Day 6, Level 1: Wet wet wet, in print, wine tasting, quiz, dune and godwits

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Weather - utterly miserable. It rained and poured all day. 

Writing and working took my mind off it. The rain never let up. I think this is the wettest, rainiest day in months, probably since February. Probably since last year, even. It was WET. The previous days were howling a gale, and today, rain rain rain. I didn't even get to the beach this stint.

Packing the car to leave was a nightmare - even though the car was parked right up close to the deck/house with minimal distance to cover. The grass was saturated and I got drenched darting to the car - so much so that I had to get out the hair dryer to blow all over myself to even be able to get in the car to leave in comfort - hair, clothes, everything. It didn't make much difference, that's how wet I got. 

I picked up a copy of the NZ Herald - a piece of mine appeared in the Travel Section today. An overview of some of Auckland Regional Parks. They used my photos too. Very happy. And lots of good feedback.


 

I left Omaha in the pouring rain and there was heaps of flooding on the road all the way to Matakana, and even further on. The whole area was in a state of utter gloominess - and flood.

Looking towards Omaha


The estuary

As I headed south to the city, the clouds got lower and really clagged in. At times, it was a bit like driving in fog, but not quite. The rain kept falling. Hideous driving conditions - but I'm happy to report that everyone I saw was driving to the conditions. Good to see. 

I made my way to Milford - to Pym's Bar to be precise. My sister Jacqui's bar. They were having a wine-tasting run by The Hunting Lodge. It was busy, it was fun, the wines were great, the Hunting Lodge guy Andrew was spot-on, the platters were tasty, the service was excellent, the camaraderie was heartening. 

This is a local bar ticking all the boxes. I talked to quite a few people there - some I knew, some I didn't. All of them love the place. 

We sampled rose, albarino, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and syrah. They were all very nice, I think the albarino and syrah were my faves. 

I then had to hurry off as soon as the last taste was complete - had to get to quiz. I was a little late but slipped in. We ended up coming about midfield. It was Penny's birthday - we had delicious chocolate cake and a Happy Birthday singsong. A fun night, as always. 

Inktober - today's prompt word DUNE. I did this just before I packed up and left Omaha. The colours somehow haven't come out right in the photos. Some of the brown tones look red, but they don't in real life. But that's ok, it is what it is. Layers of dunes.

Dune

 

Close-up detail


SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Godwits ...

Apparently the Bar-tailed Godwits have arrived back in NZ from Alaska where they have spent our winter. They've just completed the longest single flight of any bird. It's astounding. 

I watched them until they took off on their flight to Alaska in March - but I haven't had opportunity to get along to the Shorebird Sanctuary at Omaha to see if they have arrived back as yet. Even if they have, I may not get to see them - not sure if they hide themselves away for a while. The Godwits nest in various wetlands and spits around the place - including Omaha. 

I'll aim to go take a look when I'm next up there - if this rain stops!


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