from the west...: A visit to NZ

Leaving NZ was hard for me, but I knew I would be going back before the end of the year, so I had something to look forward to. I headed back to NZ in mid-November for a three week trip that was packed with comings and goings, mostly all work related.

I spent my first week in Auckland back at the Auckland Council office handing over projects and programs to the new marine scientist and finishing the last few projects that were still outstanding. It was great to see everyone again but also hard to believe that I had been away from the office for four months. I timed my trip so I could join our team on their annual Christmas outing to Anawhata, one of the beautiful beaches on the west coast of the Auckland Region. It was really fun to have some time with the team away from the office. I also got to spend some really good quality time with a good friend and coworker, which was definitely the best part of my Auckland time.

Anawhata Beach

I had brunch with my supervisor, Jacqueline, and go to meet Zoe!

Jacs and Zoe

The weather wasn't fantastic in Auckland, but the long summer days were great! I was able to get a run in nearly every day I was there either before or after work. There were some amazing sunrises that made getting out of bed early worth it.

sunrise painting the skies above the city center

sunrise on Kohimarama Beach (I missed you Jen!!)

the pohututkawa trees were just starting to bloom - my favorite!

I spent the second week of my trip about two hours south of Auckland in Hamilton working with a friend and colleague from NIWA - the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. This was the main reason for my trip - helping to design and facilitate a national workshop on cumulative effects. I've been working on this project for the last few years and this workshop was the culmination of our work. It was a challenging workshop to design, but Kate and I had a lot of fun along the way. My week in Hamilton was great. I was staying at a place near the Waikato River, so I got to run on the river trail every day. I also got to do a bit of mural hunting and squeezed in a quick trip to the lovely botanic garden.

Waikato River

Chinese Scholar's Garden

Indian Char Bagh Garden

Maori Garden - with kumara planted in mounds just like
in the community garden that I volunteered at in Auckland

Tudor Garden

A selection of some of the murals around Hamilton:

Our workshop was in Wellington, so we headed down there for a few days to start my third week. My morning runs were a bit rainy, but I found lots of murals close to our hotel. I also had a really cool encounter with some native birds in the botanic garden. I was running along and all of a sudden there was a whole bunch of squawking and commotion in a tree along the trail. I stopped and saw a tui (the two blue-ish birds in the mural below) fighting with a flock of kakas (large parrots - brownish bird in the mural below) that had descended on its territory. The tui was outnumbered six to one but it was not giving its tree up without a fight.

kaka (large parrot) at the botanic garden)

I spent the last few days of my trip in Nelson with my friend Robyn. She started building a house last year and the original timing was such that Pete and I had planned on being available to help Robyn with the interior of the house. The permits got delayed, though, so she didn't start building until after we left NZ. The timing of my trip was great because there were still lots of projects. The drywall had just been hung and mudded and the electrician wanted to get the lights and switches installed, so Rob and I were on painting duty. In three days, I think we painted 12 to 14 hours just to stay ahead of the electrician and the plumber. All that work paid off, though, because I got to be there when Robyn spent the first night in her new house!

Even with all the painting, we did a lot of fun things too. We went for a long hike up the valley from Rob's place with the dogs, complete with a picnic and a post-hike swim. We took the horses out for a ride another day and swam in the river just about every day. And of course, we ate like queens. It was the perfect way to end my trip and I cannot wait to go back.