yes...long time

When I sit down to my computer I am so overwhelmed with the amount of work that I have yet to complete, that the blogging is the last thing on my mind. Well, I suppose that it's time to update things a bit.

I feel like there's not much going on with me right now. But, I guess that's because it's Saturday night at 6:15pm and I'm sitting in the office...not really wanting to work, unsure of what else to do with myself. It's raining outside and it's bitterly cold. My head gets super cold when it hits this temperature and that's how I know winter has returned.

It seemed like spring here for a few weeks...these weeks since the last post and this week. We took many bike rides and enjoyed outside as much as we could in the time we had each day. It was nice. Winter returned this week, I have gotten little (very very little) exercise but seemingly a lot of work done. I finally have data. I have no idea what it means...working that out.

My time here is running to an end in a very quick way. I don't want to leave. That's also what happened to me these past few weeks. I realized that NZ is the place of simplicity...the place that helps me to recognize what is necessary versus what is "nice". Luxury is cheese, homemade bread, a car, a television, heat. Necessary is fun, love, a few layers of clothing, the ability to wake up each day, and I suppose the pursuit of this degree that I'm undertaking. But that's only my necessity... Those are really the only things I know.

So, with the ability to wake up each day, put on a few layer of clothing, feel love from this person here with me, I have been able to have fun AND work. Also, I have learned the love of skiing (I think I am addicted...and convinced that I'm spending next winter in NZ even if I have to be the barista at the local coffee shop who is also a doctor).




amazing sunset, mountains, road car, power lines...juxtaposition is great.

Ohau ski field...the best in NZ (of course I've only been to two places, but this one is small, family owned and nice)

Our house...on the mountain...happy from playing in snow.

Going up...serious about skiing.

Up and wintery.

Clear and lovely from a switch back on the road down.

From the lift exit at the top of Ohau...end of first day...amazing sky.

2nd ski weekend in a row... Kea (the mountain parrot...only parrot living above the snow line) waiting for someone to drop some food...or for someone to leave their ski poles long enough to allow him to peel off the plastic.

Two friends from the NSF project heading down a snowy mountain. I discovered that white out conditions give me motion sickness! Can I not escape it?! I thought skiing wouldn't cause a problem...I guess in a white out it does. Apparently it's something about not being able to determine the horizon, therefore = sickness for stupid me and my inner ear issues.

Loud gulls
Us @ Lake Wanaka.

Lake Wanaka and snowy mountains...the ski hill is over there in the distance.
Clouds clearing and showing off mountains...from hike up a big hill in the middle of town.
Dinner with the NSF EAPSI group who traveled down to the South Island for our Wanaka ski vacation (and three others from Dunedin).

Seriously....2 months is just not long enough. I want longer...more...

July is here

It's been a while. I don't feel like I have a whole lot to say and I've been kind of bad about taking photos...but here are some from the past couple of weeks. :

Sunday sunset at Karitane...I went for a run around on the Pa (Maori safe haven from attack, kind of like a fort but made all natural like by the sea).


The man coming in from a wintery surf.



Photo from the newspaper of the sunrise on my birthday...I woke up to our bedroom glowing red and peeked out the curtains to see the sky on fire. It was pretty amazing.



Much more subdude sunrise on July 4th. Still, the sky and sea in NZ seem to be central themes to my photograph taking.


The ocean view from an area called "The Catlins" which is about 100km south of Dunedin. We drove our bikes down there last weekend and went for a ride until we a) ran out of paved road and b) it started to rain. It was the day of the rainbow...none pictured here, but I swear we must have seen about 15 that day.


We checked out the hide on a beach, but didn't seen any penguin buddies.


Roaring Bay in The Catlins.


Rainbow through car window during sunset on ride home.


On Tuesday I went to a native forest south of town with a woman who is funded by the same NSF grant that got me here. She collects these super cool long necked spiders (genus afrarchaea) that are Gondwanan and now only found in the cooler regions of the southern hemisphere continents. Anyway, after a while in the woods I set off on my bike to ride back home. I had a route mapped out from the airport back into town (which was 30kms) and didn't think it was that big of a deal...this is the starting scene...me, open road, no traffic, my bike, and a rainbow (with no rain!). I was stoked.



What I didn't realize is that it was 30 more kms to the airport from where I started...oopsie. So, I rode for a long while...had a couple of phone conversations with Ian who was out there riding and trying to find me. Of course he didn't because I was pretty far from town. But, when the sun started to set and I had only gone 34 kms, I decided to call in for a pick-up...

In the end, 44kms and a cool adventure with just me and my bike... priceless!


Yesterday we took our newly instilled afternoon break and drove out to another beautiful little seaside town where they carve words into the bushes.

We rode along the uppy-downy coast road to Karitane (photograph at top). Fabulous...and it was a lot like summer yesterday and very little like winter...

Winter will come tomorrow when we head to the mountains for a ski weekend.

Sorry, other than the update, I don't seem to have much interesting to add about the state of things in the world. The only funny news I've come across lately is that brothels in NV are handing out fuel vouchers to stimulate business. Puts new meaning into the term "gas and go" doesn't it?