It's warm today - windy, but properly warm - so I went to the beach for a bit this afternoon and had a swim. It was a little too rough to swim well though. And the first pohutukawa are starting to come out, which is great because I think they're incredible.
But how did the year go so quick?
Saturday 29 November 2008
Thursday 27 November 2008
Dolphins!
There was a little pod of dolphins out in the harbour this morning when we went out rowing - cue a little girly excited squealing. They don't come in that often. Apparently they were out off the South Coast last night.
Also there seem to be a lot of penguins about at the moment, more than last year anyway. I always like seeing a little head pop up before the penguin disappears underwater.
Also there seem to be a lot of penguins about at the moment, more than last year anyway. I always like seeing a little head pop up before the penguin disappears underwater.
Friday 21 November 2008
Elections and summer
I realised I never blogged the election. It happened. I was very curious about election night - the coverage was okay, I guess. I was mostly entertained by the incredibly small size of some electorates; it turns out NZ is a country where a 5000 margin is a big one, and the new PM John Key won the most electorate votes (18,000). Bless. Anyway, we have a new government now after Key managed to create a coalition in record time, very savvily bringing the Maori Party on board. That helps make what was a group of parties leaning heavily right a lot more centrist, as the Maoris are traditionally more left-inclined. Key's got the brains, but the question is whether he has the experience to pull this off. If he weren't a conservative millionaire white ex-financial trader he'd be NZ's Barack Obama ... now that election I found I did care about, very much, and I'm thrilled with the result. I just hope Dubya hasn't left the US in such a state Obama can't fix as much as he wants.
Meanwhile, it's really summer now and it's lovely. :)
Meanwhile, it's really summer now and it's lovely. :)
Monday 27 October 2008
Weekend away!
About the only location I really wanted to see in NZ was Edoras. I've done the ones near Wellington and they were great, but Edoras is unique. So I assigned the long weekend to go and tick that box. It lived up to all expectations.
October's not really peak tourist season over here, and an LOTR tour is a bit touristy to attract many Kiwis, so I had my trip all to myself. :) This meant we did what I wanted. Sunday dawned dry after a night of rain where I was staying in the little town of Geraldine – but as we drove up the valley the snow got thicker on the ground. The poor little lambs looked a tad cold, but lively enough.
We came through the little holiday settlement of Lake Clearwater, where kids were enjoying the unexpected snow, and carried on over the brow of a hill. And there, just like that, there was the magnificent valley with Mount Sunday – Edoras – in the middle.
Driving along we got a number of views hopefully tallying with movie shots, and had morning tea overlooking the mountain (though really, compared with what's around, it's a small lump). My guide André explained that Mt Sunday's basically a lump of hard rock sticking out of the ground that the long-ago glacier which formed the valley was unable to squash. He gave me the option of climbing it; I wasn't about to say no and wasn't bothered by the prospect of getting wet feet wading through the many little streams crisscrossing the valley floor. Boldly we set out, and after a few river traverses and a steep climb up, reached the top.
There's a survey marker about where the Golden Hall was built which is much-graffited (but hey, if you're going to graffiti anything, best to graffiti something manmade). I rather liked this question:
And my guide found what has to be about the only reminder of filming left up there:
It's a bolt, sawn off as far down as possible. I found it completely impressive that not only did they manage to film out there – it's a long way from anywhere – but also that there really was no impact on the land. André said initial scepticism on the part of locals was helped by Peter Jackson's general efforts to minimise that.
Across the valley and up and bit there's the gorge where they superimposed Helm's Deep longshots.
We stopped at Erewhon Station for lunch. Erewhon was named by a 19th-century settler named Samuel Butler (who later wrote books about this area), and it really is “nowhere” backwards. It couldn't be more isolated really. Out at Erewhon these days they're breeding merino sheep, Aberdeen Angus cattle, and Clydesdale horses, which they occasionally use for pulling stuff like in the old days. One of the horses had a foal. (Awww).
The plan was to eat lunch in the woolshed, but they'd just been shearing and it smelt of wool and dirty sheep. :( So we had a quick look, including the old shearing engines, and came out again.
Lunch was outside the old homestead building, now derelict, but attractive in a faded sort of way – I like old buildings.
After lunch, we went off-road. Two valleys converge at Erewhon, rivers running down from the mountains, and the plan was to cross the headwaters of the Rangitata river. Normally there are no problems but it's not yet high season, and it's spring so the snowmelt has made the river stronger and higher than usual. All the tracks were basically washed away, so we had to start from scratch. There were a couple of tricky moments but we got across – bumpily – and refreshed ourselves in the little trampers' and hunters' hut owned by Mesopotamia Station, the farm on this side of the valley. (Well, André had done all the work, but I was happy to eat brownie anyway).
