Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Yellow fields
We spent the weekend in Timaru, about two and a half hours north of Dunedin, because I was leading a seminar there. Timaru is close to the southern end of the Canterbury Plain, a wide plain that stretches north and south of Christchurch. We loved the fields of rapeseed in bloom after we reached the Canterbury plain. The first photo loooks west towards the mountains, and the second photo looks east to the sea. The sea around Timaru is often very turquoise, as you can see in the second photo. It's amazing to me how turquoise the sea can be around New Zealand, even as far south as we are. These photos are taken at the same latitude south as Oregon is north, and there's no turquoise sea by Oregon, at least I've never seen that color sea there. Someone told me the sea is more turquoise in the Southern Hemisphere because the sea is more salt. Most of the rivers that dump fresh water into the ocean are in the Northern Hemisphere, so the sea here is saltier. I wonder if that's the reason.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The monument with a view
Just outside of Dunedin is a World War I monument on top of a hill with an amazing view. I was there a few months ago, without my camera, and Dave went about a month ago on a clear day to take pictures. The monument is on the Otago Peninsula, only ten minutes from the southeast corner of Dunedin. Before I show you the photos, I need to say something about the two world wars and New Zealand.
In both wars, New Zealand lost more soldiers per capita than any other country. Almost every town has a World War I monument. My own father fought in World War II, so I'm used to hearing about that war. Here it goes even deeper than anything I experienced. They lost two generations of leaders, and the people who came home from both wars were, in many cases, deeply scarred. We learned all this after we started asking why there were World War I monuments everywhere.
Now, for the photos. The first photo shows the monument, the path you walk on to get to it, and then in the background you can see the mouth of Otago Harbour to the east.
All the rest of the pictures are taken from the monument itself. This next one looks in the same direction as the previous photo, east toward the mouth of the harbour.
In the next shot, Dave turned a little to the left and is looking to the north. The harbour is very shallow, and you can see the channel that is dredged for boats to use as they come toward Dunedin, which is off to the left. Notice the sun glinting off the water. This photo was taken in the early afternoon, and the sun is to the north. One of the hardest things for me to get used to here has been the noonday sun in the northern sky.
The next photo is yet further left, to the northwest, and you can see part of Dunedin. Our house would be off to the right, outside the picture, behind a hill. And the university, where I teach, is straight ahead on the flat part of town, with downtown Dunedin to the left of the university.
The next photo is a little bit further to the left, looking west to Dunedin. That pointed hill in the background is Saddle Hill. We used to be able to see it from our rental house, which is on the top of that ridge in the foreground in front of Saddle Hill.
Turning further to the left, looking west and a little bit south, the next photo shows a the part of Dunedin that is closest to the beach. In the background you can see the coastline heading further south.
Turning further to the left, and looking south, there's the ocean stretching out toward Antarctica, about 1500 miles away.
A turn to the left again, and you'd be looking back out to the mouth of the Harbour.
In both wars, New Zealand lost more soldiers per capita than any other country. Almost every town has a World War I monument. My own father fought in World War II, so I'm used to hearing about that war. Here it goes even deeper than anything I experienced. They lost two generations of leaders, and the people who came home from both wars were, in many cases, deeply scarred. We learned all this after we started asking why there were World War I monuments everywhere.
Now, for the photos. The first photo shows the monument, the path you walk on to get to it, and then in the background you can see the mouth of Otago Harbour to the east.
All the rest of the pictures are taken from the monument itself. This next one looks in the same direction as the previous photo, east toward the mouth of the harbour.
In the next shot, Dave turned a little to the left and is looking to the north. The harbour is very shallow, and you can see the channel that is dredged for boats to use as they come toward Dunedin, which is off to the left. Notice the sun glinting off the water. This photo was taken in the early afternoon, and the sun is to the north. One of the hardest things for me to get used to here has been the noonday sun in the northern sky.
The next photo is yet further left, to the northwest, and you can see part of Dunedin. Our house would be off to the right, outside the picture, behind a hill. And the university, where I teach, is straight ahead on the flat part of town, with downtown Dunedin to the left of the university.
The next photo is a little bit further to the left, looking west to Dunedin. That pointed hill in the background is Saddle Hill. We used to be able to see it from our rental house, which is on the top of that ridge in the foreground in front of Saddle Hill. 
Turning further to the left, looking west and a little bit south, the next photo shows a the part of Dunedin that is closest to the beach. In the background you can see the coastline heading further south.
Turning further to the left, and looking south, there's the ocean stretching out toward Antarctica, about 1500 miles away.
