Ian's Ramblings

We bought a zoo!

2012-01-22T21:08:00.001+10:00

Saw this movie today with Laetitia. It's about a single father and his two kids who need a change from their noisy and stressful city life, so they buy a house on many acres .. that just happens to have a zoo.

It's also about a family struggling to cope with the grief of losing a wife and mother.

And it's also about courage, adventure and (of course) true love.

It's a beautiful movie. Do yourself a favour and go see it.

(And either movies are getting deeper or I'm getting sappy in my old age, but I cried - several times.)

Auckland and home!

2012-01-13T21:00:00.014+10:00

We drove south back to Auckland along Highway 1. A toilet stop in Whangerei turned into a delightful exploration of a lovely park, including a chicken(!) and a pukeko wandering about. For my Australian friends, the pukeko is like a larger and less timid version of our moorhen - here, try this video. (Sorry, no sound; the only sound recorded by my camcorder was the mower in the background.)

Lunch was a picnic beside the road in Wellsford. Eventually we made it to the Airport Harbour View Motel, across the bay from the airport. Our room was spacious and clean with a galley kitchen and a large ensuite. Our hosts (“under new management”) were very friendly and helpful. Highly recommended, if you have your own transport (it’s a couple of kilometres from the Onehunga Mall).

We went out for dinner to the Curry Leaf Indian Restaurant in the mall, after discovering in response to our inquiries that they only cook in vegetable oil. The meal was delicious and good value for money. Also highly recommended!

In the morning we packed our bags for the last time and put aside all the things we didn’t want to take back with us - cooking items mostly, and a little left-over food. Our friends Jacques and Sarah came to meet us at the hotel and collected these things, and then we went with them to a café for morning tea.

Finally we went to the airport and returned our car. We had driven it 5525km in thirty days.

We left Auckland at a little after 3:00pm and arrived almost four hours later at 3:50pm, getting back the three hours we lost on the way to Christchurch a month ago. My parents picked us up from the airport, and we met Laetitia’s parents at the Loving Hut at Mt Gravatt for dinner together before going home.

Paihia

2012-01-12T15:00:00.015+10:00

On Tuesday morning we drove north from Auckland. We turned off the main highway to go to the Kauri Museum at Matakohe, stopping for a picnic lunch in Paparoa, the town before that. We were very pleased to see a sign in the park in Paparoa celebrating Christmas as Jesus’ birthday.

The Kauri Museum is excellent. We spent about three hours there and felt rushed. Seriously, you could spend an entire day there! They have so much information and so many displays. It’s wonderful. Just do it!

However we were due in Paihia so we eventually had to leave. We took the back road north from Paparoa, after asking for directions and advice a couple of times. It was a lovely scenic drive, not only shorter than returning east to Highway 1 first but also had little traffic.

In Paihia we stayed two nights at the Marlin Court Motel at the eastern end of town. Our room was spacious with a full kitchen and ensuite; highly recommended. Dinner was cooked in the room both nights.

On Wednesday morning we checked out St Paul’s Anglican, an old stone church on the esplanade, before making our way to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Somewhat tired from several cultural experiences already we chose not to spend NZ$25 each to go in; instead Laetitia bought a very informative book for only NZ$20. We tried twice (once from each end of the road) to get to Mt Bledisloe but unfortunately the road was gravel, which our hire car insurance wouldn’t cover. We visited Haruru Falls just west of Paihia, noting the brown tint to the water and guessing that to be due to tannins from the trees upriver.

Laetitia bought fish and chips in town and we returned to our motel room to eat lunch and have a nap.

In the afternoon we drove across to the west coast. (So amusing to be able to drive across the country in less than two hours! Okay so you can only do it this close to the northern end.) We wanted to see Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest, the largest living Kauri in New Zealand. And it is amazingly big, 1250 years old and 50m high! Yet at 14m in girth it is only small compared to some of the older ones that once grew here (as we discovered at the Kauri Museum). Such a huge and beautiful tree. Well worth going to see.

Can you see me at the bottom of this photo?

On the way back we paused at Hokianga Harbour for some photos, as the cloudy, drizzly mist was a little clearer than it had been on the way through earlier, and we also turned off to see Rawene where the ferry goes across to Kohukohu on the northern side. We finally got back to our hotel at 7:00pm.

On Thursday morning we headed south again, the end of our holiday in sight.

North Shore Auckland

2012-01-10T15:00:00.004+10:00

Monday night was spent at Albany Fairview Heights B&B in the North Shore area near Auckland. Our hosts Craig and Karen were very friendly and helpful and it was a delightful experience - highly recommended.

After a short nap we drove back into Auckland to see the view from the Sky Tower. Arriving at 6:02pm we serendipitously found a park on the street (Victoria St) only a block away in a section that was a Clearway until 6:00pm and then free parking (free!) until 8:00am the next day! Equally serendipitously we found a Loving Hut opposite the Sky Tower (also on Victoria St). We really like the Loving Hut in Brisbane (in Mt Gravatt), so we were very happy to give this one a try. It was quite nice, and all vegan of course, although not the same as the one we’re used to.

The view from 220m up the Sky Tower was, of course, spectacular.

Coromandel

2012-01-09T15:00:00.010+10:00

On the way north we stopped in Maunganui, hoping to see the MV Rena on the Astrolabe Reef, but either it was too far or the weather was too cloudy and drizzly - probably both. However we did have to cross carefully to the beach as the esplanade was being used for a half-triathlon!

Once we got to the Coromandel Peninsula the roads through the forests were steep and very twisty.

Arriving in Tairua we discovered the reason for the long lines of traffic - there was a food and wine festival. Avoiding that, we stopped at the info centre to check our planned route, since two out of three of our maps said the road we wanted was unsealed. (Not to worry as it turned out, it had been sealed four or five years ago. What does that say about those other, only recently-obtained, maps!?)

Laetitia bought some hot chips to help against the chilly wet weather and we drove a short way further to Hot Water Beach where we ate our lunch in the car, watching the rain fall and the tourists on the sand and in the surf. Apparently you can take a shovel and dig yourself a hole in the sand, where you’ll find warm water from a natural spring. We were there at low tide, but the weather was far too unpleasant (wet, windy and cold) for us to try it ourselves - not that anyone else seemed at all deterred!

Then we drove on around the peninsula to Coromandel town. The last part of the drive includes a steep climb with many, many turns over a mountain pass and a scenic lookout at the top. Unfortunately we were in the clouds from about a third of the way up, so we didn’t bother stopping to look at the view.

We stayed two nights in a self-contained unit managed by Pottery Lane Cottages. Our unit was very spacious with a lounge and full kitchen and even a (free!) laundry! Unfortunately the bed sagged and in the end we found the couch in the lounge was at least as comfortable as trying to sleep with both of us in the bed.

We cooked dinner in our unit both nights.

The first morning we spent resting and doing some laundry (free!). We walked into town and found some delicious red lentil soup for lunch at Chai Tea at the bottom of the hill on the western end of the main street. Laetitia discovered quilt supplies at Stapleton’s at the other end of town (nice, friendly service - by a man!).

After lunch we went for a short drive. We had intended to go to Long Bay but that appeared to need access through private property so instead we went to Wyuna Bay. We also went for a walk along the Kauri Block track up to the Pa Lookout since it was a good day for a walk - overcast and cool but not raining. It was quite a steep climb and we were astounded when a group of cyclists passed us, carrying their mountain bikes up the stairs with them! The view from the top was fantastic.

Returning to town we spent a couple of hours catching up with email etc. before dinner.

The following morning we had to go to the Post Office. Laetitia posted the quilt material she had bought, back to herself in Australia, and I had to organise a pre-paid bag to send to the place we stayed in National Park because I had left my phone charger there. They will put it in my pre-paid bag and post it to me back in Australia. Sigh.

The cloud cover being lighter and higher than when we’d arrived, we decided to have another try at the scenic lookout on the hill on the way into town. So we drove up the steep switchbacks and were indeed rewarded with a beautiful view both ways (east and west) from the top. Well worth doing.

The drive south along the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula was beautiful, winding along the coast.

We stopped in Thames for lunch, which we ate under a large tree outside one of the two old churches there made from Kauri wood. That one was closed, but the other (St George’s Anglican) was open and so we had a look inside there after lunch.

Then it was west and then north heading to and through Auckland.

Maketu

2012-01-07T15:00:00.002+10:00

We stayed the night at Maketu Hilltop Holiday Park in a self-contained studio with ensuite and small kitchen. It was quite comfortable, if a little small. The park is pet friendly - they even have several resident cats, dogs, horses and birds! (We only actually saw one cat and one dog, plus another visitor’s pet dog.)

Before dinner we drove down to the beach and checked out the memorial to the first Maori canoe arrival in the north and then one of the oldest churches in the region (closed, unfortunately, so we could only look from the outside). The sunset was lovely (the beach there faces north-west). Dinner was left-overs.

In the morning we left early for our long drive north up the east coast.

Rotorua

2012-01-06T15:00:00.011+10:00

On arrival in Rotorua we paused briefly at the lake, where a couple of boys were first feeding and then getting chased by a dozen black swans and a sizeable flock of seagulls, before checking in at the Union Victoria Motel. Our room was large with a full kitchen and the motel had its own mineral spa and hot pools as well as a warm swimming pool. Recommended.

