Now is the winter of our discontent

Would you believe today is the first day of winter. If you're in the northern hemisphere, you might be thinking: "Do not be a fool Noah, the sun is shining. Summer is about to start." Those of you who know we're in New Zealand might be thinking something like: "One would think winter starts on June 21st...you fool." Hey, quit trying to spread your American Imperialist ideas down here. Winter starts today, and that's final. Also, I'm really cold.

In astronomical reckoning, the solstices and equinoxes ought to be the middle of the respective seasons, but, because of thermal lag, regions with a continental climate often consider these four dates to be the start of the seasons as in the diagram, with the cross-quarter days considered seasonal midpoints. The length of these seasons is not uniform because of the elliptical orbit of the earth and its different speeds along that orbit.

From the March equinox it takes 92.75 days until the June solstice, then 93.65 days until the September equinox, 89.85 days until the December solstice and finally 88.99 days until the March equinox. In Canada and the United States, the mass media consider the astronomical seasons "official" over all other reckonings, but no legal basis exists for this designation.

Because of the differences in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, it is no longer considered appropriate to use the northern-seasonal designations for the astronomical quarter days. The modern convention for them is: March Equinox, June Solstice, September Equinox and December Solstice. The oceanic climate of the Southern Hemisphere produces a shorter temperature lag, so the start of each season is usually considered to be several weeks before the respective solstice or equinox in this hemisphere, in other countries with oceanic climates, and in cultures with Celtic roots.

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

View from our window this morning. Sorry it's a little out of focus...if anyone would like to send me a tripod that will support a rather heavy camera, I would be most grateful. This link tells me I'm looking at Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter.


In other news, visitor #3 (or possibly #5, depending on how you count) has recently returned home. We miss you Nam. For some reason, my camera did not like focusing on you...but here you are with some of the locals.


Here you are amongst some local colour.


And here you near the top of the world.


Here's Nico amongst the giants.


It rained a whole lot, so I did not have the camera with me very often...but we did manage to see a few new sights, including the National Wildlife Centre.

They had this neat parrot thing that I cannot remember the name of.


And an almost sunset.

Why I don't blog every day

[Because every post would look like this:]

It stopped raining, so I mowed the lawn. The lawn was really long because it had been raining all week. After I finished mowing the lawn, we took a walk to the Bluff Hill Lookout. When we first got to Napier, this was one of the first places we went; for some reason Nico had not been back since.

Here's Nico above the Port.


The Port is one of the few places in Napier that is open 24/7. Even on a Sunday night, you can watch timber being loaded onto giant ships. Apparently it goes to China, then we buy it back as furniture. [Note: I get told a lot to recycle paper to "save a tree". If you want to save a tree, stop sending all of them to China.]


Westshore and Ahuriri in the other direction.

A year in pictures

The Sony (point and shoot) camera memory card just filled up, so it seemed like a good time for an erase. I'm not sure why these did not get deleted sooner, and most of the photos (or at least the good ones) have already been posted here. If you're bored, watch the slideshow.

A couple of highlights from last year:

Nicole after winning a beauty pageant.


A freak of nature at breakfast.

All the leaves are brown

Alternative title: I'm looking California but feeling Minnesota

Weekend trip up to Gisborne, the first city in the world to see the sun.

The best $56 I've ever spent just may have been here.


Here's a picture from a hill we climbed.


Minnesota, you are so frickin lame.


Interesting thing about Gisborne: You can stand on the spot where Captain (then Lieutenant) James Cook anchored the Endeavor before setting foot on what was to become New Zealand. (He did not run aground here; the land has been "reclaimed".)


Ten years later, he was killed by the Americans.


In other news, autumn is well underway. You wouldn't know it (as native plants are green all year), except a bunch of homesick people brought a whole lot of trees with them. The largest collection of northern hemisphere trees in the southern hemisphere is a short drive from Gisborne.



PS: My new favourite picture of Nicole.

Frankly, I don't see the resemblance.

We're near the water
I know a guy, a guy with a boat
It doesn't have any motor
We could just sit, sit and float

Finally got around to sailing our new boat today. It's a Whiting 16. I would have better photos, but we can't seem to find the camera.


In other news, I'm making 48 pints (US) of beer. It should be ready in about 2 weeks, if anyone wants to come over.

Just me and my dad


For my father, who requested a link to his vacation photos (or rather, my photos of his vacation). Please note, they are completely unedited, and some of them are my attempts at using a (new to me) almost completely manual lens (Thank you Uncle Terry!).

21 photos here.
201 photos here.

To my 10 loyal readers

(Yes, I'm up to 10)

I see that quite a few people have clicked the "Follow" link. I was under the impression that it did something...but if it does do anything, I have yet to figure it out.

Anyway, I've finally gotten around to adding an email subscription service. Just put your email in the box to the left, and hit submit. At absolutely no charge, you will receive an email update whenever a new post appears.

New Zealand's Best One Day Walk

Alternative Title: This railroad apartment was the perfect place

[Note on Title #1: I have not yet decided whether or not the Tongariro Crossing is indeed the best one day walk; one thing for sure, I have not felt more crowded since leaving the US. It was more like a trail run than other walks I have done in NZ...someone is always trying to pass you (or, unless you're Nico, you're always trying to pass someone).]

A 7:30 AM start (on the last day of daylight saving time) gets you on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing before the sun rises. A little while later:


Mt Ngauruhoe was hidden in a cloud when we walked by, so we skipped the extra three or four hundred metres of climbing.


Mt Tongariro was also bathed in cloud, but as this was only a(n additional) one hour commitment, Nico and I split up, and I ran to the top. The fog drifted in and out; here are a few other people who made the climb.


Here are some rocks:


Did I mention there were a lot of people? Coming down Mt Tongariro (where there were only a few other crazy people who thought that a 19.4 km walk was not long enough), the main route looked like some sort of refugee march.


Interestingly, one can shoot this photo with:


Or without people:


I believe this is Lake Te Wai-whakaata-o-te-Rangihiroa (with Lake Taupo right behind it).


We opted for a bus ride from the finish...I guess there are people who walk back to the start. [My totals on the day: 19.4 km + 3 km for the Tongariro Summit=22.4 km...in only 7.5 hours.]


On the way home, we stopped in Ohakune. If we skied, I would totally buy an Ohakune yurt.


Instead, we stayed in the best hotel room ever.