Rain has threatened every day for the past two weeks. The skies have been overcast and the temperatures have averaged a cool 50 Fahrenheit. Now, normally I would not complain about the brisk temperature but I am not ready for the change of seasons yet... On Sunday to escape the cold and wet weather we took Grace and her friend Tayla to the Otago Museum. They have a neat kids section full of experiments and all sorts of fun, hands on learning stations like a giant floor piano, air cannons, ways to test your reaction time and your ability to relax, fresh water aquariums, BIG bubble makers, coloring stations and optical illusions... They also have a butterfly sanctuary. Access to the sanctuary is through a dark, mirrored room lit only with black lights, this is to highlight and prevent any butterflies from hitchhiking their way out of the sanctuary. It is a magical feeling when you open the door, the light floods in causing you to squint your eyes, the warmth of the humid air wraps itself around you, and then your eyes adjust and you find yourself in a tropical place full of beauty. The butterflies are everywhere, it is not uncommon to find them on your head or have them land on your hand. There is a path that leads you behind a waterfall and over a bridge, which separates two ponds where you find koi fish and red-eared slider turtles... Which reminds us of our killer, pet turtle Stripe, I would be lying if I didn't admit that a part of me thinks of Stripe and wonders what would happen if you added the turtles to the fish pond... (I know what Stripe would do...) If you continue on the path you come to the back wall where there are several tanks of various things.... The first time I was here I pressed my face up to the glass in an attempt to find what was living in these tanks, without reading the sign that clearly said Tarantulas... I have a paralyzing fear of spiders, so when the big, hairy dude came out of his cave I was horrified. However, during our last visit to the sanctuary we watch the caretaker feed the spiders and I learned that their 'sting' is nothing more serious than a bee sting, which has never killed anyone. This of course doesn't help me with their eight, hairy, fast legs that freak me out, but it was good to learn. Watching them eat was pretty neat, the big cricket was dropped into the tank; it hopped toward the cave where the deadly spider lurked, then from the darkness it emerged, like a big hairy hand, covering the cricket and dragging it back into its lair. It was pretty cool, quite a day at the museum.
I have to say that leaving the warm humidity of the sanctuary for the cold winds of Dunedin made me a bit homesick for East Tennessee summers... We have officially entered autumn down here, there is a briskness to the air that is universally specific to that time of year. But until the time when we come back to the states to visit we have the fire in our potbellied stove and each other to keep us warm. (And I suppose we always have the option of spending the day with the butterflies)
