Spring must have arrived
Finally able to take the jerseys off so back to just Tee shirt. Nights still a little chilly but definitely warmer although for me Xiaoli finally returned from her month in China, so extra body warmth in the bed helps.
The website hits are picking up which again says people are thinking about the summer. Phone and wechat enquiries are coming for the peak season for our accommodation at Ninety Mile Beach so that is on track to book out once again.
Tours are booking up so soon need find back up drivers that will contract to us to do our tours. So summer is looking pretty good at this early stage.
Breeding season on the farm. Chickens and ducklings hatching. We know 3 of the geese are sitting on clutches of eggs. Best keep our distance from them as they can be quite aggressive/protective this time of year. Generally though our geese are friendly to us but we do need watch them with the tourists we bring here.
This weekend I will add breeding boxes in our aviaries. Not something I want to do but its cruel on the birds not to. Mating and laying then sitting on eggs is a natural part of the life cycle so I must give them that opportunity.
Thursday in Auckland I visited the Bird Rescue centre and relieved them of just over 100 orphaned ducklings of ages 2 days to 2 weeks. Every duckling we can take to the far north and finish raising, means the more they can take at Bird Rescue as the public bring them in. I am sure next trip pigeons will also be on the list to rehouse for a while so they learn here is home and don’t head back to Auckland.
Last year I believe we helped Bird Rescue by taking over 250 orphaned ducklings plus about 50 pigeons. Hopefully this year we an increase on those numbers for them. The feed cost is not important in doing our bit for the defenceless bird life.
It very rewarding knowing we are doing our bit for our feathered orphaned friends who may otherwise die. And by bringing them to the very far north hopefully they have a much longer life cycle than living in cities where they are endlessly threatened by man and machines.
Finally found someone that hopefully can teach me to fly my newly acquired drone and start capturing some great aerial photography. That really excites me as it will add a new element to my photography I do on tours for our guests. Once I learn the drone I need explore some good layman’s language editing software for android computers. I do not photoshop but do wish a good software that allows me to mix video with stills so it flows as an end presentation.
Busy times coming. But once tours start all new photography. Will I top my 10,000 photos I take an average peak tour season. I guess we will find out soon.
Peter and Xiaoli Tours 