Monday 30 August 2010

Feast or famine

Another story of mine in the Herald on Sunday yesterday, about Kaikoura this time. That's two weeks in a row, with the Mauritius one in the NZ Herald proper tomorrow. After months with nothing, suddenly a clump! It always seems to work this way. It's a mystery.

There was another glitch with the photos this time, too: the photos that were supplied by the professional snapper who came with me on this assignment didn't get credited to him, which is embarrassing for me, disappointing for him, and sloppy work by the HoS. They also chose really predictable whales and mountains images: so I've put a couple of his more interesting ones in here. Credit to Dean Mackenzie!
Coincidentally, there's a story in today's paper about the seal cubs that I mentioned in mine - they follow a stream up into the bush to play under a waterfall, sometimes more than a hundred of them. It's a wonderful sight: so unexpected, so cute and so entertaining, as they clown and play in the water. They're wonderfully unafraid, and come right up to people watching to have a good look (or sniff) at them in return.
That's the problem, of course: so many people have heard about the seals that what was a local secret is now becoming a tourist attraction, and there are fears that some harm might come to the cubs from people being stupid or malicious. I did think twice about including it in the story, and made a point of not actually identifying the location - but the Herald's let the cat out of the bag and named the stream.

I hope it can remain as a charming gift from Nature to people who know how lucky they are to receive it.

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