I’m not managing to get up as early as I used to – must be the laziness preceding Christmas – but I did manage my walk along the inner harbour again, which is a great way to wake up and start the day. These Morning Glory flowers are crawling over everything at the moment, and – like me – they don’t wake up early, but as soon as the sun hits them they unfold their sweet faces. Love how they twist up at the end of the day and sleep. My mother had these growing in her garden, but they were the exquisite blue/mauve ones, which I prefer.

Because the sun is already well up when I walk these days, I miss the lovely sunrises that must happen at around 6.30. One day you might see one of those again. What I DO see occasionally on the walk are these:

Yes, that’s a bold wee rabbit leaping off the path ahead of me into the undergrowth. None of the animals I see are native to NZ – these rabbits and all other critters were imports. But the rabbits really like the country and can be a real pest to farmers. I ploughed to the top of the rise and saw the path ahead heading on  a gentle downhill slope toward the tunnel of trees and bridge you have seen earlier. It’s nice to be outside so much these days, with no rain, but my heart goes out to Northern England and the terrible flooding I’ve seen in Cumbria and southern Scotland. I drove through Carlisle on my way out, so I have some memories of the place, and they didn’t involve a lot of water. Here’s hoping normal life can be restored to that area soon.