From Waiheke to… Why the Heck is it Still So Cold?

Waiheke Island (pronounced [waihɛkɛ] in Māori but often /waɪhɛkiː/ in English) is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about 17.7 km (11.0 mi) from Auckland.

One highlight of my last few days in the Auckland area was a day trip to Waiheke Island. The day’s events included a 35-minute ferry ride to the island, followed by a 2-hour bus tour and then a 3-hour hike along the coast. And what a beautiful coast it is!

Pictured below: Auckland city skyline, Waiheke Island viewpoint, Kathy on Onetangi beach

During my island visit, I made a point of sipping a glass of Passage Rock Sisters Cabernet Sauvignon, one of several nice reds that hail from Waiheke Island vineyards. But I’m sure you are not surprised that a wee bit of wine tasting would be part of my last day in New Zealand.

The journey home from Auckland to Regina began at 8:00 pm Wednesday (Mar 2) evening, and ended at about 8:20 pm Wednesday (Mar 2) evening. Wouldn’t that be a treat… all the way home from New Zealand in 20 minutes! If only it was as good as it sounds. From take-off number one to final touchdown in Regina, I watched not 20 minutes, but 19 hours and 20 minutes pass by veeerrrry slowly (but I found my misisng Thursday). Actually, I weathered the 13-hour flight with relatively ease, sleeping at least half of the duration. Once on Canadian soil, however, there were moments of panic (like when the Vancouver flight left for Calgary 90 minutes late and my connection time in Calgary was only 40 minutes), followed by moments of joy (like when I arrived in Calgary 90 minutes late to find that the Regina bound plane was even later as they had no flight crew). All in all, a series of airplane trips not to be remembered… which is really what we all hope for, right?

When I booked this trip, I recall quite vividly how certain I was that March would be a ‘safe’ time to return to Regina… meaning, of course, that things would be melting (or melted) and birds would be singing that spring is in the air. Not so. Art arrived at the airport with my parka and balaclava lovingly wrapped in a wind chill warning of -34. Why the heck is it still so cold?

So, it’s back to my (sabbatical) life as usual in Regina. My wonderful cat, Kiri, has forgiven (but likely not forgotten) my lengthy absence; Art has returned to a proper eating and sleeping schedule (isn’t that better, Art?); my mind is gradually becoming occupied with thoughts of meetings and deadlines (not to mention my impending root canal). It’s all good.

My New Zealand experience was wonderful. But it is also truly good to be home.

The Breathtaking Tongariro

This is the most challenging blog entry for me to write, for a couple of reasons. First, as the title suggests, this entry is focused on my 7-hour hike of Tongariro Crossing… I took over 200 pictures during that walk, so selecting just two snapshots to represent the day’s breathtaking views was no small feat. I can say, without a doubt, that it was the most fabulous hike I have ever done. The landscape was dramatic—alpine scrub and tussock, steaming volcanic craters and emerald lakes. Also dramatic at times were the climbs, but they were accompanied by many rewarding views. Thanks to Peter, Linda, and Julie who were great company for the journey, and the weekend.

Secondly, this entry is challenging because it will likely be my last one until I return home to Saskatchewan. I am now in Auckland, enjoying the sights and sounds of this (very busy!) city, with just two days before my departure. The most noteworthy thing to share at this point is a simple building photo. Can you believe that this is a photo of my hotel, the All Seasons Auckland… and my room is on the top (18^th!) floor? Good gracious, it’s a scary place.

Until we meet again in SK...

thanks for reading and sharing my New Zealand journey with me!

Farewell to Palmy

As I pack up and get ready to check out of Awatea Park Motel, I cringe at the sight of all ‘my stuff’—the things I brought with me and those that I acquired while here. Remember my first blog entry about buying groceries? Well, I now have to find a home for partly consumed boxes of cereal, honey, margarine, etc. Remember bicycle touring and wine tasting/buying in the Hawke’s Bay area? Well, I still have two unopened bottles of wine from that day to (gently) squeeze into my suitcase. Remember that beautiful Kiwi I petted? Well, I have to leave him here.

Even though my time is Palmy has now come to an end (and, no, the paper Margaret and I are writing is not yet complete but we’re getting close), I still have a few days of New Zealand sightseeing ahead of me. This afternoon, four of us (Peter, Linda, Julie and Kathy) head off to National Park to ‘tramp’ the Tongariro Crossing (check out the website if you want to be amazed and perhaps a bit envious: http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/). It’s an 18.5 km trail that I have been reading about for months, so I’m very excited that I will be tackling it (and very appreciative of my colleagues who volunteered to organize everything and escort me on the journey!). So, I guess the next time you hear from me, I’ll be “on-the-line” from Auckland, with my feet up (and wrapped in ice, I expect) as I recover from my exciting adventure. Stay tuned…

Oh, before I go… I think I promised a photo from the Round the Bays run last weekend. Pictured with me is Francie, a good friend of a good friend from Regina. Francie was a wonderful tour guide and host for me while I was in Wellington and I hope to return the hospitality when she visits Regina one day!

