The most picture perfect day yet

Amazingly the day was cloudless.  The sky a brilliant blue with high decorative clouds.  The NZ Alps were sharp & clear as we approached.  As we neared the strong brown foothills wiith snow capped, avalanche carved mountains behind them, we realized that we had forgotten the camera! 

Just a dawdling 1.75 hour drive away we were in serious altitude where spring was about 2-3 weeks behind what we are experiencing on the coastal plains.  We could tell because the lambs were smaller and the gorse bushes were just beginning to flower.  The scenery was magnificent!  Mountains upon mountains!  Clear blue sky/stunning brown & white peaks.  We passed several ski areas.  Some are closed because it is spring.  The really high ski areas still have about a week or two before the skiing becomes impossible.

Castle Hill & Flock Hill were a fantastic climb about places.  There limestone formations randomly sprout out of the grassy soil.  The glaciers, wind & rain have sculpted them into fantastic formations that Henry Moore or an ancient (gigantic) sculptor could have made.  They are also a protected area for in ancient times traveling Maori rested in the shelter of these rocks on their journey to either coast.  If you want to scramble around on the rocks, no problem!  If you want to do technical climbing you need a permit.

We also walked to an underground river cave...but the river was too fierce & running high from the spring rains....oh that rain!  This too is a sacred spot for the cave was an ancient burial area.

We saw lots of great wildlife: a small lizard, a rabbit, a pair of yellowhammers (birds), two rock wrens, a really amazing tiny bird (that I can’t identify) and several raptors.  The raptors were soaring in pairs...riding the breezes and wheeling through the mountain clefts.  And then there were a few raptors feasting upon road kill.  I think I might have seen a rare Black Kite.

Clear, sunny, crisp weather is definitely a treasure.

hiking with Michael

Sign of the Kiwi goodies on display

Quick ice creams at the Sign of the Kiwi and a quick hike atop the Port Hills.  On the way home we stopped at a playground near Michael's house to enjoy the flying fox.

view to Lyttleton Harbor(left) and Diamond Harbor (right)

fields and hills

the terrain

Ben, Eric & Michael along the hill top

local park's Flying Fox

Ben holds the rope for Eric's launch

Ben launches

Beyond Governor's Bay

Spring is here and the yellow gorse bushes are flowering on top of the Port Hills. We walked & enjoyed a picnic with terrific views down the bay...all the way to the Pacific.

beginning the walk

just before the bay views

Picnic spot with a great view of Governor's Bay

Eric & volcanic rock

Ben and the volcanic coastline

Gorse in bloom (very prickly stems)

Gorse flowers on the hillside

Travis Wetlands

Pukeko on dry land

 We had a clear day (hurrah!) on September 9th....so the boys & I visited the Travis Wetlands Preserve.  The beautiful bird viewing blinds were still closed pending post earthquake inspection but we were able to see the Pukeko...a purple wading bird.

wetland grasses

wetland paddock with boys & Port Hills in the distance

wading pukekos

submerged stump

wetland trees

The Polite Earthquake

Structural Engineer

  Here are some pictures of our "rubble tourism" one week after the quake.

standing in cracks near the epicenter

bracing a building's facade

how did the window remain intact?

the shifting river banks twisted this bridge

shop front collapse

twisted corner of house & broken stairs

playground separated from padding

We are all feeling incredibly lucky in Christchurch that the pudding like texture of the ground, time of day, and excellent structural planning & codes made this earthquake less devastating than ones of similar magnitudes in Haiti or Chile or California.  The neighborhoods built close to the rivers and ones built over unknown streams suffered the most.

Henri is having the opportunity of a life time.  He's been able to participate fully since the first day.  University engineering profs were put on building inspection teams & given nifty hard hats & vests.  People walked up to Henri wondering, "Pardon me, but are you a structural engineer?"  It was his moment of occupational celebrity.

Paradigm Shift: Spring

In the Southern Hemisphere there are a few things to get used to.

1.  The sunny side of the house/yard/nation is the northern side.
2.  The warm winds come from the north & the west.
3. The cold winds come from the south (as in South Pole, Antarctica).
4.  The side of the house that is cold & shady is the south side of the house.
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5.  End of September is Cherry blossom season.

North Hagley Park's avenue of Cherry Blossoms

Avon River and carpets of daffodils

Spring's Snowflakes

6.  October 25 is when seedlings are planted with no danger of frost!
7.  Roses bloom in November & strawberries appear in December.
8.  Christmas is a beach & barbecue holiday.  Christmas Ice Creams & Iceblocks!(popsicles)

**and a NZ specific difference**
Light & power switches are the opposite of the US.
Up = Off   Down = On
(Throw in some sleep deprivation & this one is really confusing...are you really sure you turned that appliance/oven/power switch off?---argh!!)

JinJin

Beloved JinJin  Oct. 11, 1994-Sept 18, 2010

 

We are all very sad to report that JinJin the cat got very sick very quickly. 
She spent her last hours surrounded by love.  We miss her.

Chicken Care

Tip One:  Chickens prefer not to wait.  Chickens’ needs are straight forward.  Forget the chicken’s water or food & they will fly out of their play area.  Always make sure they have their needs provided for & some exciting fruit or veggie scraps.  They also like visits & getting their backs patted.

