Beautiful Sunday

It has been a lovely weekend, and with no band gigs or kids we have pleased ourselves.

Yesterday we attended a 3 hour workshop run by the Northland Regional Council's Sara Brill on "Weeds". I wasn't sure it would hold my interest for 3 hours, but Sara has a wealth of knowledge on the subject and it was good. The only downside is that when we are out now, we just see so many noxious plants. At least we recognize a lot more now and know how best to get rid of them. There was a pretty good attendance too, it's great seeing others who care.

As we were up early on a Saturday we took the opportunity to go to the Whangarei Growers Market.

It is a bustling place if you get there early, and great to see so many people supporting local growers, buying fresh, local food. There's all sorts, from fish, cheese, chutneys, flowers etc. Plus some buskers. The photo I took really doesn't do it justice.

Today we ventured over to Tutukaka, as we had heard there is now a fresh fish seller there - legally selling off a fishing boat. We bought some filleted snapper for dinner, which wasn't much cheaper than in the supermarket, but it is really fresh.

Tutukaka marina

While there we had a browse around in Eclectic Culture Co. which is a cool little shop selling recycled clothing, vintage and upcycled and new goods and gourmet. Somehow it works really well.

After a little hunt on the beach with the metal detector (at which I found my first gold coins), and a little seaweed gathering for the garden, we popped in to Schnappa Rock for lunch.

We just love the atmosphere there - it's decorated with tapa cloths, big round rustic posts and recycled timber etc. The food is pretty good too.

That's me

On the way home we picked up a bootload of bottles and cans etc from the roadside that have been bothering us every time we drive to town.

I took photos of some fly tipping which I will email to the nice man at the council who said to let him know if he needed to send someone out to clean up...that would be great, thanks.