To insanity and beyond ...: ..... they only made ONE of me ....

Yep .... they only made one of me .... and my family are probably breathing a sigh of relief ... hmmm .....

My kids shouldn’t be too hasty though .... they’re 50% me ...... they have my genes .... oh yeah ...... they think I’m whacky but some of that whacky-ness is in them too ... they just might not have found it yet! I’m a late bloomer .. only discovered how weird and wonderful I can be a bit late in life .... but I don’t mind .. I’m playing “catch-up” now ... in a BIG way!!

It has been the MOST awesome of days today .... my sun is shining .. the skies are blue .. the hound and I had a magnificent walk! I can tell how much she’s enjoyed her morning ramble by the level of exhaustion when we get home .... today’s level on a scale of 1 to 10 was 10 .... dead to the world ..... with her tongue out ...... on the tiles.

I’m living in a good part of the world when it comes to whacky .... weird, wild and wonderful happenings are the norm throughout the year here ... almost every day someone somewhere in NZ is staging a public event or holding a festival ... and a lot of them are whacky! After all, what other country in the world makes an international event out of rolling little round sweets down a steep hill ... weird!!

I’ve always been fascinated by the rows of mailboxes we’ve seen on our explorations around this part of the world ... but none of the ones I’ve seen here on North Island can hold a candle to these ones on South Island ... photo courtesy of Vagabond Quest. These mailboxes were found in Queenstown - in amongst a row of more than 60 mailboxes .. a beer keg, complete with pipe and tap, an old DVD player, an espresso machine, a mailbox covered with road warning signs and a seal carrying a mailbox! Weird and whacky kiwi creativity at its best!!

Auckland’s mailboxes are quite boring in comparison but I’m going to keep a sharp look out on my rambles in future for any strange looking ones.

Days like today make me so happy to be alive .... I’m awestruck at how vibrant the colours around me are .... I just want to record it all in my mind and never forget how beautiful it is! I’ll never tire of the vista I see each day when I climb Cliff Road to the view site ...... my world laid out before me in multi-coloured harmony. I could stand and drink in the magnificence of the view for aeons .......... but the hound has other plans .... she tires of the view far sooner than me. No ramble is complete without several escapades in the waves and she can hear the waves calling ...... loudly!!

We had Ladies Bay to ourselves today ... the hound who wanted to eat her yesterday was on his way home ... firmly held on lead by his human. Despite the abundance of sunshine there were no nudists .... no fishermen .... no tourists or even fellow ramblers ..... we had the rocks and waves to ourselves! Who knows ..... if the sun continues to shine in this fashion on our morning rambles ..... I could be persuaded to emulate the nudists and join my hound in the waves ............. hmmmmm .............but only if we’ve got the Bay to ourselves!

Summer was definitely here today ..... in all its glory .... shine on Mr Sun ... you are more than welcome to stay!!