A turn to the left again, and you'd be looking back out to the mouth of the Harbour.Saturday, September 20, 2008
Political Life in NZ
I know this is mostly a photo blog, but I have to tell you two things about politics here. We're going to have an election the same week as the US election, and campaigning hasn't really gotten started yet. What kind of sanity is exercised in NZ, you might ask, to have such a short campaign season?
Elections have to be held at least every three years, and the three years is up in mid-November. The prime minister, Helen Clark, has to call elections, and last week she called an election for November 8. Everyone knew an election was coming, so why didn't campaigning start a long time ago? I'm still trying to figure out the answser to that question, but people have told us the campaign really only heats during the two weeks before the election. They have very strict campaign finance laws. so perhaps that's the answer. I'll keep investigating.
It's pretty funny to be living in a country where an election is happening the same week as the US election, and to have more news in the newspaper every day about the US election than about the one here.
Secondly, I have a funny story to tell you about political life in this country. We have an American friend who lives here. She was in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, on business a few weeks ago. She and her colleagues went out for dinner one night at a cheap Indian restaurant. They looked across the room and saw someone who looked like the prime minister, but they weren't entirely sure if it was her or not.
Later, someone from that table came to their table with a half full bottle of wine and gave it to them. "Compliments of the prime minister," the person said. They looked more closely at prime minister's table, and there was the entire cabinet with her. No bodyguards. Inexpensive, casual restaurant. Sharing wine with another table. Can you picture that happening in Washington, D.C.?
Elections have to be held at least every three years, and the three years is up in mid-November. The prime minister, Helen Clark, has to call elections, and last week she called an election for November 8. Everyone knew an election was coming, so why didn't campaigning start a long time ago? I'm still trying to figure out the answser to that question, but people have told us the campaign really only heats during the two weeks before the election. They have very strict campaign finance laws. so perhaps that's the answer. I'll keep investigating.
It's pretty funny to be living in a country where an election is happening the same week as the US election, and to have more news in the newspaper every day about the US election than about the one here.
Secondly, I have a funny story to tell you about political life in this country. We have an American friend who lives here. She was in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, on business a few weeks ago. She and her colleagues went out for dinner one night at a cheap Indian restaurant. They looked across the room and saw someone who looked like the prime minister, but they weren't entirely sure if it was her or not.
Later, someone from that table came to their table with a half full bottle of wine and gave it to them. "Compliments of the prime minister," the person said. They looked more closely at prime minister's table, and there was the entire cabinet with her. No bodyguards. Inexpensive, casual restaurant. Sharing wine with another table. Can you picture that happening in Washington, D.C.?
Sunday, August 31, 2008
A few glimpses of Dunedin
We've had an unusually rainy winter. To our relief, a moderate amount of sunshine has arrived with the spring. I'm able to hang laundry outside again. This is a new thing for me; before we moved here I had never hung laundry outside before. I get a lot of pleasure from being outside on crisp sunny mornings hanging it out. We really enjoy our little back yard. No grass to mow, which is a big treat. And the view up the hill is comfortably urban but private enough.
Dave went out on his bicycle a couple weeks ago to try to take some pictures of spring. The Botanic Garden was surprisingly bereft of spring flowers. You can see the trees are just starting to get leaves.
Up above the Botanic Gardens is an old cemetery which Dave visited that same day. The mausoleum pictured below looks like a small scale version of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Dunedin. He wonders if the same architect designed it. He sat in the sun that day and painted the scene in the next photograph.
Dave went out on his bicycle a couple weeks ago to try to take some pictures of spring. The Botanic Garden was surprisingly bereft of spring flowers. You can see the trees are just starting to get leaves.
Up above the Botanic Gardens is an old cemetery which Dave visited that same day. The mausoleum pictured below looks like a small scale version of First Presbyterian Church in downtown Dunedin. He wonders if the same architect designed it. He sat in the sun that day and painted the scene in the next photograph.
Wellington
Last week Dave spent four days at a conference about 20 minutes north of Wellington. He was fighting the flu all week, so he didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few. First, a reminder that Wellington is the capitol of New Zealand, its second largest city, located at the southern end of the North Island. It takes an hour and 15 minutes to fly there from Dunedin. The conference was held in a barracks left over from WWII which originally housed US military officers.
Looking south from the old barracks, they could see Wellington. In the next picture, those hills in the far distance are the hills around Wellington and the lighter patch below the hills is the downtown.
Right below the barracks was the Hutt River, with a golf course on the other side of the river. Spring is just coming to New Zealand, with a few early spring flowers out and little buds on some trees.
Looking south from the old barracks, they could see Wellington. In the next picture, those hills in the far distance are the hills around Wellington and the lighter patch below the hills is the downtown.
Right below the barracks was the Hutt River, with a golf course on the other side of the river. Spring is just coming to New Zealand, with a few early spring flowers out and little buds on some trees.
