Tuesday morning was greeted with a lovely breakfast, during which I managed to shock several people in the dining room by having marmite and peanut butter on toast. Apparently marmite is an acceptable level of weird, but peanut butter takes the biscuit. We met on the lawn after breakfast and had a quick induction as to the plan for the day and bundled in the van kitted up and ready to go. S was eager to show me hebe (a type of flower) and we were looking out the left side of the van when suddenly we met the cliff. Someone else had been driving on our side of the road so George was forced to swerve. The worst part of it? The offender didn't even wave.
S, R, B, T, George and I said our goodbyes to the other groups and headed into the bush along the Perimeter fence. The fence was specifically set up to prevent rats from entering the sanctuary, but unfortunately rats have managed to re-enter (probably by swimming across the sea from ratted islands). For those of you who don't know, rats are a biodiversity nightmare in New Zealand and (next to humans) are almost single-handedly responsible for the major decline and slow recovery of (now) extremely rare birds. George has also proposed a theory that they are responsible for spreading fires which have a bad effect on plant life.
Great Barrier Island's vegetation is split roughly into four zones. After a fire, very scrubby fire-loving plants such as manuka (tea-tree) start to grow. Then a succession starts with kanuka (also tea-tree). Then fast-growing woody plants such as kauri start to take over, which then succumbs to shade-tolerant plants such as tawa and kohekohe. This is visible across the landscape where in the gullies lie the forest and on the ridges (the less fertile land) the manuka and kanuka. We were taking measurements to understand this landscape. We were also collecting data to see how effective the predator-proof fence actually was.
Over the course of the day, we took every other data point (so roughly every 100m) with B and T and collected data from about ten places. The first part of the day was spent climbing up the steep hill using the fence to hoist ourselves up. At one point we fought our way through cutting grass only to find on the other side the forest floor was so steep we wouldn't be able to collect anything! The second half of the day was easier, although we encountered some mean manuka and ended up covered in scratches. Due to the path we took, we ended up walking back to the campsite, took a swim off the jetty, had some tea, and hung about waiting for the others to return.
This gave me time to review the vast number of plants in my repertoire (at least fifteen) with the patient S. After dinner (plate of salad with a mound of tofu and berry smoothie for dessert), we played bananagrams before having the next lecture. We were also introduced to the work to be performed tomorrow: coring a peaty bog to count the charcoal to determine the arrival date of humans.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Saturday, 5 April 2014
Great Barrier Island Part 1 (as told by C)
It's been a week now since I came back from Great Barrier Island, and I've had much uni work and computer-y things to be doing. In addition, I didn't want to post about such a beautiful island without accompanying photos. Alas, I have none, but if my "official photographer" comes through, then post I shall.
G was kindly enough to walk me to the ferry terminal at half six in the morning, helping me to carry one of the bags. The class boarded the ferry, and I secured myself a comfortable seat on the deck and fell asleep for a good few hours. Almost suitably refreshed, the heavens decided to open and we were forced to the shelter just behind the engine room. That did not go so well. My soon-to-be-roommate, S, spent the next hour and a half puking. I sat out front groaning and moaning for a bit until I spotted GBI and instantly became excited for the week ahead.
We piled off the ferry and into the vans where we slowly made our way to the accommodation, stopping half a dozen times for George, the lecturer, to point out various things about the landscape through which we were driving. When he talked about plant species, I was at a complete loss as to what on earth he was saying. Back in the van, I reassured myself that I wasn't alone as other people had no idea either! We learned that during the last glacial period, the sea was around 180m lower than current levels, which meant 18,000 years ago, GBI was attached to the Coromandel peninsula.
We were staying at a Christian camp in Orama, where we sorted ourselves into rooms, convened to be inducted, and then waited for the dinner gong to sound. Upon the first peal, we assembled en masse in the dining room (our group and several others also staying there) and waited for grace to be said. The food was delicious - vegetable nut roast and chips. When I asked for the vegan option, I was greeted with "so you're the vegan" to which I smiled broadly and said "yes, thank you for cooking for me". It seems politeness and enthusiasm go a long way in the world of catering: my meals and puddings became progressively better over the course of the week!
That night, we met upstairs in the ad-hoc lecture room to hear George give an overview of the week and a brief history of the island. He introduced a few of the graphs we would be expected to produce and at the dendrogram he asked if anyone had seen one before. My hand slowly goes up. "Only the computer scientist has, then". That was encouraging. I don't know my plants, but I do know my graphs!