Let me start by saying that although the sulphur smell in Rotorua is unpleasant at times, it’s not nearly as bad as I remember.

After checking in we went for a drive to see the redwoods and a couple of lakes just southeast of town. The redwoods are on a reserve with a ridiculous number of walking, biking and horse tracks marked out. The visitor centre has maps and of course souvenirs. We decided to do the shortest course, the Redwood Grove Memorial Track, which took us somewhat longer than the suggested thirty minutes (because we stopped so often for photos, I assume). The trees were beautiful: thick (2m), tall (up to 70m!) and quite red. The bark on the larger trees was thick and deeply grooved (like, I could bury my hands in the grooves).

The park was evidently a popular place for local joggers and families as well as tourists.

Blue Lake and Green Lake are just a bit further away along the same road. Their Maori names are much more creative, referring to stories about the lakes. Blue Lake (Tikitapu, named as the place where the daughter of a high-born chief lost her sacred greenstone neck ornament) had many boaters, waterskiiers and swimmers. Green Lake (Rotokakahi, named “lake of the shellfish”) is a Maori sacred site and boating, swimming and fishing is prohibited.

We returned to the unit and cooked our own dinner. Plenty left for tomorrow too - good!

In the morning Laetitia tried the motel’s hot mineral spa (too hot and too smelly!) and then the warm pool outside (much better). Then we headed to Te Puia, a thermal area at the southern end of town, where we spent the rest of the day.

Te Puia is built around the traditional village site for the Maori tribe who run the place. Our entry fee included a “cultural experience” which consisted of a traditional tribal greeting (weapons, fanfare, singing and an offered fern leaf) followed by an invitation into their hall (after we removed our shoes). Inside they gave a show with more traditional greetings followed by some singing and dancing, including inviting audience participation.

We then went on the guided tour. I was pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable our guide was and all the interesting things he told us about. We visited the weaving and carving schools which they have been running there for about forty-five years. Women and some men spend a year in the weaving school, while only men take three years to learn carving. We saw the kiwis in the kiwi house (although this of course was not our first experience in such a place, since we visited the Bird Wildlife Park in Queenstown). And we saw erupting geysers and boiling mud pools.

After the tour we lunched on our sandwiches (they have a café but don’t mind if you bring your own food; you can also go out to your car - or even drive into town - and re-enter later the same day with your ticket).

Then we walked around the park on our own, taking our time and seeing the other cultural displays. There are several old geysers there, many of which still steam although extinct, and one which although dormant for many years has been showing increasing signs of activity.

The boiling mud pools were just as weird as I remembered.

When we arrived at the active geyser area there were two geysers going. To our surprise, they did not stop while we stood and watched - and walked around and watched - and sat and watched - and walked around some more. They just kept going and going and going! Far from the promised “erupts twice an hour” it seemed to be one continuous eruption for at least half an hour. I’ve never seen one going off like that before. Finally, just as we lost patience with waiting and started walking away, it began to peter out.

Much more exciting than Old Faithful at Yellowstone.

And then we drove away towards the coast to the north.

Waitomo

2012-01-05T15:00:00.020+10:00

We arrived at the Waitomo Caves at lunch time, and the information centre (“the only place in town offering unbiased advice”) was quite busy, so we ate our sandwiches on a park bench first. We booked tickets for a couple of tours, deciding in favour of shorter experiences, and paid $2 extra for a very informative walk through and twenty minute movie in the discovery centre right there - very worthwhile.

Glowworms are not actually worms but rather the larval stage of a fly, and they are hungry, carnivorous beasts! About an inch long, they drop several silk threads down from their nest along which they spread sticky globules. Other insects flying up from the water below are tricked by the glowing lights into thinking that the glowworms are actually stars, and they fly upwards - and get caught on the sticky threads! And yes, they even happily eat other glowworm flies.

We then checked in to our accommodation, Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge B&B. Our hosts there (Colin, Janet and Gypsy the dog) were very friendly and quite happy to give us some useful, biased advice about food and activity options around town. Janet also gave us a tour of their lovely garden the next morning. Highly recommended!

We did the Aranui Cave tour at 3:30pm and then the (“world-famous”!) Waitomo Glowworm Caves at 5:00pm.

The Aranui Cave is huge and beautiful, filled with spectacular limestone features. It’s quite well lit and easily accessible, and our guide was friendly and well-informed. We saw the Pacific Rim “Ring of Fire” fault line from below and above (a little scary!) with some very long stalactites hanging down (the longest apparently four tonnes of stone!).

The Waitomo Glowworms were amazing. I was not expecting it to be particularly exciting (having seen them before as a child) but the boat ride in the dark and quiet, the cave ceiling all lit up with glowing points of light, the reflections off the water, .. I was blown away.

Each tour was about 45 minutes long, and both are definitely highly recommended!

For dinner we checked out a number of options. The newish restaurant across from our B&B, the Huhu Café, was reputed to be very good and able to cater for special needs, however the chef was very busy when we dropped in during the afternoon to ask and said he wouldn’t have time to prepare anything special for us. Several other places couldn’t serve us what we needed. But eventually we found the Morepork Pizzeria up the hill behind Curly’s Bar, where I had a “vegetable stack” (really more of a skewer than a stack) and Laetitia had fish, chips and salad. It was delicious.

At dusk (i.e. around 9:30pm), at the recommendation of our hosts, we grabbed torches and went a short way along the Ruakuri bushwalk - and saw glowworms on the cliff walls and under trees around the river. The moon was close to full, so the real stars were not very bright - it was easy to see how insects might get confused about where the stars and sky were.

The next morning we returned to the Ruakuri walk to complete the full circuit in daylight. The natural tunnel through which the river flows was quite spectacular, and the path goes through some smaller natural tunnels as well. There were many steps on the walk, though, along with some steep inclines, and we were quite tired out by the end.

Our hosts recommended State Highway 30 “all the way” to get to Rotorua, which turned out to be a delightful scenic drive indeed. We stopped for lunch in Whakamaru, where we enjoyed a delicious pizza along with great friendly service and conversation at Fred’s Pizzeria. Very highly recommended!

Tongariro National Park

2012-01-04T15:00:00.019+10:00

On our way north from Wellington we stopped for lunch in a town called Bulls. We’re not sure whether it was named after a person or an industry or what! However we were most amused by the clever puns they had put on signs and murals around the town.

We stopped again briefly in Taihape (“gumboot capital”!?) for groceries. Laetitia got some material from The Quilted Gumboot (friendly, not the cheapest but not unreasonable).

As we arrived in National Park (that’s the name of the town) we had a lovely view of Mt Ngauruhoe, a.k.a. Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. Unfortunately we didn’t see the top of the mountain again the next two days!

There are many volcanoes and old craters in the area, several of which are still quite active.

We stayed at Plateau Lodge, a backpackers type of place on the north side of the town. We really enjoyed the fellowship of cooking in a large communal kitchen and eating in the common dining room and lounge area with many other guests. Our own room was small but comfortable. Highly recommended!

The main reason people visit National Park is to go hiking (or “trekking”). The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is supposed to be one of the best one-day hikes in the world, and we can quite understand why (other-worldly volcanic terrain, native forests, views from 2200 metres, opportunities to summit two active volcanoes..) however we did not feel we were quite up to the challenge at the time, and besides the weather was.. unpleasant. We did go to the visitor centre at Whakapapa Village and discovered that the chairlifts were not running due to the poor weather forecast (cloudy with increasing rain). We tried the road up to the base of the chairlifts anyway, but decided to turn back after going about a third of the way because although the landscape was amazing we were already in the clouds and it was getting darker, wetter and colder by the minute. Those staying at Plateau Lodge who did the Crossing told us that evening that indeed they did not see the great views (visibility was apparently about twenty metres) - but still they felt it was worth doing! So perhaps on a future trip (when we’re a bit fitter!) we’ll plan to spend a week in the area and wait for good weather.

Instead we did a shorter walk just off the road up to Whakapapa, and then we drove to the south end of Lake Taupo and back. Lake Taupo is big. Apparently it (along with Lake Rotorua) is in fact an old caldera, i.e. large volcanic crater lake. (Must’ve been big volcanoes, eh!?)

We also stopped at a “thermal area” in Tokaanu, where steam was rising from the ground between the houses (also from a few places on the mountainside way above) and we saw a small geyser, some boiling mud and a few beautiful hot pools. Trout come there to spawn! They must like it hot.

We left on Wednesday morning, heading north again.

Wellington

2012-01-02T15:00:00.022+10:00

The drive along the north-east coast of the South Island was beautiful in the morning light. The clouds of the last few days were clearing and the road winds along with hills on one side and a steep drop to the ocean on the other. We paused at Ohau Point to see (and smell!) the seals far, far below on the rocks just above the surf. There were even a few younger pups there - very exciting! One of them seemed to be chasing a seagull, and kept getting disappointed when it flew away.

We were due in Picton an hour before our ferry departed at 1:10pm. Since we arrived about an hour and a half early we went into the centre of town and Laetitia checked out The Dog Box, a quilt and craft shop on the main street (friendly, decent prices even without the 20% off on the day we were there). We also drove a short way up Queen Charlotte Drive to the lookout and enjoyed the views out across the sound and back over the port to the town. We could see our large ferry docked and waiting. There was quite a lot of boat traffic in the sound.

