We’re figuring this out… After an excellent night’s sleep, we felt much more relaxed and refreshed this morning and decided that it would be fine just to veg a bit. I enjoyed the loop walk again this am. It is much cooler at 7:30 am than it is at 11 am. I encountered quite a few others, mostly walking their dogs. Everyone said, ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Kia Ora’. Kia ora can be used to say hello, express gratitude, send love and make a connection. Kia ora is a warm and welcoming greeting you hear throughout New Zealand and comes from the indigenous Māori language, te reo. One man even doffed his hat to me. Not sure that I have ever been the recipient of a doffed hat before. The river was calm, and I spotted an egret. Handily, my return route took me by a bakery.
We both spent much of the day working. Jim at the kitchen table, me at a dressing table upstairs that I have co-opted. Then it was 5 pm, we were feeling stiff from sitting, so took a hike up to the lookout on Mt Parihaka. This is a lovely forest hike practically on our doorstep – about 6km there and back. It took us through native forest, by a river, and up to a lookout from which we could see the whole town of Whangarei. The day had lost its intense heat, but the light was still quite bright. We saw two kererus (the NZ wood pigeon) and a quail. The native bush is just the perfect green to refresh the spirit.
boot cleaning 
the bush
Keruru 
Quail 
The view from the top!
Nicely tired, we arrived home and cooked ourselves a fish dinner from scratch (Terakhi – a NZ white fish), which we ate on our lovely patio. Really, what is not to like!
