Sunny walk on Sumner beach

The weather here has been absolutely wonderful recently:  lots of sun, not too hot, and not too much wind.  There have also been great waves, which presumably means that out at sea the weather there was rough, so we benefit doubly.

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Taking my camera from Richmond Hill Bed and Breakfast one day I had fun just recording what was happening on the beach.

 The seagull flew in, and landed.  Look carefully in his mouth:  he has a shellfish in it.   The birds fly straight up, flapping their wings furiously, drop the shell from high up, on to the beach, and then dive down very fast to the shell, before any other bird can grab it.  Sometimes the poor bird has to do it two or three times, which must take an awful lot of energy before it can break through the shell to get at the food inside.

Shag Rock at one end of Sumner beach, has lost quite a few rocks from it in the past months, but it looks if anything, more dramatic, especially at high tide.  This is 3/4 high tide.

So many people have dogs around here, and the joy they express when rushing in and out of the water or galloping up and down the beach, lifts my own heart.   Of course, retrieving a stick is great for them too.... though sometimes one wonders if the dogs aren't actually humouring their human owners!

Flowers

Here are a few of the beautiful flowers that have been growing in my minute garden at Richmond Hill Bed and Breakfast this summer.  Part of the summer has been wonderful and hot and perfect,but like everywhere else in the world it seems, we have had weird weather as well.   

The first rose is Gertrude Jekyll, and it flowered better than it has every done.  In fact all the roses did, and the humble pansy looks positively exotic here, and it has been more prolific also.

A drive along the coast

We decided to go for a picnic to Godley Head, which is about a 25 minute drive from Richmond Hill Bed and Breakfast.  

It was a spectacular day, and here are just a few of the photos I took along the winding coast drive, where there were more sheep than cars on the road.
Godley Head is an Historical site:  it was manned during  World War II, and guards the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour.     If you have seen the film The Guns of Navarone' it is a bit like a miniature version of that.   The hills are very high and very steep, and sheer.  The last photo gives you some idea of the scale, as the little white streak is a speed boat down in the bay.

It was good fun.