When the time came we drove onto the ferry, parked as directed and went upstairs. It’s quite a large boat with several lounges, cafés and bars. We started on the sun deck on the roof, but moved down to the recliner lounge after a while when the wind got too cold for us. The crossing takes about three hours and the scenery is spectacular, especially in the sounds and the harbours at both ends.

When we reached Wellington we drove off the ferry and tried to find our hotel. It turns out there are two Mercure hotels and of course we went to the wrong one first! (Fortunately the other was only a couple of blocks away.) We think we were in the older one; our room was comfy enough for a small motel room but the building had a kind of old and tired feel to it.

Looking for dinner we walked down to and then along Cuba Street. The Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant was unfortunately closed, however we did find a handful of other options and decided on a simple (and cheap!) meal from a Turkish kebab shop.

The next morning after checking out we drove into town to see the Old St Paul’s Church. When the new cathedral was built (which we also paused to have a look at - only the outside unfortunately, as it was closed since it was a public holiday) the old building was no longer needed as a parish church. It became dilapidated and was going to be demolished, but there were big protests at the idea, so instead the government bought the building and it was restored. It’s quite plain on the outside, but inside the timberwork in the ceiling and the stained glass windows are really beautiful.

And then we drove away to the north up Highway 1.

Kaikoura

2012-01-01T15:00:00.018+10:00

Arriving in Kaikoura in time for a late lunch (and far too early to check in), we drove through the middle of town and decided after some dithering to try the Thai Siam for lunch. All the options we saw were quite expensive; it’s evidently not a cheap place to stay (we paid NZ$125 a night) nor eat out. Our lunch was tasty enough, but not really worth the price. Laetitia tried abalone (NZ paua in fact) and says the flavour was indistinct.

After lunch we checked in to our accommodation, the Comfort Inn Mediterranean Motel at the north end of town, and then visited the local quilt shop, A Patch of Country (good range of fabrics, friendly staff, more expensive - says Laetitia). For dinner we snacked in our room, which was spacious enough with a small kitchenette (full sink, microwave, electric frypan but no other hotplate).

In the morning we enjoyed a 40-minute guided tour of a limestone cave just to the south of town with a garrulous and enthusiastic guide. This cave was discovered by accident when the wall of the limestone quarry outside fell through. Probably there are many other caves in the area, but nobody has bothered looking for them.

We had lunch in town at Coriander’s Indian Restaurant, a remarkable find on the main highway rather than in the busy and expensive town centre. Our satisfying meal cost us less than $NZ40. Highly recommended.

After lunch we drove out to Point Kean to see the seals. The tide was out but starting to come back in, and we walked out over the rocks following the fishy smell. We saw three seals, one male moving around a bit and two females sleeping, as well as a variety of birdlife. In the car park there was a mother duck with three ducklings, all quite bold in looking cute and hopeful.

Then we drove just northwest of town to the lavender farm, where we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the scent-heavy gardens. Already a little tired beforehand, the rich lavender in the air was enough to make me feel very sleepy, so from there we returned to our motel and I had a nap.

We had originally thought we might go whale-watching but the miserable weather (cold and occasionally drizzly) and the expense put us off.

Dinner was a stir-fry cooked in our room.

The next morning we left early because we had a ferry to catch just after midday.

Amberley

2011-12-30T15:00:00.012+10:00

Leaving Fairlie we took the alternative route towards the east, which wound down through several valleys onto the Canterbury plain where we turned north onto Highway 1. At Ashburton we stopped at Annie’s Country Quilt Shop (friendly, good range of material, good prices, according to Laetitia). Once we were out of the hills, the roads became long, straight and flat - and thus a constant challenge to stay awake!

When we reached Christchurch we returned to the Welcome Vegetarian Chinese Café for lunch. We chose different meals and enjoyed them just as much as our first dinner in New Zealand.

We then continued driving north through increasing drizzle and reached Amberley around 4pm and checked in to Delhaven Motels & Caravan Park. We were in a “standard motel unit”, which was large, well lit by the many windows and had a full kitchen. No wifi on site (but the library down the road provides free wifi). However the shower (as we discovered later) suffered somewhat from a lack of water pressure; it was a very thin stream of variable temperature, and we’re glad we didn’t have to be use it in cold weather. Not recommended, especially if you’re going to be there in winter!

Given the dreary rain Laetitia decided to stay in while Ian went to check out the library’s free wifi and Amberley Beach. The beach was almost deserted, only one person walking their dog - hardly surprising in that weather - cold and grey, a mix of stones and dark sand.

After our filling lunch we just snacked in our room for dinner.

The next morning we decided to take the inland route to Kaikoura, along two legs of the “Alpine Scenic Triangle”. We had originally intended to check out Lewis Pass but all we would have seen would have been the inside of a cloud. However the second half of the drive, northeast from Waiau down to Kaikoura was indeed very scenic, a beautiful road winding around and along the sides of wide, steep-sided valleys, down into several gorges and across old one-lane bridges before climbing up again, surrounded by green hills and flowering trees and sheep and cattle farms. Highly recommended!

Fairlie

2011-12-29T15:00:00.019+10:00

Our next two nights were in Fairlie, 60 km west of Highway 1 on the way to Lake Tekapo. We stayed at the Pinewoods Motel where the managers are a friendly Christian couple. They offered to upgrade us for the first night only (unfortunately they were fully booked on the second) but we declined because we didn’t want to have to move our things between rooms the next day. Even the smaller room was quite comfortable, with a spacious bathroom - highly recommended. We cooked our own dinner in our room and spent the night in, reading and resting.

On Wednesday we enjoyed a lovely sleep-in and then made lunch to take with us on our drive. We headed north-west to Lake Tekapo and the town of the same name, then further west to Twizel at the southern end of Lake Pukaki. We decided not to go to Mt Cook on this trip. We loved the wildflowers growing along the road, although they’re actually considered weeds, and we weren’t the only ones; we spotted several tourists cutting heads to take away with them. On the way back through Tekapo we stopped to check out the historic church building, currently being used by three different congregations (Presbyterian, Anglican and Catholic). Dinner was again cooked in our room.

Dunedin

2011-12-27T15:00:00.056+10:00

Some years ago our friend Allison moved from Brisbane to Dunedin. Her mother Cherry is also staying with her temporarily.

We found her place without any trouble, on the side of a steep hill (like most streets in Dunedin!). Indeed, her house is quite high up above street level, with quite a steep walk to get to the front door. Several exhausting trips later, we had our things in our room (actually Allison’s bedroom!) and were ready for Christmas Eve.

After briefly meeting a couple of her friends who dropped by, we played some games including Ticket to Ride and had a simple dinner. We were pretty worn out after our long drive from Gore.

On Christmas morning we got ourselves up in time to go to church. We had chosen a likely one just a couple of blocks down the road by looking on the internet the night before. Of course, we didn’t know whether the website was up-to-date nor whether the Christmas Day service would be at the usual time of 10:00 am…

We wandered down the street (“down” being exactly the right word in this case), going a little past the New Life church we were aiming for to also check out the beautiful Anglican building on the next corner. The Anglican service had started at 9am, so we were far too late for that. We walked back to New Life and went in at about 9:50 - and discovered that they’d started already! Ah well, not to worry. It turns out they’d started not long before, and indeed their website was quite out of date.

Nevertheless they were friendly and welcoming and we enjoyed the service. Then of course we had to walk back up the street - and then the front path and stairs! - to get back home to Allison’s.

Christmas lunch was a quiet get-your-own affair, because she’d invited friends over for a big Christmas dinner. We opened some presents, and handed over ours for Allison (some Australian bubbly wine). In the afternoon we played more games, first with Allison and then with her friends when they arrived. Cherry prepared the meal and Allison and Cherry even made their own Christmas bon-bons!

Dinner was delicious! Cherry had made us a nut loaf to go with the roast vegetables, as well as a date loaf with extra fruit (making it more like a Christmas pudding) served with soy ice cream. We were well fed, and the company was cheerful. A fabulous evening!

On Boxing Day we made ourselves a packed lunch and headed out to the Otago Peninsula. At Taiaroa Head at the very end there is a wildlife reserve, the only place in the world apparently where albatross nest on a human-inhabited mainland. These are Northern Royal Albatross, weighing about 8kg and with a wingspan of around three metres. Taiaroa Head has also been of military significance for both the Maori and European people here.

The road out to Taiaroa is narrow and winding along the very edge of the Peninsula - a beautiful drive.

The reserve is well protected and you can only go past the visitor centre as part of a guided tour. The visitor centre itself has a large gallery full of interesting details and lovely photographs. We did the Unique Taiaroa Tour which included a short informative video about the albatross followed by a walk up the (steep!) hill to the observatory, then a walk further up the hill to Fort Taiaroa. We were there in incubating season and from the observatory we saw one albatross sleeping on a nest. They also showed us live video from a camera around the corner from where we were, of three others also sitting on their nest. Solitary animals at any time, they were all quite a way from each other. Mother and father take about week-long turns either incubating or out at sea feeding. Apparently the young, when they are mature enough to fly (mid next year), will spend their first five years entirely at sea, not once making landfall! When they eventually return to where they hatched, they’ll have their juvenile tag replaced with an adult tag and will then be closely monitored. We also saw a colony of shags (what we would call cormorants) and a few spoonbills.

