Thank you..

..dear readers, for leaping to your keyboards and restoring my faith in blogging.

I've been out and about over the past 24 hours - firstly to the Bluff Oyster Festival.  As well as being NZ's southernmost town and on e that was settled by Europeans very early on in NZ's history, Bluff is most famous for its oysters.

 This was the lineup on stage for the sea-themed fashion show. Some very imaginative costumes.

 On the docks afterwards....

 ...a nice little fishing boat.

 I liked the reflection of the rope in the water...

 ...and of this boat too.

 This morning, I went out to Oreti Beach to take some moody in-the-rain photos but as soon as I decided to do that, the weather improved.

 There had been quite a bit of rain during the night, and even a touch of snow on the hills.

I always like seascapes with a bird in them.  Click on photos to enlarge them.