Laundry, Battle Hill, and Pencarrow lighthouse.

When we came back from or hike to Battle Hill on Wednesday morning (Dec.30th), we started our own battle trying to hang out our laundered sheets in a southerly gale. There was no way we could do a neat job of pegging the sheets on the lines, particularly the fitted sheet, and we just had to do the best we could with oodles of clothes pegs and then keep an eye on what was happening. We got them in from the line just before we got some rain, and now they are draped around the apartment just to make sure they are really dry.

A view from the summit of Battle Hill, the scene of the first 'battle' with one tribe of the Maoris in 1846. This was the beginning of the "Maori Wars," although I believe it is more PC these days to say "The New Zealand Wars." On one of the explanatory displays it says that Governor Grey's methods used against the Maoris were "questionable but effective." At the entrance to the park there is a big sign that says "The Last Battle," beside which a Maori organisation has posted a sign saying "You think..."

At the top, after an exhausting climb.

We woke this morning (Wednesday 30 Dec.) and wandered into the living room just in time to see a huge cruise ship enter the harbour.

We made this walk on Monday, in rather overcast weather, on the east side of the harbour starting on the outskirts of a town called Eastbourne. The road led along the sea for several kilometers before we started the climb to the lighthouse. This view was on our way down from the lighthouse back to the road.

From an explanatory sign.

More from another sign.

You'll need to click on this to read the text. The light house sits high on a promontory called Pencarrow Head, which was the name of the Cornish home of Sir Somebody Molesworth (or was it Lord M.), who was one of the members of the New Zealand Company, which organised the beginning of systemic emigration from Britain to New Zealand. The first couple of ships arrived not far from Eastbourne.