On the way up to the Fort we had to walk past a seagull colony. It’s funny, you never really think about seagulls nesting, but obviously it has to happen somewhere! The young chicks were absolutely gorgeous, cute little fluffy things with dark feathers (or speckled as they grew older) and far less bold and brash than the adults. The parents were understandably very protective and nearly burst our eardrums with their loud warning calls.

Inside the Fort we were impressed by the “disappearing gun”, which is raised hydraulically to fire its 100 lb (!) shells then lowered back underground for reloading. We also got to see another nesting albatross not far from the windows of the observation post, which were about at ground level and about a foot high.

We had our lunch outside (watching carefully to avoid seagull droppings) and looked out from the cliff on the eastern side - to see a seal rolling in the water far below! We also saw some black ducks, but no penguins from where we were (apparently they nest a bit further around).

Then we set off for Larnach Castle, the only castle in New Zealand - which claim we found amusing; does Australia even have any castle? This one was built by an Australian whose parents were Scots. The current owners are trying to restore it and have done a good job of making it an interesting tourist attraction, as well as revitalising and extending the surrounding gardens. We did the (self-guided) tour of the castle itself, enjoying the eclectic décor, lovely tiled floors and kauri wood furniture, hanging spiral staircase (plus the tight twist up to the tower) and the view from the top. Actually, all the bedrooms get a very good view.

In the garden we followed the Native Plant Trail. We liked the detailed information in the brochure and enjoyed the “hunt”, managing to find all but one of the marked plants.

Then it was time to head home. Dinner was left-overs from the night before. We played a game of Bolivia with Allison.

The next morning it was time to pack our things up again. Several more trips up and down the steep front path! We said our goodbyes, then went off to see a couple more things before leaving Dunedin.

The train station down near the docks is a lovely brick building from 1904, with tiled floors and stained glass windows. The train waiting there to take tourists up Taieri Gorge will have to wait until another time for us, unfortunately.

Then we drove north past the botanic gardens (pausing briefly to wash the seagull poo from the day before off our windscreen) to the lookout atop Signal Hill, and then around to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world! (According to Guinness at any rate.) Yes, it was very steep. Somehow just seeing it was a challenge, so up it we had to walk.

And then finally we left Dunedin, stopping for a picnic lunch soon after and then again to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are most interesting spherical stone boulders scattered along the beach.

Gore

2011-12-24T15:00:00.019+10:00

On Friday morning we drove south from Te Anau to take the scenic coastal route to Gore via Manapouri, Tuatapere and Invercargill. We had a picnic lunch at McCracken’s Rest, the most south-westerly point of the New Zealand state highway network, with a lovely view over the ocean towards Antarctica. The wind was fresh but (somewhat surprisingly) not too cold. Every now and then an albatross or three would drift by (Southern Buller’s mollymawk, a small albatross), plus the usual seagulls. We even saw a few dolphins playing in the surf way below.

We took a detour south from Invercargill to go to Bluff. We checked out Stirling Point and the sign at the start of Highway 1. We also went up Bluff Hill - up a very steep road that our rental car struggled with a little. The view from the top was fabulous.

When we eventually got to Gore (at 6pm!) we found our accommodation, the Oakleigh Motel, and decided we were too weary to go out for dinner, so we snacked in the room instead. It was a large and comfortable suite and the hosts were very friendly. Highly recommended.

The next morning Laetitia discovered a quilt shop right across the road from the motel! Unfortunately it was closed for Christmas. She was very disappointed.

Gore’s claims to fame include country music (sister city to Tamworth in Australia) and trout fishing. We checked out the various monuments in the centre of town before heading east to Dunedin.

Fiordland

2011-12-23T15:00:00.060+10:00

The drive from Queenstown was long and in parts straight and flat and boring so we were quite tired when we arrived in Te Anau. We checked into Fiordland Great Views Holiday Park and were really looking forward to three nights in the same place! We stayed in our room for that evening, cooking dinner ourselves.

The next day was our Doubtful Sound cruise. We were picked up from the gate and taken to Manapouri, where we boarded a boat to cross Lake Manapouri to the hydroelectric power station at West Arm. Our trip included a “tour” of the power station, so we got on our bus and they drove us down into the bedrock. Yes, the power station is deep in the rock; it’s a long drive down a steep (1 in 10) dark spiralling tunnel. The “tour” basically included a few minutes on the viewing platform and a short explanation of how it works. There’s actually not that much to see; the station is remotely operated from the surface. But the tunnels and stories were interesting and worthwhile.

After we climbed back out, the bus took us up over Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove on Doubtful Sound. The driver’s stories about the pass were very interesting. The road was built specifically for taking the machines to the power station; they thought that would be cheaper than taking everything to Bluff on the south coast and transporting it to by road to Manapouri and then across the lake. However, as our driver put it, “Fiordland had other ideas” and the road ended up costing about $2 per centimetre in today’s money! It’s a steep (1 in 5!) and winding gravel road but it’s actually very good (it had to be, to support the very heavy machinery they had to truck in). It was paved with gravel made by crushing the waste material from the tunnels dug out for the power station.

Doubtful Sound itself is actually a fiord (carved by a glacier), not a sound (carved by a river). Our boat took us along the fiord out to the Tasman Sea, then back again, with a couple of excursions around islands and into one of the arms. We were able to get close to a fur seal colony on rock islands at the mouth of the fiord and saw rare dusky dolphins on the way back.

The weather was spectacular, sunny and breezy and warm. Apparently this is rather unusual; it’s more common to see four seasons in one day, and the average rainfall is 3m at Deep Cove and 8m at the mouth, with a record recently of 16m in one location. However when we were there it hadn’t rained for three weeks (the locals were calling it a drought) and the many waterfalls were just small trickles or not flowing at all. Nevertheless the views were spectacular and it was a lovely day out.

On our return to Deep Cove we took our bus back over Wilmot Pass, boat back over Lake Manapouri and then were dropped off back in Te Anau where we had left-overs for dinner before collapsing in bed from exhaustion.

The following day we drove north to Milford Sound. We stopped several times along the way and saw a range of landscapes including beech forests and lakes (all with many sand flies).

Ian especially enjoyed the Homer Tunnel, a 1.3km long tunnel carved through the mountain. (This next photo is a re-creation of one taken on his previous trip to NZ when he was a child. The tunnel is now controlled by traffic lights instead of signposted times.)

Milford Sound also looked beautiful, and we had a picnic lunch at the waterside (amidst a cloud of sand flies) before driving back to Te Anau. Dinner was another room-cooked meal.

We really enjoyed the accommodation and friendly hosts at Fiordland Great Views Holiday Park and the Doubtful Sound Cruise - both highly recommended!

Queenstown

2011-12-20T15:00:00.015+10:00

We stayed at the Sherwood Manor Hotel on the highway between Frankton and Queenstown. After checking in we headed into town and found the Skyline gondola and Kiwi Birdlife Park. The gondola was still operating until 9pm, so we went up and also took a ride on the luge at the top. Great fun!

Dinner was left-overs from Wanaka.

The next morning we decided to pass on the jetboats and instead spend a few hours enjoying the excellent Kiwi Birdlife Park. We saw their kiwis (what is the plural, anyway?) which they house in special buildings where they artificially switch day and night (because kiwis are nocturnal). They were cute, surprisingly large and very active, running about scratching and pecking at the ground. The park also has a selection of other native birds and also some tuatara lizards. We enjoyed the Conservation Show which also included some introduced Australian animals (a possum and a rainbow lorikeet) which are pests in New Zealand.

For lunch we got a take-away from Freiya’s Indian Restaurant (delicious food and quite cheap - highly recommended!) in the centre of town, and took it to the beach by the lake in Frankton, which was pleasant and quiet except when planes took off overhead from the airport right behind us! The view was spectacular.

Then we headed south towards Lumsden before turning off west to Te Anau. We stopped briefly in Garston (apparently “New Zealand’s most inland village”, pop. 106) to taste-test and buy some small pots of local honey.

Wanaka

2011-12-19T15:00:00.035+10:00

On arrival in Wanaka we were reminded of one of the reasons we had wanted to stay there: Puzzling World. We stopped briefly to check opening times for the next day, then went on to our accommodation, Manuka Crescent Motel. This was a lovely place away from the main road. We especially liked being upgraded to a larger suite. We did a load of washing (expensive but necessary), hanging the clothes on the line just outside for a few hours in the wind until dusk (9pm, remember!) before bringing them inside to finish drying in the room overnight. Dinner was cooked in our room again.

Ian went to the shops for supplies while Laetitia kept an eye on the laundry. He brought back a pack of fresh peas in their pods, which Laetitia shelled while he started cooking. It’s something that can be done while thinking about something else or even watching TV, however she doesn’t intend to make a habit of it as it’s rather time consuming, which isn’t conducive to a quick meal.

