March 12, 2021

We’re back to the fine weather. Light winds were not so favorable for the Emirates Team New Zealand in Race 3.  In Race 3, Italy won the start and was the stronger player throughout, consistently ahead of New Zealand and beating them by 37 seconds.  In Race 4, NZ dominated from before the start (positioning for the start is huge), beating Italy by 63 seconds. The score: NZ 2: Italy 2 in a best of 13 series.  Race day 3 tomorrow!

Auckland has gone back to COVID Alert Level 1 just this afternoon, joining the rest of the country in having greater freedoms. The Hauraki Gulf (Tīkapa Moana) was packed with spectator boats and yachts. There were crowds on boats and on shore cheering the racers.

Absolutely gorgeous on our beach today.  Jim has to edit our (Michigan) neighborhood directory, so has been glued to his laptop.  He has a work chair and a dining chair at our dining table, which is also our work station. It was my job to bring back news of the outside world. 

I set out to walk the beach again for the first time.  It was invigorating – sunny, light winds, lots of birds and practically no people.  I walked 7km – to Peka Peka and back. They were expecting me to come on horseback!

Some interesting happenings:  There seemed to be have been a bit of flag planting going on overnight.  Fiji has taken possession of the driftwood sculpture by our beach access.

Further up the coast, the unofficial flag of New Zealand has been planted. The silver fern is the national plant of New Zealand and is used as a motif.  A few years ago, NZ considered changing its national flag (Union Jack and Southern Cross) and stylistic interpretations of the silver fern were among the contenders.  In the event, the decision was to retain the existing flag.

The ‘silver fern’ Cyathea dealbata – Ponga in Te reo Māori – is a species of tree fern only found in New Zealand.  Although they are called ‘silver ferns’, the undersides of the fronds are usually white. The undersides reflect moonlight, making them useful aids to navigating bush pathways at night.

The silver fern has been accepted as a symbol of New Zealand’s national identity since the 1880s.  It has been worn by the All Blacks, the national rugby teams since 1888, and its associations with the military are almost as long. The women’s national netball team is actually called the Silver Ferns.  Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players. It is most popular in many Commonwealth nations and is predominantly played by women.  Netball emerged from early versions of basketball.

The New Zealand women’s rugby team is known as the Black Ferns.  Although they wear a silver fern on their jersey, the name Black Ferns recalls the black tree fern, or mamaku, which is New Zealand’s tallest tree fern. 

Besides the flag action overnight, there seems to have been a big feast of clams, I’m assuming by the seabirds.  The beach was awash with empty clam shells.

There were also some interesting new structures (as yet unflagged).  Housing prices are currently soaring in New Zealand.

I spied the usual bird suspects on the beach joined by some pied shags and lovely little terns that lift off all together.

In other news, our friend, Jan Richmond came to visit and have a cuppa this afternoon.  We love that we are in one place long enough to have visitors!

Finally, here’s a short opinion piece (credit to Adele for bringing it to our attention) from the Washington Post with a point of view on why NZ has been more successful in managing the challenges of Covid: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/11/new-zealand-covid-19-maori-indigenous-manaakitanga/. 

 “We are all in this canoe together.”