Happy Thanksgiving
Actually the 27th was yesterday for us but it’s thanksgiving for all of you back home. Don’t eat too much turkey and make yourselves uncomfortable.
Barb and I had a great day yesterday, then had a cheese omelet for our thanksgiving dinner. Not exactly turkey but it “filled the hole” as Barb is fond of saying. Actually it was a nice dinner and we washed it down with several glasses of wine we had purchased from a winery during the day.
The day consisted of driving north/west of Auckland out to the western shore to a place called Muriwai beach. It’s a rugged beach with high cliffs and a nice black sand beach. It is also a big surfing spot. But what the beach is really known for is that it’s a huge nesting site for gannets. Gannets are these large birds, about the size of a large raven that plummet from 30 to 40 feet into the ocean. They user their wings underwater to swim around and catch fish. They are amazing as was the whole beach. We saw several chicks and eggs. It’s spring here, remember. Pictures below.
Today it’s cold and raining quite heavily. We plan to head into Auckland and visit the Auckland museum. Seems like a good day to visit a museum.
That’s all for now. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Spence & Barb
PS. A note about the pictures. If you double click on them you will get the full size image. Also I’m still trying to get the diving videos uploaded. They are large files and we are still having some internet issues.
Muriwai beach looking south
One of the many gannet nesting sites. A pretty neat rock pinnacle.
The same pinnacle from a different angle.
There were thousands of them. It was very cool to watch them come in for a landing. Somehow they manage to locate their partner, a feat in itself, then drop in without taking out several other birds in the process. They have some amazing flying skills.
They mate for life and when one of the birds returns and lands next to it’s partner they go through this elaborate neck and head rubbing ritual. The pair in the middle of the picture is going through this ritual. It’s kind of nice. Barb and I tried it, but it didn’t work for us. 🙂
I tried many times to get one in flight. This one may be my best.
There are also terns that nest at the site. They are much smaller birds but man can they fly. You can see a little chick in the center of the picture.
The beach to the North.
A little snooze after our picnic lunch. It was a beautiful warm day. Very different from today which is cold and rainy.