Then it was back along the edge of the valley through Mesopotamia Station. André told me about the family that have farmed the station for over 60 years and the current issues with the Department of Conservation, which is buying a vast tract of this land and looks set to change the way they've been farming for so long. When we reached the station itself we met the farmer (on his son's quad bike!) A very typical Kiwi, down to earth, but naturally worried about his lambs given the harsh weather overnight (though by this point much of the early snow had melted away). André said if he was doing a tour on a weekday and was passing Mesopotamia at the right time, he'd stop in at the farm to visit the two children and their teacher so the kids got to meet lots of people despite their isolation from the outside world.
Then it was back to civilisation for us.
It was pretty much a perfect day – incredible weather and mindblowing scenery. It's pretty wild out there; I came away with immense respect for both the early settlers who travelled up with basic gear and first farmed it, as well as those who are still farming today. It's untouched and spectacular, and I don't think you need to be a LOTR fan to appreciate it!
During the rest of the weekend I did a couple of walks to waterfalls, ate good food, and visited friends in Christchurch today to round off a very pleasant break!
October's not really peak tourist season over here, and an LOTR tour is a bit touristy to attract many Kiwis, so I had my trip all to myself. :) This meant we did what I wanted. Sunday dawned dry after a night of rain where I was staying in the little town of Geraldine – but as we drove up the valley the snow got thicker on the ground. The poor little lambs looked a tad cold, but lively enough.
We came through the little holiday settlement of Lake Clearwater, where kids were enjoying the unexpected snow, and carried on over the brow of a hill. And there, just like that, there was the magnificent valley with Mount Sunday – Edoras – in the middle.
Driving along we got a number of views hopefully tallying with movie shots, and had morning tea overlooking the mountain (though really, compared with what's around, it's a small lump). My guide André explained that Mt Sunday's basically a lump of hard rock sticking out of the ground that the long-ago glacier which formed the valley was unable to squash. He gave me the option of climbing it; I wasn't about to say no and wasn't bothered by the prospect of getting wet feet wading through the many little streams crisscrossing the valley floor. Boldly we set out, and after a few river traverses and a steep climb up, reached the top.
There's a survey marker about where the Golden Hall was built which is much-graffited (but hey, if you're going to graffiti anything, best to graffiti something manmade). I rather liked this question:
And my guide found what has to be about the only reminder of filming left up there:
It's a bolt, sawn off as far down as possible. I found it completely impressive that not only did they manage to film out there – it's a long way from anywhere – but also that there really was no impact on the land. André said initial scepticism on the part of locals was helped by Peter Jackson's general efforts to minimise that.
Across the valley and up and bit there's the gorge where they superimposed Helm's Deep longshots.
We stopped at Erewhon Station for lunch. Erewhon was named by a 19th-century settler named Samuel Butler (who later wrote books about this area), and it really is “nowhere” backwards. It couldn't be more isolated really. Out at Erewhon these days they're breeding merino sheep, Aberdeen Angus cattle, and Clydesdale horses, which they occasionally use for pulling stuff like in the old days. One of the horses had a foal. (Awww).
The plan was to eat lunch in the woolshed, but they'd just been shearing and it smelt of wool and dirty sheep. :( So we had a quick look, including the old shearing engines, and came out again.
Lunch was outside the old homestead building, now derelict, but attractive in a faded sort of way – I like old buildings.
After lunch, we went off-road. Two valleys converge at Erewhon, rivers running down from the mountains, and the plan was to cross the headwaters of the Rangitata river. Normally there are no problems but it's not yet high season, and it's spring so the snowmelt has made the river stronger and higher than usual. All the tracks were basically washed away, so we had to start from scratch. There were a couple of tricky moments but we got across – bumpily – and refreshed ourselves in the little trampers' and hunters' hut owned by Mesopotamia Station, the farm on this side of the valley. (Well, André had done all the work, but I was happy to eat brownie anyway).
Then it was back along the edge of the valley through Mesopotamia Station. André told me about the family that have farmed the station for over 60 years and the current issues with the Department of Conservation, which is buying a vast tract of this land and looks set to change the way they've been farming for so long. When we reached the station itself we met the farmer (on his son's quad bike!) A very typical Kiwi, down to earth, but naturally worried about his lambs given the harsh weather overnight (though by this point much of the early snow had melted away). André said if he was doing a tour on a weekday and was passing Mesopotamia at the right time, he'd stop in at the farm to visit the two children and their teacher so the kids got to meet lots of people despite their isolation from the outside world.
Then it was back to civilisation for us.
It was pretty much a perfect day – incredible weather and mindblowing scenery. It's pretty wild out there; I came away with immense respect for both the early settlers who travelled up with basic gear and first farmed it, as well as those who are still farming today. It's untouched and spectacular, and I don't think you need to be a LOTR fan to appreciate it!
During the rest of the weekend I did a couple of walks to waterfalls, ate good food, and visited friends in Christchurch today to round off a very pleasant break!
