I spent the afternoon enjoying the lovely beach at St Clair. It wasn’t particularly sunny, however it wasn’t windy either and that was good enough for me. I parked at St Kilda and walked over the dunes onto the beach and along to St Clair before scrambling up the rocks to the esplanade to see a statue of a Sea Lion called ‘Mum.’ I had recently read that according to a recent Department of Conservation report, 29 New Zealand Sea Lion pups were born in Otago and Southland over the 2021/2022 breeding season. This is a remarkable effort considering at one point the New Zealand Sea Lion population was nearly extinct. It had been nearly 150 years since a New Zealand Sea Lion birth was recorded on the mainland. Then, one day around Christmas in 1993, a female Sea Lion turned up at Taieri Mouth to give birth to a pup. Over the ensuing years the Sea Lion became known as ‘Mum.’ Now, many years later the growth of the Sea Lion population has continued and Sea Lions are a common site on local beaches. John's Blog https://fromasmallcity.nz/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
While walking on the St Clair Esplanade ……… I had spent some time trying to dodge seaspray and low flying seaweed and chunks of driftwood that were ricocheting off the St Clair Seawall during a particularly high tide. Afterwards I noticed that scattered among the collection of debris on the Esplanade were a number of large puddles. Fortunately these sat undisturbed and upon closer inspection I noticed a number of reflections were providing mirror like images of the various buildings and structures that sat along the street. Not having the lens I would usually use to capture such an angle, I improvised as best I could. Funny that everyone else was letting themselves get covered in seaspray, yet I was the one being looked at as the one doing something odd! John's Blog https://fromasmallcity.nz/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
While walking in Toitu Early Settlers Museum ……… I emerged into the Smith Gallery to find four walls of images staring down at me. No matter how many times I visit this room, there’s always an unnerving moment when I realise all these eyes are fixed upon me. Once I’ve gotten over the fear that one of the photos might come to life, there are two things that I find remarkable about this room. Firstly, all the portraits are displayed in chronological order of the settlers’ arrival, along with details of the ship they travelled on and who they married. Secondly, so many pioneers had their photos taken at all, as it must be remembered that photography was a fairly new invention when these fine folk were alive. John's Blog https://fromasmallcity.nz/ The latest print price guide: https://bit.ly/3oLw9OI