North Island
I'm finally posting some more pictures from our trip to the North Island. The last trip photos I posted were from the Coromandel Peninsula, which is a couple hours south and east of Auckland. When we left there, we drove south along the Bay of Plenty (my favorite place name in New Zealand). The weather was rainy a lot, so we didn't take many photos on that day of driving. This first photo comes from one of the small towns along the way.
Just south of the Coromandel, where the Bay of Plenty begins, there are lots of kiwi fruit orchards. (Note that in New Zealand, a kiwi is a kind of bird or slang for a New Zealander. The fruit we call kiwi in the US is always called kiwi fruit here.) I wish we had taken photos of the kiwi fruit orchards, but it was raining and we thought we'd see more. Kiwi fruit grow on vines that are stretched on wires, sort of like vineyards but on a larger scale and with more draping vines. I've never seen anything that looks quite like them.
Below is a nice photo of Dave taken in Whakatane (pronounced Fa ka TAHN ee), which is near the south end of the Bay of Plenty.
This next beach is just south of Whakatane. That headland you can see in the distance is called the Eastern Cape. When we planned this trip, we planned to drive around that cape to Gisborne, on the other side. On the map, it looked like it might take four hours. In Whakatane we found out that it takes nine hours, more hours than we wanted to spend in the car. (This is typical of New Zealand. What looks like a short distance on the map often turns out to take forever because the roads are so slow.) So we drove across the mountains, the short cut to Gisborne. Those pictures of hillsides covered with tree ferns in an earlier post were taken on that road through the mountains.
Just south of the Coromandel, where the Bay of Plenty begins, there are lots of kiwi fruit orchards. (Note that in New Zealand, a kiwi is a kind of bird or slang for a New Zealander. The fruit we call kiwi in the US is always called kiwi fruit here.) I wish we had taken photos of the kiwi fruit orchards, but it was raining and we thought we'd see more. Kiwi fruit grow on vines that are stretched on wires, sort of like vineyards but on a larger scale and with more draping vines. I've never seen anything that looks quite like them. Below is a nice photo of Dave taken in Whakatane (pronounced Fa ka TAHN ee), which is near the south end of the Bay of Plenty.
This next beach is just south of Whakatane. That headland you can see in the distance is called the Eastern Cape. When we planned this trip, we planned to drive around that cape to Gisborne, on the other side. On the map, it looked like it might take four hours. In Whakatane we found out that it takes nine hours, more hours than we wanted to spend in the car. (This is typical of New Zealand. What looks like a short distance on the map often turns out to take forever because the roads are so slow.) So we drove across the mountains, the short cut to Gisborne. Those pictures of hillsides covered with tree ferns in an earlier post were taken on that road through the mountains. An interesting note about the history of the Eastern Cape. In the early days, before a road went around the cape, if people wanted to travel with horses and carriages, they travelled at low tide and drove on the beach as fast as they could, to travel as far as they could before the tide came back in.
We spent two nights in Gisborne in a cabin right near that beach you can see below.
Gisborne is the site where Captain Cook first set foot in New Zealand in 1769, the first known European to do so. His landing site is just below the hill we were standing on to take the photo below. In fact, as far as we could figure it out, he landed close to the place where all those logs are stacked up below us. I've written quite a bit before about lumber as a big export from New Zealand, which you can get a glimpse of in the photo below.
The beach near where we stayed was lovely. Dave got a big kick out of watching the people on the inflatable boat below practice surf rescues.
On the outskirts of Gisborne are lots of vineyards. The area is called the Chardonnay capital of New Zealand because most of the country's Chardonnay grapes are grown there. I'm sorry the next photo is blurry, but we were too lazy to stop the car to get a photo of something we found very amusing: sheep grazing among the grapevines. An easy way for farmers to keep the grass under control.
A little further up into the hills on the road going north from Gisborne was some gorgeous country.
Our next stop was Rotorua in the middle of the North Island a few hours south of Auckland. It has been a tourist attraction for more than a century because of its hot springs. The building in the photo below used to be the train station and it's now the tourist information center.
Another similar building is the old hospital/sanitorium where people with medical problems came to stay and partake of the hot springs. It was built more than 100 years ago, and is now the city museum. It was fun to see the old treatment rooms with their old fashioned bathtubs inside. The minerals in the water were so corrosive that the pipes were continually rotting out.
In Rotorua, hot springs are everywhere, as you'll see from the next photos. There's a faint sulphur smell everywhere in town, and a stronger smell near each spring. We found a hot spring in a gravel parking lot. It was a place in the ground where some water was coming up. The water was so hot you could barely touch it.
