STORM!

a bit of footage of the strong high winds we are having the last 3 days - our little house is still standing but there were moments that I had my doubts....

...and oh - it was filmed 9th of July not  in August ....

HAUTURU

TE HAUTURU-o-Toi/ LITTTLE BARRIER ISLAND IS DESCRIBED AS THE MOST INTACT ECOSYSTEM IN NEW ZEALAND AND IS SEEN AS ONE OF THE LAST REMNANTS OF PRIMEVAL NEW ZEALAND. IT'S BIODIVERSITY MAKES IT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NATURE RESERVES IN THE WORLD.

Hauturu is one of NZ's oldest off- shore island sanctuaries since 1895 and with its 3083 hectares the largest. it is also the richest in native species. Volcanic in origin, with rugged, mountainous terrain, rising to 722m above sea level.

this footage is not really suitable to watch but it is to listen to - you can hear the peculiar bird song from Little Barrier Island - Hauturu

me trying to cross a river bed of boulders with the help of Samuel

my friend Gabriela who has donated a few pictures for this blog

me still smiling not aware of the steep climb ahead of me

close up of the beautiful colors of a kauri tree

canopy

lunch break after a steep climb of an hour and a half

not sure yet what this bird is -SML

the lush bush

NZ Robin -SML

trying to show the density of the bush - kind of difficult framed like that

the tuatara - one of the ancient lizards - lived here on earth longer then we do and will survive us 

they are being held in captivity when they are young and will be released in the wild 

little barrier island is the sole place for tuatara's to thrive because of the island is now free of mammalian predators

the view of Nz mainland from the Island - GA 

rain in the distance

unspoiled bolder beach

the sole infrastructure build on the beach

carrying the boxes with our stuff to the shore ready to be transferred to the dingy

atmosphere

GA

climbing from the dingy to the bigger boat

find the silhouette of the sleeping old man

sleeping young man - if I let him that is

on our way home

sunset - the end - GA

Autumn impressions 2014

Autumn is here

Although temperatures are still high during the day  - like 22-24 Celsius - up in Northland, there is a nip of a chill in the air. This the end of our long and gorgeous summer we had this year - starting from November un until end of April actually - lots of sun - I loved it. All pictures below were taken this month and in the eco village.

sunrise

me 

moving cows into the paddock

 harvest from our community orchard

 samuel sweeping the chimney - making it ready for the winter

me scything

 me getting excited at the dinner table

 lots of birch trees in one of our paddocks

a view of the creek

sweet picture of Indy

  scary picture of Indy

 

easter visit - Samuel's father, sister and nephew

SANDSCAPES

Bethells Beach

 

Below is a picture of the hill we climbed.

Three pictures showing a secluded veggie garden - the house can not be seen from where I was standing. Quite the location to live there.

Views from the hill....the first shows a big dune with a lake behind it close to the horizon 

Muriwai beach below

Amphibian rocks

Leaving the roaring ocean behind  - into the dunes

on our way home