My mate Sebastian.

 My mate Sebastian went to Doggie Heaven on Friday ... Carol wasn’t ready to let him go but Sebastian knew it was time. He knew that pic I took of him on Thursday was going to be the last one I’d ever take of him and he made sure it was memorable. When I looked through my photos on Thursday morning before posting my blog I was blown away by the light in his eyes and how wonderful he looked ... who would have thought it would be his last outing to the village.  

He was the most dignified of hounds .... and the MOST loved of any hound I’ve yet to meet. I will never forget watching Carol walk up and down the hill every day with Sebastian in tow, taking him for his daily constitutional. It was

always done at his pace .... with no hurry .... this was “Sebastian time”. 

Whilst Friday was a sad day, it also held many beautiful moments ... sitting with Pete and Carol as they reminisced about their hound and the joy and happiness he’d bought

to their lives was special.  I felt privileged to spend that time with them and to be there when Sebastian breathed his last. What a huge hole he’s left in their lives.

Taking photos of empty beaches in the Eastern Bays for Dog Friends ... for

Okahu Bay ... empty ... and it's a glorious day

the hearings Coucil is holding in May .... has taken on more significance. Because of Sebastian’s age and the length of time it took to come down the hill, he was never able to access the beaches during summer. I took several photos of empty beaches on Friday and have posted them to

Mission Bay

Dog Friends site for inclusion in the submission. Council have received over 10 000 submissions for the proposed changes to the Law ... I’m hoping the majority are in the hound’s favour.

Having to share my sandwich with the hound!!

Glen Dowie Boat Club

It’s wonderful that Friday was such a beautiful day, from a weather perspective that is, as empty beaches on gorgeous sunny days will have a lot more impact than empty beaches on overcast and rainy days. We truly live in an awesome spot and driving around taking all the

photos on Friday was a timely reminder of how magnificently scenic this island is. Gareth and I took advantage of HAVING to go to the beach and found a lovely isolated beach to have our lunch at .... the hound got to swim too ... but don’t tell anyone!!

My land of birth did me proud this morning .... getting up at the crack of dawn .... 3.30 am!! .... to see Wales defeat France and take the Triple Crown and 6 Nations honours was memorable. Listening to them sing the National Anthem gave me goosebumps!! 

Gav came down at 4 to watch the Sharks take on the Reds but ended up watching the rest of the Wales/France match first as it was so exciting.  Flipping between channels WASN’T an option!!

Fortunately my Sharks managed to pull off a win against the Reds too so, all in all, a brilliant morning of rugby here at the arse end of the world .... a lazy afternoon/evening elsewhere in the world!

My hound is the grateful recipient of two new rugby balls ... an “unchewed” South African one as hers is really looking the worse for wear ... and a new WELSH one.  She very proudly took the Welsh one to the beach this morning and enthusiastically showed it off to all those souls doing “Round the Bays”. I wonder how long it’ll be before this one looks as chewed as her old South African one!

Indy with her ball yesterday

Last night's sunset

... and a close up of it.

"Don't you dare TOUCH it Indy!!"

Maggie (one of my neighbour's dogs) on the beach this morning.

Me and my ball!

I'm a rugby addict....

Morning reflections ......

.... and even earlier before we could see the sun.

Our job .... our invitation from the Universe .... according to Nealle Donald Walsch, is to give people back to themselves. He suggests we look for the best in every person we meet and tell them, right there and then!  It’s not always easy though with someone you’ve just met, but I like the philosophy

behind the idea. Each and every individual has something positive and vital to add to the communities we live and work in ... yes ... even the GOPs!


That’s what’s so awesome about our daily rambles ... we get to meet the nicest of people in this little community we live in.

Indy Explorer!

Indy got to go on a bus today .... not for a ride ... but he got to see what the inside of a bus was like. The nicest of bus drivers had parked opposite Moretons and was obviously waiting for his shift to begin ... he’d been watching the hounds playing on the sand. We headed up to the boardwalk and Chocolat’s ball rolled in his direction so he kicked it back towards her. Both hounds see anyone kicking the ball as an invitation to say hello .... so over they went to greet him with wet and muddy noses ... the poor bus driver had mud splashes all over his trousers but didn’t mind one little bit! 

Clouds in puddles of water!

Indy, in typical Indy explorer mode, headed into the bus and up and down the aisle - I don’t think he was checking out the seating arrangement .... more like he was sussing out the availability of food on board!

The bus driver told us he loves dogs but won’t have another one as he hasn’t got over the loss of his last one. It used to lie under the car in the shade and his son inadvertently ran over it one day whilst moving the car. His grief was palpable and we felt such an affinity for his loss ... it explained why he was happy to have hound slobber all over him.

Love it ... love it ... love it!!

I walked away from him feeling that in some way we’d reached out to him ... in some way talking to us about his loss comforted him and made his day brighter. It just felt so right.


I’m baby-sitting Sebastian for Carol on

Sunday .... or should that be “pensioner-sitting”!! Carol’s participating in a half-marathon at Coatesville and after Sebastian’s stroke this week, she’s understandably worried about leaving him on his own. She was concerned about needing to drop him off early but she forgets .... I’m a rugby addict ... it’s Super Rugby

season and 6 Nations ... both my team’s are playing early Sunday morning .... I’ll be UP and CHEERING!


Sebastian’s looking good though ... I could even see an improvement in him from yesterday ... he stood up with more ease at the coffee shop today. He’s a dear old soul and quite the celebrity in our little village ... how many other 15 year old hounds do you know who’re taken for their daily constitutional at the beach without fail! I reckon that’s what’s kept Sebastian young ... Carol and Pete’s commitment to his daily ramble ... well .... Carol’s commitment to his daily ramble, Pete joins in at weekends.

I’m loving the weather at the moment ... the early morning sunshine creates the most amazing reflections in the low tide. The cotton-wool clouds and blue sky are reflected so clearly in the pools of water on the sand .... the beach is a photographer’s heaven at the moment and I’m milking it for all that it’s worth!

I’ve been asked by Dog Friends Auckland to take photos of some of the other Eastern Bay’s  “empty” beaches this month. I’ve already submitted photos of St. Helier’s beach but they’re needing more ammunition and are finding the locals in our neck of the woods a little apathetic. They’re using the photos in their

submission to Council to have the summer restrictions lifted earlier. I’m surprised at the apathy of my fellow humans with hounds .... Julia and I have been quite vocal about the need for us all to get involved in shaping the new laws and access times. Without photographic evidence of empty beaches the submission is doomed.
I’m on a mission!!