Ah yes. Hi! We’re still here! We’ve been here for a year and nine months now, so the fresh-off-the-boat feeling has subsided somewhat, which is why we’re not posting on Ye Olde Blog that often… that’s what you could expect I guess…

Anyway, things are still pretty good here. Sure, we have our crappy days, and every now and then we still freak out when it suddenly hits us how bloody far away we are from our family and the place where we grew up, but these things are terribly difficult to express in words, let alone write about on a light and fluffy weblog, so let’s not go there - I’ll keep it simple.

We’ve had a fabulous and almost endless summer. Willemijn’s parents came over, stayed for a month and had a fantastic time, it was great to see them again and to be able to share our new life with them. Around the same time, our friends and former neighbours Norbert and Muriel visited us and that was awesome. It was really cool to see them again and to show them our new home. We traveled to Rotorua and Taupo with them and saw mud pools, volcanos and Desert Road.

We met some really cool dutchies, Aukje and Gerbrand, who moved to Wellington about six months ago. They’re from Utrecht as well! We appear to have many things in common, such as a love for loud shirts.

Because we were so busy exploring and settling in on our own when we moved here, we weren’t particularly interested in hanging out with Dutch people, but Aukje and Gerbrand happen to be awesome, so that principle went out the window quite easily.

It’s June now, and we’re starting to see some really wintry weather. Freezing southerlies, which means having to wear merinos and two jerseys at home and sleeping with a pair of socks under a duvet and two sleeping bags… Please New Zealand, please don’t be offended, but even though you’re technically a Pacific Island (several islands even), you’re not in the same league as Tonga, Samoa or Fiji. It’s just too damn cold for the kind of houses you have. There are other places with a similar climate in this world, and they have interesting things such as insulation, double glazing and central heating. For a reason.

Anyway, even though it can get a bit chilly in the house, the wild weather is quite spectacular. There’s snow on the Kaikoura ranges across Cook Straight, and we still get plenty beautiful clear days, with awesome sunrises and sunsets.

And now for something completely different… A while ago, I ordered an Arduino clone, the iDuino!

This is a little electronic device that connects to your computer with a USB cable. The little electronic device is called a microcontroller, and it is basically a tiny computer on a chip with a lot of connectors for input and output. You can connect lights, motors and sensors and you can upload programs to the microcontroller to make it do all kinds of cool stuff.

I ordered the iDuino as a kit an received it today. I soldered all the parts on the board, laid out some leds and other components on a breadboard, hooked it up to my trusty old Powerbook and created a first, completely useless, program: Blinkenlights!

My first real purpose for the iDuino is to control a motorised XY-stage for an optical test for the telescope that I’m (still, after 10 years) building.

Aaaanyway… It’s also Matariki, which is Māori new year, and it was UN World Environment Day last Thursday. This year’s WED was hosted in Wellington. Many things were happening, such as an event at the Manawa Karioi ecologial restauration project at the Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Island Bay. We spread the word quite literally by posting flyers to invite people to the event, and Willemijn was at Manawa Karioi all day to help out. It’s a beautiful place and it’s good to see native plants slowly taking over again. Willemijn says: “About a hundred people visited and had a look around at the site today. People were a bit shy at first but left with big smiles on their faces. I believe the place is quite magical. Maybe it’s the combination of the Marae and the reestablishment of native bush. From the hills you can see more than half of Wellington, while still feeling sheltered. A very special place.”

Soo… I hope this long post made up for the lack of news. Big hugs! Kia ora tatou!

It was a great day out. After a nice rocking boatride to the North End of the island, we had a beautiful walk to the lookout point. Walking up the hill we already encountered many whiteheads, fantails, tui, bellbirds, kereru and kakariki (Green parakeets). Our delicious picnic on the top of the hill attracted many Weka. Slowly going down the slope, Kate and I encountered a parent kaka with its baby. The huge baby parrot could hardly fly and had to use his tail to keep him steady on a branch.

Back at the lodge, another kaka, kereru and weka were waiting for us. Especially impressive were the huge Takahe, big flighless birds, related to the Pukeko (a kind of ‘Waterhoen’). Leisurely grazing on the lawn. Strange to imagine that all these birds were once in abundance. I’m happy that we can still enjoy seeing them here.

Enjoy seeing the birds through our photos.

From Stuff.co.nz:

The humpbacks Japan intended to kill under the guise of scientific research were already being studied by non-lethal research programmes in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Tonga.

Humpback and fin whales populations were yet to recover from decades of over-exploitation from commercial whaling.

Gisborne suffered material damage but no casualties were reported so far. Houses and interiors were damaged, the phone system is out, etcetera. Even in Lower Hutt, which is only minutes north of Wellington, alarm installations were triggered by the quake.

Which reminds me that we should make sure that our heavy furniture is securely attached to a wall, and that our emergency supplies (plenty of water in containers, cans of food, etcetera) are complete.

• stuff.co.nz news article
• Geonet Latest quake report

Olivia Hislop was waiting for a wave at the Meatworks surf break when she felt something tugging at her surfboard. When she turned around she got the fright of her life to see a shark’s face and upper body on her board gnashing its teeth about.

Heh. We know that break:

This means that the people fighting the proposed aquarium still need your support, especially since the Environment Court decided that Save The Point will not be awarded any costs that were made fighting the decision.

Quote from Save The Point:

The Wellington Marine Conservation Trust and the Wellington City Council have appealed the decision of the Environment Court to the High Court. The case is set down to be heard in May 2008. The Environment Court has also decided not to award Save the Point any costs despite the Court deciding that the aquarium and cafe development were not consistent with the National Coastal Policy Statement, the Wellington Regional Coastal Policy Statement or the District Plan. Save the Point urgently needs your financial support to help pay our outstanding costs and towards the cost of the High Court Appeal.

Please send donations to the address on the fundraising page or there is still time to purchase calendars to give to your friends for Xmas. Ring Marietta 3836 896.

Read more about the issues on the Save The Point FAQ.
Support the Save The Point Fundraising effort.