Some of this is personal observation, some was blatantly stolen from various websites.
In New Zealand you can get milk from Bulls.
Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, has the largest Polynesian population in the world.
There is no tree on Auckland's One Tree Hill, but there was one until a few years ago.
Most native New Zealand trees are evergreen. Not pretty green, but definitely green.
The only accordion museum exhibition in the southern hemisphere is in Dargaville.
This country is the size of Colorado or the UK and would fit into the Caspian or Baltic Seas.
Lake Taupo, the big lake in the middle of the North Island, is the worlds largest volcanic crater.
There are over ten million beef and dairy cattle in NZ.
The Kiwi bird, which is about the size of a domestic chicken, lays an egg that is almost a quarter of its total body weight.
New Zealand is actually some 1,000 miles from Australia.
We have the world's:
largest flightless birds [ the kakapo],
largest earthworms,
greatest timber volume of any tree [the kauri]
heaviest insect [the Weta].
If you live in Gisborne, you are living in the first city to see the light of a new day.
New Zealand has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, with 884 per thousand people.
We have the first documented case of 'exploding trousers'.
Unlike most countries around the world, New Zealand Pizza Hut offers chips with its deliveries.
New Zealand is one of only three countries that have two official national anthems.
The Wildfoods Festival is held in Hokitika, New Zealand each year. You can sample icky cuisine like possum pate and fried duck tongue.
Bungee jumping was invented here, as were
tranquilizer dart gun,
pavlova,
milking machines,
ear tags for animals,
disposable syringes,
blokarting and
zorbing--
THUS proving that there's not much to do here when it's raining!
Here, same sex marriages, prostitution, soliciting, and brothel keeping are all legal.
Ninety-Mile Beach isn't.
New Zealand oversees two overseas territories, Tokelau and Ross Dependency (in Antarctica). We also keep an eye on the Cook Islands and Niue.
Wellington, the capital city, is windier than Chicago!
New Zealanders consume 4kg of chocolate per capita annually.
The Maori name of New Zealand is Aoteroa, which means "Land of the Long White Cloud."
New Zealand has 6000 kilometers of coast line and nowhere is more than 120km from the coast.
There are no native predators here--no snakes or lions or tigers or bears, oh my!
New Zealand has every climate in the world.
Each year New Zealand has about 100 to 150 quakes that are big enough to be felt. The last fatal one was 2016.
The longest road bridge in New Zealand is the Rakaia River Bridge and is 1,757 metres long.
The population of the city of Sydney, Australia, is greater than the entire population of the country of New Zealand.
We have one ski resort called The Remarkables and one called The Aspiring.
Ernest Rutherford, who is known as the father of nuclear physics for his orbital theory of the atom, is from New Zealand.
9/13/2008
9/08/2008
They are everywhere!
A few days ago, we were surprised again by our second duck family. This time there were only three ducklings, but their dad is older (his colors are mature) and both parents appear to be much more experienced than the first pair.
All of this sharing of the pond is cute during the day, but last night, about 1AM, first mom came wandering to the pond with her four, which upset the trips' mom, of course, and...well, you can imagine the noise and splashing that ensued!!
Then, this morning, I hear babies cheeping and thought it was the trips, but it was the older babies crying. It bothers me a lot because mom and dad, both, had deserted them...again... but we know we mustn't interfere. I tell everyone, myself included, ...'we don't want pet ducks, we don't want pet ducks'.
In reality, the remaining four of them are old enough to huddle together for safety and they dive for the water when they are scared, so I'm not real worried about them as long as they stay closeby.
It's not unusual, but I still find it giggly that ALL the ducklings have connected the opening of the patio door with being fed, so they look like jet boats on a mission whenever the door rattles!
Some days I'm glad that they only take 3 months or so to learn to fly and head out on their own...and some days I feel sad about it.
All of this sharing of the pond is cute during the day, but last night, about 1AM, first mom came wandering to the pond with her four, which upset the trips' mom, of course, and...well, you can imagine the noise and splashing that ensued!!
Then, this morning, I hear babies cheeping and thought it was the trips, but it was the older babies crying. It bothers me a lot because mom and dad, both, had deserted them...again... but we know we mustn't interfere. I tell everyone, myself included, ...'we don't want pet ducks, we don't want pet ducks'.
In reality, the remaining four of them are old enough to huddle together for safety and they dive for the water when they are scared, so I'm not real worried about them as long as they stay closeby.
It's not unusual, but I still find it giggly that ALL the ducklings have connected the opening of the patio door with being fed, so they look like jet boats on a mission whenever the door rattles!
Some days I'm glad that they only take 3 months or so to learn to fly and head out on their own...and some days I feel sad about it.
^^^^^^^^^^NOTE^^^^^^^^^^
The morning after posting this entry, I awakened to find family #3 huddling on the side of the pond. This time mom brought 10 little peepers!
^^^^^^^^ANOTHER NOTE^^^^^^^^^
Then on September 19, another mum with three ducklings showed up, and on September 20, a mom with 9 or 10 came to the pond, but got sidetracked in the drainage ditch.
I really don't think this is the end, either!!
8/19/2008
Spring is early this year!
It's not the weather I'm talking about when I say that spring is early this year because, although it's not rained during daylight hours for the last two days, it's suppose to be below zero tonight [C, not F, thank the Lord].
