Nature

[Kitsa]

I like Stephen Fry. I just hope you're not talking about the manic-depressive way

That's a beautiful wading bird there at the end. Is it some sort of crane? I can't see the markings, but it didn't look like a heron at first go.

Are snakes a big problem on your hikes? I know that in NZ they're not, typically, but you seem to hike a bit north, too.

I'm trying to remember what the birds were in an Attenborough special on NZ that I was so taken with, but now I can't. Some sort of flightless mountain birds, they were fascinating.

[Zhukov]

The manic depressive way is hardly the "good way" now is it? Stephen Fry amazes me by being full of knowledge but also full of wit and humour. Most people can only have a little of column A, a little of column B. If they are lucky. You and he seem to have lots of both.

It is a crane. Or a heron... or maybe an ibis. Honestly I don't know too much about birds. I took many photos of herons and cranes, but you can't post them all, can you? There were snake-necked herons that would dart into the water, then pop their head and S shaped neck out while zooming around looking for fish; it looked gloriously absurd.

On a related note, I was attacked by White Ibis in Sydney for my sandwich. They are native, and can usually be found hanging around bins.

Snakes are only a problem if you go looking for them, off any tracks. You can run into them, but they generaly are well hidden and will try to stay that way. People that get killed by snakes are usually trying to antagonise them, or getting "a closer look". My photos of snakes (actually, just 'snake') are blurred and don't show anything other than the speed at which I was flinging the camera about. I only saw a few little snakes, in fact I see more snakes here in Tasmania than in the North.

The NZ bird... are you talking about the Kiwi? The MOA? That big, grey, parrot look-alike that has trouble mating and whose name alludes me right now?