 Tip Two: happy chickens make great eggs.  These chickens are well loved and are giving us great eggs.  The boys are delighting in the chickens and so we hope to keep them happy....and keep getting the eggs.  Isn’t there a Woody Allen line about “he was in it for the eggs”?  It makes sense to me now.

Tip Three:  Have a plan of action with the chickens & they will follow you.  Chickens running free are difficult to catch.  Although stale bread is a good lure...but the time of day & weather conditions must be favorable to chicken luring.  If there is other more interesting food (such as fresh grass seed) they will not care what you offer.  Also you need to say the magic words, "coo coo" well.   We will post a video once the post quake internet gets speedier and you can watch Eric doing a successful chicken herding.

Summary:We learned the way of the chicken through experience.
There is a classic NZ brand of salt with a graphic of a boy chasing a chicken to show you how terrifically well the salt runs.  We  re-enacted that graphic throughout the weekend before we understood the way of the chickens.  

Chickens have taken over a few Hawaiian Islands.  They have clearly found a paradise & enjoy it.

I want Lollies!

Zombie Chews

candy tops that spin

Father's Day chocolates

The Lolly Centre of our world

A really key cultural experience is food.  Just reading the names of lollies (candy) is a cultural learning experience.  The names range from Willy Wonka fantastic to something that would NEVER make it in a US market.

Ben is still working through a nasty virus so going out for a big adventure is not really possible.  To cheer ourselves up on day 4 after the big quake we watched the new Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (yay electricity!) & then went to a well stocked lolly store, the local Ilam Dairy (convenience store).  It's also an interesting coincidence that the electric toothbrush my mom sent us arrived today!

Here are some of the lolly types:

Snakes (gummi snakes they are in most stores)

Pink Smokers:  Grandpa’s recipe  (small pink sugar candies)

Red Skins: stretchastically long lasting candy

Sucks: with full on fruit flavours
Pods: ingeniously crunchy
Scorched Peanuts
Maltesers

Chupa Chups lollipop magics: sherbert flavoured

Pineapple Lumps
Pebbles
Milk Bottles: the real milk chew
Wine Gums: life in brilliant colour
Fairy Mushrooms
Jaffas or Jaffa Oranges (chocolate balls with hard orange coating) Allsorts
Fruit Jubes
Oddfellows Strong Mints
Jersey Caramels
Passionfruit Twister: terrifically twisted
Raspberry Bullets
Cherry Ripe
Eskimos
Cherry Roll
Dairy Milk Buttons 

various types of chocolate bars

Gummi Snakes

Flake

Bubbly

Picnic

Twirl

Vault

Coco Heaven

Grades of Chocolate

Dairy Milk, Dark Block, Dark Ghana, Dark Cacao

gummi chicken feet

gummi dentures (you will need them after all these lollies)

Earthquake

change in the road pavement

an unreinforced Garden Wall on Hanrahan Street

top of roof line at Church Corner

September 4.
At 4:35 am the big earthquake shook Christchurch.  Henri was awake as he'd just submitted a paper.  We all hustled outside.  The aftershocks hit just after we'd settled back inside.  Back out again.  We are all just fine.  The house is terrific.  The chickens & cat are fine.  Jin Jin the cat snuggled under the covers with us after the second aftershock.

I remember thinking, "What a clear morning I can really see the stars."  It was because the power was out everywhere.  I was also incredibly freaked out & panicked momentarily because I couldn't find the handles to the boys' bedroom doors.  It was very hard to stay on my feet & the quake felt like it went on forever (it was about sixty some seconds).  By the second & third mighty aftershocks we were very quick with our get-out-of-the-house-response.

Eric's first thought was that Ben was shaking his bed but then he looked around the room & noticed the desk & bookshelf were shaking.

Ben, "I was really scared.  I heard my mom screaming 'Earthquake!' and then we all ran outside."

Henri thought it was scary.  Worst quake he's ever experienced.  Also says it gave him a new understanding of ground motion.

The electricity just came on (noon). WOW!  We are feeling lucky!  We are also lucky that the first days after the quake were warm & sunny.

Some glasses broke, some books fell off shelves.  We are fine.  The houses in our neighborhood are fine.  It is a nice sunny day.  The damage only seems to be on historic downtown buildings. 
The grocery stores are low on bottled water & cabbage. Plenty of other stuff.

We are boiling water before we drink it or use it for toothbrushing...just as a precaution.

We had some friends over for a play date & showers (they live out in the country & their electricity wasn't back on yet).  Reminds me of ice-storm & hurricane community building.

downtown damage (Henri investigates)

neighborhood near downtown

Henri is out investigating the damage (he's an earthquake engineer).  Here are some photos.  Henri has been out with a response team helping inspect businesses on Riccarton Street (tagging the damage of to the structures), working with the "nerve center" of the operation downtown & today another adventure.  Henri is really impressed with the skills of the first responders, civil defense team & the way they are all mapping out the information.  He feels very lucky to have his colleagues fold him in to the ongoing response.

 Avonside neighborhood

missing stone bit Christ's College boarding school

Hagley Park pathway liquifaction & heaving

water main geyser near Riccarton Bush