The Lost Files: Spring

It is now officially Summer here in Wellington (and it's been quite a beautiful Summer so far!), but since I uploaded these pictures a while ago, I may as well share them!

The seasons aren't markedly different here; most trees are evergreen, and the birds don't disappear for months on end in the winter. Outside of longer days, there are few visual clues to remind us that spring has once again arrived.

There are only a two trees on our block that are deciduous, and one is a lovely Sakura (cherry blossom) tree. I took these pictures in late spring - the equivalent to May in the Northern Hemisphere - so the blossoms are fading a bit.




Incidentally, these pictures were taken on New Zealand's election day (which is always a Saturday - how civilized!) As I walked out of the closest polling place, I couldn't resist capturing the harbor and city from my viewpoint.

Interesting facts: voters are not assigned specific polling venues - everyone is welcome to pick the most convenient. If a voter will be out of town on election day, he/she can vote earlier in the week at select locations.

One of the best (and cutest!) signs of Spring is the arrival of baby animals. There are heaps of ducks all around Wellington's waterfront, and apparently they were busy in the past couple of months! There were at least 20 furry ducklings in the waterways near Te Papa, some older than others...

So cute! Can I take him home?!?

As there are no native mammals in New Zealand, there are birds everywhere in varying sizes. These (finches?) are easy to find and make for adorable pictures -

With Spring comes sudden storms as well. Just a week or so after the above pics were taken, I happened to be home when an afternoon storm barreled in, rained a bit, and left just as quickly.

Hopefully we'll get around to posting Summer pictures before Winter comes back...