14 April

We just bid our friends Phil and Rosanne goodbye (12 April). They had a week of clouds and rain in Wellington. Finally, this morning, we decided to take a chance and go to Zealandia, a wonderful bird sanctuary. When we got there, it began to rain, but once we started out, we ended up with a great morning, probably more populated by birds because of the early rain. We got to see tuis (love their songs! See video), fantails, whiteheads, bellbirds, kakas (large parrots), takahes (very rare flightless birds), and pied shags, along with green geckos, tree wetas, and tuataras (dinosaur-age reptiles). It was a beautiful walk, and the birdsong was wonderful.

The three muskateers :)

A Kaka

Kaka

Takahe

Takahe pair

Tuatara

Base of Zealandia

Pied shag

Pied shag

I also did a video of tuis, shags, and takahes. It is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1fxsmuEQnE

I also caught up other videos. Here are two from when Brendan did his dolphin swim at Kaikoura and I stayed onboard to photo and video onboard.

Part One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIR8FPACdSo

Part Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Z7q7Uxr_0

Both are amazing to show the hundreds of dolphins we saw.

After six weeks of company (with only a three-day break), it feels odd not to have others here! We have now been here for 3 ½ months, with 4 ½ to go.  It is flying by. This week and next are short ones at work, as Good Friday and Easter Monday are holidays. Our first anniversary is this Friday, so we will look for a good place for a nice dinner! We decided not to travel over the holiday, as we will be spending holiday money in July to go to Australia. The weather forecast is not especially good, either. We may try for a day trip if we get a sunny day.

7 April - Back in Wellington

Back to tasks in Wellington - filing my income tax, finishing a painting, working on the Axford report. I'm enjoying working on the research report. To date, I have 20 pages written, mostly historical and political background. I am simply enjoying learning the details.

Over the weekend we joined Judi, my colleague at work, to go to the play Rita and Douglas. Based on the letters of Rita Douglas, an accomplished NZ painter, it chronicles the on and off relationship between her and NZ composer Douglas Lilburn. The paintings on screen and live piano were wonderful. (See http://www.circa.co.nz/site/Shows/Rita-and-Douglas)

The next night we went to a performance of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, performing Wagner, Korngold, and Tchaikovsky. The Korngold piece was fabulous and included a young international protege, Mikhail Ovrutsky, performing the violin solo.

We returned to the once/month Unitarian Universalist meeting on Sunday. We were delightedly surprised that the opening reading was attributed to Roger Fritts, our Sarasota minster! It was coincidental - I still need to let Roger know. During "Joys and Concerns," I celebrated the anniversary of my Dad's April 6th birthday. He would have been 80. Later in the day, our friends Phil and Rosanne arrived to spend a week with us. They have been traveling around the South Island for two weeks.

Today, the beginning of the work week, was a cool and rainy day. The "royals" - William and Kate and George - arrived in Wellington this afternoon. I watched the entourage drive over the highway from my office window. Don't know why, but I just can't get into them.

This evening, Rosanne attempted to conquer the ongoing problems we have with our crappy combination washer/dryer. Reading the manual, she found, "When you are not remove a loaf of clothes from the dryer as soon as it stops,  wrinkles can form" on p. 22. No wonder we can't get it to work...

Catching Up - 1 April 2014

Over the past week, I took off Thursday and Friday to travel with Mum, Bren, and Dick up north. We stayed in Lake Taupo and traveled to Waitomo Caves (glowworms!), Matamata (Hobbiton), Rotorua (Cascade Waterfall white water rafting), Orakei Korako (geothermal park, Huka Falls, and back south via  the Tangariro crossing and Mount Ngauruhoe ("Mount Doom" of the Lord of the Rings).

LOTS of driving, but magnificent scenery and great weather. Our hotel room included a hot mineral springs tub, along with a hot pool outside. Waitomo Cave looked like a nearby galaxy, and Hobbiton was better than I expected. The white water rafting, including a 7 metre waterfall, was great fun! At Orakei Korako, we saw bubbling water and mud, along with a number of fascinating geothermal formations. Huka Falls was that brilliant blue I have only seen in NZ. Lake Taupo was beautiful. And Mount Ngauruhoe looked every bit the part of Mount Doom.

Rafting in the Kaituna River and the 7 metre waterfall - COOL!!!

View of Lake Taupo from our motel.

View of a geothermal vent along the road.

Mum at Hobbiton

Bren at Hobbiton

Me at Hobbiton!

Dick and Bren at Orakei Korako geothermal park

Scene at Orakei Korako (Looks like a waterfall, but it is solid!)

Water in a cave at Orakei Korako

Huka Falls, Taupo

Ngauruhoe ("Mount Doom")

I've given so much info on travel that you may wonder if I am, in fact, working. Indeed, yes! And I am loving my research. I love to learn, and this fellowship is giving me the opportunity to indulge in research about NZ and US policies and laws and history. So far I have visited three of New Zealand's 6 major refugee resettlement sites. Between April-May, I will explore Wellington and Hamilton, and I will revisit Mangere and Auckland. I have presented in Christchurch and will present at Waikato University in May. I have also been asked to present a keynote at the NZ National Refugee Forum in July. Just prior to that, I will present for my USF college about arts-infused curriculum in Melbourne, Australia. At that time, I will also meet with Aussie colleagues to work on a book proposal on English-speaking refugee resettlement countries' policies and practices. So, indeed I am working. It is such "fun" that it hardly feels like work. I find it exciting. The NZ MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment) has been more than generous in helping me travel to research sites. I cannot thank them enough. Three months down, only five to go. It will go far too fast. I am loving every minute.