kiwibird: Adorable Pets

During our travels we have met lots of adorable pets, all with individual personalities. Great characters.

One of the first pets was Elvis, a little dog, who really wanted to be a big dog. Elvis loved the beach and was a very happy dog when he saw the white sand, especially if he was allowed off the lead. Elvis received top marks when he happily lived outside the camping ground in Port Hughes, without a complaint. Good one

Elvis.

Elvis and JD, the cat, did not get on. JD would lie on the ground and wait for Elvis to start jumping on him. Elvis would then get into trouble and be evicted, outside or inside, depending on where we were sitting. JD always looked extremely satisfied afterwards.

JD sitting on Scott's bed while we were skyping Donna. She was not physically in the room by the way. Just on the IPad screen. Just as well as JD had fleas. A cat with a temper, a manipulator and an annoying meow when he did not get attention. A survivor too, at 18 years old.

Lily, a pretty cat, and very gentle. Loving too. Easy to have around the house. Always happy.

I forgot this dog's name, Apologies there. A very friendly dog, who followed his owners around all the time. A very placid personality.

Ping loved her nightly treat, some ice cream, and then went happily upstairs, to share the bed with her owners. Ping has decided I am now okay, thank goodness, and does not run away anymore.

Alec, loved his owner, and no one else. He was happy to sleep all day, usually where I liked to sit, and spent the night 'mousing'. A very sleek cat, with sharp claws and teeth.

But Alec's brother, George, was a force to be reckoned with, and as I watched him attack this scratching post with his oversized claws, I made up my mind to stay well clear of him. He also loved his owner.

Lucy was the most adorable dog, so quiet and placid. She never barked, even when she got stuck under the couch when trying to retrieve a ball. She spent ages chasing balls, and never seemed to get tired, and especially loved tummy rubs. A very happy dog.

Baxter loved attention, and did not like being ignored. Of course he did not get the undivided attention he craved now that there was a 2 year old boy in the house. But Baxter still tried, and believed he was the most important dog in the world. Tummy rubs were also high on his agenda.

Mikki was a lovable, and highly active dog, always on the go, and it took some time to get him to stand still for a photograph. Although a fully grown dog, he was still a ball of fluff.

I did not get a photograph of Coco, a highly strung dog, with a sense of superiority. Coco would sit and look at you with her coal black eyes, as if to say 'This is my house and my owner'. She was very cute though, a mixture of Shi tzu and other breeds, small, white and long haired, which needed to be cut in the summer time.

And before I finish I cannot resist including a photograph of baby seals playing in a rock pool. There were hundreds of seals around Kaikoura, when we drove to Christchurch last Thursday. And plenty of baby ones. They looked like they were having fun in this pool,