It was anything but frosty this morning.....cool certainly, cold, definitely not.  Decided to explore the Wairepo Arm looking for potential locations that might look good should a hoar frost actually arrive whilst I'm here.  Was getting into the swing of a slow walk around some of the waterway when I heard a familiar call and looked across the water to see familiar shapes......2 more grebes spending their afternoon romancing.  Nothing for it but to sit down and watch them.  Awwwww.  After a short time of watching them.........splash!  Then another splash.  My eyes scanned the area to see what was going on and although it took me some time to understand, I did eventually figure it out.  Or rather.....I SAW a flash of action.  Salmon were jumping!  Yes.....really.  These must be salmon from the nearby farm who have escaped and have set up home here along the Wairepo Arm.  I focussed the camera and scanned and was fortunate to catch a few splashes and even a reasonably clear fish though too far away to make it worthwhile sharing - I was happy to have both witnessed it and captured an image to remind me though.  If conditions allow I might go down there again.

By mid afternoon there were significant patches of blue developing in the sky.  Yay!  Sunshine!  By the time the sun went down the skies were all but clear and I'm fully expecting a very cold night tonight and maybe even a frost tomorrow morning.  Early night tonight in anticipation of an early start.  Coincidentally - or serendipitously? - tomorrow is our Matariki holiday. Matariki is a small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades, in the Taurus constellation. In New Zealand it comes into view low on the north-eastern horizon, in the tail of the Milky Way, just before dawn in midwinter. This heralds the Māori New Year and the changing of the seasons.  Maybe the skies have cleared tonight so that we can see Matariki tomorrow morning.