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CoffeeWaffle
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Friday, 30 December 2005
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Sunday, 25 December 2005
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Just a few random photos taken this morning while walking the dog up the little valley I live in.
8:56:21 PM 
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Monday, 19 December 2005
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What is the plural for duck? Should the title of this post say "Paradise Duck" or "Paradise Ducks"? I can't decide if they are like sheep or not (are far as plurals go... you know what I mean!) I suppose I could look it up, but I can't be ar5ed so I'll just ask you lot instead.
Anyway.... this is one of those photos that I like, but can't decide why I like it. Taken on the spur of the moment yesterday, while we were out kayaking, it is a pair of Paradise Duck(s) that just took of, fleeing the three brightly coloured kayaks coming down the river at them. The subjects are two far away, the compositions off, its not quite sharp, and the colours were pretty dull (I've fixed them up a bit in Photoshop to compensate for the underexposure of the original shot).... but I like it anyway. I just can't put my finger on why...
(click for 1024x768 desktop wallpaper)
I'm on a mission now to capture a better shot of this species. They're pretty common in NZ so it shouldn't be to difficult to find them. In fact there's a half tame one living in this little valley. Well, he's either half tame, or half insane, we're not sure which. He doesn't seem to have a partner (odd in this species) and has little or no fear of humans, or dogs, or traffic... or anything. He sits on top of cars, blocks the road, and generally acts like he owns the valley. I was walking Kaycee early one morning recently, when he came swooping out of nowhere, flew past just a few feet from my head, honking as he went by, and landed on the road in front of us. He then proceeded to try and 'herd' Kaycee and I into a small imaginary circle by waddling around us honking constantly. Maybe he's suicidal... Lucky for him Kaycee doesn't know what to do with prey that doesn't run away and just stood there looking confused.
6:09:04 PM
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Sunday, 18 December 2005
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I had a great time today Kayaking on the Motueka River. This time for a change there were four of us. My friends Mark & Pamela just bought a kayak the same as mine (and Devon's). They are looking for another so they will have one each but in the meantime they are sharing just one. That meant today we could have three of us in Kayaks on the river with the fourth driving the van. Usually, with just two of us its a bit of an act, dropping one vehicle off at the take-out then driving the second vehicle to the put-in. Lots of extra driving and loading/unloading of kayaks. With the time saved we managed to go down our usual run three times.
Mark and Pamela on one of the cruisier streches of river (photo by Devon).
Devon.
Mark.
Pam.
Me (photo by Devon).
I'm tired now... must sleep...
10:01:21 PM
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Wednesday, 14 December 2005
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I was just drifting around the garden, camera in hand, this afternoon when I found these two creatures occuping the same flower. The tiny little one (just a few millimeters long) sat inside the flower head of a wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace) plant, while the larger (about 4 centimeters long) seemed to be defending the exterior. I wonder if they are the same species. It seems likely since they were sharing the same space peacefully and its not uncommon in the spider world to find a female spider that is much larger than its male counterpart. Makes you wonder what life's like for him though, doesn't it?
10:13:47 PM
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Monday, 12 December 2005
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Thursday, 1 December 2005
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(click to go to album)
I've finally got around to publishing the pictures from my trip in October. So for all the kite freaks reading, 81 pictures of kites, buggies, and beaches from the Muriwai and Northland Tour of 2005 are now available here. I'm still working on the video. (Sorry it took so long Charlie! I hope the wait was worth it.)
 BTW if you happen to spot a copy of the latest Wind & Kite magazine, flick to page 20 and you will see an article about the Moose Meet, written by Perrin (the organiser of the Moose Meet from Kiteworks in Auckland) , featuring some photos by yours truly.
7:00:43 PM
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© Copyright
2006
Murray Neill
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Last update:
12/10/2006; 7:02:37 p.m.
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