Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Out and about

I had a bit of work to do 'up-country' so headed along our beautiful coastline. Arriving in Kaikoura, got the work done and had some 'play time'. I took the opportunity to go and visit the Seal Colony and what a treat! Seals sunning themselves at low tide and they seemed rather unbothered by us humans with our camera's. Here's a bit of me with a sleepy seal. He just lay there oblivious to all the fuss until a woman with her young child got too close and then he snarled and waved his head about, can't say I blame him.

Then it was back to the city time, stopping along the way to visit funny places I hadn't stopped at before and finding this house that may suit Owen or Steve when they emmigrate?

Further along, and by now we are inland a wee way..Frog Rock. I am rather disappointed with myself as I missed the opportunity for free wine tasting at the new Marble Point vineyard. I know, I can hear you all gasping in disbelief but it's a long story, and basically involves me having to drive like mad back to the city (in the wee small hours of the morning too I'll have y'all know) with my work colleague who had been summoned by her family to the hospital as her mum is seriously ill.
Then, after I had dropped her off at t'hospickle, I went back 2 hours up the road and finsished the work we had started, and drove at a more safe pace home again. Stopping to admire the view at Waikari - isn't it grand?
Some days I am conviced I have the best job ever but that's only while I'm waiting for the chocolate taster and wine taster positions to become available....and here's a taste of a good Kiwi band!

29 comments:

VioletSky said...

There was a seal in BC that dragged a 5yr old girl into the water to "play" (she seemed to accept that explanation as to why the seal pulled her under the water!) - so I would be wary of even the sleepiest of seals, just in case. Then again, those boots might save you if the heels were aimed correctly.

The Sagittarian said...

Hi Violet, yes I kept a respectful distance and was ready to run like hell if need be!

kj said...

sag, i LOVE days like this. i used to have a job where i would be wandering the countryside with time to stop, ponder, linqer.

i can't imagine being that close to a seal. very cool....

xo

ps i am honored to have given you your first blog award. :)

Steve said...

Love the seal. Dig the boots.

Now that could be a great album title!

Lynne with an e said...

Well, you have my seal of approval! And I'm not trying to be finny. So where's your stripey white rubber boots? Although the black heels are fetching.

Enjoyed the tune. But what's with musicians, electric guitars and buckets of rain? Do they have death wishes or just hoping for a really good rush, I wonder.

Nice that you get out and about and get paid to do so! I was stuck at home, alone, without a car for 3 weeks just recently. Can you say "stir crazy"?

If you've finished drinking wine from the shoe you picked up in my studio, I think Owen was looking for it.

The Sagittarian said...

kj - it was a very peaceful adventure for sure!

Steve - it would indeed, you will of course design the website?!

Louciao - those boots were made for walking after all! (Not brave enough to drink from them anyway)3 weeks without a car? Thats serious cabin-fever!!
If Owen turns up looking for his shoe, tell him it was selfish of him to only leave the one lying about. But I am a bit worried about him, he hasn't arrived for his Tuesday Tipple yet!!

Margaret Pangert said...

Wow, Saj, you're dressed very elegantly for a stop at the beach! Love those boots!
I enlarged Frog Rock and there he was, right on the precipice! Cool!
I also enlarged Waikari--breathtaking panorama! White-capped mountains overlooking hills and then fields of green. Beautiful! And Owen's gonna love his summer home!! xx

Anya said...

That was a great adventure :))
Interesting and nice to read ..

((HUGS)) for Ernie and Lynx
Kareltje =^.^=

The Sagittarian said...

Margaret - lovely comments, thank you very much! I couldn't tell if the seal was impressed by my boots or not.

Anya - thank you too, I think some parts of Canterbury a little like parts of the Netherlands - flat but beautiful! Ernie also needs all the hugs he can get today. his paw is still sore, so thank you purry much from him.

Lynne with an e said...

Yeah, Saj...the Big O is mysteriously, disturbingly quiet. So unlike his usual galumphing ways.

The Sagittarian said...

Louciao - indeed. he's probably up to mischief and will try to convince us that he's busy working or something of that ilk! Certainly not like him to miss his Tuesday Tipple!

The Joined up Cook said...

Ha ha. Makes my shot of a seal's nose poking out of the water a bit pathetic.

Nice one.

The Sagittarian said...

AWB - I have to confess that I really did think of you when taking those shots! :-)

The villager: said...

Great seal picture, Sag; and the lady near the seal - all in black ! Is that you ?

Brother Tobias said...

Fine pics. I like Frog Rock. The road past it reminded me of the Highlands; I want to drive up it.

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Love the seal. You should have put a silly hat on him to get him to mug for the camera!

