The National Aquarium of New Zealand

We spent half a day at this marvelous aquarium today and I could have spent double the time there. It is a wonderful experience. A high-light for me were the Little Penguins. All of them are penguins that have been orphaned, or suffered accidents and would not have survived back in the wild. They all have names and individual photographs are hung around the walls with the story of why they are there. There were some horrific stories of dog bites, fishing line tangles, predator attacks, rubbish discarded in the sea etc. Some were missing a flipper, others had brain damage and some were just orphaned early. But, they all seemed to be enjoying life. They are the lucky ones.

In the extra is a water dragon also from the aquarium. We dont get those here so it was good to see them.

I was delighted to find my semi impressionist photo of the grasses on the first page of Popular. A big thanks to all those who helped put it there - it is much appreciated and I was unable to thank you individually.