Man, the sand flies have been brutal so far in the South Island. In the North Island, they were annoying here and there. I’m the South Island so far, they’re almost maddening.
The darn things are small enough to fit through the mosquito netting holes.
Guess we need sand-fly netting. 🙃
Good gravy. 🤦
Anyway, I woke up to sand flies in the car, and a crap ton of them on the outside of the netting looking in–apparently the ones that hadn’t yet figured out how to get through the small holes.
Oh, and apparently I had my hand on Chase’s crotch during the night, which he kindly and gently removed. 😆
Nothing like close-quarters sleeping, and me not able to sleep on my left side has me pointed the wrong direction. 🙃
Anyway, so I was up early again and, in an effort to escape the sand flies, walked down closer to the water. I don’t like using bug spray, but… yeah… I used a healthy dose of it.
Blasted flies.
Mostly, I just sort of sat there. Today has been a lot of that. I sat there and probably wrote blog post stuff? I don’t remember.
After Chase got up, we started back on our southernly route, stopping in to buy groceries in the same town i think Chase mailed the Christmas Cards off in.
From there we headed southwest, spending most of the day driving. We stopped off at once waterfall along the way. We checked out a Vista Chase had seen from the driver’s seat that turned out to be a bust, and we finally got our little butts into Cape Foulwind, only to find out that they weren’t so friendly to freedom campers.
Chase wanted to write notes for someone, and so I spent a few hours on another nicely solitary beach just south of the lighthouse, with only a couple of begging seagulls and tired seals for company.
I just mostly stared at the water, tossed driftwood in and watched it get washed all over.
I didn’t want to go back to the car the way I’d come (most of the coast was cliffs/crazy-steep hills down to a mostly rocky shore. There just happened to be a little beach as well that was certainly off the beaten path.
Anyway, as i headed back along the coast, I wandered out to a barrel jettee, and that’s where I saw the seals. I ran into a couple sleeping, accidentally scaring one off. Then i ran into another–a big, mean male. Seeing me, he unhappily shuffled off, heading over toward another large male with which he started a fight.
Well I was having none of that. 🙃
I hate bullies, so after he ran off the other male, I… ran him off. 😬
Punk.
What did he do? He proceeded to come around the other side and chase away a little one a third his size.
Punk!!!
Oh no you don’t!!!
So… i chased him off again. 😬
Probably not great, but I hate bullies. I don’t care what your species is. Grrrr. No bullies.
Yes, I realize that’s stupid in the animal world, but whatever. My justice bone kicks in so strongly. 🙃
We drove south from there, looking for a place to crash for the night, and here we are on the North end of Woodpecker Bay just north of Fox River, which is a funny babe because New Zealand doesn’t have foxes. In fact, there are no mammalian predators native to New Zealand at all. Any that now exist were brought here by others (mice, rabbits, ferrets, stoats, etc).
Anyway, seems like we chose a nice place to bed down. I can hear a waterfall on the landward side, ocean waves crashing on the seaward side, and a very soft breeze blowing through the two rear windows, as Chase and I lie lengthwise in the back of this little Avensis wagon.
Well, time for bed. Lots of pondering going on. G’night.
Love and hugs. 😊
Lift the World
~ stephen
Lift the World 