Gardening at Night

Hello world!  Paul and I have been hunkering down in Aucks for the past week or so.  Spring has proven to be fairly wet but the days when the weather decides to cooperate make all the past a distant blur!  We will be at 70 degrees today with super blue skies and an invigorating breeze.  Paul has been working hard at the hospital and I've been keeping myself busy too.  Next week we embark on the first of a couple of exciting journeys.  First up is Noosa Heads, Australia for a thyroid conference.  You had me at thyroid!  Noosa Heads is on the east coast of Oz in Queensland - about an hour or so north of Brisbane.  They call it the Sunshine Coast and wow is that music to our ears.  
Second journey will be to China!  We fly to Hong Kong first for a couple of nights then onto Xi'an for doc conference then finally to Shanghai.  The excitement is palpable as you can imagine.  Better get all that unique self expression out now eh?   
So - let the nexus time warp of seasons 2011 continue!  
Perpetual summer really is a brilliant concept  - go SoCal and blue hairs!  (have i lost you yet?!)
In the meantime I thought I'd send you some visuals of the flora in these parts that I've been gathering since our initial descent.  Although there have been beautiful blooms since we arrived, the spring has definitely brought more color and life.  As it should!  Hope these make you smile.  
  
We love and miss all ya'll SO very much!!  Our hearts are with everyone.  

Seen in Devonport - can't find a name - wicked little drooping creamsicle blossoms.

Azahar - blossoms from an orange tree.

Birds of Paradise - found in many parts of the world but always a curious sight!

Perfect bunches of succulents growing wild!

Kaka Beak tree - looking quite forlorn.  

Non native weed!

Remind you of anything?

Weta Cave

We also hit Weta Cave- Peter Jackson's production studio.

Lurtz the lifesize Orc

Wellywood

Paul and I made a quick jaunt down to windy Wellington this weekend.  It is less than an hour's flight from Auckland situated at the southern tip of the north island.    
Our time was spent wandering around (in circles half the time) trying to choose between all the enticing cafes, restaurants and bars.  We visited Te Papa and climbed our way via the Southern Walkway to the top of Mt. Victoria by way of Oriental Parade along the water.  Suffice it to say that Welly is a vibrant and beautiful town tucked into a harbour with amazing views and plenty to do.  Personally, it reminded me of some of the really wonderful things I found to love about San Francisco - on a much smaller scale and seemingly without most of the yuck.  There is a real personality and heartbeat to the city - something I think Auckland tends to lack.  
We are keen to go back!  (watch out here we come BanAnna!)
   

Te Papa - he/she stole my costume!

Lambton Harbour

Mt. Victoria lookout

Oriental Parade

Occupy Wellington

Hello Dan.

Nuff said!

Go the All Blacks!!

Can you tell we're excited??!!! (mostly nervous)  

NZ signature silver fernleaf

Tribute to Mor - signature pose!

Why hello.  My most talented and handsome husband!

Crouch Touch Pause ... ENGAGE!

What a brilliant night here in Auckland as the men in black have defeated the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals!!  Their effort was intense and bloody - I was literally on the edge of my seat loving every second.  
So as fate may have it, New Zealand will play France in the final next Sunday.  Go All Blacks!!!  
Now for an important announcement.  
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNZFS#p/c/3771CCDEAAAB0AB6/1/ztL1djMhnP4

Bye bye Ms. American Pie . . .

Not that Don!

We hit the Waitakere Ranges just west of Auckland again today for some tramping.  The highlight was a trip to the top of Mt. Donald McLean- 389 meters above sea level.  It's spring here and we have been getting plenty of rain which made things a wee bit muddy.

Auckland just a zoom of the camera lens away

JMP after an extended uphill slog: "Now I know why Frodo and Bilbo were so tired in that movie!"

A well deserved break at the summit

Jess with headlands of the Manukau Harbor and Tasman Sea in the background

Aratiatia Dam

Aratiatia Dam is on the Waikato River (Jess posted some pictures of Huka Falls- also on the Waikato- in her last post).

The hydroelectric stations on the river provide 1/3 of all of New Zealand's energy requirements so it's a massive amount of water.  Still pictures don't do it justice.

Aratiatia is opened 3 times daily for 30 minutes to provide flow through this ravine.  The water rushes through the dam and within just a couple of minutes, a river has appeared.

Before

After

Some serious plopping mud

Sensomatic

Black Swan!

