Taylors Mistake and Onward

We’ve been out tramping more – first to Taylors Mistake and on to Godley Head – two areas on the crater rim tracks around Christchurch.  It’s great fun walking along, starting in flowers and seeing cliffs and clouds.

This week, Cindy went with the tramping group on the Rapaki Track in the Christchurch hills.  Lambing has started so some tracks are closed or restricted.

Last weekend two of our folk dancing friends, Alastair and Katy, invited us to drive with them to Hanmer Springs, a mountain town about two hours north of Christchurch.  The village is a special place because of natural springs.  

Skies were clear Friday night so we were able to see the Milky Way, nebula, the Magellanic Clouds, the Southern Cross and lots of other constellations new to us. Over the weekend we did numerous hikes in the surrounding hills and parks.

We rewarded ourselves after a Saturday morning hike with bakery treats from the local bakery.

Sunday afternoon it was rainy and cloudy, so we were “forced” to enjoy the heated pools and sulfur springs.

Back in Christchurch we’ve been seeing films at the International Film Festival.  Some of the films we enjoyed were "No Ordinary Sheila" (a documentary about a New Zealand artist, naturalist and writer), "The Farthest" (a documentary about the Voyager space mission) and "Hidden Traces" (a thriller/drama set on an island far south of New Zealand).  

Paul continues to teach and answer students’ questions for the database systems course, and also gave a presentation on software security for a software engineering project class.  He is ready for the coming mid-semester break.

Cindy has been busy waking up and feeding the kiwi at Willowbank Nature Reserve.  Two baby kiwi have been born.  She was able to hold both a baby (about the size of a softball) and an adult kiwi to help when the kiwi needed to be given some extra food or be weighed.  The baby kiwi is much easier to hold!

Cindy helped transplant native seedlings at the campus garden – the project is to help re-vegetate the burned hillsides.  Once the plants are large enough, volunteer groups will dig them into the hills.

The next two weeks are mid-semester break at the Uni – so the two of us are flying to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, and exploring on from there.  Stay tuned for further adventures.