"I look at what I write so I can see what I think"

I love this pic!

This is one of my favourite times of the year .... from a sports perspective, that is. Not only have I got rugby to watch most weekends but it’s French Open time and Wimbledon coming up ... Yay!! I might be spending a little more time sleeping on the couch over the next 6 or 7 weeks ... something to do with living at the arse end of the world and starting our day before everyone else.

YAYNESS levels were at an all-time high this weekend as the Sharks pulled out all the stops to beat the Stormers in a nail-biting match - it made getting up early on a Sunday so worthwhile! Even Gav got up to watch and he DOESN’T always join me for my early morning vigils.

This one looks EVIL!

We woke this morning to rain .... loads of it! As I listened to the steady drum of it on the roof I wondered if I’d have a walking partner. Sure enough, not 10 minutes later, a text comes through ... walking the hounds in the heavy rain did NOT appeal to Julia. I couldn’t blame her and snuggled back down under the duvet for a little longer .... no time constraints now so I could afford to leave later on my ramble.

The hound was impatience personified when I did eventually leave ... no steady ramble down the hill for her. She wanted to be on the beach ... in the waves .... and she wanted to be there NOW!

I wanted to take pics of the reflections in the puddles and the gorgeous autumn leaves all over the path. Every time I stopped and put down the lead she  just carried on down the road, hoping I wouldn’t notice. There’s something quite distinctive though about a large chocolate Labrador dragging a bright pink lead along behind her.

Our time on the beach was briefly curtailed by me spotting Denise on the road ... I haven’t seen her for ages and she was on her way to work. We caught up on each others news as we walked to the Co-op where Pete, having seen us coming, was filling up the water bowl. He rather cheekily told my hound to stay away from him as she was quite wet. He shouldn’t have said that ... it’s like a red rag to a bull. I encouraged her to shake ALL the water off ..... after all, if he was going to get wet, he might as well get VERY wet. Good job he has fast reactions.

..... and then the rain came down .... again!

He did give me SOME good news on the weather front ... apparently our weather’s going to be fine and settled for the next 10 days. Let’s see how accurate Pete’s forecast is.

Gorgeous reflections in the windows!

The Rosea were SO noisy today

Someone else who’s not fond of rambling in the rain is Suzanne. Her and Bella had arrived on the beach as I returned with my caffeine fix. The hounds were having a great time chasing logs and the ball in the waves until the storm clouds threatened once again .... and Suzanne headed home.

 I zip up my raincoat, pull up the hood and continue on along the sand. The hound doesn’t even notice the rain as she’s so wet already. 


The camera does notice the rain however and for some reason, doesn’t work too well when it gets wet .... I need to remember this.

I asked here where Indy is and this is the look I got.

I’ve just been reading a few articles on a blog titled “Perambulations” by a chap called Gerry Ellis who rambles all around the world “clicking away at all things amazing and alarming” .... his words not mine 
.... though so applicable to me too. 

This quotation from WH Auber, a poet, came up on his most recent blog. I’ve seen it before but never really given it much credence. Now that I’m writing regularly though it makes so much sense! 
“I look at what I write so I can see what I think”.  
That’s exactly what I do when I write ... what I write is what I see in my mind and what I see through my lens everyday ... it’s an epic quotation .... so thought provoking!

Gareth put it quite succintly ...

Coffee breaks and pit-stops

The last few days ... from a weather and fun perspective .... have had it all!! Weatherwatch and Met Services forecast a very intense low heading across North Island and whilst it was vicious in certain places, it didn’t hit Auckland with quite the punch we expected.  

The gentleman in his blue undies was deemed inappropriately
dressed and removed by the security guards

We did get to the cricket on Saturday and yes ... it WAS really cold .... and rather windy ... but it was a lot of fun.  There weren’t an awful lot of people there but the ones that were added to the atmosphere and made it so enjoyable ... apart from the group sitting next to us .... especially the Cape Coloured lady with the megaphone mouth!

Gareth put it quite succintly ... her behaviour made him embarrassed to admit he was a South African! Fortunately she only joined her friends well into South Africa’s innings so we didn’t have to listen to her 'take' on the game for very long ... what we did have to listen to was MORE than enough!

I can only imagine she must have been a cricketer in a former life as she screamed advice at the players constantly ... advice which they mostly ignored ... until she yelled that she was going home if they didn’t hit a 4 with the next ball.  We breathed a sign of relief ... 4's had been hard to

Some calves we found on the way back from the airshow

come by .... too much water in the outfield which halted the ball’s momentum the minute it hit the turf.  For once they heeded her advice though ... they hit a 4 .... and megaphone mouth continued .... “blerry this”.... and “blerry that” ..... my South African friends will know exactly what her accent sounded like!

Ardmore Airfield

Spitfire

Pity that the Security personnel weren’t as vigilant with unacceptable verbal behaviour ... we’d seen them evict several spectators for being scantily clad and behaving in an unseemly fashion ... to my mind, her language was just as unseemly ... she should have been evicted too!

The Harvards putting on an aerial display

Early Sunday saw us watching the Sharks take on the Stormers .... yayness levels went down .... my Sharks need to stop giving away penalties if they want to progress up the log. Two weeks into the Super 15 and they haven’t won a game yet ... they need to pull their socks up. 

I support them through thick and thin and watch all their matches .... regardless of the time of day or night ... I need to see some winning!!!


The Wings n Wheels show at Ardmore Airfield was a whole heap of fun .... we got to see fast cars, vintage cars, drag racing cars, drifters, jet planes, war planes, helicopters .... and all under the most beautiful blue sky.  It was a wonderful day out in the country .... sadly the hound couldn’t join us ... dogs aren’t always welcome at some of these events.

I’ve made up for not being around yesterday though by taking her for a super long walk today .... we’re rambling on our lonesome this week as Julia and Indy are away on holiday.  


We’ve been onto Ladies Bay and chased the waves .... and the gulls ..... and onto St. Heliers Bay and chased our ball .... with one eye open for the Dog Warden.  The hound’s being really good though .... she’s realising she has to stay in the water and runs along the edge with her feet in the waves and the ball in her mouth.  Just let that Dog Warden come and tell me she should be on lead!!

Don't think I want one of these in my garden

I still haven’t had any reply from Dog Control about my fine .... I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I know they’ve had a lot to deal with this last week or so as the closing date for submissions for the changing of the Dog Bylaws was 27th February .... my letter of objection would have arrived in amongst all the submissions .... here’s hoping they didn’t lose it!

As we head into March the beaches are emptier in the mornings despite the glorious weather.  We ramble up and down in the waves until 9 and then head up to the Co-op to get our daily fix. As I sit on the bench and drink it and look at the empty beach, I can’t help but think how absurd it is that there’s not a soul on the beach .... apart from those humans with hounds flouting the law.  My hound sits and watches too ... and whimpers .... she doesn’t understand how she can see the waves but can’t go in them .... wish I could speak DOG and explain to her how ridiculous some of the laws are that my fellow humans make.