Wednesday 15th July: There was no frost this morning because the sky was overcast. But the dark grey clouds stayed all day so it was grey and cold all day, a high of 5 degrees.
We schooled in the morning and got lots done. This week we are learning about the lungs and respiration and it's reassuring when they are easily able to recall relevant facts from topics we did weeks ago.
We had an early lunch then drove to Oamaru. We had discount vouchers for Warehouse and were able to pick up lots of things we need for the new garden at excellent prices - a wheelbarrow, log basket, solar lights and something I've been wanting for ages - a lemon tree. This one even came with 10 nearly-ripe fruits on it. From there we went to the swimming pool. During the school holiday afternoons they have inflatable dinosaurs in the two pools for the children to climb along and slide into the water so the boys tired themselves out doing that until I convinced them they should relax in the hot spa tub!
Across the road from the aquatic centre is a beautiful park, Oamaru Public Gardens. It has many aspects to it, and the photo show the view of one of the bridges over the stream that runs through it.
At 9.30 in the evening we had an unexpected excitement when a 7.8 earthquake shook the South Island. This is the second largest earthquake since white settlers arrived 160 or so years ago and its epicentre was in Fiordland, not far from Te Anau which we visited last month. It's an area of strong rock and almost no population so there was little damage reported. Our house began to sway and made a 'click' sound as it changed direction and swayed back again, for about one minute.
No comments:
Post a Comment