Paua

This is a shot for my Kiwi friends. I was tidying around some books this morning, and this paua shell caught my eye, gleaming in the light. Isn't it scintillating (in every sense of the word)? The paua (Haliotis iris) is an edible sea snail that lives in the New Zealand seas, clinging to shoreline rocks like huge barnacles (the single shell is bigger than the size of my hand, larger volume than my fist - see the 20p for scale). What's more, they are truly delicious barbequed! Unfortunately we do not have them in our waters - this came to Lewis in a suitcase... :-)