Chicken George & the Wheat Weevil

Once again I woke to the gentle sound of the lake lapping at the shore. It was nice to be able to lie there and simply listen and get carried away in the sound for a while before getting up.

I had just about got my breakfast ready when I noticed some rustling outside the van door. I turned to find a chicken there. Now out here in the wilds I might expect to see a tui or a blackbird or a sparrow or a waxeye or a fantail - but a chicken? Really?!

I was more than a little taken aback, so much so in fact that I dropped my muesli container and some of it spilled out onto the floor. Not wanting to waste the spilled muesli I decided to throw it out for my new friend and there began a wonderful little friendship.

I went and sat on the shore to eat my breakfast, he pecked and clucked a little, moving slowly closer to me until he was within an arms reach. I called him Chicken George and we talked (me), clucked (him) and ate (both) our ways through well over an hour of a beautiful, peaceful morning.

It was actually quite hard saying goodbye to him - I felt so guilty leaving him alone there, but I did need to move on. I only hope the next lot of campers that stay on Chicken George's property look after him and share a little time with him.

I drove in to Queenstown, deciding to play tourist for a while. I had thought a trip up the gondola would be fun but I quickly changed my mind when I found out there was a 20-30 minute queue just to buy a ticket! I'll put it on the list for another time.

Drove over the Crown Range again with the sun getting warmer and warmer as the day developed. Towards the Wanaka end I saw a field of wheat which is very unusual in these parts. It looked rather stunning with the sun shining on it, ears of wheat gently swaying with the breeze and a clear blue-sky backdrop so I stopped. The thing that actually captured then held my attention wasn't the wheat itself but the myriad of bugs that were flitting across the tops, crawling up and down the stems or just passing by. I became transfixed by several miniscule bugs as they clambered up a wheat whisker only to turn around and crawl back down. It was such a contrast in scale to yesterday but equally as absorbing and fascinating.

Tonight I haven't managed to get as far along the road as I'd hoped but I'm not worried - I'll just have more driving to do over the next couple of days. Camped tonight at the northern end of Lake Wanaka and the moutains. I might even try another startrail image tonight.