Weather - and whether the plane's on time

Gales and disrupted flight and ferry schedules makes travel a tad more challenging so I'm very grateful to the Weather Gods for coming up trumps on Thursday morning for a calm flight to Invercargill. My annual dental check was postponed in September when low cloud closed both our airstrip and Invercargill Airport and I was fearing that gale-force winds might disrupt my appointment again.

The gales have caused some damage around the village; trees down, windows blown in and some roofing iron off. I came very close to abandoning the house after some huge gusts but luckily the roof stayed on - I didn't get much sleep though. The shade house got battered again and I've got more firewood after some trees and branches came down. The bush is littered with stripped branches and leaves but Mother Nature will use all of this extra debris to foster new growth - if only people were as efficient at recycling!

With a clean bill of health for my teeth I had plenty of time to explore Invercargill and work on my shopping list. The weather was fine and breezy on Thursday and early Friday morning but the wind changed later on bringing showers and light rain for my trip back home. Here are some Spring pics from the stunning Queens Park...

Young tuatara near one of his/her tunnels - these ones move fast

An older tuatara

It was good to be able to chat with the Spark techies face to face; my new phone is working fine but Bluetooth and setting it up as a wifi hotspot chews through the battery in less than 16 hours. The technical specs state that it has a non-replaceable battery lasting 400 charges which, by my calculations, means that it won't last much longer than a year. I was relieved when the Spark techie reassured me that the battery was covered under the two year warranty so maybe I'll use these new-fangled devices a bit more now.

More on my Invercargill jaunt in the next blog!

High flying hermit

Two weeks off-island is a long time for this hermit but being in the big smoke makes me appreciate the fresh air and birdlife even more when I get home. I headed north to New Plymouth at the beginning of the month and I'll bring you pics of a different lifestyle in my next few blogs.

I'm very grateful to the weather gods for the nice calm flights and the sun was shining brightly in Invercargill as I waited a couple of hours for my flight to Wellington. Invercargill Airport is undergoing a major expansion - Stage I is underway at present and once this is completed everything will move to the left to allow Stage II to be built on the site of the existing terminal.

Invercargill Airport - Stage I of the rebuild to the left

Stage I - scheduled for completion early 2015

Existing terminal

I was cutting it a tad fine for my connecting flight at Wellington Airport; the pilot told us we were 10 minutes ahead of schedule so I wasn't expecting the final boarding call to be announced as soon as I started walking to the departure gate. My walk quickly escalated to a run and fortunately my backpack was whisked off one plane and on to the other at superfast speed. Well done, Air New Zealand!!

Clear skies gave stunning views of everything except Mt Taranaki - he decided to stay hidden for most of my visit.

Super clear views of the Central Plateau mountains