This past weekend we got a rare opportunity to give all 5 senses a serious workout.  Paul and I drove down to Taupo on Friday evening.  Taupo is a cute little touristy town on the northeast corner of Lake Taupo which lies in a caldera that developed as a result of the most massive volcanic eruption in history 26,500 years ago.  The area surrounding the lake is still an active geothermal field which means hot springs abound and the smell of sulphur rears it's stinky stench.  Our motel room even had a thermal mineral pool which filled with water pumped from below the surface.  Quite flash!  Unfortunately the sky stayed fairly cloudy so we couldn't see the 3 looming volcanoes on the opposite side of the lake but on a clear day it is supposed to be spectacular.  We spent Saturday following the Waikato River to Huka Falls which Paul thoroughly enjoyed!  The water doesn't fall a far distance but there is a narrowing of the river's path before the fall which turns the water into a churning freight train of aqua blue water.  Absolutely gorgeous. 

Waikato River 

Hot Spring Stream

Thunder River!

Huka Falls

Sunday we made our way up to Rotorua by way of Wai-O-Tapu (first by way of a super rad dam that Paul may nerd alert you about separately).  Wai-O-Tapu has to be the most unique place we've been to yet.  There is truly no way to describe or show with pictures how extraordinary it was.  It is a gurgling, steaming, smelly, colorful wonderland of geothermal activity.  Yes I said wonderland.  I felt like I was walking on Mars.  Here are some of the highlights, I'll probably send out a picture gallery to show the full monty.  

Artist's Palatte

Money shot - Champagne Pool

Devil's Bath

The duck whisperer?

Taking after her father

Success!

The All Blacks pulled out an impressive win (37 - 17) over the Frenchies last night and we had an absolute blast!!!  

Kiwi Sheep people from the South Island

They ran a tight ship!

Giant rugby ball that's traveled the world since 2007

El Manifico, El Diablo and El Fenomeno folks

Art installation on the Fan Trail

Mysterious and spontaneous French display of support

We aren't the only rugby loving Americans in NZ!

American flag suit anyone?

Too bad the Eagles went down 67-5






Ready to get pumped up for NZ - France tonight?









From these pictures, it would appear USA scored more than once

A San Francisco Treat

Paul and I had a really wonderful and full trip to San Francisco as you can see from the posts!  It is one of the most if not THE most dynamic cities I've ever been to.  There is endless culture, architecture, scenery, food, art and people to bewilder.  It is so difficult to pick out my favorites but here is the VERY shortlist: evening jazz on the harbor in Sausalito, the views from Angel Island, dinner at Delfina and tramping Golden Gate Park: notably the Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts and Crissy Field.  
Now this could be a real shame or a real gift for a myriad of reasons but the thing that affected me the most was the condition of the homeless population.  It is undeniable how extreme the "problem" is.  It is made only more obvious when you see a filthy googly eyed man begging a tourist carrying a Prada bag for spare change.  It disgusted me at first, enraged me after that and left me simply obsessed with finding out how, why and when.  Now I understand that there are circumstances to every situation and some people even choose this lifestyle so I don't claim to be holier than thou or say that there are not equal or far worse problems elsewhere or even in SF.  I only sniffed at the surface of this city so after careful thought and contemplation I know that I can't make any judgments.  This is simply an observation that I feel compelled to document.   
I read that the city of San Francisco spends around $200 million per year to shelter and feed this population of homeless.  At first upon hearing this number I was astounded that so many were still in such extremely addicted and miserable states.  I kept reading and found out that there were huge federal cuts in the early 1980's to affordable housing options and mental illness programs.  With just enough food and shelter to keep them alive and no alternatives, why would they ever change.  It seems there would be almost no chance of rehabilitation for the mentally ill and certainly not for the addicted.  Disease and crime prevail.    
One night after dinner on our way back to our hotel, I stopped when yet another man was asking me to donate a dollar in order to buy the "Street Sheet" which is a publication by the Coalition of Homeless about current conditions.  We locked eyes and his didn't seem as cloudy as previous requests so I stopped to have a little chat.  I immediately starting firing off rhetorical questions about how shocked and bewildered I was by what I'd seen.  I turned my head slightly to see a crazed woman on the street corner flailing her arms and yelling at passers-by.  I said to this man "See look at that woman!  I mean look at her, she is out of control!".  He turned back to me and said "That's my wife".  He then told me how they used to live in Berkeley in a nice home with good jobs.  She'd found her way to the streets to join the inflicted.  He eventually followed to keep watch over her and admitted he had an alcohol addiction now himself.  He very well could have been telling me stories but after that night, I started looking at each "bum" differently.  I imagined them cleaned up, smiling and not talking wildly to themselves.  I also started seeing other folks who looked inebriated but still had some weight and normal color to their face.  I imagined they'd just began on that fateful road due to a psychotic break, a loss or an addiction that was waiting to take control of their mind.  
I'm not sure what this post is supposed to accomplish except that what I've described moved me.  It is such a complex issue (involving much more than the street corner) but so easily forgotten.  And this shouldn't cloud your dreams of visiting San Francisco.  So much of it is FANTASTIC and fulfilling.  It is a journey worth taking.  Thanks for listening if you made it this far!!  Cheers