Sunday 12 October 2008
Summer's here!
Well, it probably isn't quite yet, but this weekend's been very summery. Warm - up to 18C today - and sunny. I've spent most of it on the water, rowing, driving a launch and coxing some novices just now. Way to kick off the summer freckles. :) It was a good weekend for penguin-spotting, too; I saw one little blue penguin swimming around on Friday morning, and two today. One was really close to the boat. They're incredibly cute little birds.
But we could have done without the hordes of recreational water users not paying any attention to what else is out there ...
But we could have done without the hordes of recreational water users not paying any attention to what else is out there ...
Thursday 9 October 2008
Earthquakes
TV3 are doing an earthquake series. I missed last night's mockumentary about what would happen in Wellington if an 8.2 hit, but am watching the follow-up which is following a family as they pretend an earthquake has hit. There's a cheerful presenter hovering around knocking over bookshelves and so on as the family go through survival motions. It's rather sobering really - this isn't a joke in any sense, this could happen, and the earthquakes have been frequent and strong recently. Though that said Geonet hasn't recorded one since Sunday ... don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But I have my emergency supplies of a big bottle of water, ready meals that don't need water to cook, and I know where all my camping gear is, so I'm okay really. I think.
Still, it's scary. And even when I go home it'll be scary, because when the big one does hit I'll be thinking of my friends here. Wellington's a lovely city but it's badly-placed for a big earthquake.
Still, it's scary. And even when I go home it'll be scary, because when the big one does hit I'll be thinking of my friends here. Wellington's a lovely city but it's badly-placed for a big earthquake.
Monday 6 October 2008
ARA Libertad
Last week an Argentinian naval frigate, the ARA Libertad, turned up in Wellington. She's on a round-the-world tour and was here for a week, open to the public on afternoons. I fitted in a visit on Friday during my lunchbreak, along with half of Wellington - she was packed with people, including those who thought they knew stuff about ships and didn't (the old gent informing his family she'd be able to make above 20 knots under sail easily, and the ladies, looking at the mizzenmast and the various lines around it, who commented, "clearly they don't climb the rigging anymore". Well, not straight up the mast, ladies ...) I refrained from being an insufferable know-it-all and concentrated on taking as many pictures as I could (I ran out of time and memory space). Here are a few.
Saturday 27 September 2008
Rain of the Children
Haven't been to the cinema for ages but got there this afternoon. Went to see a film called Rain of the Children, a quite extraordinary documentary by Kiwi filmmaker Vincent Ward. 30 years ago Ward - then 21 - spent two years living with an old Maori woman named Puhi and her son, filming them. He wanted to find out more about her and discovered she had lived through one of the most significant periods in NZ history. She belonged to the Tuhoe tribe (nowadays fiercely independent) who come from the Ureweras on the East Coast of the North Island. In the early 1900s, shortly after her birth, a prophet named Rua led the Tuhoe people back to their sacred mountain Maungapohata and established a settlement there. He was trying to save them from the various Western diseases brought by the British settlers, and they also believed the tribe had been cursed because there had been natural disasters and so on. So Rua set up this town literally in the middle of nowhere. Puhi was married to his eldest son when she was only 14. But shortly after that the town was raided by policemen, and from there on in her life became fraught with bad luck. She - and the tribe - ended up believing she was cursed. She had 14 children and most of them died, she was married three times, and her last son was mentally ill so she spent her old age doing absolutely everything for him. Ward's reconstructed her life and the film's a mixture of archive photographs, his film from 1978, him revisiting her home, and interviews with the Tuhoe people about Puhi and her son. It's absolutely fascinating, especially when you consider it all happened not that long ago. And it's clearly a very personal film for Ward himself. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
I did feel however that if we were viewing Rua through Westernised, contemporary lenses (which we can't), Maungapohata would have been seen as a cult. He was a healer, a prophet, the self-proclaimed leader of his people, and he took as wives women who were apparently barren in order to give them children (yes, really). But I think cult is not an applicable word really because of the time and place in which he lived.
I did feel however that if we were viewing Rua through Westernised, contemporary lenses (which we can't), Maungapohata would have been seen as a cult. He was a healer, a prophet, the self-proclaimed leader of his people, and he took as wives women who were apparently barren in order to give them children (yes, really). But I think cult is not an applicable word really because of the time and place in which he lived.
Monday 22 September 2008
Snow-capped mountains
I went up to Lake Karapiro (near Matamata) at the weekend to row - NZ masters championships. For a change, I was practically the youngest person there as you have to be 27 to compete in masters rowing. It was a lovely, relaxed, fun weekend and I won two shiny gold medals - in the 'A' (or 27-35 year old) pair and four.
