Big “Thanks” to Kim Jones and Family for hosting me in Whangarei

I learned so much from Kim and was amazed at her knowledge about NZ freshwater ecosystems and her ability to calmly and enthusiastically teach about it to kids all over the Whangarei area.  She has created several programs for Whitebait Connection that have inspired me to get back to the Sonoran Desert and get our Tucson kids OUTSIDE to experience nature.  The “Experiencing Marine Reserves” snorkeling with Kim and  Springbank school kids in the Reotahi Marine Reserve was as colorful and beautiful as the clown nudibranch we watched laying eggs.  Several kids who were afraid of the water at first parted with sentiments regarding the need to have such marine reserves to preserve the wildness that is found there under water.

Kim and her new hubby, Blair (who for some reason I called “Glen” for the first few

How odd that Kim’s son, Zayne Johnson, has the same first and last name as my son, Zane Johnson, way back in Tucson.  The Kiwi Z-boy fearlessly accepted his Sonoran Desert gift of a scorpion lolly!

Along the sun-warmed Reotahi marine reserve by Kim's home.

A neighbor's chalk sign that seems to express what Kim taught me and many others.