The next day we had breakfast, made lunch, and headed to Glenfern Sanctuary just south of Orama. There we had a 15 minute lecture on the sanctuary and what it's for and then hiked up the hill to overlook the landscape. At this point, I declared Y my official photographer! We had previously been separated into groups and given equipment, including a plant identification book, and so as a group (mine with George) we headed towards the big kauri tree learning plants as we went along. Turns out my group - S my roommate and R - were pretty well-versed on their plant ID already. George's other group was B (probably knows every species in NZ ever) and T (also not bad). So, guess who got picked on? After two hours of "alright, sweeeeeet Caroline doo doo doo, what's this one?" I had a pretty good idea of how to identify ten plants. Now, that doesn't sound a lot, but I had to not only learn how to ID then, but I had to remember the names - names which my ears had never once been privy to!
Everyone reconvened at the giant kauri with a treehouse so we went 4 at a time across the rope bridge to look out over the forest canopy. S pointed out a giant Knightia Excelsa from the kauri - the leaves of which, fairly obviously, look like green swords. We ate lunch and then watched George unsuccessfully try to core a tree. He eventually succeeded, a neat demonstration of how unpredictable field work can be!
We were split off into groups again and S, R and I broke through the bush to the first data collection point. This was in practice for the full day tomorrow. We were using a heavily altered PCQ method, a plotless data collection method (the proof for which is heavily mathematical and the paper was written by computer scientists. too many integration signs for my liking). This entails sticking a stick in the ground which has two bits of plastic you set perpendicular to each other. They demarcate your quarters. First thing:
George gave the evening lecture and talked about where the various groups would be the next day - ours was completely different to what everyone else was doing and he warned us that our path would be arduous. We socialised for a bit and then headed off to bed!
G was kindly enough to walk me to the ferry terminal at half six in the morning, helping me to carry one of the bags. The class boarded the ferry, and I secured myself a comfortable seat on the deck and fell asleep for a good few hours. Almost suitably refreshed, the heavens decided to open and we were forced to the shelter just behind the engine room. That did not go so well. My soon-to-be-roommate, S, spent the next hour and a half puking. I sat out front groaning and moaning for a bit until I spotted GBI and instantly became excited for the week ahead.
We piled off the ferry and into the vans where we slowly made our way to the accommodation, stopping half a dozen times for George, the lecturer, to point out various things about the landscape through which we were driving. When he talked about plant species, I was at a complete loss as to what on earth he was saying. Back in the van, I reassured myself that I wasn't alone as other people had no idea either! We learned that during the last glacial period, the sea was around 180m lower than current levels, which meant 18,000 years ago, GBI was attached to the Coromandel peninsula.
We were staying at a Christian camp in Orama, where we sorted ourselves into rooms, convened to be inducted, and then waited for the dinner gong to sound. Upon the first peal, we assembled en masse in the dining room (our group and several others also staying there) and waited for grace to be said. The food was delicious - vegetable nut roast and chips. When I asked for the vegan option, I was greeted with "so you're the vegan" to which I smiled broadly and said "yes, thank you for cooking for me". It seems politeness and enthusiasm go a long way in the world of catering: my meals and puddings became progressively better over the course of the week!
That night, we met upstairs in the ad-hoc lecture room to hear George give an overview of the week and a brief history of the island. He introduced a few of the graphs we would be expected to produce and at the dendrogram he asked if anyone had seen one before. My hand slowly goes up. "Only the computer scientist has, then". That was encouraging. I don't know my plants, but I do know my graphs!
The next day we had breakfast, made lunch, and headed to Glenfern Sanctuary just south of Orama. There we had a 15 minute lecture on the sanctuary and what it's for and then hiked up the hill to overlook the landscape. At this point, I declared Y my official photographer! We had previously been separated into groups and given equipment, including a plant identification book, and so as a group (mine with George) we headed towards the big kauri tree learning plants as we went along. Turns out my group - S my roommate and R - were pretty well-versed on their plant ID already. George's other group was B (probably knows every species in NZ ever) and T (also not bad). So, guess who got picked on? After two hours of "alright, sweeeeeet Caroline doo doo doo, what's this one?" I had a pretty good idea of how to identify ten plants. Now, that doesn't sound a lot, but I had to not only learn how to ID then, but I had to remember the names - names which my ears had never once been privy to!
