Castlepoint

This past Saturday we took advantage of the sunny Spring weather and did a day trip to Castlepoint, about a 3 hour drive from here. It is on the eastern coastline and features a beautiful old lighthouse, a unique reef, long beaches, and a tall grassy cliff.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and we had brought along our hiking boots, not knowing what kind of trails there might be. It turns out that there is a track up the tall cliff, so we climbed up to the top.

One side of the cliff is completely covered in wild grasses, and the other side is formed by jagged sand and rock that has eroded away over the years. At the top, we basked in the sun while eating some lunch, and soaked in the spectacular 360 degree views. Looking towards the land, there was nothing but farms and fields of sheep covering rolling green hills. The farms went right up to the edge of the coast which give way to dramatic cliffs and long beaches for as far as the eye can see.

Looking towards the ocean, there is absolutely openness, all the way to Antarctica!

On the way home, we stopped for dinner in one of the cute small towns in the Wairarapa region, near Masterton. There are antique shops, and cafes, and markets galore and we agreed that one could easily spend longer exploring this area. For now though, it made a perfect day trip, and made me feel like I got some good weekend fun even though I had to work on Sunday.

Wool for the Lambs

A couple of weeks ago we went for a drive through some of the nearby valleys and farmland. In one field, we saw this lamb wearing a little wool jacket! Apparently it is just to keep the little guy warm on these chilly spring days.

New Zealand is definitely full of sheep, but it is also full of many unique native birds. One of the most common is the Tui; it is a dark-coloured bird with a tuft of white feather at the base of its neck. It has a very distinctive song because it has two voiceboxes and can make a huge variety of sounds. At the flat where we were staying, there were lots of Tui in the surrounding trees, and we took this video to give you an idea of the songs we hear (click on the triangle in the bottom left of the picture below to play the video).

Earlier this week, we moved from the flat with the ocean view to a townhouse a few kilometers closer to town. The first flat was a short-term sublet and the couple who live there have returned, so we said our goodbyes to the cat Falafel and moved on to our next sublet. Through someone at Steve's work, we found out about this townhouse, owned by a woman who spends part of the year in the UK. So we will stay here until we find somewhere more permanent... hopefully that will be soon!