Hello, goodbye!

 

In addition to enjoying the hot springs at Parakai this past Thursday, an hour’s drive out of Auckland, we visited the gannet colonies at Murowai on the west coast. Several hundred pairs breed here, along with colonies of white-fronted terns. It is breeding season, so we spent quite some time enchanted by the action. Some nests held a single large, fluffy chick while others held a single egg. Pairs mate for life and share incubating the egg. A strong sense of personal space dictates the even distribution of nests. Encroachment means a serious pecking reprimand from the tenant.

When one partner is incubating, the other is out soaring the seas. Since very few seemed to be diving for food, it was very easy to think that the birds were simply reveling in the freedom of flight after being confined to the nest.

The behavior that really captured us occurred when the flying partner returned to the nest. The life pair would interweave their necks in a very sensuous dance which we were able to capture in this video. As you can see, we were very close voyeurs to this ritual ‘hello.’

Gannet Colony

Seeing the gannets dancing reminded us that for the past two months we have been traveling and working together without any hellos and goodbyes. No moments of acknowledging a departure or an arrival. None of those moments of anticipating the return of the other. Time apart it is one for gentle holding the other in your heart — a kind of intercessory prayer. When one returns it is a chance to listen and to be curious. For us, it is a muscle that has gotten a little flabby of late and it needs some attention.

Getting to Parakai Hot Springs was a reminder of our hot tub at home and how that anchored the ends of our days. Warmth, connection, safety, relaxation. As the year proceeds here at Friends Centre, we will need to think creatively as to how to exercise our hello-goodbye muscle.

Beetles