Day light savings..

Today was the start of day light savings for us in the Southern Hemisphere. Traveler bought asparagus at the market, and I celebrated the start of easy calling to Northern Hemisphere friends (3 hours versus 5 hour difference once we all switch our clocks) with sausages. The sausage here is one thing that has been hard to adjust to.

That said, either its been so long since eating an American sausage that I forgot what they taste like or I've finally acquired the taste, regardless I now LOVE kransky sausages. They're just called Kransky's here. Yummy!

I love the suasage rolls with brown all around the edges, different from Massachusetts!

Blessings...

Well since my dear friend Alex convinced me to sign up for Facebook, I've been really enjoying reconnecting with lots of friends whom I had sadly lost touch with.  It has been such fun seeing their photos and hearing about their lives. Quite of few of them also have blogs, and I've been enjoying reading through them, catching up on their adventures.  I was particularly touched my freshman year roommate's blog.

As many of you know, I was unbelieveably lucky to have been matched with Audrey.  I to this day have no idea how she survived living with me. I was a messy roommate, who also had all sorts of messy things happen to me that year, from the death of a dear friend to really intense culture shock moving to a new city, a city Audrey dearly loves.  

Reading through her blog I was struck with how exceedingly postive Audrey is.  She always has something nice to say, and is genuine in what she says.  She taught me so much that year... I often think of her grace, hard work, kindness, and ability to reach out to people from all different parts of life.  Her postive energy is something I wasn't always able to imitate much back then, but I thank her from the bottom of my heart for showing me how its done:)

Which got me thinking of all the other things I've been so lucky to learn from the people around me...

Alex taught me so much about being independent, diving into science classes, and exploring the world beyond our city walls.  I love chatting with her about sustainability and other topices over the amazing food her and Sean always cook.

Courtney P is another amazingly positive person like Audrey.  They both have this amazing grace to them (and are both in the sciences).  I love watching ( and listening) to her on her journey of motherhood.  

Then there is Courtney L who's also has this amazing strength and grace to her.  She is one of those people whom I let way too much time go by between phone calls, but each time we chat I hang up the phone 10 times happier and more inspired!  She taught me a lot during conversations over the dish sink:)  I'm thrilled to hear about her medicine aspirations!

My crazy little brother has tried to teach me so many things... luckily he had more success in most areas then he did trying to teach me to ride a motorcycle.  

Both Krista and Ellen have mentored me professionally and taught me not only about the facts of my field, but how to handle the stress of it and juggling having an outside life.  I can't wait for the day when I can show each of them my new life in New Zealand, and my most proud feat of all - actually having weekends when I'm not working (minus of course side projects like the aBc competition).  I think I'm finally starting to have a real balance between work and fun!

I'll try to remember to keep writing about the wonderful things I learn from all of you.  Its so wonderful to have amazing people surrounding you.  I can't thank you enough.

aBc has left the building...

Phew... we somehow managed to complete our project.  Traveler was a godsend I must say. I had to go to Auckland this Monday for business, and long before I had heard of the aBc competition I had booked my flight for Sunday so I'd have some time to enjoy Auckland.  

So I ended up leaving him with a huge number of files and this mess to look at...


... I definetely think I have a mess work style.  I do best when I can lay everything out to touch and see.  Friends kept asking how I could sleep next to all this, but it was actually reassuring to know it was all right there while I was working on it. Trav may have differing thoughts on this I'm sure.

I'm sure he also was a touch jealous that while I was up in Auckland, I had the chance to ride around with a tow pilot at a local gliding club.



Meanwhile, Traveler completely stepped to the plate and not only polished the layout but raced around Monday to get the aBc comtest posters printed and submitted - all with 10 mintues to spare.  I swear I have one of the most amazing, dedicated, and supportive husbands ever.  

Here are is an early draft of what we submitted



The other entries' posters will be on display this weekend and I can't wait to see everyone's ideas. I hear that over 60 people submitted ideas from all over the world.  

And even if I missed out on the last minute hard work of the project, the gods must have been watching, because my flight was delayed a few hours due to a pilot accidently dropping a small object in the flight deck, which grounded the plane until found.  I tried to relax with my book and watch the Auckland tarmac. The lovely light made it interesting. As did the baggage man who was riding his beach cruiser around the planes - too bad my camera battery died before I could take that shot

aBc competition part 2

Hi everyone,

No time for postings or much adventures because I'm spending all my time thinking about the aBc competition. I have one week to solidify my ideas and create an elegant way to present them on to A1 posters.  Click >here< to learn about the genius world of A sized paper we are missing out on in the States.  

So in lieu of a post, here are some things floating around in my head.  I also encourage anyone to post comments (the little button down at the bottom - you should be able to post anonymously) or email me with comments about what they do and don't like about the public transport systems they've encountered in life.  

What makes a great airport ground transport system?
What's good /bad about aeriel trams?
Has any one riden a detachable gondola (say up at whistler)?
What is the Portland Streetcar like?

Or really anything that can help me get working on this design problem.  

Okay and here are some randomn images in my brain related to this project....

Competition...

Well I've just registered to enter a competition that is way over my head, but I'm still very fired up about it.  The goal is to come up with a solution to getting people from wellington airport, past a huge hill, around a crazy sports field, and to the city in a way that looks to the future. I am a transit geek at heart so this really appeals to me. Particularly since I am still moving slow from this horrid flu.

I'm teaming up with Traveler and my friend Holly to see if we can come up with any good ideas. One thing I'm considering is an aeriel tram or other high flying acts.

I would love to hear from people about their experiences with the Portland tram - what makes it good / bad?  I also am curious about any positive 'bubble' chairlift experieinces.  More generally, what would you say makes for a great airport to city experience in your travels...  I think the PDX/MAX is pretty darn cool myself.  Feel free to eleaborate using portland or any other cities - Quotes would help me in the competition!

Sunday Wrap Up

I must be feeling a bit better, because I was motivated to go up Wright Hill tonight with enough remaining  energy tonight for yet another post.

 I must say, driving upto the top of Wright Hill was much easier than when we bushwhacked our way through the gorse behind our first rental here then walked the rest of the way up to the top of the hill.  Maybe not as rewarding, but still pretty spectacular.

looking over Karori

looking towards the city and harbour

looking towards Brooklyn wind turbine which we hiked to awhile ago


the view west as the sun starts to set




Maybe my recovering was thanks to all  the yummy soup Traveler has been making me, including tonight's 'Fool M'dammas'

out attempt to recreate one of our favourite dishes from one of our old haunts in Cambridge, MA the Middle East Restaurant & Club


 

Sunday recovering...

Bit by bit, I'm recovering from whatever ails me. I'm still not 100%, but I drug myself down to the market today.  Today we went to the market next to Te Papa instead of the one off Willis Street.

On the way back to our car, we snapped a couple photos of the wide sidewalks perfect for young kids learning to ride bikes.  These paths connect Te Papa to the great playground with the slider thingamajig I think looks so cool.

We then headed over to Kiawharawhara to find an organic food shop I had read about. It was okay, but the really great part was that just up the road was a park with a stream running through it.

In the end, we managed ended up with the following purchased at the veggie market ($20), organic store ($20), and a conventional store ($50):

It sure doesn't look like much...

spring fever...

Well everywhere I look I see signs of spring...

flowers outside my window...

 
hills on my walk to work..


Too bad I'm stuck inside sipping soup with yet another miserable cold/flu.