More cruise ship data, more lockdown log

Yet another Princess cruise ship has managed to find a safe haven -- Coral Princess docked in Miami just a couple of days ago.  What a relief -- the ship, with its thousand+ passengers and eight hundred+ crew had been in limbo for days, waiting for permission to dock.

According to the Coast Guard, there are 114 cruise ships in or near United States ports, with 150,000 passengers and crew on board,  You can see their current positions on the Marine Traffic site. 

The sightings include ferries, and it is interesting to see that so many are still running.  In New Zealand, the only people on board the inter-island ferries are crew and truck drivers, as no passengers are carried, but essential services, such as delivery of freight, continue.  And the fishing fleet is out -- though what they will do with the catch is debatable, no fish markets being open.

Wellington is uncannily quiet -- over the weekend, it was like a ghost town. On the plus side, the weather is beautiful, and it has been a chance to explore the locality.  And I found a bush walk right at the back door.  It runs from the Clifton Terrace stop for the Cable Car (not currently running) and uphill of the motorway, all the way to Aurora Terrace.  It does not have views -- which is unusual in this mountainous city -- but is paved, has benches for tired walkers, and is peacefully bush-clad.

At the Aurora Terrace end, where I turned round and walked back, there was a signpost.  It read, TOKYO LANE.  Why?  Apparently, it used to run to a brothel.  Why Tokyo? Don't ask.

It is musical with birds -- fantails, silver eyes, and bigger ones, too, like the raucous kaka.  When the motorway is busy, there would not be the same birdsong, but the lockdown has been a boon for our feathered friends.  Now, they have become brave, and are venturing where they didn't dare, before.

I do wonder about the pigeons, though -- those strutting, nodding beggars, who live off crusts from office-workers' lunches.  Some years ago, there was a long break spanning Christmas and New Year, and when the cafe opened at Midland Park, a favorite place for outdoor lunching, a friend and I were there.  The doors opened -- and a screaming flock of pigeons descended.  They stormed frantically into the cafe, desperate for food.  I vividly remember one of the staff trying to beat them off with a tray.  It was like that Hitchcock film, "The Birds."  So how are they faring now?