On the way back yesterday afternoon it was sunny and clear, and we had absolutely amazing views over the Desert Road past the mountains. Despite grumbling about me being a tourist our designated driver kindly stopped a couple of times for me to take some photos.
Ruapehu:
Ngauruhoe in the wing mirror (the only one of several of these I tried that came out focused):
Ruapehu again:
And Ngauruhoe again:
Needless to say, apparently they've had a great ski season on Ruapehu ...
On the way back yesterday afternoon it was sunny and clear, and we had absolutely amazing views over the Desert Road past the mountains. Despite grumbling about me being a tourist our designated driver kindly stopped a couple of times for me to take some photos.
Ruapehu:
Ngauruhoe in the wing mirror (the only one of several of these I tried that came out focused):
Ruapehu again:
And Ngauruhoe again:
Needless to say, apparently they've had a great ski season on Ruapehu ...
A meme
I got tagged for this by my friend Jody. I'm supposed to tag other people, and am going to fall back on "whoever reads this". Only let me know if you do?
1. What are your nicknames?
I used to be Harry at school, and then I went to uni and there was a Harriet so I became Jo. Despite the fact none of my family have ever used it, I'm Jo to pretty much everyone else I know. Online, I'm Eledhwen, after Tolkien.
2. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
Schindler's List, on VHS. Also my first CD.
3. What is your favorite scent?
Just after it's rained.
4. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to?
Probably because I'm so far from it at the moment, Snowdonia. I know I will go back so that's all right.
5. Do you trust easily?
Too easily, for a journalist. But I know that, so can force myself to be cynical.
6. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?
Depends on the situation.
7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Not on a personal level. On a wider level, the world's a bit too unsettled at the moment.
8. Do you have a good body image?
I think I do. Despite my legs being completely all over scars - and I've stopped caring about that - I'm reasonably happy with the way I look.
9. What is your favorite fruit?
Raspberries.
10. What websites do you visit daily?
The Guardian online, NZ Herald, stuff.co.nz, my email accounts, and theonering.net.
11. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Sleep.
12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
I admire Jody a lot - she's making an effort to fulfil her dreams and she's always positive.
13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
I had the last movement of Brahms's German Requiem in my head at a swim meet the other week. Not easy to race to.
14. What's your favorite item of clothing?
Pyjamas. They're comfy.
15. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
No, they're tasteless, but fun because of the snap crackle and pop!
16. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
Pick it up, see if anyone had dropped it recently, and then probably spend it.
17. What items could you not go without during the day?
Coffee.
18. What should you be doing right now?
Nothing much.
1. What are your nicknames?
I used to be Harry at school, and then I went to uni and there was a Harriet so I became Jo. Despite the fact none of my family have ever used it, I'm Jo to pretty much everyone else I know. Online, I'm Eledhwen, after Tolkien.
2. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
Schindler's List, on VHS. Also my first CD.
3. What is your favorite scent?
Just after it's rained.
4. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to?
Probably because I'm so far from it at the moment, Snowdonia. I know I will go back so that's all right.
5. Do you trust easily?
Too easily, for a journalist. But I know that, so can force myself to be cynical.
6. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?
Depends on the situation.
7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Not on a personal level. On a wider level, the world's a bit too unsettled at the moment.
8. Do you have a good body image?
I think I do. Despite my legs being completely all over scars - and I've stopped caring about that - I'm reasonably happy with the way I look.
9. What is your favorite fruit?
Raspberries.
10. What websites do you visit daily?
The Guardian online, NZ Herald, stuff.co.nz, my email accounts, and theonering.net.
11. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Sleep.
12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
I admire Jody a lot - she's making an effort to fulfil her dreams and she's always positive.
13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
I had the last movement of Brahms's German Requiem in my head at a swim meet the other week. Not easy to race to.
14. What's your favorite item of clothing?
Pyjamas. They're comfy.
15. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
No, they're tasteless, but fun because of the snap crackle and pop!
16. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
Pick it up, see if anyone had dropped it recently, and then probably spend it.
17. What items could you not go without during the day?
Coffee.
18. What should you be doing right now?
Nothing much.
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Oh, that's ridiculous!
The finance minister Michael Cullen - who's far from stupid, and when he was tertiary education minister had a good reputation - today said that the opposition leader John Key couldn't run the country because he used to work for Merrill Lynch.
*Scratches head*
I fail to see how Key's former employment has a lot to do with his fitness to be PM. It was eight years ago, and he was just one of many ML employees. He's not responsible for ML's sale today.
*Scratches head*
I fail to see how Key's former employment has a lot to do with his fitness to be PM. It was eight years ago, and he was just one of many ML employees. He's not responsible for ML's sale today.
Sunday 14 September 2008
Mini-quake!
There was just a little earthquake. Very short. But distinct. I'm certain I don't like them now.