Last year, we were pleased to have 8 of 12 that made it past infancy in one of our broods, but there are only six ducklings in this family. One of them is distinctively lighter in color than the other 5, so it will be interesting to see if he/she keeps those colors when the mature feathers come in.
Their arrival spurred us to 'furnish' the duck house with round stones for the family. The house is a pumphouse that Kevin converted specifically for the ducklings last year. [Ducky info: Mom warms up the rocks with her body heat so she can go for food without the babies getting cold].
The early spring is the arrival of our first ducklings for this year!
It was quite a surprise to see them on the pond this morning, so it was a quick snap of a pic before they were off again. Since they're early, we figure there will be at least one more brood, if not more, over the next few months for us to giggle over and feed.
Last year, we were pleased to have 8 of 12 that made it past infancy in one of our broods, but there are only six ducklings in this family. One of them is distinctively lighter in color than the other 5, so it will be interesting to see if he/she keeps those colors when the mature feathers come in.
Their arrival spurred us to 'furnish' the duck house with round stones for the family. The house is a pumphouse that Kevin converted specifically for the ducklings last year. [Ducky info: Mom warms up the rocks with her body heat so she can go for food without the babies getting cold].
BTW, that's my birthday bridge in the picture. The house owners built this...shall we say, inconvenient water feature at the edge of the pond. It takes up the walking space on the side of the house, so I mentioned that a bridge would be nice, and VOILE!! Kev worked out to have it built for me! Is that cool or what?!!
Hopefully, this will be the last cold snap of the season for me to complain about and we can get on with gardening and such. With the renegade daffodils and some crocuses [that we didn't plant] blooming, and the freesias, glads, rhodos, camellias and azaleas trying to bloom, it can't be to long before spring arrives. As always, we have unknown plants shooting up, so we will, once again, have some surpise arrivals.
I want spring!!
8/04/2008
Rainy day ramblings
It's still winter here and I'm so tired of rain. To keep from total boredom, I've been thinking about the garden and trolling throught photos. Here are some thoughts on yet another rainy day...
If you got my email updates that preceeded the blog, you might remember that I fell in love with purple carrots. After some research by the googlemeister hubby, it seem that all carrots were originally purple. According to the fine folk at the carrot museum, http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html , they are making a comeback all over the world! So, if you see some in the grocery store, try them!
I don't recall ever seeing a sink like this in the States. They make perfect sense for those small places. Mostly, I find them in public toilets, but also in houses with a tiny guest bathroom (ok, it's not actually a place to take a bath, as hubby points out, but it sounds so much better than 'toilet'). They can have a tap at each end and serve their purpose well.
I miss having a decent fried egg with sausage patties or links. Breakfast eggs are more like poached than anything else I can describe. When it comes to pizza, a decent substitute for Italian sausage is fried ground pork with Italian seasoning. I have looked up recipes and the main ingredients seem to be fennel and anise, but I can only find fennel. How sucky is that!
It seems that the dominant male duck for this year's pond rights is a polygamist. He has shown up with two females for a couple of months now. Since ducks mate for life, I'm guessing that the 'other' female has lost her companion somehow and this pair have allowed her to be a part of the family. Kinda nice to think about it that way, I think. If he is, indeed, this year's winner, I wonder if there will be two sets of ducklings.
All in all, in the last few months--since hunting season, anyway-- there haven't been nearly as many ducks as in the past. It makes for a quieter day, but the females are still bold enough to peck on the window when hungry. For some reason, that makes me giggle each time they do it. Can't beat it for a cheap laugh!
WOW!! The sun is out!! I'll take advantage of the weather and look around the garden. I have lots of plans, muahaha.
If you got my email updates that preceeded the blog, you might remember that I fell in love with purple carrots. After some research by the googlemeister hubby, it seem that all carrots were originally purple. According to the fine folk at the carrot museum, http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html , they are making a comeback all over the world! So, if you see some in the grocery store, try them!
I don't recall ever seeing a sink like this in the States. They make perfect sense for those small places. Mostly, I find them in public toilets, but also in houses with a tiny guest bathroom (ok, it's not actually a place to take a bath, as hubby points out, but it sounds so much better than 'toilet'). They can have a tap at each end and serve their purpose well.
I miss having a decent fried egg with sausage patties or links. Breakfast eggs are more like poached than anything else I can describe. When it comes to pizza, a decent substitute for Italian sausage is fried ground pork with Italian seasoning. I have looked up recipes and the main ingredients seem to be fennel and anise, but I can only find fennel. How sucky is that!
It seems that the dominant male duck for this year's pond rights is a polygamist. He has shown up with two females for a couple of months now. Since ducks mate for life, I'm guessing that the 'other' female has lost her companion somehow and this pair have allowed her to be a part of the family. Kinda nice to think about it that way, I think. If he is, indeed, this year's winner, I wonder if there will be two sets of ducklings.
All in all, in the last few months--since hunting season, anyway-- there haven't been nearly as many ducks as in the past. It makes for a quieter day, but the females are still bold enough to peck on the window when hungry. For some reason, that makes me giggle each time they do it. Can't beat it for a cheap laugh!
WOW!! The sun is out!! I'll take advantage of the weather and look around the garden. I have lots of plans, muahaha.
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