Makara Beach

Since I'm on a roll here with new blog posts, I thought I would add a few pics from my solo daytrip to Makara Beach. It's just a 30 min drive from here, and since Steve was working a fair bit last week, I went exploring on my own. It's a rocky, rough shoreline that gets hammered with strong winds, forcing the vegetation to be pretty hardy.

There was a short hike up to the top of the cliff where they used to have a WWII gun battery. 

Sinclair Head, Wellington

Sinclair Head is an old quarry site near Wellington; it's now partly a marine reserve but there is a 4x4 gravel road that you can walk along for several miles. In the winter months there is a seal colony that stays here to fatten up for the mating season. At this time of year, there was only this one lone seal on a rock, and he didn't look too hot. Maybe it had something to do with being surrounded by breeding pools for mosquitos! I could barely stand there long enough to take this picture!

 

Lone seal, missing out on mating season.

lava rocks lining the shore

rocky shores make for good exploring!

A mandatory timer shot.

Stardate '09

This past weekend we went to Stardate - a "star party" where astronomy nerds bring their telescopes and spend 4 days camping, talking astronomy, and observing the night sky.  It was located in the heart of New Zealand's wine country, near Hastings and Napier, about 4.5 h drive northeast of Wellington.  We spent one afternoon at a beach, but otherwise enjoyed the sunny days by the edge of a nearby river. 

It was pretty hot each day and no shade for our tent. Steve kept his telescope cool using a white t-shirt.  Almost all of the telescopes were homemade, and Steve got lots of compliments on his craftsmanship. 
Steve really enjoyed talking with Malcolm, one of the Stardate attendees, pictured here with his homemade telescope. 

We drove through lots of beautiful mountain ranges and grazing stock. The Wairarapa region is well-known for a dry climate, with dark skies since it is just to the east of a huge mountain range.  Unfortunately, we didn't think to take any pictures with us in them... next time!

Around Wellington

We've stayed in Wellington lately since Steve is doing some work for his boss in Ottawa. We live very close to Victoria University, so we've gone there to do work. I've been reading up on NZ healthcare, Maori health, and rural nursing... with maybe a bit of Jane Austen in there as well.

Cafes and yummy fish & chips place on Aro Street in our neighbourhood. (Yes, that's Steve's arm that I cut off - oops!)

This tall and narrow red house is one of my favourites!

More little houses in our neighbourhood...

 

Steve, getting settled for another day of work. The 7th floor of the Victoria University Library has beautiful views of Wellington and the harbour, plus it has all my books - nursing, healthcare, and classics.

One of our standard bike rides has been to follow the shoreline and go around the various bays outside Wellington. It's only 40km (25 miles), but with the fierce winds that nearly blow you over, we often come home tired. These are the True North bikes that we brought with us - Steve made his 7 years ago when he worked there, and mine was largely a wedding present from my Hoffmann relatives (thank you!!).

 

A view of Wellington and harbour from Mt Victoria lookout. 

A view from the other direction, from our neighbourhood.

One of the little neighbourhoods next to us, tucked into a valley. 

More photos

In case you're interested, you can click here to see more pictures from our trip around the North Island.

We also went on a short hike today, just on the other side of Wellington Harbour, about a 30 min drive from us. It was a bit grey, cloudy, and rainy, but it was still a fun day and the forest was beautiful. 

To see lots of fern pictures from the hike today, click here to go to our web album.