Saturday 31 March 2012: Yuk - eels!

I really don't like eels. They hold no appeal whatsoever for me and I particularly dislike the fact that they eat small ducklings. But today I have this photograph of some tame eels in a small stream at a rather lovely café near Ruby Bay on the Kina peninsula, so I decided that I ought to blip it.

My husband was of course much more taken with them than I was. After I had taken a few photos, I gave him the camera and went back up to the café but in fact he never managed to get a single shot because, as he was leaning over to focus on them, there was a sudden splash and he felt a tugging on his shirt pocket - one of the eels had leapt (if they can be described as doing such a thing!) out of the water and grabbed his sunglasses from his pocket and pulled them into the water. He then had to put his hand in among their horrible slimy bodies and retrieve the specs - yuk, yuk, yuk!!

As it was a gloriously sunny day, Immy's riding lesson was not cancelled this morning so finally, the day before he leaves, Dad was able to come and watch! He was very impressed by her ability to trot and canter with her arms outstretched, among other things. Initially he had not been very keen on her learning to ride but, having now seen the farm and the horses and watched her lesson, he is quite happy about it which is a relief. On the way back, we stopped off at a garden centre specialising in trees, where the autumn colours were in glorious evidence everywhere. I was rather keen on having a Robinia or a Ginko Biloba, but as we had really come looking for either cacti or succulents for some big pots on the deck that we brought over from Bahrain, that's what we came away with.

In the afternoon, Immy went off to the movies with her new friend and we went for a drive up to the eel place, which had lovely gardens with some very funky, interesting sculptures as well as - and infinitely more attractive than! - the eels. It was a lovely afternoon and on the way back we stopped off briefly at Ruby Bay, across the water from Nelson, to take some photos; at the roadside so I could photograph an abandoned farmhouse and finally at the cheese shop just outside Richmond where my mother-in-law's jellies are for sale. It was closed, but we were able to see them through the window in the very attractive display stand than Jonathan built for them!

Back at home, we planted out the morning's purchases in the pots and then went over to Jonathan and Lynley's in the evening for a quick drink so my husband could say his goodbyes, then it was home to make a chicken stir-fry and blip..... oh, and Immy thoroughly recommends The Hunger Games! She wants to go and see it again now!

• Canon EOS 60D:
• f/5:
• 1/1000":
• 100.0mm

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