Everyone reconvened at the giant kauri with a treehouse so we went 4 at a time across the rope bridge to look out over the forest canopy. S pointed out a giant Knightia Excelsa from the kauri - the leaves of which, fairly obviously, look like green swords. We ate lunch and then watched George unsuccessfully try to core a tree. He eventually succeeded, a neat demonstration of how unpredictable field work can be!
We were split off into groups again and S, R and I broke through the bush to the first data collection point. This was in practice for the full day tomorrow. We were using a heavily altered PCQ method, a plotless data collection method (the proof for which is heavily mathematical and the paper was written by computer scientists. too many integration signs for my liking). This entails sticking a stick in the ground which has two bits of plastic you set perpendicular to each other. They demarcate your quarters. First thing:
- Record the aspect by orienting yourself in the direction you think water would head and take a bearing.
- Record the slope by sending R down the hill and looking just above her head (she's shorter) through the inclinometer and trying to read the results whilst keeping it steady and both eyes open (quite tricky to get used to!)
- Record all saplings around the stick by yelling "OI! S, what's this?"
- Record the height by looking up and guessing. Democratically decide based on the average of all three guesses.
- Find the nearest tree with a trunk over 5cm diameter at breast height (DBH).
- Measure and record the distance to the tree and the DBH.
- Record its species and the species of the next nearest >5cm DBH.
- If a tree fern was actually the nearest >5cm at 1m tall, record its species (and measure it if >3m tall).
- Guess which species looks like it will take over when the tallest tree dies.
George gave the evening lecture and talked about where the various groups would be the next day - ours was completely different to what everyone else was doing and he warned us that our path would be arduous. We socialised for a bit and then headed off to bed!
Monday, 31 March 2014
One Hundred and Thirty (roughly) hours of solitude, or Gwenlli's Week
Good evening. I return to the land of blog, bearing more news of Auckland life. Last week, the wonderful C was away on a University field trip, uncontactable and untraceable, and I was left to my own devices. Being an amazing girlfriend, I awoke with her at 6am on Sunday, walked her to the ferry terminal and waved goodbye, got completely lost on the way home, and finally returned to bed. I got up a couple of hours later as I had arranged to go to the beach with Tingting. This occurred, and we had a most pleasant time at Mission Bay, the closest beach to Auckland. Mostly we sunbathed and chatted whilst drinking iced coffee, until T kindly let slip that I had moved to live in a hotbed of volcanic activity.
Yes, I know. I really should have looked up where I was going to live before making the decision. Alternatively I should have taken Geography past year nine. Turns out Auckland is just one big volcanic catastrophe waiting to happen, and the fun part is, they don't even know where it might erupt! Although I love to be kept on my toes, this was taking it a bit far, and I had a mini freak-out. Very quickly I realised that this was futile, and I can't exactly do much about it now I'm here, so I will just say: if I get erupted I LOVE YOU ALL. Drama aside, volcanoes have made the landscape here pretty stunning, and T took me up Mount Eden later in the day, a dead volcano just outside of town. The ascent is pretty steep, but once at the top there are stunning views of the Auckland area for miles around- mountains, sea, more volcanoes...
On Monday, I received a job offer and three interviews. This was a welcome change from the soul-destroying job-search, and I decided to go with the offer. I will be working for Inland Revenue in a customer service capacity, which is pretty different from everything I have ever done. Although my passion in life is working in healthcare, I really wanted to do something different whilst in NZ, and this job fits the bill. One of the most enjoyable aspects is that it is Monday to Friday. That's right. No weekends/nights/stupid hours. I can be a normal person for a few months, for the first time in my life. Yes, yes... I know what you're thinking.
Throughout the week, I was stressing out about my medical applications. The deadline for offers was fast approaching, and from desperately stalking chatrooms I gathered that most people had heard back. Every morning I would go to my laptop, heart rate would increase, then annoyance at lack of messages would settle in. Also, I was waiting to hear when we were to be booted out of the flat into our intended place. A couple of times I got told I would be moving the next day, only to be told later that it wasn't happening. I was happy staying put for the time being, so the complete lack of organisation/communication between landlord and his missus was forgiven.