Seminar Day

The conversations of the day were mostly about family and friends in Christchurch. One of the mathematics educators at Massey left last night for Christchurch as part of a search and rescue team. The rest of the mathematics educators attended my seminar this morning.

Giving a seminar on one’s university, faculty, and the wider mathematics teacher education community in Canada really makes one realize how much there is (yet) to know. The group was quite gracious in accepting “hmmm, that’s a good question, I’m not sure about that…” as we engaged in interesting discussions about our programs and ‘papers’ (Note: paper (NZ) = course (CA)).

The group joked with me about needing a signed consent form before I could post this picture of them on my blog… they were joking, weren’t they? (hmmm, that’s a good question, I’m not sure about that…)

I assured them that the six people who are diligently reading my blog would not spread the photo around. :-)

The Real News

I am a long way from Christchurch but with the news of today’s earthquake there, it seems rather trivial to write a blog entry focusing on the weather or my results in the Round the Bays run on Sunday. With the Christchurch earthquake measuring 6.3-magnitude and occurring in the middle of the day, the death toll is already at 65 people. Just this past weekend, I visited the Awesome Forces exhibit at Te Papa Museum in Wellington. This exhibit tells “the story of New Zealand's dramatic landscape and the part that earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the weather play in its shaping.” (http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/whatson/
exhibitions/pages/awesomeforces.
aspx).


If you check out GeoNet (http://www.geonet.org.nz/
earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html) for recent New Zealand earthquakes, you’ll be amazed to see the extent to which Christchurch gets hits by earthquakes, especially today.


It’s my last week in Palmerston North and things are not winding down gently… there is still an article to finish writing, a seminar to give, several social events to focus on, and an empty suitcase in a chaotic motel room to deal with. It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for almost 4 weeks.

Weekend in Wellington

Just a few photos to share my weekend scenerey with you… and yes, there is wine in that glass.

A beautiful place and, as you can probably surmise from the peaceful photos, not the "Windy Wellington" I had heard so much about!

And that doesn’t even include my Round the Bays 7km run this morning. More news tomorrow.

A Kiwi Experience of a Lifetime

Have you ever petted a Kiwi? I can’t believe how the day’s events unfolded so that now I can say I have petted a Kiwi. The story goes like this…

During the trek yesterday evening, after Carrol pointed out a Tui bird in a tree for me, I casually asked him if he had ever seen a Kiwi bird, to which he responded yes, but a while ago, and that if I wanted to see one maybe I could ask Margaret if she knew anyone at the Massey Veterinary Hospital and Wildlife Centre, where there is presently an injured Kiwi being nursed back to health. [Deep breath] Then at a Massey Women’s Group breakfast this morning I happened to be seated next to a person who works at the veterinary school and so I thought to myself, no time like the present, not realizing that bringing it up to her wouldn’t get me anywhere but that Margaret would overhear and say to me “Let’s go over there at lunch, to see what we can see”, to which I responded… well, you can likely guess my response. [Another deep breath]

See what we could see, indeed! After listening intently to Margaret’s brief introduction to this visiting Canadian researcher who would love to see a Kiwi, the receptionist at the front desk of the veterinary clinic paged a vet at the wildlife centre, who immediately returned the call, and… the next thing you know this young female vet is leading us into a backroom in the clinic and opening various cages one by one to show us all of these beautiful native New Zealand birds: a penguin, a blue duck, a Kiwi, and a Takahē. Not only did she show us the birds, but she practically let us stick our heads into the cages (except for the Takahē, because he was a little bit cranky today and, from my perspective, too big to mess with when cranky).

“Go ahead and pet him, if you like,” the vet said to us while holding open the door of the Kiwi cage. Next thing I know I’m putting my hand in the cage and running my fingers down the prickly, quill-like feathers of Ewan, the Kiwi (named after Ewan McGregor apparently). Underneath those light quill-like feathers, he was so soft and smooth. Can you believe he let me do that, with only a few sideways glances at the vet to make sure she was giving the go ahead on this!

As we left the “bird room,” the vet showed us a YouTube video that I think you should check out. It’s not Ewan, but Piwi, who was also once a resident of this same clinic and his rehabilitation had a happy ending!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

V3iQNtdoTGY

I did not have my camera with me, but my memory of these beautiful birds is more sharply focused than my Canon could be.

[Takahē to the left; Kiwi pictured at top... photos taken from a website]