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Caught up with this delightful Solstice piece way past Lammas.

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Rosie- "The beach is not a supermarket" is a phrase that will stick with me this week for sure. Thanks for sharing this. Hope you're well this week. Cheers, -Thalia

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We found a beautiful intact paper nautilus shell and thousands of heart urchins! Happy solstice - to a good fruitful year ahead. X

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It's odd how Substack doesn't let you post photos in comments! I want to see them!

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Update: around 10 p.m. on the night of the 21st / Winter Solstice, the Cook Strait ferry Aratere ran aground just North of Picton. It was a freight sailing, so the passengers were truck drivers (petrel / petrol) and the cause of the grounding was said to be a steering failure. The immediate public response was scorn and a kind of collective 'Well, DUH!' towards the Government, who recently cancelled a contract for new ferries. (The ferries are the sole, fragile land transport link between the North and South Islands.)

I link this to the omen of the beached petrel because of the passage I quoted from The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand: "only the odd bird is now seen following fishing boats and the Cook Strait ferries."

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The beach sleuth, pulling together a solid case for the Defense (or prosecution) from some random clues and fragments! Well spotted Wiz!

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