During the week, I did some reading, went to a few ballet classes, had a friend over to watch a film, and went to a meeting of Auckland Uni's campus feminists. I also cooked a lot, including a delicious tofu, coconut and kumara curry, and loads of spinach. On Friday, I was invited by a psych prof at Auckland Uni (who I met for coffee the previous week) to attend a meeting of students that he supervises, as we share some research interests. The meeting was full of lovely people with some fascinating research projects ranging from disability technologies, to blood-spatter analysis, to wellbeing, to S&M. There was also an impressive spread of vegan food, and at the pub afterwards the prof invited me and C to go rock climbing the day after. Let's do it!
I returned from Glenn Innes, where the psych campus is situated, and arrived at the ferry terminal just in time. I was walking along not recognising where I was when C ran up to me out of nowhere. There may have been some joyous squealing involved, then we walked back to the hotel to get ready for a burlesque show with Mel and Kate which was starting in an hour's time. Before I go on any longer, I will give C a chance to write her version of last week's events, but there is much more to tell since our reunion!
Yes, I know. I really should have looked up where I was going to live before making the decision. Alternatively I should have taken Geography past year nine. Turns out Auckland is just one big volcanic catastrophe waiting to happen, and the fun part is, they don't even know where it might erupt! Although I love to be kept on my toes, this was taking it a bit far, and I had a mini freak-out. Very quickly I realised that this was futile, and I can't exactly do much about it now I'm here, so I will just say: if I get erupted I LOVE YOU ALL. Drama aside, volcanoes have made the landscape here pretty stunning, and T took me up Mount Eden later in the day, a dead volcano just outside of town. The ascent is pretty steep, but once at the top there are stunning views of the Auckland area for miles around- mountains, sea, more volcanoes...
On Monday, I received a job offer and three interviews. This was a welcome change from the soul-destroying job-search, and I decided to go with the offer. I will be working for Inland Revenue in a customer service capacity, which is pretty different from everything I have ever done. Although my passion in life is working in healthcare, I really wanted to do something different whilst in NZ, and this job fits the bill. One of the most enjoyable aspects is that it is Monday to Friday. That's right. No weekends/nights/stupid hours. I can be a normal person for a few months, for the first time in my life. Yes, yes... I know what you're thinking.
Throughout the week, I was stressing out about my medical applications. The deadline for offers was fast approaching, and from desperately stalking chatrooms I gathered that most people had heard back. Every morning I would go to my laptop, heart rate would increase, then annoyance at lack of messages would settle in. Also, I was waiting to hear when we were to be booted out of the flat into our intended place. A couple of times I got told I would be moving the next day, only to be told later that it wasn't happening. I was happy staying put for the time being, so the complete lack of organisation/communication between landlord and his missus was forgiven.
During the week, I did some reading, went to a few ballet classes, had a friend over to watch a film, and went to a meeting of Auckland Uni's campus feminists. I also cooked a lot, including a delicious tofu, coconut and kumara curry, and loads of spinach. On Friday, I was invited by a psych prof at Auckland Uni (who I met for coffee the previous week) to attend a meeting of students that he supervises, as we share some research interests. The meeting was full of lovely people with some fascinating research projects ranging from disability technologies, to blood-spatter analysis, to wellbeing, to S&M. There was also an impressive spread of vegan food, and at the pub afterwards the prof invited me and C to go rock climbing the day after. Let's do it!
I returned from Glenn Innes, where the psych campus is situated, and arrived at the ferry terminal just in time. I was walking along not recognising where I was when C ran up to me out of nowhere. There may have been some joyous squealing involved, then we walked back to the hotel to get ready for a burlesque show with Mel and Kate which was starting in an hour's time. Before I go on any longer, I will give C a chance to write her version of last week's events, but there is much more to tell since our reunion!
Friday, 21 March 2014
The Chop-It
Hello dear people, and apologies for not having written all week with an update on C's head! Mostly we've just been settling into life, and haven't had much out of the ordinary to talk about. C's head is fine - G taped a sock to the headboard to prevent that pesky thing from striking again.
This week C has been focusing on her first essay in over seven years - it's been taking a lot to get back into the flow of things! On Sunday we had some friends over for a movie night, and finished watching "Milk" - a really beautiful film about the first gay man to be elected into public office in the US (and shortly thereafter assassinated).
On Tuesday we went to Whitcoulls to buy a Rubik's cube because C had tried previously to solve the cube in the local cafe, and had failed miserably at remembering how to solve them. To that end, she has re-remembered and has now spent a good few hours teaching G how to solve the cube. G's not quite there, but we assure you she will be come next week!