We left Rotorua and drove to Auckland, where I had an academic conference to attend at the University of Auckland and where Dave went sightseeing. One of his first stops was Devonport, a charming little village a ten minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland. You can see the city in the background.
The next photo was taken in Auckland, looking toward Devonport.
We didn't get a lot of pictures of the University of Auckland, which is an urban campus with lots of unremarkable buildings. (Since they are the chief rivals of the University of Otago, where I teach, perhaps it's good that I'm not waxing poetic about the campus.) Below is the iconic clock tower of the University of Auckland.
On the University of Auckland campus is a Maori marae (pronounced mah rye), a gathering place where ceremonies are held. There are many more Maori on the North Island than the South Island, so we saw many maraes on our trip.
We spent two nights in Gisborne in a cabin right near that beach you can see below.
Gisborne is the site where Captain Cook first set foot in New Zealand in 1769, the first known European to do so. His landing site is just below the hill we were standing on to take the photo below. In fact, as far as we could figure it out, he landed close to the place where all those logs are stacked up below us. I've written quite a bit before about lumber as a big export from New Zealand, which you can get a glimpse of in the photo below.
The beach near where we stayed was lovely. Dave got a big kick out of watching the people on the inflatable boat below practice surf rescues.
On the outskirts of Gisborne are lots of vineyards. The area is called the Chardonnay capital of New Zealand because most of the country's Chardonnay grapes are grown there. I'm sorry the next photo is blurry, but we were too lazy to stop the car to get a photo of something we found very amusing: sheep grazing among the grapevines. An easy way for farmers to keep the grass under control.
A little further up into the hills on the road going north from Gisborne was some gorgeous country.
Our next stop was Rotorua in the middle of the North Island a few hours south of Auckland. It has been a tourist attraction for more than a century because of its hot springs. The building in the photo below used to be the train station and it's now the tourist information center.
Another similar building is the old hospital/sanitorium where people with medical problems came to stay and partake of the hot springs. It was built more than 100 years ago, and is now the city museum. It was fun to see the old treatment rooms with their old fashioned bathtubs inside. The minerals in the water were so corrosive that the pipes were continually rotting out.
In Rotorua, hot springs are everywhere, as you'll see from the next photos. There's a faint sulphur smell everywhere in town, and a stronger smell near each spring. We found a hot spring in a gravel parking lot. It was a place in the ground where some water was coming up. The water was so hot you could barely touch it.
We left Rotorua and drove to Auckland, where I had an academic conference to attend at the University of Auckland and where Dave went sightseeing. One of his first stops was Devonport, a charming little village a ten minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland. You can see the city in the background.
The next photo was taken in Auckland, looking toward Devonport.
We didn't get a lot of pictures of the University of Auckland, which is an urban campus with lots of unremarkable buildings. (Since they are the chief rivals of the University of Otago, where I teach, perhaps it's good that I'm not waxing poetic about the campus.) Below is the iconic clock tower of the University of Auckland.
On the University of Auckland campus is a Maori marae (pronounced mah rye), a gathering place where ceremonies are held. There are many more Maori on the North Island than the South Island, so we saw many maraes on our trip.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Snow and Birds
Last Thursday it was almost 60 degrees and sunny all day. By noon the house was so warm from the sun that we turned the heat off. On Friday the temperature fell dramatically, it snowed a little, more like hail, and Friday night it snowed some more. On Saturday night the temperature got down almost to 10 degrees (that's Fahrenheit) and it snowed a little more. It didn't stick much where we live, right at sea level, but we could see snow from dining room, looking up in the hills.
Dunedin's climate has so many similarities to Seattle, but it certainly changes much faster than Seattle. We've been getting so much pleasure lately from feeding birds on a table on our deck, right outside our dining room. So we can sit and eat and watch the birds: green finches, sparrows and silvereyes come and eat, and blackbirds sit around on the railing of the deck, or in the tree, watching. The blackbirds here have orange beaks. I didn't get a photo of a blackbird, but here are some sparrow and green finches. It's not a great photo because it was taken through the sliding glass doors of our dining room, but it gives you an idea of the fun we're having watching them.
Dunedin's climate has so many similarities to Seattle, but it certainly changes much faster than Seattle. We've been getting so much pleasure lately from feeding birds on a table on our deck, right outside our dining room. So we can sit and eat and watch the birds: green finches, sparrows and silvereyes come and eat, and blackbirds sit around on the railing of the deck, or in the tree, watching. The blackbirds here have orange beaks. I didn't get a photo of a blackbird, but here are some sparrow and green finches. It's not a great photo because it was taken through the sliding glass doors of our dining room, but it gives you an idea of the fun we're having watching them.
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