Off to Australia

Hi Folks...

Bridget has done such a great job of keeping you up to date on our life in New Zealand, but I can't ask her to write about my solo travels.  This Friday I am headed to a symposium on magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion in Australia; check it out here!

The conference is at the Campbelltown campus of the University of Western Sydney.  My flight was about three hours and it took about one hour on the train to travel from the Sydney airport to Campbelltown.  I plan to post a Google Earth tour on the blog showing my route, so stay tuned.

For now let me tell you about the flight as we had a number of famous folks on board (of course I mean in addition to the members of our world famous NMR lab).  As Bridget posted earlier this week, Wellington was host to the world premiere of the latest Hobbit movie.  Leaving the celebrations on our flight was Mr. Hugo Weaving, Ms. Cate Blanchett and Mr. Elijah Wood.

With the star sightings over for the week, it's now time for science.  I'll let everyone know how the conference goes.

In the middle of Middle Earth....

That's right. Wellington is the middle of Middle Earth and last night The Hobbit premiered with star sightings, red carpet fanfare and mobs of people trying to get a look at the VIPs. We were only able to crane our necks enough to see Hugo Weaving (he also starred in The Matrix as Agent Smith) but the link below provides some pics from the event. We're not fans of The Lord of the Rings or Hobbit trilogies but it was still fun to experience the buzz of a premiere here in Wellington. :)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/photos/8009499/The-Hobbit-premiere-Red-Carpet

Christmas is saved.....

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I enjoy Christmas music, decorating the tree and wrapping gifts. The tasks that most people despise I find comforting. So now we're headed for our first Kiwi Christmas and I have to admit that I've been feeling awfully blue regarding the subject. In my mind I know that Christmas is just a few short weeks away but what I've realized is that it doesn't feel like Christmas. The weather is increasingly sunny and beautiful. There is no snow or cold or frost on the windows. I see the Christmas decorations in the stores but they seem out of place because it's summer. Sigh.

To my delight I was buoyed out of my melancholy state this weekend when we received two packages filled with gifts and Christmas treats from our families. I looked up from one of the boxes with a huge smile on my face and said, "Honey, Christmas is saved!!!". It was just what I needed so I will say 'thank you' to our families for thinking of us and sending gifts 6500 miles!!

With this momentum we Christmasified our apartment today. We found a little tree that fits perfectly on one side of our desk. And I got to do something that I've waited 10 months to do. Out of the ottoman I unpacked the Christmas ornaments we brought with us from the US. I couldn't help but smile.

 Joyeux Noel wire sculpture handcrafted by my aunt Ange.

 Rodney the reindeer perched on the back of couch. 

 All Blacks advent calendar.

 Little Christmas tree.

Cute stockings from Mom (Linda).

Now I feel like we're ready to celebrate the holiday. And it will be an interesting one as there are parades, barbeques and other Kiwi traditions to experience!! :)

Book love....

The Lovely Bones. I almost read this in one sitting. It's been years since I've done that and it felt gloriously decadent. :)

Sunny Welly......

Relaxing and watching the waves on the waterfront. It's totally bizarre, with Christmas just around the corner, but summer has arrived in Wellington. :)

Guy Fawkes Day...

Remember, remember the fifth of November

Gun powder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gun powder, treason

Should ever be forgot.

On November 5th, 1605, Guy Fawkes was apprehended in the cellars of English Houses of Parliament where he was guarding barrels filled with gun powder. He was one of many conspirators engaged in a coup to take down the Protestant government and replace it with a Catholic one. Subsequently, he was tried and then executed.

Today, New Zealand is one of many countries that celebrates the fact that the coup was undermined before Parliament was destroyed. And that means big fireworks - not quite on the scale of the 4th of July in the US but a celebration nonetheless. We ventured out on a rainy night to take in the fireworks as they were fired off a boat in the Wellington harbor. :)

Book love....

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I really enjoyed this series and would recommend it to you if you haven't already read it. :)

Stranded in Seatoun....

Saturday was a rare instance when I didn't have to run experiments in the lab and Tim wasn't buried in marking (grading papers). So we decided to take the Dominion Post Ferry out to Somes Island (just outside Welly) to see the little blue penguins. This time of year they are expected to be on the island to nest. Upon arriving at the port we bought our tickets and decided to stop over in Seatoun (see-toon) to check out one of Welly's suburbs and grab brunch since we'd rushed out of the house without eating. Soon after the ferry whisked us away from the harbor. After twenty minutes we arrived in Seatoun, disembarked amongst the rolling waves and went in search of brunch. What we found was a suburb with genuinely cute houses but little else. Luckily there was a cafe where we shared delicious corn fritters with real bacon, avocado, sour cream and mango salsa. After we had our fill we went walking around to kill the remainder of the two hours we had to wait for the ferry to pick us up again to take us to Somes Island. The two hours came and went with no sign of the boat. Hmm. With a phone that was about to die we called back to the office and were told that the ferry had been cancelled because the waves were too big and that maybe they could come to get us in about two hours. We politely declined the offer and decided to take the bus back into Wellington. It was then we realized that our Snappers (bus passes) didn't have enough credit to get us from Seatoun to Wellington. Hopeful, we went to the one dairy in Seatoun and inquired if they 'topped up' Snapper, but alas, they did not. Thankfully, the guy told us there was a place to 'top up' about a kilometer away. With no other option we walked, arms around each other, to the other store. Indeed, we could 'top up' our Snappers and there was a bus stop right next to it with a bus arriving in two minutes. Contented, we rode the bus back into the city. So it wasn't the day we had planned but we still had a great time. We're hoping for good weather next weekend so we can travel to Somes Island and see the little blue penguins (that is their official name). :)

Writing....

This past week I attended a two-day seminar, "Writing for Science", to learn about writing science for non-scientists. Initially I thought that, dare I say it, I might want to do this type of work when I graduate. With that in mind, I figured I should start with a class and see what it would entail (and if I was still interested after two days...). I felt awkward with the group because I was the only student and let's face it, I feel awkward whenever I offer up my work/art/writing for others to critique. In short the class showed me two things: 1) I'm still interested in writing science for non-scientists but 2) this endeavor, if I choose that path, would be incredibly challenging. I learned this as I spent time scratching my head and pulling together first drafts and first sentences related to my current dissertation topic. Before discussing one such activity with the rest of the class I read over my first draft (in it's fourth iteration) explaining the main points of what might be an article in a science magazine. I was sure that I'd been able to describe the details without using jargon but much to my dismay my audience responded saying that it was still too technical. Sigh. I felt incredibly disheartened while at the same time glad to have gained invaluable, new perspective. The class gave me a great deal to think about regarding my dissertation, this blog and writing I may do in the future. All I know is that writing is serious work!! And as an avid reader I have even more respect for those who write well (Mary Roach, Bill Bryson, and Candy Simar to name a few).

Beyond belief....

Yesterday we were at the grocery store perusing the produce when something caught my eye. I had to do a double take to make sure I was reading the sign correctly. Yup, sure enough. I wasn't crazy when I saw the price of red and green chili peppers. Wait for it: $99.99 per kg (2.2 pounds)!!! I kid you not. Now we've become accustomed to, but not happy about, the hefty prices here in Kiwiland but this is ridiculous!!