From Geonet - it was a 5.2, 90km deep, 60kn south-west of Wanganui - which I think puts it somewhere in the Cook Strait. No wonder I felt it. That's four earthquakes rating 5 or above on the Richter scale in a month ... seems like a lot to me. Thank heavens they're all so deep.
From Geonet - it was a 5.2, 90km deep, 60kn south-west of Wanganui - which I think puts it somewhere in the Cook Strait. No wonder I felt it. That's four earthquakes rating 5 or above on the Richter scale in a month ... seems like a lot to me. Thank heavens they're all so deep.
Friday 12 September 2008
It's election time!
Helen Clark announced the general election today - November 8th. It's looking like a National victory, but we'll see.
I'm quite excited, really, though I can't vote!
I'm quite excited, really, though I can't vote!
Tuesday 2 September 2008
Random thoughts
Not much news really, life continues and spring is, at last, on its way.
There was an earthquake yesterday - 5.8, 80km deep, quite a long way away from Wellington. About 1.20pm everyone went "ooh, did you feel that?" and a moment later "and that?" Apparently I was the only person in the office who didn't feel it! I wonder if I'm less sensitive to motion or something? It would explain why I don't get travel sick, at least.
Slightly worryingly that's the third biggish earthquake in 10 months - the 6.8 near Gisborne before Christmas, a 5.9 in Hastings last week, and then this one. Luckily they've all been deep, but does this mean we're gearing up for the Big One that we're overdue? Or does it mean NZ's faultlines are shaking off something and we'll avoid the Big One? Still not used to earthquakes ...
Went swimming this evening as there's a meet at the weekend and I haven't been for a bit. Ended up fighting with a lot of sloooow swimmers - problem with going straight after work is that the local swim squad takes up half the pool and there are only two lanes for swimming properly, and they mark them "medium" and "slow". So you always get a lot of slow blokes who don't want to go in the slow lane but are actually very slow. It's always the women who move, never the blokes.
Jamie Oliver's on TV showing people why junk food is bad by getting Gunther von Hagen to dissect an obese corpse. It's really disgusting. I'm hungry, but I don't think I'll touch that chocolate I bought this evening!
And I took my bike to the shop today to get handlebar extensions fitted. It's an attempt to avoid getting cramped hands when I cycle. The guy also discovered my brake pads were worn through and told me I needed it serviced. Which is an expensive, but necessary, pain. I like the extensions though, they're great. :)
There was an earthquake yesterday - 5.8, 80km deep, quite a long way away from Wellington. About 1.20pm everyone went "ooh, did you feel that?" and a moment later "and that?" Apparently I was the only person in the office who didn't feel it! I wonder if I'm less sensitive to motion or something? It would explain why I don't get travel sick, at least.
Slightly worryingly that's the third biggish earthquake in 10 months - the 6.8 near Gisborne before Christmas, a 5.9 in Hastings last week, and then this one. Luckily they've all been deep, but does this mean we're gearing up for the Big One that we're overdue? Or does it mean NZ's faultlines are shaking off something and we'll avoid the Big One? Still not used to earthquakes ...
Went swimming this evening as there's a meet at the weekend and I haven't been for a bit. Ended up fighting with a lot of sloooow swimmers - problem with going straight after work is that the local swim squad takes up half the pool and there are only two lanes for swimming properly, and they mark them "medium" and "slow". So you always get a lot of slow blokes who don't want to go in the slow lane but are actually very slow. It's always the women who move, never the blokes.
Jamie Oliver's on TV showing people why junk food is bad by getting Gunther von Hagen to dissect an obese corpse. It's really disgusting. I'm hungry, but I don't think I'll touch that chocolate I bought this evening!
And I took my bike to the shop today to get handlebar extensions fitted. It's an attempt to avoid getting cramped hands when I cycle. The guy also discovered my brake pads were worn through and told me I needed it serviced. Which is an expensive, but necessary, pain. I like the extensions though, they're great. :)
Saturday 9 August 2008
I miss the BBC
Hurrah, it's the Olympics, and the weather's awful so a good excuse to sit in front of the television/TVNZ's live internet streaming and watch sport. Right?
Right. But here's the rub: they spent hours earlier on showing random volleyball matches, but now the rowing's started they seem to be only interested in showing the Kiwis. I want to watch the Kiwis, but I want to watch the Brits too and if they keep flicking away for an ad break, or for highlights of the cycling where neither the Kiwis or the Brits are really featuring, I can't! It's deeply annoying. And none of the Brits are drawn in the same races as the Kiwis at this stage.
The ad breaks also did for me last night when I was watching the opening ceremony, because they kicked in once the athletes' parade had begun and we got further and further behind the live coverage. I fell asleep and missed the Kiwis entering so went to bed once I woke up to the Chinese team arriving. Watched highlights today instead.
So oh for the BBC and ad-free, continuous coverage without incessant interruptions from boring presenters.
