned - it's been going for many years, and I tapped into it years ago when I first started my Full Moon research. It's much more sophisticated these days and if you're a stargazer, moonlover or just wowed by space and time, this is a fantastic website. Check it out.
https://www.timeanddate.com/
Impossible to photograph this spectacle, but I saw it with my own eyes. And will never forget it.
LUNCH: filled roll
DINNER: Brie on crackers, a cheese/tomato croissant and some cashew nuts! This was not as planned ... I'd prepared all ingredients for a chicken satay meal, but one thing led to another, phone calls and whatnot, and I realised I didn't have time to cook/eat it before quiz started. So that has been put aside to be tomorrow night's meal ...
Are you noticing my meals are getting a bit more haphazard, loose, simple - and with a more of a vegetarian focus!? When it's just me, I don't care when or what I eat and it's unlikely to contain meat (but definitely fish, although that's been tricky through Covid).
This is in stark contrast to cooking when there are males to cater for that want both meat and routine. Sigh.
Having lived and hung out with vegetarians for a large chunk of my early adult years, I personally don't need meat as a component of my meals. Even as a young girl in a meat-eating bbq-ing household, I often held fire on the meat components. That's not to say I didn't/don't eat or enjoy meat, I've just never hankered for it.
I'd be happily vegetarian forever - but, coz flexibility is my middle name, and having a man and two sons who have always needed meat, that's not so simple. Actually, never been an option. Until ...
Over recent years, without nagging or suggestion from me, said males are finally understanding that meals without meat lack nothing much except animal. Yay! Now they're telling me how fabulous and delicious meals without meat are!!! I just smile and be happy!
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
A fabulous place to stay ...
When we visited Michael back in 2016 we stayed at an Air BnB that was quite unlike any place I've stayed before.
It was a huge old homestead that had once been a student flat. It had recently been converted into apartments to let. Wow what a place. So many heritage features beautifully restored, and so much space. Here are some arty photos I took, including reflections through windows through windows and back into the house. There was a huge rambling garden that had an Enid Blyton quality. Everything was so regal, with a museum-like quality. It was also a kind of spooky place, but in the nicest way. Casper may have popped out, not a ghoul. I don't think there's a place I've stayed in the world that gave me this kind of delicious tasteful spookiness. Staying there was an amazing experience we won't forget in a hurry.
 |
| Inside Cargill castle ruins |
 |
| Brett and Michael look out to sea |
 |
| Old Cargill Castle facade |
What a place! Historic moments relived in a modern world. Wow.
I can't encourage you to go take a look coz you're not allowed to. But I'm very glad we took a sneaky look.
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