Romantic, in a "John Keats' Short Life on the Moors" kind of way.

Amiri and I went out to play.  We went to a park kitty-corner from our building.

There was a sculpture.

First, we fed the birds a dry heel of bread and some apple slices that had gone brown after breakfast.

The birds got a bit too close after a while and Amiri had to run to Mama for reassurance.

 

I wonder what sort of bird this little speckled fellow is?

Then we went for a walk in the Symonds Street cemetery.  Its sleeping tenants were all placed here between 1842-1884.   Some people might think it's grim to poke around a cemetery, but I thought it was kind of romantic.  Especially considering it was the day after Halloween (and for my readers in the States, it still is!)

Plus, it was irresistably beautiful!

A good number of the graves are slowly being reclaimed by nature.

Amiri loved picking the little spring flowers.

There were large open spaces where we chased each other, and trails through the woods for tramping (Kiwi for 'hiking').  By the size of the trees, I'd guess the forest had been left undisturbed since the 1880s.  Green was everywhere, just exploding in a wonderful riot.  It reminded me in some ways of the thick undergrowth in Indiana, but more inviting; less viney and stabby.  How wonderful that this is just sitting there in the middle of the city.

 

We both felt small in relation.

 

It was a good day.