The next day we went to Puzzling World. The great maze took us over an hour and introduced us to many people (other maze walkers). Yes, I’m sure we did walk at least the average four to five km! You have to find your way from the entrance near the centre to each of the four corners (in order, for an additional challenge) and then back out again to the exit near the start - which is almost as hard as finding the corners!

Then we visited the illusion rooms, which were very impressive, but quite hard to describe. You just have to go there yourself, I guess!

We went back into town for lunch, finding suitable take-away fare at a kebab shop on the esplanade, and took it away from the busy centre of town to a quieter spot on the beach by the lake to eat.

On our way out of town, we visited Christofer Robyn Quilts, where Laetitia browsed the wares and we asked for advice on which route to take to Queenstown. The Crown Range route sounded more like us, so we took that option and indeed very much enjoyed the views as we descended in many switchbacks down from the pass. Apparently that’s the highest sealed road in New Zealand, at 1076 m, and it was only sealed in 2000.

Haast

2011-12-18T15:00:00.013+10:00

Our next night was spent in Haast, a coastal town just before the highway turns inland. We stayed at the Heartland World Heritage Hotel, which was a nice place with lovely lawns and a delightful cool breeze. No fridges in the rooms (apparently Haast is not connected to the national grid, so electricity is at a premium) but they stored our cold bag in their cooler for us. Not feeling up to driving into town to find somewhere to eat, we asked at the hotel’s restaurant, and the chef was happy to cook something suitable (and quite large portions) at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.

After dinner we went for a short drive down the coast road towards Jackson Bay. Our plan had been to look for seals or penguins, however at our first stop along the beach we were promptly attacked by swarms of sand flies so we decided to curtail our drive and head back to the hotel.

We’re still getting used to the latitude here - we got back to our hotel around 9:30pm, in time to watch the sunset!

In the morning we drove east to Haast Pass. At the top, there’s a walking track up to a lookout. Not allowing ourselves to be put off by the steep switchbacks we could see, we grabbed our cameras and water bottles and set off. It was a very steep climb that took us 31 minutes, only a minute longer than the suggested walking time on the sign at the bottom, including several short stops and a rest on the seat provided half-way to catch our breath. But the view from the top was good. Walking down was a bit tricky on the sometimes loose gravel!

We stopped for a picnic lunch soon afterwards at a rest stop near Camp Flat overlooking the Makarora River.

Glaciers

2011-12-17T15:00:00.014+10:00

On our third day we drove south along State Highway 6 to Franz Josef. We had wanted to do a few walks up to lookouts in Greymouth before we left, but with the low-hanging clouds and continuing drizzle we decided there wasn’t much point. We also stopped briefly at Shantytown, just south of Greymouth, to check out the tourist attraction there, but again decided against spending $30 each to wander around in the drizzle.

We stopped for lunch at Hokitika. We checked out the Jade Factory as well as the views from the lookout at Sunset Point, at the head of the river. The weather was starting to clear by this point. Unfortunately the Jade Factory no longer runs the make-your-own jewellery carving course, so Laetitia had to cross that off her wish-list. We took a short walk through a patch of regrowth forest called Bushman’s Rest, then had a picnic lunch.

The drive down the coast included more and more steep inclines - up one mountain, down the other side, a one-lane bridge over a river, then up the next mountain.

When we got to Franz Josef we checked in to the Top 10 Holiday Park, which was excellent, and, with the weather continuing to clear and a sunny forecast ahead, we booked ourselves in for a heli-hike onto Fox Glacier the next morning. For dinner we had a stir fry cooked by ourselves in the kitchen next door to our room. What a pleasure to have a “home”-cooked meal!

The next morning dawned beautiful and sunny, with patches of drifting fog obscuring and then revealing different parts of the rugged mountain peaks. We headed off to Fox township and checked in for our helicopter ride. It was amazing! They flew us right up close to the walls of the valley and did some tight swooping curves over the glacier. We got to see right down a deep, deep hole into a waterfall down under the glacier! Then we landed on the ice. They gave us crampons to attach to our boots and a walking pole, and we set off up the glacier. Spectacular! It was a bit tricky to begin with, but after a while we got used to how to step to keep the crampons spiked firmly into the ice.

We saw ice caves, crevasses, a small lake atop the ice. (Yes, the water was cold!) The top surface is white where the sun has warmed it and the structure is disturbed, scattering the light, but the solid ice underneath is quite blue.

After a few hours the helicopter came back to pick us up and we returned to the township below. We had lunch there at the Cook’s Saddle (delicious, not too expensive, friendly service: definitely recommended!) before driving on southwards along the coast.

Greymouth

2011-12-16T15:00:00.000+10:00

Our second night was spent in Greymouth on the west coast. It lived up to its name, with overcast skies and intermittent drizzle. The breakwater at the head of the Grey River was supposed to have “views of Mt Cook” but all we saw were clouds. However the surf was spectacular, huge waves crashing into the breakwater and throwing spray up and over. The “beach” consisted entirely of rocks and stones, huge slabs of limestone (you can see why they used to mine it here) all the way down to small rounded skipping stones. The retreating waves were very noisy as they washed back off the beach.

We stayed in the Kingsgate Hotel on the esplanade (along the Grey River, not the ocean) and ate at Priya Indian Restaurant. The hotel advertised itself as “hotel accommodation at a backpacker price” - well if that was a backpacker price then we’re glad we’re not backpacking!

Christchurch, New Zealand!

2011-12-15T15:00:00.001+10:00

We flew into Christchurch on Wednesday afternoon. We left Brisbane at 9am, where it was already over 20°C heading for about 28°C, and arrived three hours later at 3pm. Don’t you love travelling between different time zones? (But not to worry, we’ll get those three hours back on the way home again!) When we arrived it was grey, about 18°C with a stiff breeze making it feel closer to 10°C.

We sorted out a local prepaid SIM card for Laetitia’s phone, then called for a pickup from our hire car company (Apex). They gave us a manual Nissan Sunny for just under $40/day, with an Interislander ferry ticket included (for the car only; we have to pay extra for ourselves).

We stayed the night at Tui Lodge Motel. They upgraded us to a larger room, and the lady running the place was very friendly and helpful. They had beautiful roses in the gardens in front of the rooms. Unfortunately the pillows were a bit lumpy and there was an unpleasant musty odour wafting around the back.

For dinner we went to the Welcome Vegetarian Chinese Café, which we spotted while buying some groceries and our hotel host said she liked when we asked her about it. It was fantastic! The menu has a symbol to mark dishes that aren’t vegan, and they don’t cook with capsicum at all (which Laetitia was very pleased about). The food was delicious! Highly recommended: it’s on Wharenui Rd at Riccarton Rd.

The next morning we took a little drive around Christchurch, seeing the fenced-off areas in the city where so many buildings were damaged in the earthquake earlier this year, and stopped for a walk in the Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park. It was beautiful there. We especially enjoyed the giant pine trees.

Then we drove off to the west along State Highway 73 through Arthur’s Pass. The scenery was (of course) beautiful. Lush green forest, high mountains and wide valleys, many one-lane bridges. The rivers were quite clear water rushing over rocks and pebbles.

At a rest stop on the eastern side, just after one long one-lane bridge (long enough to have a passing bay in the middle!) we saw our first Kea. It was fat and green and curious. It was so fat it waddled! Later, in Arthur’s Pass itself, we saw many more. They are as cheeky as their reputation, and yes, they are definitely very interested in door seals! We even saw a couple staying on car roofs for a few seconds as the cars drove away.

In praise of nurses

2011-09-23T14:19:00.001+10:00

With Laetitia in hospital getting her heart valve fixed, I've been spending a lot of time in the company of acute-care nurses. And I'm struck by just what an amazing job they do. In the ICU it's busy and noisy 24/7, they do long shifts watching just one patient. Whatever needs to be done to keep you alive and comfortable, they'll do - no hesitation, no complaints, happy to serve.

Leah, Sophie, Steph - thanks for caring for my wife and speeding her recovery. You're amazing!

John Piper

2011-08-25T22:31:00.001+10:00

Parking at the BCEC $15
Ticket $35
Hearing John Piper's message - priceless :)

Starting from:
Only one life that soon will pass
Only what's done for Christ will last
.. he spoke on the topic "Don't waste your life" - where a wasted life is one that doesn't reflect God's magnificence. My life should at all times magnify God to a world full of people who can't see him clearly (or at all) for their own sin and the broken world we live in. "To live is Christ and to die is gain" - God made me, he owns me, everything I am and have and do belongs to Him. My life should demonstrate that I consider God worth more than anything else - riches, food, rights, freedom, even my life.

Ok, so what does that look like in my life?

Well, I'm reflecting on my teaching. I have been learning over the last few years how to be a good teacher, and how to include God's priorities in my teaching - both topics and practice. But am I reflecting His glory in the way I teach, in the way I treat my students, in how I respond to dishonesty, misbehaviour, rudeness? Does my teaching show that I value God above my subject, above my own desires, above my job, above assessment items, above school rules, .. above everything else?

Hard questions. Watch this space. I know God can do miracles - as those who knew me as an arrogant teenager also know! What will God do with me next?

Prayer updates for Laetitia's heart surgery

2011-08-18T06:40:00.000+10:00

Laetitia's heart surgery is scheduled for Thursday 22 September at Epworth Private Hospital in Richmond, Melbourne. We're going there because it's the only place in Australia where they offer robotic repair surgery. This will hopefully mean less trauma and therefore a quicker recovery than going through the front of the chest.

