Good Friday on the Wild West Coast

Today is Good Friday in NZ. It's been a few years since I was in a country that observes Easter. I am so used to Japan, where the shops never close, regardless of a public holiday. Businesses here can be liable for a fine for operating on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, I think it is. So I find it very inconvenient that I have to wait a whole day for the supermarket to be open. Not so good when you are 33 weeks pregnant and hanging out for a fix of something – I'm not sure exactly what it is I want but if I went to the supermarket I'm sure I could figure it out. Of course my waistline – if I still had one – would thank me that it isn't so easy to go out and buy a chocolate bar/tub of ice cream/bag of cookies…

Which reminds me, there is a bag of mints in the car – hooray! Saved!

 

This morning I took Sam out for a waddle up the road. As we were coming home I could hear the sound of what must have been gun shots. Not being an authority on what gun shots sound like in real life, I can only assume that is what they were. Sam was a bit spooked by the noise, but they did sound far enough away across farmland for me not to worry too much. Then I remembered that it might be the Great Annual Easter Bunny Hunt. Wild rabbits are a big pest here in NZ, so every Easter weekend, there is a kind of competition, with quantity being the aim. A rather macabre way to spend the day, but a great help to environment. I saw one hopping through the yard last week and it was the biggest rabbit I have ever seen, in fact it was more like a hare.

We get all kinds of animals romping through here. Today we have had a visit from a peacock. Someone near here owns one and occasionally it goes walk about. I had heard about this peacock but hadn't seen it until today. It is pure white and rather spooky looking. It can run pretty fast too, which is good if Sam ever sees it when he is outside. Luckily Sam was in "food mode" and was concentrating on the piece of toast I was eating and didn't notice it.

There is also a paradise duck next door that hates our car and tries to attack it sometimes.

 

So even though it is a public holiday and supposed to be quiet, there is plenty going on here in the wilds of the West Coast!