Leaving home

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Phew - its been a marathon of packing up and cleaning house, emptying the 'empty nest', and generally sorting out the boring bits of daily life. The house sitter and the mower of lawns are scheduled, and the neighbours have sorted out their rosters for picking and eating the ripening citrus fruit. during our absence. The garden beds are 'composted down' and the trees are pruned.

Previously, we have only been away for a few short weeks at a time - much more planning is required when escaping for the whole NZ winter. The last few days in the Marlborough Sounds were deceptively mild with just a few heavy rain showers. Still, the weather forecast shows that winter is definitely on the way - another great reason to depart for warmer climates.

We finally set off with packed bags, and of course the pumpkin harvest for distributing on our first leg of the journey - a road trip to Christchurch.

The Kaikoura coastline was simply stunning with plenty of seals and stormy clouds. Stopping briefly at Ohau Point, I snapped a few shots of the seals lounging on the rocks - there I looked the more I noticed as they popped up from between the rocks - very well camouflaged are the seals. See if you can count how many seals amongst the rocks.

On arrival, we were treated to a sumptuous meal of whitebait patties and poached pears. The whitebait patties didn't sit on the plates long enough to get their photo taken but the pears were a work of art and very delicious - thanks Merelyn and Chris.

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Comments

[Delia Dephoff]

Bon voyage
Have a wonderful trip :-)

[Delia Dephoff]

Bon voyage
Have a wonderful trip :-)