We've had company!

Decorah friends Steve & Edie Jacobsen and Peg and Steve Matter arrived all together at our Waitarere Beach home on Saturday evening, March 5. We had all been invited to a BBQ at our neighbors, Karen & Grant, with the other neighbors Ian & Felicity too. Karen & Felicity had done most of the cooking and did we eat well! It’s such a treat to get to LIVE in NZ and get to know some of the people a little. We’ve had awesome neighbors and will miss them. On Sunday we all attended the local (as in W Beach) Anglican church, where they said that the 6 of us doubled their usual attendance :) Later, we all headed to the beach to drag the flounder net, with a catch of 2 flounder :) and many of the small crabs, which made a good dinner.

Monday we got up somewhat early to travel to nearby Kapiti Island, which has been made into a bird sanctuary. Here on the island, the rats, stoats, possums have been eradicated to allow native birds to flourish. The frequent bird songs here reminded us how the introduced rats, stoats, and possums have devastated the ground nesting birds on the “mainland” of NZ. When you walk a track on the mainland, in the bush as they call their woods, it is rare to hear a bird. All of the birds native to New Zealand evolved without the presence of mammals, and are frequent ground nesters, so are easy prey, nor do they show the usual fear of man. Several like the giant moa are already long extinct, and many of the remaining birds survive with the highest populations on isolated predator free islands off the coast of New Zealand. So, while listening to amazing bird calls we had a good hike to the top of this small, steep island, with a lunch at the top lookout, of course! Kevin got great pics with his telephoto, so he can show you those when we get home (and just a few other shots from these 4 months, too…)

Much of the rest of their time here was spent walking on the beach, reading, talking, napping :) and just enjoying Waitarere. We said goodbye to Matters on Wednesday March 9, and Jacobsens on Friday the 11th, and they all headed directly back to Decorah. Part of me is jealous, part of me wants to stay, and part of me wants to head to the south island NOW!

Today, Sunday March 13, we had great food at…….our first long lunch! Students, if you’ll remember, this was one of your vocab words. Basically, it means a BIG potluck, like a church potluck. Here in NZ when they say potluck they are referring to more like having some friends bring food to one house, and if it includes grilling, then it’s a BBQ instead of a potluck. Now is that clear? Anyway, this was more like a block party, with lots of tables and shade umbrellas in the street, and live music, barbecued meats. The purpose was to raise funds for security cameras in Waitarere Beach, so we paid $20 each in addition to me bringing chocolate mint brownies (which I’m told are very American!) It was an opportunity to chat with so many of the people we’ve met and say good bye. Many Thursday eves I’ve been going down to the Sail On Inn, a little restaurant just off the beach where lots of women congregate for food and drinks every Thursday. (Sounds like a good plan to me, Decorah friends!) One woman, Nikki, spent a year in Iowa City when her father-in-law taught at University of Iowa Law School! Small world. She loved Iowa City and was pretty sad to hear about Hancher flooding. She’s a teacher here, with two teenage daughters and is a neighbor to the Hulls.