Week 34 Boats. St Margaret's country garden and cafe, where our book club met for a delicious meal and after lunch wandered through the extensive plantings, with sculptures, dovecotes, and this water feature.

This punt was just waiting for someone to take it out to the middle of the lake. To be honest though I think anyone sitting in her would have got thoroughly wet if not actually have to rescue themselves by swimming to the bank. We were up Mahurangi way.

Along the edges of the lake were these argave plants and their spikes were just coming up, a lovely soft colour against the winter ones.

We started along the path beside the lake, a family of 10 small fluffy ducklings and their guardian were very cagey going in and out of the swamp edges before heading across to this jetty. I thought this was quite an elegant and balletic pose.

A protected edge of the pond, in a tree covered valley at Brick Bay, near Mahurangi.