I worked a half day today. It still meant an early start, but surprisingly after achy muscles and the tiredness of last night, I felt pretty good. I was pretty keen to get back into the bush and try to get the elusive kiwi that needs her transmitter changed.

Well …. I climbed and crawled. I slid and scraped. I huffed and puffed. I sweated and bled. We were ever so close … but that kiwi did not want to be caught. Great Spotted Kiwi have a reputation as being feisty and fast runners. They are the biggest of all the kiwi species, females weighing in at up to 3.5 kg. Needless to say after all our hard work in pretty yucky bush, we were unable to catch her.

I came home early because Laurie had a meeting in Westport about his return to work and I was needed at home to be with Kayden. Today was a lovely day and I was happy to let the dogs out and walk our track. Isn’t it interesting – I’ve had 2 1/2 days at work after a month at home and I really missed being at home. All the familiar sites on my walks; the trees, looking for fungi, the stock, time with my animals, daylight, not to mention my family. Oh dear!!!!

Anyway I got a couple of lovely photos from our track … too good not to share!

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The rest of my afternoon was spent with usual domestic tasks; washing, feeding animals, lighting the fire and preparing dinner – home made burgers and chips (no take-aways out here!) I also spent some time training with Petra. Hopefully when we get to Level 2 she will be assessed for Interim certification for being a kiwi dog. I think she’s ready. With the work I’ve done over the last few days I have some fresh kiwi poo and scent so I am now using that as a tool in my training, however obedience is the key. That’s where Mica is so good, she is an extremely obedient dog!

I’ll leave you with a photo from my garden tonight – I love the colour!