Went to N’s daughter’s house. Huge house with a games room and a hot spa bath in the garden. Her husband took me for a motorbike ride to a deep forest trail while the girls went sightseeing in Wellington. Went through lots of typical NZ houses – wooden bungalows, including one that his father, a refugee from Austria, had built by hand. The forest walk was entrancing, and a great way to get to know E and the rest of the family.
At one point I noticed a small cone-like object dangling in mid-air from a spiderweb-like thread. Watching for a few moments we saw a caterpiller emerge from the top, spinning the thread and gradually lowering himself to the ground.
Afterwards, a soak in the spa bath and dinner.