It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas, here are a few wonderful treats.

If you hadn’t noticed already I love birds. Since I was young I was always fascinated by them, and even did a number of art projects painting birds in my senior years at high school. Now that has translated into photography. When I have a chance I head out to places where I can watch the birds and enjoy their diversity. The closest to my home is Western Springs and since parks are still accessible during lockdowns I have taken the kids for a few visits to wander around the shores of the lake and see all the wonderful bird life.

When we went up to visit family in the Bay of Islands this year I decided it was about time I took them on a cruise around the bay. The kids loved seeing the dolphins, going through the hole in the rock and jumping off to hike around an island. It brought back sweet memories for me when I was growing up sailing around the bay and enjoying the summers in some secluded spot. I highly recommend it for a day out if you have a chance.

A couple of days ago we have a lunar eclipse here in New Zealand. I made the big travel out to my deck to set up my camera and wrap up in a jack to capture it. The kids asked me to wake them up to see it, but upon doing so they swiftly declared it was too cold and went back to bed. Anyway here are a couple of shots and an animated gif as it moved across the sky.

Murawai is always such an interesting place to visit. There are wonderful wide sandy beaches, caves and of course the Gannet Colony. The kids love exploring all the nocks and crannies, playing with crabs in the rocks, chasing waves and hiking up the hill to view the birds. Personally I am always drawn to the birds. I love seeing them majestically glide across the sky surfing the winds before coming into land by their mates, and of course trying to capture some magical moments of their beauty.