The Sagittarian said...

Villager - yep, that be me (with the boots, not the seal!!)

Brother T - how do you think your cart would go up there eh? That would be one fine ride!!

Poet - I like the idea, but I'm not convinced the seal would be that friendly! There were about 15 of them scattered about the rocks sunbathing but big signs stating to keep at least 10 feet away from them.

Lynne with an e said...

I was just over at someone else's blog and my wv was "lushnet" and it made me think of you! Well,you and me, really, as in our online blogging communications have created a lushnet (ie.internet connection for people who enjoy a tipple now and again...mostly again).

The Sagittarian said...

Louciao - haha, wonderful! Our provincial thugby team is playing tonight and also the All Blacks playing Spring Boks - I feel a LARGE tipple coming on!!

Anonymous said...

Loved seeing the seal, looked so cute! I love the dream home, Such a beautiful place to live,lol! It would of made someone happy for a while.
Thank you for your comment, I never thought about strange colour mixes until you mentioned it. So pleased it did work, thew!

Selina Kingston said...

Get you in your boots, you foxy lady!
Could you pop over to mine when you have a sec - there's a couple of us who need your help xx

The Sagittarian said...

Hi Julie-Anne, thanks for visiting. I think the dream home would be a bit drafty in winter tho, :-)

Selina - gee thanks, been YEARS since 'foxy' has been used in a sentence about me!! I've visited yours but my PC won't let me leave messages, no idea why...so, will do it from work tomorrow instead. AND I'll have a link for you to find a limoncello recipe ;-)

Lynne with an e said...

Oddly, disconcertingly, sadly, your cleavage has disappeared from my Ragzedge blog and been replaced by one of those anonymous heads!

My own Décolleté, by the way,is open again and waiting to be looked into!

My wv: irkines," defined as people one finds really annoying.

The Sagittarian said...

Louciao - I just nipped over to yours and hope that I've fixed up my cleavage, its too young to be out and about on its own!!

Lynne with an e said...

Oprah refers to what makes up the cleavage as "the girls." I think your girls might have escaped from Ragzedge for a night out in Monkeytown!

The Sagittarian said...

haha, my 'girls' can be a bit unsteady when let loose!!

Owen said...

OK, so what did you gals do with my shoe ?!? Where is that dratted podological garment ??? Gosh, a guy falls down drunk, sleeps for a few hours, and wakes up and his shoes are nowhere to be seen... very disturbing, indeed. (In fact, now that I think about it, that actually happened to me once, I was about 19, in the military, and went out for a night of hard partying, which I recall ended in the woods somewhere in South Carolina around a fire. And that's all I remember. I woke up the next morning alone in the woods, and my favorite black biker boots with box toes and straps around the ankle with a metal ring on the sides which the straps attached to, if you can picture such a thing, were missing... my wallet was still in my pocket with money in it... Maybe there are some raccoons out there in the woods still with nice black leather boots...)

Anyway, I was barking with joy over your seal photos. Did you know the French word for "seal" is "phoque"... and I'm not even going to start to try to tell you how to pronounce that !!! I'm sure Ms Louciao could tell you, as some folks talk about phoques where she lives, I guess, if they speak French... but me, I don't use such words in good company...

And I'm in love with the cabin you found for us, looks like a perfect fixer-upper, with excellent ventilation... can't wait to move in, and I'm sure with Steve we could work out a time-sharing agreement, or maybe just expand it a bit to hold all eight of us...

Yep, this was a fine and dandy post, and as you saw I hope, I did finally make it for the Tuesday tipple, just a bit late, and now after typing all this, I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's.

And as for my silence, naw, it has nothing to do with work, didn't I tell you I'm unemployed at present, I just keep telling everyone that I'm going to work and am swamped and stuff to keep up the charade... (note to Lynne's self : take that with a big pinch of salt or whatever white powders you may be accustomed to...)

Just Kidding ! Work has been dreadful lately. And it doesn't show any signs of abating. Luckily I only had a half day today (when I should have been off entirely) to get some "training"... like I need more training at my advanced age...

Wow, what a long comment I just wrote, hope it makes up for being absent....
:-D

The Sagittarian said...

Ah Owen, happy to see you here all shoeless and puffing slightly like Graham Nash on stage! I knew you would like your new home, the views were spectacular and just up the road a wee bit was an old cemetary. I did go and explore it and took some photos but there was a big barking dog nearby and I wasn't sure how well chained up he was. A perfect phoque moment if he got loose!
I totally understand about work, my colleagues mother died last week and I'm doing bits of her job along with trying to keep on top of mine. Crazy stuff and gladly, its Tuesday!!

Meggie said...

Great post!
Loved the music too.