We know that God responds to the prayers of His people; we would love to have you praying for Laetitia. I will be posting updates about her progress through surgery and recovery to a blog I've set up called "Laetitia's Heart", at http://laetitias-heart.blogspot.com/. If you would like to receive these updates by email instead, you can do so from that blog page (or click here). You will receive a confirmation email address; respond as directed in that email, and you'll be subscribed.

Red Dog

2011-08-08T21:07:00.001+10:00

Saw a movie tonight, thanks to a friend's generous gift of a pair of tickets. We chose Red Dog, and loved it. Very cute, sad, romantic, very Australian. Beautiful scenery and witty cinematography. And of course we now want a kelpie!

Highly recommended.

A busy semester

2011-08-04T14:42:00.000+10:00

Well what can I say? Sorry it's been so long. It's been a very busy first semester.

As I wrote earlier, this year I'm teaching Year 11 and 12 Maths A, and Year 10, 11 and 12 Physics. The Physics classes are going much better this year, since it's now my second time around—especially since the start of term two (I only started teaching Year 12 Physics in term two last year). My revised and extended Year 10 Physics unit is definitely an improvement. I'm even collecting and marking the assignments electronically now. I wonder if I can figure out a way to get them to do their exams online too…?

I am missing the Year 10 Prep Maths A, though.

Other than that, I enjoyed my lecturing at CHC, although it was a lot of work. That's finished now; I didn't even have to create a supplementary exam! (Which is not the same as saying that all the students passed…)

So far this semester has been much less stressful. I hope it stays that way.

Asthma

2011-05-20T21:19:00.001+10:00

Many, many years ago—long before blogging or Facebook—I was asthmatic. At high school I used to carry around so much medication in my pencilcase that I was called a walking apothecary. My triggers were a list of allergens including dust mites and cats, as well as vigorous exercise. I missed several weeks of school in Year 11, because I simply couldn't sleep properly; lying down exacerbated my asthma, so I spent all night and much of the day sitting more-or-less upright in a lounge chair.

As I left my teens behind, I gradually found I needed less medication. And then one day I read about the link between sulphur dioxide (additive 220, used as a preservative) and asthma, removed it from my diet, and what little asthma I had left stopped almost overnight.

Or so I thought.

Over the last ten years or so, I've had asthmatic symptoms maybe a handful of times. On most occasions a hot shower was all I needed, the warm moist air alleviating my discomfort within a few minutes. (And on every occasion I prayed!)

Until this year.

So far this year I have had several significant asthma attacks. So much so that during Easterfest in Toowoomba I bought some Ventolin and I have actually used it more than once (for the first time in over ten years).

Apparently I'm not alone. I have read and heard from many others with allergy / hay fever problems that this year is a very bad year. The reason may be that due to the flooding that has broken the drought out west, there's a whole lot of plants (mostly grasses) that are suddenly flowering for the first time in, oh, probably at least ten years, releasing pollens to drift around the continent on the wind.

I'm not looking forward to August and the westerlies.

A visit to see the eye doctor

2011-02-09T21:02:00.000+10:00

On Monday I went to see my old family ophthalmologist (a hard word to spell!), Dr Mark McGree. It was a check-up on my RPE defect which was diagnosed by Dr Kirkwood in Mackay. Dr Kirkwood told me to come back if things changed. Well, it's a bit difficult to go back to him now that we live in Brisbane, but I used to see Dr McGree before we went to Mackay, so I just went to see him instead.

The spot in my left eye's vision has grown a little. Hmm, let me draw a diagram instead of trying to find the right words:

In that spot, colours are wrong, especially if I blink quickly, and lines don't go through it straight. The shimmering I used to get when I looked at something really bright seems to have gone away. But the non-straight lines cause me some interesting issues, with spreadsheets and class rolls and other regular grids, but also with circular objects like protractors, mixing bowls and even circles I draw on the whiteboard. (They really don't look circular if the edge goes through that spot!)

I also seem to be getting a small odd spot in my right eye, just below my centre of focus.

Anyway, my eye doctors have traced it to a spot on my retina where I seem to have a drusen, a yellowish spot that seems to be between the RPE and the light-detecting cells in the retina. In Monday's OCT scan, you can see a small bump there:

Classes for 2011

2011-01-28T20:51:00.000+10:00

… and so begins the school year for 2011.

This year I am teaching Physics in Years 10 through 12 (well, the Physics unit of Science in year 10), Maths A in Years 11 and 12, and Christian Foundations in Year 12. This is a lovely mix, to which I would only for preference have added Year 10 Maths, but that's on at the same time as Year 12 Physics, so I can't (and besides, then I'd be teaching far too much!).

I have rewritten the Year 10 Physics unit because the new timetable allocates more time to Science in Year 10 than last year, and also every student in Year 10 will this year have a laptop with access to the school network. This is a good thing, because it means (a) I can set up a “virtual classroom” with all the planning, notes, worksheets and other resources the students need, and (b) I can run more interesting software-based interactive activities during lessons. But of course, the students won't actually receive their laptops until week 4! So now I've had to make copies of a whole lot of things for them for the next few weeks. Sigh.

The new timetable has only 60 and 90 minute lessons for Years 9-12, where last year it was a mix of 40, 45 and 90. Longer lessons for the older students is a really good thing!

My Year 12 classes are lovely—because they're the same classes I had in Year 11 last year. My Year 11 Maths A class is too big. Poor things, they're seeing my strict and grumpy side. I have little choice, given the number of students. Ah well, learning a little self-discipline now will only help them in the future.

And let me just say (along, I think, with most school teachers in Australia) how much I appreciated having the Australia Day holiday in the middle of the first week.

Teaching maths to teachers-to-be

2011-01-20T20:45:00.000+10:00

I must be mad. I am taking on an extra job this semester: sessional lecturing at CHC. I'll be teaching maths one evening a week to 2nd year education students.

Thanks letter to MECC

2011-01-03T09:03:00.000+10:00

Functions Manager
Mackay Entertainment Convention Centre

Dear Sir/Madam,

It brings me great pleasure to finally find time to write in regard to a wonderful evening I spent at MECC late last year. I am a past teacher of Mackay Christian College, and I attended the College’s Year 12 Graduation function at MECC on Thursday 18 November 2010.

I have special dietary needs and I know many people have difficulty catering for me. However I am happy to say that your staff met my needs very well. The curry for the main course was fabulous, spicy but not too hot, and the white cake for dessert was delicious and presented in a way I could not possibly have done myself.

Please pass on my compliments and thanks to those involved in preparing and presenting my meal. I look forward to returning to MECC for other functions in the future.

Yours faithfully,

Ian Bailey-Mortimer

Thanks letter to Sirromet

2011-01-03T09:00:00.000+10:00

Functions Manager
Sirromet Wines Pty Ltd

Dear Sir/Madam,

It brings me pleasure to finally find time to write in regard to a wonderful evening I spent at Sirromet late last year. I am a teacher at Calvary Christian College, and I attended the College’s Year 12 Formal function at Sirromet on Tuesday 16 November 2010.

I have special dietary needs and I know many people have difficulty catering for me. However I am happy to say that your staff met my needs very well. My main course of pasta and asparagus was delicious, and the sorbet for dessert was a lovely way to finish the meal.

Please pass on my compliments and thanks to those involved in preparing and presenting my meal. I look forward to returning to Sirromet for other functions in the future.

Yours faithfully,

Ian Bailey-Mortimer

Not living next to the school

2010-12-03T17:12:00.000+10:00

Well, I think it has been a successful year. Not living next to the school this year has meant that I have been much better able to separate my work and home life. I didn't go to school on the weekend even once! :-)

(Quite a change from when we were in Mackay, living 10m from the staffroom over the back fence…)

Year 12 Graduations

2010-11-21T11:27:00.000+10:00

Well it was a busy week for me.

Monday evening was awards night—at the same place (Garden City Church, now known as Hillsong) as my own school awards nights were held so many years ago.

Tuesday evening was the year 12 formal dinner at Sirromet. My trepidation about their catering (triggered in part by a phone call from them on Monday querying what I actually could eat) turned out to be entirely unnecessary: they fed me very well. I had a yummy pasta and asparagus main, and a berry sorbet for dessert. (A pleasant change from the usual fruit salad.)

But the night wasn't really about my food, of course. The year 12s looked fabulous, and it was good to be there to see them having fun at the end of their schooling years. Not too many speeches, just excitement and joy and a good time with music and dancing.

And then on Thursday evening was the year 12 graduation dinner for my former students in Mackay. So I flew there on Thursday afternoon for that, staying the night with friends (thanks Phil & Janine!) and flying back on Friday. It was so worthwhile. Such fun to walk in as the year 12s were standing up for a group photo, and get excited shouts and waves as they saw me. (Some of them knew I was coming, but most didn't.) So interesting to hear their stories from the last year and their plans for the next. So good to see them looking so fine and to be able to celebrate with them.

And again, my meal was delicious: a lovely curry, spicy but not too hot, and white cake for dessert. Turns out this particular meal was in fact cooked by one of my past students! Julie, thank you again for a fabulous meal, one of the best I've had at a formal function.