Right. But here's the rub: they spent hours earlier on showing random volleyball matches, but now the rowing's started they seem to be only interested in showing the Kiwis. I want to watch the Kiwis, but I want to watch the Brits too and if they keep flicking away for an ad break, or for highlights of the cycling where neither the Kiwis or the Brits are really featuring, I can't! It's deeply annoying. And none of the Brits are drawn in the same races as the Kiwis at this stage.
The ad breaks also did for me last night when I was watching the opening ceremony, because they kicked in once the athletes' parade had begun and we got further and further behind the live coverage. I fell asleep and missed the Kiwis entering so went to bed once I woke up to the Chinese team arriving. Watched highlights today instead.
So oh for the BBC and ad-free, continuous coverage without incessant interruptions from boring presenters.
Sunday 13 July 2008
Back in NZ
It's a lovely sunny day in Wellington - nice to see the sun after a week of horrid rain in the UK! Am rather tired after the looooooooooong flight but it's good to be back. Whether I'll still think that tomorrow morning at work remains to be seen!
Thursday 26 June 2008
I aten't dead
To quote Terry Pratchett. Just busy. And, mostly, ill, thanks I think to a chilly winter, weird Southern Hemisphere viruses and a very uninsulated flat. Not that that should stop blogging, but there you go.
Anyway, I last posted in May, apparently. Since then I've spent very few weekends at home and very few weekends where there hasn't been something going on. The weekend after the last busy weekend there was a swimming meet in Levin (wonderful Levin ... well, not, but the meet was fun). The weekend after that a friend visited and we went to see Indiana Jones, which was gloriously cheesy and looked great on the big screen at the Embassy. And a bonus spot of Weta Workshop wizards Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger waiting to see the film too (they're the special effects and creatures people behind LOTR).
The weekend after that was Queen's Birthday weekend, with a day's holiday. So I jumped on the plane to Auckland and hired a car and drove to the Coromandel Peninsula, where I had a wonderful few days. It wasn't too busy, I had nice cosy hostels to stay in and found some nice places to eat. Spent some time walking, seeing the countryside and so on. The highlight was getting up early on the Monday morning and walking to Cathedral Cove as the sun rose. It rained, but it had stopped by the time I got there and I had the whole beach to myself for half an hour. Mine were the first footsteps on pristine sand. It was beautiful and quite magical.
Then I had a free weekend, which was a novelty. The next weekend my friend Jess popped over from Sydney and we went to see England play the All Blacks - England lost, predictably, but it was an experience and there was a good atmosphere in the stadium. We also had fantastic seats, so I felt suitably pleased about my seat-buying abilities. We'd planned to go and see penguins on Sunday morning at Kelly Tarlton's, but they'd cancelled the free shuttle to get there so we mooched around Auckland instead.
Last week there was a corporate rowing camp in Wanganui - my crew ended up not going but I went anyway and rowed a bit, took a double out with Erika, coxed a bit, and learned how to drive a coaching boat. The last was very good fun. We had a gorgeous day on Saturday and then it tipped it down on Sunday - incredible weather!
And now I'm packing and sorting stuff out ahead of going home for a fortnight to catch up with people and have some summer.
So, that's me, not dead.
Anyway, I last posted in May, apparently. Since then I've spent very few weekends at home and very few weekends where there hasn't been something going on. The weekend after the last busy weekend there was a swimming meet in Levin (wonderful Levin ... well, not, but the meet was fun). The weekend after that a friend visited and we went to see Indiana Jones, which was gloriously cheesy and looked great on the big screen at the Embassy. And a bonus spot of Weta Workshop wizards Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger waiting to see the film too (they're the special effects and creatures people behind LOTR).
The weekend after that was Queen's Birthday weekend, with a day's holiday. So I jumped on the plane to Auckland and hired a car and drove to the Coromandel Peninsula, where I had a wonderful few days. It wasn't too busy, I had nice cosy hostels to stay in and found some nice places to eat. Spent some time walking, seeing the countryside and so on. The highlight was getting up early on the Monday morning and walking to Cathedral Cove as the sun rose. It rained, but it had stopped by the time I got there and I had the whole beach to myself for half an hour. Mine were the first footsteps on pristine sand. It was beautiful and quite magical.
Then I had a free weekend, which was a novelty. The next weekend my friend Jess popped over from Sydney and we went to see England play the All Blacks - England lost, predictably, but it was an experience and there was a good atmosphere in the stadium. We also had fantastic seats, so I felt suitably pleased about my seat-buying abilities. We'd planned to go and see penguins on Sunday morning at Kelly Tarlton's, but they'd cancelled the free shuttle to get there so we mooched around Auckland instead.
Last week there was a corporate rowing camp in Wanganui - my crew ended up not going but I went anyway and rowed a bit, took a double out with Erika, coxed a bit, and learned how to drive a coaching boat. The last was very good fun. We had a gorgeous day on Saturday and then it tipped it down on Sunday - incredible weather!
