Peninsula photos

Otago Peninsula

A couple of weeks ago I went out on the Otago Peninsula in search of penguins and albatross. Also on the menu were seals and sealions. It was a beautiful day, and we tramped up and down hills (I was out of puff) in the cold, and wandered around sand dunes. 

We got chased by a friendly sealion pup who gave us up as a boring lot and went off to pick a fight with the big boys.

Had a lovely day in beautiful scenery.

In search of penguin

This weekend I went on the Otago Peninsula to look for Albatross, Yellow Eyed Penguin, Sealion and Fur Seal. And I saw them.

:-)

Queenstown and a bungee jump

This is Queentown. I spent last weekend there. The wifi connection was rubbish so I couldn't do a blog from there. Ironic, since it's full of backpackers, miserably hanging around the adventure centre, lining up to do their bungee jump...

I opted for the jetboating and realised that I have late onset thrill seeking. It just wasn't exciting enough. It was fine, bumping over the water, but I wouldn have liked something a bit more death-defying. But not a bungee jump.

Scenery in Queenstown is breathtaking, but the place is a bit fake. The town has no soul, probably due to the transient nature of its population. I don't think I met a kiwi the whole time I was there. Still, it was nice to visit.

I'll be doing the luge the next time.

Track and trail to Queenstown

Today I took the Taieri Gorge Scenic Railway on the way to Queenstown. It was spectacular, and amazing to think that they built it using picks and shovels and couldn't use dynamite because the rock formation is too unstable. The photos speak for themselves. At the end of the line, I was the only one going on to Queenstown, so I had a whole bus to myself and we got there more than an hour early. There were lots of sheep.

Metro

I have to tell you about the cinema I went to with Lisa and Graeme yesterday. The Metro is a little independent cinema, and we went to see "Once" in a cinema with eight seats!

The film was really good, with lovely songs.  Go see it.

First week at work and a new identity

This is a picture of Dunedin from Signal Hill, taken last Saturday. Isn't it lovely? It was warm and sunny and we were walking about without coats on. More later...

Well, the first week at work was good. I get to go to a lecture every day at 11 o'clock, and hear about molecular genetics. Actually I've learned a few things I didn't know before, mostly about Drosophila... lucky me. On Wednesday I took my lab, having shadowed on Monday. I think it went well, and I have to say a big thank you to my demonstrators who were stars. I couldn't have done it without you. The students were also very nice, and apart from not knowing their names, it was pretty much like Glasgow. This week was also momentous in that I got an IRD number, a bank account, a staff number, a staff card and a new identity. That's right, the University of Otago thinks my name is Margaret. Well, it is, at least that's my middle name. So if you want to email me at Otago, send the mail to Margaret.

What else have I done? Got a bit further forward with transcribing the student interviews, watched four episodes of "Third Rock from the Sun" (which I first saw, in New Zealand, 12 years ago, along with my first encounter with "Hercules - the Legendary Journeys" and "Xena, Warrior Princess"). I also met my landlady, Pip, and her three children, Nick, Maddy and Charlotte, who are lovely. And Bill, who's renovating the staircase, and Leica, who is from Braintree and teaches physio at the uni. Went out for dinner to Starfish on Thursday night, and was exhausted at work on Friday, where I spent most of the day preparing material for Microbiology study groups. (ha ha).

On Friday, after work, I went to the Zoology Department with Lisa to the pre-graduation gathering, and met someone (I thought his name was Matt but it might by Marty) who knows Jo and Dan and all my demonstrators from way back. And yet we'd never met! So he caught up on all the gossip from Glasgow. Then we met Lisa's friend Kate and went to the South Bar and met some botanists (!) and Graeme, Lisa's other half. Then we went to the Thai Tom Kar Cafe and had some really quite nice food. At this point I should talk about the weather. On Wednesday it started raining, then it got colder, so on Friday night, we had rain, hail, wind and sleet. We sat in the cafe watching the weather get worse and worse...

I now have a dehumidifier, which has made a terrific difference to the house. The house was bitterly cold (I may have already mentioned this) but mostly because it was quite damp. The dehumidifier has been working its little socks off to dry up the air in the house, and I take it from room to room. It's quite funny - it sits in the corner, purring away, and every so often has a little widdle to itself, as it pours water into the reservoir. It's quite unnerving.