Then back to Brisbane on Friday. After school was the year 12 valedictory service: a few speeches, presentations, a tearful procession, and then afternoon tea.

Perth

2010-09-29T21:14:00.172+10:00

Rather worn out after our trip to Rottnest Island, we returned to the Golden Tandoori for dinner, then caught a train back to our hotel at Bayswater.

And then on Tuesday 28th, after so many nights spent there but travelling in and out each day, we finally had a day to spend looking around Perth itself.

First off we went to the Perth mint, via a train ride and then a short walk through the Royal Perth Hospital and the church on Victoria Square. We were amazed by the way pedestrians were invited to use the hospital as a thoroughfare over a couple of busy city streets; we couldn't imagine a hospital in Queensland being so welcoming to the general riff-raff off the streets. The catholic church was beautiful, if a bit of an eclectic mix of architectural styles.

At the mint we read about some history of coinage in Australia. They have an interesting machine that weighs you, but instead of kilograms it tells you what your weight in gold would be worth—at current prices, quite a bit!

Next stop, the new Bell Tower at the Barrack St Jetty. The bells ringing out the hours from there can be heard in the city, but for a small fee you can climb the tower and see them being struck! The view from the top of the tower is quite good. They also have a set of eighteen bells and an active bell-ringing community. We were fortunate enough to be there on a day when the bell-ringers were due to play, so we got to watch! It reminded us of our time in Portishead, where the bells in the Anglican church were used for practice once a week, and then every evening in the lead-up to a competition.

After a picnic lunch on the grass outside the Bell Tower, we caught a bus to Kings Park, which is up on the hill to the west of the city. Walking through the park took us to the Botanic Gardens, where they had wildflowers on display en masse.

We walked through the gardens to the Glass Bridge, part of an elevated walkway. The Botanic Gardens are at the top of a steep cliff down to the Swan River, so the view is quite spectacular.

By now we were rather footsore, but we really wanted to get out to Fremantle as well, so we walked wearily back up the hill and then tried to find Cliff Street which has a stairway called (of course) Jacob's Ladder. The bus stop we wanted was at the bottom of the hill.

At Jacob's Ladder we were amazed to find a veritable army of health fanatics running up and down the stairs. Now you have to realise that the forty-three metre climb (just under 300 steps) is so steep that the stairway actually zig-zags sideways. These crazy people were running up and down the hill. Again. And again. And again. Mad, I tell you.

Anyhow, eventually we managed to get down, and then caught a bus into town. From there we caught a train out to Fremantle.

By now it was quite late. But a short walk from the station along Market Street took us into the business centre where we found quite a number of restaurants. We chose an Italian place called Portorosa, and were delighted with the food!

After dinner, a short stroll around the block, and then back to the station.

We caught a train back to Perth and then our hotel at Bayswater. The stretch between the showgrounds and the city was rather packed, as it was getting near closing time for the show. We had wondered (before we left Brisbane) why we'd had so much trouble booking a hotel in Perth for this last three-night stay. When we found out that the Perth show had just started, it suddenly made more sense.

And then finally on Wednesday morning we took a taxi to the airport for our flight to Adelaide, where we spent the afternoon with old friends Jason and Debbie, and then all four of us flew to Brisbane that night, arriving shortly before midnight. Quite a coincidence there: On discovering that it would be cheapest to fly back home to Brisbane via Adelaide, we thought to ourselves, who do we know who lives in Adelaide? Calling Jason and Debbie, we discovered that they were due to fly to Brisbane that very night—on the same flight! More delightful serendipity. God is good.

Portorosa, Fremantle

2010-09-28T22:00:00.016+10:00

Footsore from a day of walking around Perth and weary at the end of our Western Australia holiday, we were looking for a nice place to rest our feet and have dinner while sampling the ambience of Fremantle. We found it at an Italian restaurant on Market Street called Portorosa.

It's tucked in amongst several other restaurants, including another Italian place right beside it. We sat outside to enjoy the cool of the evening after the rather warm day.

They assured us that their pizza dough contained no milk products, so Laetitia ordered a pizza and I a calzone. We were simply amazed when they were brought out: They were absolutely huge! And delicious. A fabulous end to our day.

Definitely very highly recommended!

Rottnest Island

2010-09-27T19:00:00.080+10:00

Monday 27 September was a public holiday in Western Australia. so rather than try to go shopping in Perth, we organised a day trip to Rottnest Island. The ferry took about an hour to get to Fremantle due to speed restrictions on the river, then only another twenty minutes or so to get to the island.

Perth CBD from the ferry

Rottnest Island

First up when we got there, we took a coach tour clockwise around the island. Leaving the harbour on the eastern side, the driver gave us a fascinating commentary about the history of the island, and stopped at a few scenic places for photographs. The first stop where we got out to have a look was Parker Point. Notice the coral reef—apparently the Leeuwin current arriving here at the island is warm enough for tropical coral to grow!

A friendly quokka checks out the tourists

Sorry about the quality of some of the photos that follow, they were taken through the tinted coach windows.

Passing some more scenic coral beaches and a lighthouse, we came to the south-west point of the island. The strong currents colliding here are reputed to cause trouble with shipping (and there are certainly plenty of shipwrecks).

Then around back to the harbour via the northern coastline. Along the way the driver pointed out a few osprey nests.

Then it was time for lunch. We decided to walk down to Garden Lake, a salt lake near the main township. Apparently there was a friendly quokka family there. Sure enough, not long after sitting down to eat, a handful came to investigate. Very curious creatures, but easily startled. A small marsupial related to kangaroos and wallabies, the Dutch explorer William de Vlamingh named the island after them because he thought they were a kind of giant rat.

After lunch we went for a couple of short walks, including out to another lighthouse north of the harbour.

These Melaleuca (tea trees) native to the island are called "broccoli trees".

Finally it was time to catch the ferry back to Perth.

Thai Esarn, Bayswater

2010-09-26T21:18:00.043+10:00

When we got back from Geraldton, we were feeling a bit worn out, so we caught a taxi to the Bayswater Hotel even though we knew it was near the train station. The hotel reminded us of the place we stayed at in Glasgow back in 2003; it had obviously been built from several adjoining buildings, and the route to our room was up, down and around several different flights of stairs, half-steps and sharp corners, passing through several doors along the way.

And we were really too tired to go into town for dinner, so after a relaxing drink at the bar (having discovered that the hotel bistro couldn't feed us), we went for a short walk around the nearby streets. Sure enough, we found a Thai restaurant, and despite my scepticism Laetitia managed to convince me to give them a try.

Once more, I'm glad she did. They had no trouble feeding me, after listening carefully as I explained my needs, and patiently putting up with my wariness about the Thai tendency to put some kind of fish product in everything they cook. The meal was delicious.

Recommendation: Worth a visit, if you're in the area (or can catch a train to Bayswater—it's right near the station).

Geraldton

2010-09-26T10:00:00.167+10:00

On Friday 24th, we took a TransWA coach to Geraldton. It's a reasonably long trip, with stops in several small towns along the way.

When we got to Geraldton, we were met at the bus station by Laetitia's friend Kym and her daughter—and also, as it turned out, by two of my fellow teaching graduates from CHC. You see, as I had discovered just a few weeks earlier, one of my CHC friends who lives in Geraldton was, most serendipitously, to be married just when we were going to be there! Anyway, at the bus station, two of her bridesmaids were waiting as well (not actually for me, of course).

Kym took us to the caravan park where we had booked a cabin for our two-night stay, and then went off to collect her son from school. She actually lives just a short walk from the caravan park. Meanwhile, we took a stroll to see the Indian Ocean (which wasn't far, the caravan park is right on the beach).

Apparently kite-surfing is a popular hobby in Geraldton

When Kym came back, she took us around to see the sights of Geraldton, including the memorial at the top of the hill.

After watching the sun set beautifully over the water, we went to Kym's place for dinner (cooked by me) and a good chat. At the end of the evening, it was quite cold, so we drove back to our cabin in the car Kym generously lent us so we could attend the wedding the next morning.

So early on Saturday morning (like, the wedding was at 7am on the Geraldton foreshore) we went off to see my friend Anna get married. It was a wonderful wedding. Anna was so excited—after the vows and rings were exchanged, and the pronouncement, her whole face lit up, and she exclaimed “I'm married!” I was so glad I had the opportunity to be there.

After the wedding, Kym and her two children took us to Kalbarri National Park. Kalbarri is on the coast north of Geraldton, a drive of about an hour and a half. It was a very hot day, and the flies were unbelievable! But the scenery was certainly spectacular.

We had lunch in Kalbarri. While we were there, the (first, although we didn't know at the time that there'd be another) AFL grand final was on; we could hear the cheering from the pub across the road.

We drove back to Geraldton via the coastal road. Once again the scenery was magnificent, although we were feeling a bit sleepy at the end of a long, warm day.

Along the way we passed Hutt Lagoon. This salt lake appears pink because of some algae that grow there. Apparently the algae produce a commercially useful quantity of beta carotene, which is being harvested in part of the lake.

Arriving in Geraldton just before dusk, Kym took us up to a lookout above the town, to watch the sun set over the town and ocean. Afterwards I took my camera down to the beach for some low-light photography.