And now I'm packing and sorting stuff out ahead of going home for a fortnight to catch up with people and have some summer.
So, that's me, not dead.
Sunday 11 May 2008
Busy weekend #1
Lots of busy weekends ahead; this weekend was the first. Spent yesterday swimming, in choir rehearsal, and at rowing prize giving; spent today at choir concert.
Rowing prize giving was good fun, at the Skyline restaurant at the top of the cable car with lovely views of the city. Shame about the cold, damp weather. We had a nice buffet dinner and the prizes were both serious and comedic. As a crew we won the submarine prize for sinking our VIII - though it wasn't our fault - and I was pleased and surprised to get "Best female club rower", although really when there's only five of you the odds were good! I've got a wooden trophy described by the mayor as an axe in a block of wood, plus a little engraved cup to keep.
Choir concert went well. We were singing Handel's Israel in Egypt, a hefty oratorio with some lovely themes. A great guest director and seriously good orchestra and soloists made for a good performance. Someone in the audience cried "Bravo!" as we finished, which was flattering.
Afterwards I had to go and fetch my trophies from a friend's house, so had a long walk uphill before a shorter one downhill to home. Am exhausted!
Rowing prize giving was good fun, at the Skyline restaurant at the top of the cable car with lovely views of the city. Shame about the cold, damp weather. We had a nice buffet dinner and the prizes were both serious and comedic. As a crew we won the submarine prize for sinking our VIII - though it wasn't our fault - and I was pleased and surprised to get "Best female club rower", although really when there's only five of you the odds were good! I've got a wooden trophy described by the mayor as an axe in a block of wood, plus a little engraved cup to keep.
Choir concert went well. We were singing Handel's Israel in Egypt, a hefty oratorio with some lovely themes. A great guest director and seriously good orchestra and soloists made for a good performance. Someone in the audience cried "Bravo!" as we finished, which was flattering.
Afterwards I had to go and fetch my trophies from a friend's house, so had a long walk uphill before a shorter one downhill to home. Am exhausted!
Tuesday 29 April 2008
Sydney for Anzac Day
Friday was Anzac Day over here - poppies in April, which I can't get used to because poppies are for November. It's a big thing, with dawn services and themed TV and memorials, in commemoration of the day in 1915 when thousands of Aussie and Kiwi soldiers landed at Gallipoli in Turkey, many of them losing their lives. It's a public holiday both here and in Australia, so I took the opportunity to hop across the Tasman to visit friends in Sydney. It was a fun weekend - we did the traditional Aussie barcrawl in the suburb of Balmain on Friday afternoon, along with the rest of Sydney. Everywhere was packed! And they were all playing a traditional gambling game which is only allowed to be played on Anzac Day, called Two Up, which involves two old pennies being tossed. You bet with your mates on what way they'll land. It's that simple - and it seemed like total chaos. We didn't really understand what was going on and contented ourselves with drinking beer and watching in bemusement.
The next day I went dragon boating with one of my friends, who's recently taken it up. She assured me the sessions weren't long - yeah, right! We were on the water for a good 90 minutes and it was really difficult. Using lots of muscles I don't normally use, plus it's been a while since I did any decent exercise owing to this cold (which stripped away my voice to a croak for the entire weekend). I enjoyed it, though, and it was a glorious day to be out on the water.
After brunch we headed to the Australian National Maritime Museum because I wanted to see Endeavour as a museum ship. She was undergoing some maintenance - apparently they'd had the mizzen mast out to check for rot, and she was missing her forecourse yard - but was looking lovely nevertheless, all decked out 18th-century style. The guides were good too, and my friend seemed to enjoy herself. :) Afterwards we wandered around the museum a bit, particularly enjoying the rowing section. As we came out the sun was just setting and everything was coloured a beautiful pink (see pictures below).
We had dinner that evening in a posh Chinese restaurant near Circular Quay, with views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Two of us had wanted steak but the other of us is veggie, so we picked the restaurant with the best veggie options - as she pointed out, half of them weren't actually veggie, for example the noodle soup with a pork stock base. Lucky she checked!
On Sunday morning we started off with a swim in a nice, open-air, 50m saltwater pool. Annoyingly I hadn't brought swimming things with me, so I borrowed a costume and hat from my friend. She didn't have spare goggles though, and after half an hour my eyes had gone rather bloodshot and my vision was cloudy. Really unpleasant, but it cleared up eventually (phew).
We met up with a friend of mine from school who I hadn't seen for ten years but is currently working in Sydney - hurrah for the wonders of modern technology and social networking - for brunch, before a wander around the Covent Garden-esque Rocks district which has a Sunday market full of jewellery and art and so on. Then to the Opera House, to take plenty of pictures, although we missed the tour because there wasn't quite time.
