Moon, magnetics, and mayhem

In addition to different constellations being visible in the Southern Hemisphere (the Southern Cross instead of the Big Dipper), the moon looks different from my new position on the sphere that is our planet. Instead of a “man on the moon,” the pattern appears “upside down” and is understood to be in the shape of a rabbit. Also, the phases of the moon move in the opposite direction – the sunlit portion goes from left to right so that the crescent points to the left when waning and to the right when waxing. Craziness!!

Also crazy for anyone who is a fan of maps, orienteering, or the earth’s magnetic field, magnetic declination here is around 21 degrees!!! (so if you calculate it in the wrong direction, you could potentially be turned 42 degrees from the point you are intending to go!!)


Interesting happenings of the past few weeks:

1) worked with eight other people to plant kanuka on the Otago Peninsula. I went with the understanding that we were attempting to bolster dwindling populations of bees but it turned out that was a cover for the real project, providing habitat for a species that is being poached. I got to meet Lala, one of the founding members of STOP (Save the Otago Peninsula) who is involved in tons of conservation groups in Otago. While staking down weed mats, I saw a skink and one of the coolest stick bugs I’ve ever seen.

2) went to a water conservation order hearing for the Nevis river area. It turned out it was the second round of hearings by a special tribunal, such that the read submissions were really nitpicky responses to arguments I hadn’t heard and pretty much everyone there besides me were presenting evidence. I had a cool conversation with the guy next to me (from Otago Fish and Wildlife??) about how the process worked and the hydroelectric plans being considered by the power company.

3) finally went to the archives! (it only took me two months to find it...) Very, very cool place. I looked at a crazy missionary’s autobiography (and an even crazier children's book about the deeds of that missionary), a tourist travel account for the Pacific Islands from the 1900s, an illegible microfilm journal which was supposed to be about recruiting workers from the New Hebrides, and huge stacks of photographs. In addition to material useful for my essay, I found some 100 year old pictures a volcano. :-)

4) played “extreme” croquet. (at night with headlamps and with the weather threatening to turn wet).

(my game face)


5) attended the Dunedin Folk Club. The evening featured a wide variety of styles - starting with wooden flute and bagpipe and ended with a piece for tubular bells, banjo, and sawed cymbals (cymbals played with a bow). For the first half hour I was probably the only person there under forty… it made me miss having instruments to play on. So I went to an informal open mic session in the hopes of temporarily borrowing a guitar. Despite how it was publicized, it turned out being just the regulars of the club sitting around at a table in a café demonstrating their formidable fingerpicking skills. I didn’t know any of their songs but playing ‘Angel Band’ caused some rather impressive harmonies. I miss singing with you, Stephanie and Ruth!!