Tuesday also happens to be one of the vegan lunch days at uni - $5 for a buffet of really, really delicious food, so we headed into uni for a change of scenery and a nice meal. On Wednesday G had a meeting with a psychology professor at the university. They went for coffee, the first cup G had on campus which vaguely resembled coffee at all. They discussed all things psych, and he was most impressed so has emailed her some readings, and hopefully she will be able to attend some meetings that he has with his postgraduate and PhD students, which is really cool!
Later in the evening, we had Tingting over, and G made pakoras from Alex's delicious recipe, and C made a Thai curry (both of which were most tasty). We then watched Velvet Goldmine - a film loosely based on the life of David Bowie which has one of the most epic soundtracks. The story is not so great, but the music is fantastic!
Thursdays are the only days that C has uni, so she went in for nine, and attended lectures until three. The day was broken up by heading to the vegan lunch with some new-found friends. In the meantime, G had a job interview which was incredibly strange and pointless--the woman asked questions from a questionnaire, and then filled it in online... Seems like they could have, y'know, just emailed it over! G then headed to meet Mel for coffee, and then ballet, whilst C went to a talk by Generation Zero - a group of like-minded individuals committed to reducing NZ's carbon footprint to zero by the year 2050.
Today (Friday), C went to uni to pay for the field trip on Sunday, and then off to the outdoors shop where she spent a good long time chatting to the sales assistant as to the best bag to buy. He was a most condescending individual, but put up with half an hour of barragement, so kudos to him! Back at the hotel, the essay was driving C rather up the wall, so she went to have a bath and chopped all her hair off. By all accounts, it's not terrible.
Here's a picture.
C's off to Great Barrier Island for a week on Sunday, so there will be a special blog post. Hopefully there will be pictures if she remembers to take 'em...
This week C has been focusing on her first essay in over seven years - it's been taking a lot to get back into the flow of things! On Sunday we had some friends over for a movie night, and finished watching "Milk" - a really beautiful film about the first gay man to be elected into public office in the US (and shortly thereafter assassinated).
On Tuesday we went to Whitcoulls to buy a Rubik's cube because C had tried previously to solve the cube in the local cafe, and had failed miserably at remembering how to solve them. To that end, she has re-remembered and has now spent a good few hours teaching G how to solve the cube. G's not quite there, but we assure you she will be come next week!
Tuesday also happens to be one of the vegan lunch days at uni - $5 for a buffet of really, really delicious food, so we headed into uni for a change of scenery and a nice meal. On Wednesday G had a meeting with a psychology professor at the university. They went for coffee, the first cup G had on campus which vaguely resembled coffee at all. They discussed all things psych, and he was most impressed so has emailed her some readings, and hopefully she will be able to attend some meetings that he has with his postgraduate and PhD students, which is really cool!
Later in the evening, we had Tingting over, and G made pakoras from Alex's delicious recipe, and C made a Thai curry (both of which were most tasty). We then watched Velvet Goldmine - a film loosely based on the life of David Bowie which has one of the most epic soundtracks. The story is not so great, but the music is fantastic!
Thursdays are the only days that C has uni, so she went in for nine, and attended lectures until three. The day was broken up by heading to the vegan lunch with some new-found friends. In the meantime, G had a job interview which was incredibly strange and pointless--the woman asked questions from a questionnaire, and then filled it in online... Seems like they could have, y'know, just emailed it over! G then headed to meet Mel for coffee, and then ballet, whilst C went to a talk by Generation Zero - a group of like-minded individuals committed to reducing NZ's carbon footprint to zero by the year 2050.
Today (Friday), C went to uni to pay for the field trip on Sunday, and then off to the outdoors shop where she spent a good long time chatting to the sales assistant as to the best bag to buy. He was a most condescending individual, but put up with half an hour of barragement, so kudos to him! Back at the hotel, the essay was driving C rather up the wall, so she went to have a bath and chopped all her hair off. By all accounts, it's not terrible.
Here's a picture.
C's off to Great Barrier Island for a week on Sunday, so there will be a special blog post. Hopefully there will be pictures if she remembers to take 'em...
Saturday, 15 March 2014
The Fire, the Twit, and the Headboard
Let
us take you on a journey, weaving through 2/3rds of the emergency
services, culminating in a resolution to never sleep with our heads
to the wall again...
G had
a job interview on Friday morning, leaving C at home, unattended. As
C got up, she managed to hit her head pretty hard on a corner of the
bed's metal headboard, but thought no more of it and got on with her
uni work. G's interview lasted the morning, and on her way back, she
took her first NZ train journey, which was a far less exciting
prospect after a 45 minute wait.
