This afternoon we took a short drive to Muriwai beach to see the Gannet colony. The land is striking: a mix of wide, smooth shore, rugged rocks and melting cliffs--and flax bushes everywhere. In early November we're starting to see those first truly gorgeous spring days. There were a good dozen surfers out, at least as many fishermen, and heaps of people like us on the trail to the colony. We got to a point on our path where the air thickened with the smell of guano, and we were looking out onto 1000 couples nesting over every square foot of rock. Nothing in such large numbers is ever cute--at least not for me. Give me a single ladybug and I'm happy. Show me 1000 of them in tight quarters and those adorable little bugs take a turn for the grotesque. But once I looked closer at the birds they charmed me: creamy white and gold-washed, Gannets are made up of beautiful, clean lines, with wings that fold in with the neat precision of origami. They glide through the air on those paper wings as open and still as a kite, cutting through wind gusts on barely a flap, landing like a hang glider. They reminded me of those first canvas planes, and made me wonder if it weren't for birds, would we ever have imagined we could fly? I get the feeling nature is more creative than any of us ever will be.
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