The Magic of my Country Travelling about my beloved country over my two weeks holiday I have been astounded anew at the magic of this land. Mist has shrouded emerald hills, glow worms have held me in awe in their underground havens, and tiny bush pools have shot their reflections into my heart. Sunsets and sunrises have quite literally taken my breath away. Giant trees have worn their golden winter colours, and crisp sand has crunched underfoot. 
I’ve seen tiny moreporks sleepy in their day-time hide outs, blue duck, kiwi, and huge freshwater eels feeding in the sunlight, their bodies writing and glistening in bush bracken water.
Birds joined our picnic lunch – sparrows, chaffinches, and black birds. They came so close I was able to observe their wonderful colouring, markedly different on each bird. It’s wonderful that the sparrows are back again – and so bold!
In my own garden I’ve had the joy of watching tiny goldfinches  – I call them my jewels.
The other day a fantail followed us as we walked across farm land, baby lambs chased each other around the paddocks – and I found a golden buttercup, reminding me that spring is just around the corner.

I so love my homeland!

One of the places we visited was Murawai Beach, ostensibly to see the gannet colony which was mostly deserted except for a hardy few birds. They’ll be back again in spring/summer to raise their young, and I’ll go again to see those fluffy chicks.
An unexpected pleasure was to find the tide full in and waves crashing on to the rocky headlands and sending plumes of spray shooting up into the air.
We climbed down the steps to get as close as possible, and were rewarded with the ‘boom’ of the sea as it surged into caves cut deep into the cliff face.
I’ve always been fascinated by the sea and could have stayed watching it all day.
A woman was fishing from the rocks and had to continually retreat from the spray and surf. I admired her tenacity and nerve and couldn’t help but think how often I have said I would ‘go fishing again soon’, but have yet to do so.

Why is it that we often let the things we wish for/to do pass by without really even noticing much beyond the odd thought, ‘oh, yes, I am going to do that one of these days’.
I know it’s easy to get overwhelmed by work/life and there never seems to be enough time, BUT, perhaps if these things were planned for, in a logical, step by step manner instead of waiting for that magical ‘free time’ to arrive, we might all get to fulfil our dreams and ambitions.

It sounds rather like writing, doesn’t it? Some writers plan out their entire books in a logical straight forward fashion and know exactly where they are going; others don’t plan much at all and just ‘go with the flow of imagination’. I confess to being of the later group myself and this makes me wonder about that fishing dream of mine. Perhaps it’s time I started being more of a planner and just get on with it, make a day/date and buy that fishing rod!