At
around 4:30 in the afternoon, our noses picked up on a smoky,
plastic-y aroma. It became gradually stronger, until we could no
longer ignore it. Around this time, just as C was about to get into
the bath, the fire alarm in the apartment went off. We were reassured
by our other flatmates that this was a normal occurrence, and that we
did not need to vacate, so we uneasily stood around as the smell of
smoke became stronger. Peering our over our balcony, we could see
some smoke coming from the far side of the apartment building next to
us, so we decided that it didn't seem serious enough to leave the
building.
A
couple of minutes later, the alarm changed to a louder, more urgent
sound, involving a man's voice on repeat saying "Please leave
the building now, follow the fire wardens to the nearest exit".
This was becoming a little scary, so we grabbed our bags and left
(even had we wanted to stay, the alarm was way too annoying for our
ears to bear). The corridor stank of smoke, and we made our way to
the fire exit. Being on the 13th floor, we had many fights of stairs
to make our way down. Eventually we emerged into the open, into a
crowd of people standing outside the hotel. There were fire engines
and ambulances going past, and there seemed to be a lot of activity
on Hobson Street, the street parallel to ours.
We
tramped over to Hobson street, where around ten fire engines were
parked. Firefighters were emerging from a smoky building, and some
were in a cherry-picker hovering above. As the smell of smoke
subsided, we made our way back to the flat, where the fire alarm had
thankfully stopped. C finally had her bath, but afterwards started
feeling unwell. At around 8pm she started complaining about feeling
sick and dizzy, experiencing a painful headache, and pain around her
left eye. She was very unsteady on her feet, so G gave the hospital a
quick call, and was told to bring C in.
C was
seen by a lovely nurse in A&E. We explained that C had hit her
head earlier in the day, and about her symptoms in the evening. C was
very unsteady on her feet, but wasn't too unwell to cheekily ask the
nurse for room service (she took it well and brought us some juice!).
Three hours later, after being thoroughly checked by the lovely nurse
and doctor in A&E, C was discharged with a diagnosis of
concussion. G was given some info on what to look out for, and we
were home just after midnight. C was forbidden from sleeping with her
head to the wall to avoid the horrible headboard, and we both went to
sleep, safe and sound in the knowledge that a typhoon is supposedly
headed our way tomorrow.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
The Great Flatsby
So, yay, we're here, writing this from our thirteenth-floor suite. We appear to have acquired more stuff since our last move two weeks ago, which makes absolutely no sense because we have, in fact, acquired nothing. C's theory is that gravity is particularly strong in London, due to the sheer density of the city, which means that squishing clothes into a rucksack is easier.
Anywho, with our excessive amount of luggage, we met Tingting at 8am outside the hostel, and she drove us over the new (temporary) residence, where we were kindly helped in keeping the lift open by a bemused hotelier and up to the thirteenth floor! Upon arrival, it seemed that the room in which we were to live was currently being slept in, so we dumped the stuff in the living room, and headed out again: back to the hostel (for the last time), playing a variation on that "I went to the supermarket and I bought..." to keep our tired minds awake.
We checked out, grabbed a mushroom and walnut burger from "Revel", a really nice biker-run-esque café, and back to the thirteenth floor. The lovely French lady moved her stuff out of the room, and into the room of the partner, we sorted out beds and sheets, etc. C sat down to do a bit of work before heading to uni, and G job hunted.
C met her "lab" partner at uni, and they spent several hours reading literature on the Maori's effect on New Zealand's forest ecology. It turns out there's a huge debate in NZ literature over when humans first settled the islands, and scientists have attempted to answer those questions with pollen, charcoal, and other methods for measuring observed vegetation changes. However, at the same time as all of this, there were disturbances in the climate - becoming cooler due to atmospheric effects (along with volcanic eruptions) and so the question is now: were humans or climate change responsible for the changes in vegetation? Seems rather poignant and fitting in with today's current debate.
They then discussed Japan (his origins), the UK, and NZ, and the debate around cats wearing collars: turns out, if you change the bell on your cat's collar every month, the cats can't learn how to move so the bell doesn't jingle, so the birds can get away from those evil predators.