All in all, an excellent weekend.
Pictures:
Cook's cabin:
Outside the Maritime Museum - HMS Vampire:
Darling Harbour at sunset:
Night views:
Many pics of the Opera House:
And a ferry, to finish off with!
The next day I went dragon boating with one of my friends, who's recently taken it up. She assured me the sessions weren't long - yeah, right! We were on the water for a good 90 minutes and it was really difficult. Using lots of muscles I don't normally use, plus it's been a while since I did any decent exercise owing to this cold (which stripped away my voice to a croak for the entire weekend). I enjoyed it, though, and it was a glorious day to be out on the water.
After brunch we headed to the Australian National Maritime Museum because I wanted to see Endeavour as a museum ship. She was undergoing some maintenance - apparently they'd had the mizzen mast out to check for rot, and she was missing her forecourse yard - but was looking lovely nevertheless, all decked out 18th-century style. The guides were good too, and my friend seemed to enjoy herself. :) Afterwards we wandered around the museum a bit, particularly enjoying the rowing section. As we came out the sun was just setting and everything was coloured a beautiful pink (see pictures below).
We had dinner that evening in a posh Chinese restaurant near Circular Quay, with views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Two of us had wanted steak but the other of us is veggie, so we picked the restaurant with the best veggie options - as she pointed out, half of them weren't actually veggie, for example the noodle soup with a pork stock base. Lucky she checked!
On Sunday morning we started off with a swim in a nice, open-air, 50m saltwater pool. Annoyingly I hadn't brought swimming things with me, so I borrowed a costume and hat from my friend. She didn't have spare goggles though, and after half an hour my eyes had gone rather bloodshot and my vision was cloudy. Really unpleasant, but it cleared up eventually (phew).
We met up with a friend of mine from school who I hadn't seen for ten years but is currently working in Sydney - hurrah for the wonders of modern technology and social networking - for brunch, before a wander around the Covent Garden-esque Rocks district which has a Sunday market full of jewellery and art and so on. Then to the Opera House, to take plenty of pictures, although we missed the tour because there wasn't quite time.
All in all, an excellent weekend.
Pictures:
Cook's cabin:
Outside the Maritime Museum - HMS Vampire:
Darling Harbour at sunset:
Night views:
Many pics of the Opera House:
And a ferry, to finish off with!
Saturday 12 April 2008
Rainbow Warrior
The Rainbow Warrior (mark II, obviously) is touring NZ at present to highlight climate change. Because NZ emissions are skyrocketing, the country hasn't committed to an emissions target under Kyoto, and nobody seems to care. Given the almost complete lack of basics like double glazing, decent insulation, and central heating in this country, coupled with a major agriculture industry, second-hand cars and far too much reliance on planes (I'm guilty there) it's not surprising Kiwis are among the worst per capita emitters of carbon in the world.
Anyway, Greenpeace wants the politicians to act now, and want Kiwis to get behind the campaign, so they're taking the ship around. I went on one of their tours today (I confess I was more interested in the ship as a ship, but then I'm a ship geek).
Rainbow Warrior II is a three-masted schooner, converted from a fishing trawler for campaigning purposes. She carries 15 crew, 12 of whom are allowed to get off the ship and go and be activists when that's the task at hand (leaving three on board to operate her at all times). There's a whole mix of nationalities apparently. We got a history of ship and organisation, a talk on climate change, a chat from the South African captain, a video and an invitation to join Greenpeace, and a story about Dave the Dolphin:
the figurehead.
I didn't join, though I sympathise with the aims; I'm doing my bit by not having a car, recycling, turning things off, wearing jumpers before I turn heating on, and reusing bags (obsessively). And I'm still not 100 per cent convinced about the rather crazy-dangerous ways of protesting, which while peaceful do put people's lives at risk.
Anyway it was an interesting tour.
Anyway, Greenpeace wants the politicians to act now, and want Kiwis to get behind the campaign, so they're taking the ship around. I went on one of their tours today (I confess I was more interested in the ship as a ship, but then I'm a ship geek).
Rainbow Warrior II is a three-masted schooner, converted from a fishing trawler for campaigning purposes. She carries 15 crew, 12 of whom are allowed to get off the ship and go and be activists when that's the task at hand (leaving three on board to operate her at all times). There's a whole mix of nationalities apparently. We got a history of ship and organisation, a talk on climate change, a chat from the South African captain, a video and an invitation to join Greenpeace, and a story about Dave the Dolphin:
the figurehead.
I didn't join, though I sympathise with the aims; I'm doing my bit by not having a car, recycling, turning things off, wearing jumpers before I turn heating on, and reusing bags (obsessively). And I'm still not 100 per cent convinced about the rather crazy-dangerous ways of protesting, which while peaceful do put people's lives at risk.
Anyway it was an interesting tour.
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