In my backyard – a travel vlog with a local twist

Follow Age Hacker Cherry as she introduces us to her surroundings and documents it all via a blog and vlog (video blog) using her smartphone. Learn about nature, technology and more!

Hello there. My name is Cherry Bewley and I live in a beautiful part of New Zealand, called the Eastern Bay of Plenty. I have enjoyed living in many different places including Hamilton, Whangarei, Taumarunui, Hobsonville, Waiouru, Christchurch, Singapore, Tauranga, Malaysia but living in the Eastern Bay of Plenty tops them all as it has turned out to be my ‘Happy Place’.

Over the next few months I look forward to sharing my story videos with you as I travel around this unique part of the country.

The three district councils of Kawerau, Whakatane and Opotiki serve the Eastern Bay of Plenty with coastal boundaries stretching from Matata in the west to Cape Runaway (East Cape) in the west. It boasts a temperate climate, views of coastal landscapes to take your breath away, rivers which play host to many outdoor pursuits and bush-clad hills as far as the eye can see.

Follow me over the next few months as I travel around this unique part of the country and share my story videos with you.

“In my backyard”

Our urban property (of ¼ acre) is bounded on the western and northern sides by a reserve which gives us privacy and a rural view.

Just before we started to build our house, there was a massive felling operation on the reserve removing large and dangerous trees along the perimeter of the housing area. This resulted in considerable disturbance to the birdlife and it was a good couple of years before the birds started to return. I was so intrigued by the different kinds of birds (both native and introduced) appearing, that I started taking photos to see how many species I could photograph.

So far, I have captured shots of pukeko, pheasant, wax eye, kingfisher, Malaysian ring-necked dove, chaffinch, fantail, yellowhammer, bellbird, morepork, tui, goldfinch, myna, magpie, seagull, songthrush, blackbird, starling, welcome swallow, sparrow, hawk and the Californian quail.

My favourites are the quail who come in for a feed of wild bird seed two to three times a day. They are really entertaining and I guess it because of these birds that I have become an avid bird watcher in my own backyard. As I am writing this, there are 8 males (who travel around in a group) a male and female couple and another couple with 5 baby quail feeding. This is the first time in 5 years of being here that I have been able to get close enough to quail raising their babies, to shoot the videos I am sharing on this post.

That’s all for now. Look out for my next post ‘’On my doorstep’’

Backyard Antics from Cheryle Bewley on Vimeo.

By Age Hacker, Cherry