Wildlife

 We had our first encounter with a whitetail spider.  I'm told that these are the only really nasty biting arachnids in New Zealand. Their bite is not fatal but can cause severe pain and in my books that makes them a most unwelcome house guest.  The good news is, they are easy to recognise, slow moving and not aggressive so we caught it in a glass and released it outside.  I can't bring myself to kill spiders, even whitetails!   The other pest here (which is far more annoying) is the sand fly.  Tiny little midge like flies that you barely notice until they bite your ankles and then you can't think about anything else for the next two days except the intense urge to scratch your own skin off!   Fortunately our neighbours, who are country Kiwi folk, gave us a top tip and we now make our own insect repellant, one part Dettol to three parts baby oil.  It works a treat and costs very little.  
Our garden is teeming with birds of all shapes and sizes, we have a family of ducks, exotically plumaged  pheasants, tuis and pukekos (my personal favourites), plus dozens of smaller songbirds, many of which are European immigrants like us. 
The pukekos are noisy, cheeky , rather gawky and messy; just like teenagers, they also seem to be awake and making a noise half the night!   We have a family of five at the moment who chase each other around the lawn all day squawking loudly. Our landlord keeps threatening to shoot them (I hope he's joking) - apparently the locals don't find them as endearing as I do
.Everything is in bloom at the moment and the garden is beautiful. We are in mid summer, the hills behind our house are starting to turn brown, despite a recent deluge, because rainfall is so low here in the summer months.   The valley where we live and where we have chosen to settle is very fertile and snow is virtually unknown, although the surrounding mountains are snow capped for much of the year.   I can't wait to get started on my vege patch! 
Here are my bird photos, and one of Picton harbour where I snapped the cormorant.