When C got home, G headed to Rainbow Youth to meet Mel and pick up some DVDs. Turns out Linda's been having words and we're all going to Family again this weekend! At least we have a few days to brace ourselves this time. In the meantime, C had a bath (!) and headed to Countdown supermarket to get some food, and came back and made some pita. We curled up and watched "The Worst Witch" with Tim Curry. It is so 80s! Halfway through, we removed the base of the bed and put the mattress on the floor - the bed was so worn we felt as if we were beginning to sink through it. Then, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream.
Anywho, with our excessive amount of luggage, we met Tingting at 8am outside the hostel, and she drove us over the new (temporary) residence, where we were kindly helped in keeping the lift open by a bemused hotelier and up to the thirteenth floor! Upon arrival, it seemed that the room in which we were to live was currently being slept in, so we dumped the stuff in the living room, and headed out again: back to the hostel (for the last time), playing a variation on that "I went to the supermarket and I bought..." to keep our tired minds awake.
We checked out, grabbed a mushroom and walnut burger from "Revel", a really nice biker-run-esque café, and back to the thirteenth floor. The lovely French lady moved her stuff out of the room, and into the room of the partner, we sorted out beds and sheets, etc. C sat down to do a bit of work before heading to uni, and G job hunted.
C met her "lab" partner at uni, and they spent several hours reading literature on the Maori's effect on New Zealand's forest ecology. It turns out there's a huge debate in NZ literature over when humans first settled the islands, and scientists have attempted to answer those questions with pollen, charcoal, and other methods for measuring observed vegetation changes. However, at the same time as all of this, there were disturbances in the climate - becoming cooler due to atmospheric effects (along with volcanic eruptions) and so the question is now: were humans or climate change responsible for the changes in vegetation? Seems rather poignant and fitting in with today's current debate.
They then discussed Japan (his origins), the UK, and NZ, and the debate around cats wearing collars: turns out, if you change the bell on your cat's collar every month, the cats can't learn how to move so the bell doesn't jingle, so the birds can get away from those evil predators.
When C got home, G headed to Rainbow Youth to meet Mel and pick up some DVDs. Turns out Linda's been having words and we're all going to Family again this weekend! At least we have a few days to brace ourselves this time. In the meantime, C had a bath (!) and headed to Countdown supermarket to get some food, and came back and made some pita. We curled up and watched "The Worst Witch" with Tim Curry. It is so 80s! Halfway through, we removed the base of the bed and put the mattress on the floor - the bed was so worn we felt as if we were beginning to sink through it. Then, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream.
Monday, 10 March 2014
A Room of Two's Own
To fully experience a new city, it is important to ensure that one attends a local, established establishment on a Saturday night. With that in mind, we agreed when asked by some Generation Zero-ers to go to Family, a notorious gay bar. There are three separate rooms at Family: two upstairs (separated by a pinball arcade), and one downstairs through a narrow, UV-lit corridor. The entire evening was incredibly surreal. From the karaoke room, you go next door to hardcore electro with suspect middle-aged dancers on stage, and even more suspect loner middle-aged man in baseball hat and polo-shirt, and wander downstairs to a sticky-floored room with the tempo changing every 30 seconds, so attempts at dancing turn into a confused melee of unsynchronised bopping and hopping.
Although between us we only had three G&Ts, the next day we awoke extremely groggy, finally emerging at lunchtime to head to a Hawaiian-themed "Gentle Stretch" class (apparently the previous week's theme was Lord of the Rings) at G's dance studios. The class was very stretchy but not always so gentle, the first half dedicated to gentle hip-swaying and arm-waving to traditional Hawaiian music, followed by some "OK, now do the splits" exercises. This was deservedly followed by a corn fritter/avocado combo for G (here they put avocado with everything- it's amazing), and a tomato-y pasta for C, with a side-order of books.
C spent the afternoon reading papers for her course, occasionally complaining about badly-drawn tables and getting excited when actual maths was featured. G read and got confused about flat viewing times. So. Many. Viewings. It was then time to go and meet Jimmi, to discuss the room that we hoped to move in to. This turned out to be a very strange encounter.
We met J at his other apartment, which is situated in a hotel in Auckland Central. He began by hurriedly sitting us down in the lobby to inform us that we would have to live in his hotel apartment until the room we were originally interested in became free. Once his friend could move out (in approximately 1-2 weeks' time), we would be able to move in. He would let us have the room in his hotel apartment for the same price in the meantime, as he needed someone for the room and would be out of the country for a few months from Monday. Additionally, the two current flatmates in our newly-proposed room would move temporarily as well: the male would go and live with the Thai chef who rents the second room in our original flat, and the female would share a room with his partner. We both looked at each other- was this for real?
