A short walk around Istanbul and you can’t help but notice there are a few cats about. As you wander you see more and more, until you realise the place is crawling, creeping, sunning, sleeping, and sitting with them. Istanbul is the City of Cats. Cats of all different sizes, shapes and degrees of muntedness are everywhere, and appear to move freely and without persecution. Before long you realise the locals don’t just tolerate the strays, but in fact are…
Recently I spent a week surfing around Gisborne in the North Island’s Bay of Plenty region. New Zealand is a chilly place, and the ice-cream headaches you experience surfing in winter are not the only cold water peril you need to watch out for. Just getting to the beach may involve an encounter with some unusual road hazards. Imagine coming around a corner and finding a bunch of seals sunning their furry arses on the road… …or perhaps a waddle…
I’ve always found it interesting how many state and national faunal symbols are either extinct or on the brink thereof. The animals are often loved and revered today, after having been persecuted fervently in the past. And to be honest, if the species is still around, the love and reverence only goes so far. In many cases society just isn’t prepared to pay the economic or social price to ensure their survival. Although neither have official status, the silver fern…
As I have mentioned the New Zealand climate can be inclement – or is that clement can be inclimate? Anyway, it pays to wear appropriate clothing to protect yourself when the weather turns bad. Like this bloke here. Highland cattle feel very much at home in New Zealand. Not only do parts of the country look a lot like Scotland, it’s also cold, rains a lot, and when the farmer is speaking English it’s difficult to understand what they are…