Stinkhorn

A nice weekend, despite the weather.Certainly not as snowy as further south, nor as wild as up in Auckland.
Yesterday morning we did the last load from the flat in the city to Flowers Track, then in the evening we had some neighbours over for drinks and a pot-luck dinner - a great evening catching up, log burner keeping us cosy while the southerly wind howled outside.
This morning we woke to fresh snow to low levels on the foothills, but no snow around us. As the day improved and the sun came out I went for a good long walk in the hills. Turned out to be windier than I though on the tops, certainly plenty of fresh air, and there was snow on Mt Herbert and the higher peaks of Banks Peninsula (see extra). 
The main picture is of a stinkhorn fungus I came across in Rapanui Bush at Evans Pass (Aseroe rubra). The brown mucus can be pretty foul-smelling and attracts flies which in turn then spread the spores. Fortunately this one is quite small and a bit weathered, so I didn't notice any smell.