BLOG about PAINTING

It was the first day of spring, and the forecast wasn't too dire, so we decided to go back to one of our favourite spots, Tawharanui. It's the peninsula that has been fenced off from the mainland in an effort to keep out the introduced predators - dogs, cats, rats, stoats, possums, etc. The scheme is working, and both the flora and fauna are making an amazing comeback. As my beloved says, Tawharanui has everything: beaches, rocky shores, creeks, marshes, open vistas and gorgeous forest filled with birdlife. Every time we go, we love it. Today was a great day for birds, starting off with the sweet, rare, and amazingly tame little Robin. We also got to see all kinds of other birds, many of whom just don't survive outside the park - Bellbirds, Saddlebacks, Parrots, etc. While my sweetie explored and watched birds, I did a couple of sketches. Here's the view from the road up between the fields and the forest:

View at Tawharanui

(The palm-like plants on the right are Cabbage trees; the taller one is a Tea tree. Both are native species.)

TODAY'S TIDBIT

There's a great gelato place on the route to the park. We stopped on our way home and treated ourselves. My sweetie had a NZ specialty, Hokey Pokey, which is sort of vanilla with crunchy bits of caramel. (It's apparently unique to NZ.) I had something weird and wonderful, and darned if I can remember the name of the fruit. Yummy!