Book work, Nylla's show, feeling at home

Rick and Karin have been working on their respective books. Rick is grateful for his office at the University of Otago, but on a sunny day, the back deck is even better! He has weekly get-togethers with his research team via videoconference. He just did a presentation on research methods for the Uni last week and has a couple more to come. Karin's recent interview was with the very lovely Hellendoorn family. Mom Huberta is a writer; her most recent work was broadcast on Radio New Zealand, and she's invited Karin to her writing group later this month. Karin had a wonderful visit at their home near the Botanic Gardens where Bart worked when they first came from Holland, and also to the rehab unit where daughter Miriam is staying since some health problems. Miriam was an accomplished painter before her stroke.

We popped up to Signal Hill the other night which offers some great views of the city, and our end of the Habour. The wind nearly takes you off the top but it's a great chance to see the expanse of Dunedin and the ocean beyond.

Jim's friend Nylla's dance theatre troupe put on Rarotimu, a story about the evolution of the Earth, Paptuanuku, Hawaiiki and Gondwanaland and the beginnings of life. We really enjoyed it and Jim was glued to the entire show. He met some of the cast afterwards and finally found some people who actually encourage you to stick out your tongue! He declared the dancing "neat."

Hard to believe we've only got two weeks left in Dunedin. We feel at home in our little house and have gotten to know our neighbours and our way around. We've made some good friends, have a favourite pub, and fish and chips takeaway, and op shop (well, Karin does...)

Guts, heat, hills and glory on the Peninsula

We did it! The Otago Peninsula Challenge was held yesterday, an annual 43 km bike, 23 km bike/run and what we did, the 15 km walk, The New Zealanders have a very funny way to describe the walk course. "Moderately difficult" nearly killed us at one point. We were in the head pack until about the 9 km point after the short boat ride across Papanui Inlet and the walk up Victory Beach, past a few sea lions who each had a conservation officer 'minder.' Sea lions can really run if they decide you're too close. We crossed a valley near the Pyramids and then started up the toughest of the five uphill tracks (see the photo with the mountain; the trail zigzagged up to the right). It was at midday and the temp was about 35 C. Instead of heat stroke, we opted for a plodding pace and frequent water stops. Brutal. Approximately 50 walkers in a field of 375 walkers dropped out. Of the whole event with 750 riders/runners/walkers , 4 people were air lifted out to hospital. Gill hauled us to the start at Allans Beach for the 8:30 a.m. start and Jim spent the day with her; they were there at the finish line. Farmland, flat, hills, seaside cliffs, bush valleys, beaches, dirt roads and over paddocks. The route was spectacular, with access to private land and preserves you'd never see otherwise. And after that one climb once we realized we weren't going to die, it was really quite exhilerating!

Palmerston's 128th A & P Show

We love A & Ps! (Agricultural and Pastoral Shows), much like country fairs. Sheep trials, horse showings, displays, the best group of four potatoes or beetroot, best agapanthus or rose, wool judging, sheep competitions, vintage tractors, the like. We spent the day about an hour north of Dunedin, taking the drive after Rick finished up with a student thesis defense. Loads of sheep to pet, a fox terrier race (a rabbit carcass tied onto a rope, dragged by a ATV around the paddock; the dog Karin was rooting for lost but really shoudl have won.) Had a lovely visit with a nice man who raises alpachas. Rick was thrilled to find a stall sellilng the licorice he's been lusting after since the kind he found at A & P show near Christchurch in 1999. Had a yummy sausage on a slice of white bread for lunch, and visited with a lot of lovely people.

Nylla Ah Kuoi, Jim's new pal

We were fishing around for fun stuff for Jim to do for the rest of our month in Dunedin. Gill recommended we get in touch with Nylla, a wonderful student in education and a dance instructor who owns Jolt, a studio in town. She came by on Friday to meet Jim; she brought biscuits, so was an immediate hit. She can Jim will be getting together twice a week to do fun stuff, maybe some dance, beach time (she and her husband Tom lives at St. Kilda on the beach), and some we don't know what yet. Tom manages cricket pitches, so wonders if Jim would like to help with that. We'll see how it goes! Nylla is performing in Rarotimu, a Maori dance production on Feb 11, so we'll go check her out. Jim says Nylla dances "just like Julia."

Great Wall fish and chips

Our favourite for a Friday night. Salt, fat, fish, hot. What more could you ask for?

5 x 10 day in Rick's life

A good friend in Saskatchewan, Dean Shareski, posted a video he called 5 x 7. It was a composit of 7 video clips, each 5 seconds long, showing his day as he travelled from Philadelphia to Moose Jaw. Loved it, and loved the idea.

So here is our first attempt, and if you like it we will try it again from some other angles. Ours is 5 x 10, which includes 10 clips of approximately 5 seconds (okay, I cheated on a couple, so it is 60 seconds long) showing what a typical day is for Rick, getting up, doing some stuff, walking into the office at the University of Otago, and then going home.

And if you want the full meal deal... 5 minutes of barely edited bouncy Blair Witch video, here is a compiled version of all of the video I shot for the 5 x 10 piece. It runs 5 + minutes.

I think the Palmerston A & P Show, or the Otago Peninsula walk will be next.

Milford Sound

As we think hopeful thoughts about the people in Queensland in the thick of Cyclone Yasi , we were happy that the gale force winds we were supposed to get here passed us by. It was a category 5 when it hit last night, and winds were to be 290 kms/hr. Barry and Yvonne Brown gave us an update about their friends at Jumba Station west of Charters Towers who were okay as of last night.

We were away for a couple of days to Milford Sound. A 5 hour drive south to Balclutha, west to Te Anau, then north to Milford. Only 2 turns to get there! Rolling farmland, sheep/deer grazing and dairy on the way with that wonderful NZ green.

Rudyard Kipling described Milford Sound as the eighth wonder of the world. Fiordland National Park has spectacular mountains and though 'awe-inspiring' is a cliché, it really describes this part of New Zealand. We stayed in the backpacker hostel at Milford Sound Lodge with a communal kitchen. On a nighttime walk through the bush we found glow worms. The next morning, we took a nearly 2-hour boat cruise through the Sound out to the Tasman. Had muesli, fruit, toast, coffee and Marmite onboard breakfast. The weather was fine and there were even three obliging seals on Seal Rock. Beautiful cruise, well worth it if you're down here.

Karin did this trip as a backpacker 30 years ago, and was thrilled again with wildlife encounters: the keas were still working the cars on either side of the Homer Tunnel, which was a thrill in itself. Can't wait to show Aunt Sue that video! We were held up due to road construction inside and beyond the tunnel, so keas (alpine parrots) thought they would start disassembling our car. Jim was content to watch from the back seat. One cheeky guy spied some banana bread in the front, so practically climbed in to help himself. I know, not supposed to feed them!

Once we left the national forest, Rick actually turned the car around so I could get some sheep photos in a paddock with hundreds of them (I think my evil influence is beginning to work on him). Why lamb/mutton is so expensive here when there are so many of them, I must find out. Wool prices are the best in over a decade, so that might be it. You can't get lamb shanks and wool both too long before the animal gets annoyed. This week, back to work! Gill found us a student, Nylla Ah-kuoi, who is going to spend some time with Jim. She runs a dance studio and we meet her tomorrow.