Botanical Gardens

On Wednesday we went to the Botanical gardens. They are only 30 minutes drive away. We visited them on our first journey to New Zealand in 2003. That time it was winter and the key feature were the magnolias and daffodils.


This time there is more colour about, but many of the blooms have been damaged by the torrential rains of the weeks before we came.


There is a new centre with the usual high quality restaurant.


At the lake the children fed the ducks and the eel. From there they went to the children's garden where Emily enjoyed going round and around the paths.

I went off on my own exploration. I met a fellow photographer who told me about a lens and camera correction program and insisted that I was wrong to shoot in RAW when the camera could easily convert to jpeg without my help. Other photographers have insisted that I either shoot in both or RAW alone. I think I will stick to my plan, but I will try the correction program.

Having wandered about for a while I met up with the family and we made our way back to the restaurant for lunch.


On the way home we called into the 'Warehouse'. Sally did some shopping and I bought a new watch to replace the one that broke yesterday. I paid a whole $20.


In the afternoon Emily and Zoe had their friends over for a pool afternoon.

 In the evening we child minded while Sally and Ian went off for a drink and a stroll by the sea.