J began by showing us around the hotel. It's a very pleasant building, with two gyms, a sauna, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, outdoor giant chess board and tennis courts. We then went to the apartment, which was lovely- plenty of light, with our own separate double room and bathroom. There were four burners in the kitchen, a comfortable living area with huge TV, small dining table and balcony. We met J's partner, who would continue to live in the flat while J was away, their adorable 20-month-old daughter who is going with J to Thailand, and another flatmate. We spoke about contracts and questioned everything thoroughly. He seemed very genuine, and just quite desperate to get someone to rent his room before he left the country.
We went and pondered things over some Indian food. It was a very decent flat; by all accounts we would be getting a reasonable deal with no additional letting costs, and J didn't seem to have anything to hide, despite the complexity of the situation. He was also happy for us to pay a bond when we moved into our intended flat, once his friend had moved out, and seemed fairly lax about signing any binding contracts (he said that it was up to us whether or not we wanted a contract). If he is a scammer he's definitely doing it wrong! We decided to say yes to both- what's the worst that could happen? Still slightly baffled, we found some dairy-free sorbet and walked back to the hostel, hopefully for one of the last times.
This morning, we met J again, and signed an open-ended, flexible contract (yes mothers, before you ask we read the small print), and received one key. We will receive the other key tomorrow from Parny (J's partner who seems very lovely), pay our first week's rent, and move in! Here's to our last night in a hostel for as long as we can help it!
Although between us we only had three G&Ts, the next day we awoke extremely groggy, finally emerging at lunchtime to head to a Hawaiian-themed "Gentle Stretch" class (apparently the previous week's theme was Lord of the Rings) at G's dance studios. The class was very stretchy but not always so gentle, the first half dedicated to gentle hip-swaying and arm-waving to traditional Hawaiian music, followed by some "OK, now do the splits" exercises. This was deservedly followed by a corn fritter/avocado combo for G (here they put avocado with everything- it's amazing), and a tomato-y pasta for C, with a side-order of books.
C spent the afternoon reading papers for her course, occasionally complaining about badly-drawn tables and getting excited when actual maths was featured. G read and got confused about flat viewing times. So. Many. Viewings. It was then time to go and meet Jimmi, to discuss the room that we hoped to move in to. This turned out to be a very strange encounter.
We met J at his other apartment, which is situated in a hotel in Auckland Central. He began by hurriedly sitting us down in the lobby to inform us that we would have to live in his hotel apartment until the room we were originally interested in became free. Once his friend could move out (in approximately 1-2 weeks' time), we would be able to move in. He would let us have the room in his hotel apartment for the same price in the meantime, as he needed someone for the room and would be out of the country for a few months from Monday. Additionally, the two current flatmates in our newly-proposed room would move temporarily as well: the male would go and live with the Thai chef who rents the second room in our original flat, and the female would share a room with his partner. We both looked at each other- was this for real?
J began by showing us around the hotel. It's a very pleasant building, with two gyms, a sauna, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, outdoor giant chess board and tennis courts. We then went to the apartment, which was lovely- plenty of light, with our own separate double room and bathroom. There were four burners in the kitchen, a comfortable living area with huge TV, small dining table and balcony. We met J's partner, who would continue to live in the flat while J was away, their adorable 20-month-old daughter who is going with J to Thailand, and another flatmate. We spoke about contracts and questioned everything thoroughly. He seemed very genuine, and just quite desperate to get someone to rent his room before he left the country.
We went and pondered things over some Indian food. It was a very decent flat; by all accounts we would be getting a reasonable deal with no additional letting costs, and J didn't seem to have anything to hide, despite the complexity of the situation. He was also happy for us to pay a bond when we moved into our intended flat, once his friend had moved out, and seemed fairly lax about signing any binding contracts (he said that it was up to us whether or not we wanted a contract). If he is a scammer he's definitely doing it wrong! We decided to say yes to both- what's the worst that could happen? Still slightly baffled, we found some dairy-free sorbet and walked back to the hostel, hopefully for one of the last times.
This morning, we met J again, and signed an open-ended, flexible contract (yes mothers, before you ask we read the small print), and received one key. We will receive the other key tomorrow from Parny (J's partner who seems very lovely), pay our first week's rent, and move in! Here's to our last night in a hostel for as long as we can help it!
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