PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

The Day Pip Came Over to Say Goodbye

Week 183 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

While it had been a very happy week emotionally despite bad weather causing us to work not even one full day, it ended on a very sad note when the old dog of our landlord passed away.

Living in the vineyard of an elderly couple in their late 80s, we interacted more with their aged dog than with them as they were incredibly busy all the time. And so are we.

Pip, the dog who had been with them for fourteen years and had been a rescue before, was more or less free to roam around the property but was taught not to enter our unit.

She would do her daily walks around the two buildings all by herself and would always stop by our home. As the glass sliding door is always open when we’re home, Pip would step one front paw inside, say hello, sniff around and then walk out again.

Sometimes, she’d come in a bit further, especially if we were frying up bacon or some of that delicious grass-fed lamb or beef. Now and then, she’d get a bite from David. Not being able to see anymore, Pip sometimes struggled to locate us but always had the tail lightly wagging, especially once we spoke to her.

Coming home from the last trip on Thursday, she came not once but twice to enter our home. It was strange but we didn’t wonder further. Later that evening the lady knocked on our door. I was already in bed and only heard how David stormed out. Pip had a fit and they asked David to lift her into the car so they could drive to the vet.

Guess what? Pip never returned from the vet. They put her down as they didn’t want the old dog to live in pain as she had been mostly healthy up until now.

And only then it appeared to us as if Pip had waited for our return and wanted to make sure to say goodbye. Which is why she came in twice and looked around. Sadly, we were busy unpacking and didn’t pay much attention.

And now my tears are rolling. It wasn’t even my dog nor did I know her for long…

Let’s change the topic. My last week left off on the beautiful Maori Beach on Stewart Island where we packed up our camp on Thursday morning and walked back to the harbor.

The skies were overcast making it pleasant for the walk and the forest was busy with birds and insects chirping around. We took the low-tide route to the bridge and avoided a long uphill in the forest.

We then caught the ferry, glided across the Foveaux Strait, got back into our car and drove another three hours home. What an adventure it had been.

Coming home we had a new visitor on the grounds surrounding our unit. A few days prior, a cat was sitting outside our glass door. Now, while many of you would ask what’s strange about a cat, I have to exclaim that no cat is living in the vineyard and the nearest neighbor farm is quite a distance away.

Either way, today this chicken came by. Not a normal chicken but looking rather like a wild one. I sent my mom a picture to identify the ‘bird’ and all she responded with was ‘irgendein Huhn’, translating to some random chicken. Thanks, I knew that one too. I guess it will stay just the chicken.

I didn’t take any pictures all of Friday as I intended on heading outside later that night to shoot the stars. While clouds did move in, I still got some decent shots.

It had been very cold during the night and heading out to work on Saturday morning, we noticed fresh snow on the peaks of the Southern Alps. It is mid-summer, just saying.

We were called in for work but only did two loads as the wind quickly picked up and got too strong to continue jumping (we’re skydiving instructors, for those new here.)

Sunday morning was similar, only that the wind picked up as we began to drop the first load. I was one of two instructors who jumped with their customers before the ground crew radioed up saying the wind had picked up. While we landed safely, the rest had to descend in the plane.

The picture below I took on our way to work. The sun was just appearing above the mountains.

On Monday the winds were even stronger and we knew early we wouldn’t be jumping. I wanted to do something and I headed down to the shores of the Kawarau River for a walk before the gusts of wind would pick up.

On Tuesday morning, our car was already loaded with camping equipment when the work text came in. Canceled. As our weekend is Wednesday and Thursday, we headed off one day early this way.

Passing the incredibly blue lakes of Pukaki and Tekapo, I couldn’t resist but stop on the latter for a quick walk to move our legs during the long drive to Christchurch.

The clouds were just in such a spectacular shape. They looked somewhat painted, somewhat otherworldly. But I knew it had to do with the incredibly strong upper wind pushing the clouds across the southern Alps and creating weird shapes in the sky.

Yes, we wanted some warmth and some beach time and that is exactly where we spent our Wednesday. On the beach. Walking three hours along the endless sandy coastline from Spencer Beach to Brighton, an outskirt of Christchurch. And back again of course.

In between, we kept returning to the ocean for cool-offs and playtime in the waves. It was great fun.

And along the way, we found some interesting washed-up items like this branch of a tree covered in sea creatures.

And here I almost managed to stick to one picture a day this week. Except for Thursday. How we returned from Christchurch back to Cromwell will be part of next week’s essay.

This has been my weekly photo essay. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since. These are the latest contributors and their essays:

Dennett with “January is Over — Hurrah!”

Erika with “Regal Mr. Bisou, A Very Pretty Drink, Selecting Paint Colors, “Did I Really Wear One Slipper to the Doctor’s Office?,” Paperwhites, the First Camelia, Bread like A Biscuit, and Uma Tries Caviar”

Susan with “Was That a Cat? That Was a Cat. Wasn’t it? It Was, Wasn’t it? And to Change Things up a Bit — a Tortoise!”

Kim with “Exploring, Walking, Hiking, and Snow!”

Krasi Shapkarova with “Homemade Goodies, Ancient Mosaics, and Walks with Friends”

Penny Grubb with “Hoping Week 1 Doesn’t Set The Tone For The Year”

Julia A. Keirns with “My Life In Photos — January 21–31, 2024”

These are my previous weekly photo essays:

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