Dinner was leftovers in our cabin, and then an early night. Sunday was my birthday, much of which I spent on a coach travelling back to Perth. Before we left, though, we went to have a look at the lighthouse. This one (at 28°46'S) is almost exactly opposite the one in Byron Bay (at 28°39'S).

Golden Tandoori Restaurant

2010-09-23T21:40:00.043+10:00

On our second night in Perth's city centre, we thought we'd look for a different place to eat from the previous night. Walking along James St, we found an Indian restaurant Laetitia suggested we should try. And I'm so glad she did!

The Golden Tandoori Restaurant has a wide range of meals on their menu, including not only traditional Indian fare but also some cross-overs with Italian-style dishes (what they call “Mediterranean Fusion”). The restaurant was very quiet when we were there, although there was a steady stream of people coming to collect take-aways.

But the best thing about the Golden Tandoori was the service. From the moment we walked in, hesitatingly asking whether they could cook without ghee, they smiled and waited on us and provided just what we needed. They had no problem catering to our diets, and took the time to check and confirm when they thought there might have been a misunderstanding.

The food was delicious! Very tasty, spicy but not too hot, most satisfying. If only we weren't staying in a hotel room without any way to make use of left-overs.

Recommendation: Absolutely fantastic! Five-star service, delicious food.

The Pinnacles

2010-09-23T20:01:00.218+10:00

Our trip from Kalgoorlie back to Perth was by train, on the Prospector. I particularly enjoyed this opportunity since I wrote some of the software while working for Jacques Electronics in 2002. The old train used to run on narrower gauge tracks, but the track and service was upgraded, and Jacques had the contract for the train management, emergency/crew communications and passenger entertainment systems (and possibly more, but those are the parts I was involved in) for the new carriages.

(Look closely at these photos for Jacques logos.)

A salty lake we passed.

In any event, it was a delightful journey: very comfortable, fast, lovely scenery—and so good to not have to concentrate on driving for seven hours. I even managed to nap a little! Well worth the fare, and highly recommended. They also showed Hachi, a beautiful movie that had me crying and crying at the end.

So we got to Perth, and being a little travel-weary and warm (it was much warmer in Perth than it had been in Kalgoorlie) we took a taxi to our hotel, the Comfort Inn Wentworth Plaza on Murray St. After a rest, we went for a short walk around town and bought some groceries, then found some dinner at the Formosa Vegetarian Eating House on James St.

Decor at the Comfort Inn Wentworth Plaza. Notice the brown leather couch? We kept seeing those everywhere we went in WA. Whoever sells them must be making a small fortune!

This is London Court: a little slice of London in the middle of Perth. Very appropriate, given how many British people live there. Laetitia loved it.

The next day (Thursday; don't worry, I'd well and truly lost track of the days by this point too!) we were booked on a day trip to the Pinnacles, on the coast north of Perth (about half-way to Geraldton). They picked us up at our hotel, and after meeting up with several other coaches and getting put onto the right one, off we went. First stop was the Caversham Wildlife Park in Whiteman Park. Apart from sleepy koalas and an old wombat, what I found most interesting there were the white kangaroos! Apparently they're actually red kangaroos, but the red colour has been bred out of them. They only exist in captivity; the trait must be recessive.

Then it was on to the gift shop / restaurant at Cervantes for lunch, with a couple of stops to check out wildflowers and at beachside towns for a look at the ocean.

After lunch, on to the main event.

The Pinnacles are limestone pillars formed as water washed over and through the calcium-rich sand. They have many holes and root-marks from where trees and other vegetation were growing through them in the past. (Well, that's actually backwards, isn't it? The limestone formed around the roots.) As the dunes shift, the standing stones emerge. But enough words; here are some pictures.

Unfortunately, while walking around the Pinnacles, some sand or something must have gotten into my camera lens, because it stopped zooming smoothly. Very annoying! It will need to go in for repair.

On the way home we took the new coastal highway, only opened the previous weekend. It was a lovely drive. We stopped for a look at a shanty town called Grey, an interesting place with a maze of sand tracks and friendly residents, and also in Grasstree Valley (yes, I have gratuitously renamed it) for photos.

In Lancelin our 4WD coach was put to good use: out we drove onto the sand dunes. Up and around and down some pretty steep slopes!

Laetitia tried sandboarding down the dunes (I decided not to, since I've done it before, and didn't especially enjoy getting all the sand out of every possible nook and cranny the last time).

Then it was back to Perth, as the sun set beautifully. For dinner we returned to James St, this time to an Indian place called The Golden Tandoori Restaurant.

Formosa Vegetarian Eating House

2010-09-22T22:00:00.055+10:00

Worn out and hungry in a strange city, we asked our Perth CBD hotel concierge where we might find some vegetarian food. She wasn't sure, but suggested we take a short walk to James St because there were quite a few restaurants there.

She was right. Amongst a wide variety of different options, we found the Formosa Vegetarian Eating House, and it reminded us of a favourite restaurant back home (The Loving Hut in Mt Gravatt): everything on the menu is vegetarian, sometimes in spite of the name and picture! There's a couple of large rooms filled with tables, and when you arrive you take a menu—which has many, many options and colourful photos to help you choose—as well as an order sheet and pencil, and write down what you want to try. The prices are quite low. Once you've chosen, you take the order form to the counter and pay, and then when it's ready (which wasn't too long in our case) they bring it out to you at your table. There's also a selection of cakes and sweets near the counter, but while vegetarian most of them were not vegan, so we didn't try those.

They have a small stage area and several large screens, playing karaoke music in several (mostly Asian) languages. Apparently they have karaoke competitions there. I'm glad we missed that!

Recommendation: Good food, cheap, wide range of choices, all vegetarian. Try it!

Kalgoorlie

2010-09-21T15:14:00.173+10:00

The road to Kalgoorlie was long and dry and dusty. And it got progressively darker, from the yellow sand in Hyden to orange to a dark, rich volcanic red in Kalgoorlie.

We kept seeing these bobtail lizards crossing the road, usually (for some strange reason) from north-west to south-east. They were about a foot long, and moved slowly but steadily.

We were using my father's GPS. At first it didn't want to take us on this route at all; I assume it was programmed to avoid unsealed roads where possible. But once we were on it, it seemed happy enough… until lunch time.

We stopped for lunch at Marvel Loch, a strange little mine service town. The houses were all basically air-conditioned tin sheds. We found a park with some public toilets. It was near an "oval" (I use the word with reservation; it was certainly flat and oval-shaped, but the surface was basically gravel), and there were four doors in the toilet block. All were unlabelled. Two on one side were locked. The two on the other side were open; each revealed a toilet and a shower. One did have a women's hygiene product disposal bin, so perhaps the locals knew which was meant to be male vs female, and so didn't need door signs. Laetitia's theory is that the men can have a shower to wash off the beer smell before they go home. Who knows? Anyway.

After lunch we asked the GPS to take us on to Kalgoorlie. It suggested a route slightly shorter than via Southern Cross, so I decided to try its advice, and turned off the main road. Not long after, as the road quality began to drop noticeably (think small shrubs growing up through the surface), we wondered whether that was wise. Sure enough, another kilometre or so on, we came to this:

Give way? To what, exactly? The fence!? What's with the fence across the road?

GPS fail. So we turned around and (steadfastly ignoring the GPS's instructions to "please make a U-turn") headed back to the main road to Southern Cross. Several hours later, we made it to Kalgoorlie, and our friend Stuart's house there.

Stuart is doing up a house. At the moment he has no internal wall panels, just exposed framework, which is not so good for privacy but is definitely good for finding places to store things. (Built-in two-way shelves in every wall!) At least the toilet and bathroom had walls.

Our room at Stuart's

The dining room (will be the kitchen when Stuart's finished)

Nevertheless we received a very warm welcome from Stuart, and from his parents who were also staying with him, helping him with the house.

Stuart took us out to the lookout over the Superpit, which is the huge gold mine in Kalgoorlie, then directed us to an Indian restaurant for dinner. (Bombay Palace on Hannan St. Very nice, a little spicy but not too hot.) We went back to the lookout the next day, where we also met Zoe's parents Ian and Chrissy, who serendipitously happened to be in Kalgoorlie on their way driving around Australia!

As it turned out, the Superpit tour was booked out for that day, so instead Stuart showed us around town, especially the earthquake-damaged old buildings in Boulder. We had a delicious lunch at the Hoover Cafe (part of the Palace Hotel in Kalgoorlie). After lunch we went to the Mining Hall of Fame, where we took an underground tour and watched gold being poured.

The tunnels in the mine were rather low. This one's actually quite high, but Stuart is pretty tall. There are many, many levels to this old gold mine. However all but the upper two are flooded.

The working face of the old gold mine, called a stope. The rock is mined off the upper slope, falling to the base from where it is taken away to be crushed and then taken up to the surface. The wooden stumps hold the rock walls apart—still. Some of them are cracked or bent. Look out if they fail!

The melting point of gold is over 1000°C. The fire has to be very hot. That's why the crucible glows, and why the guy doing the pouring wears a thick reflective suit.

Afterwards we wandered around the yard looking at the various displays. Stuart and Laetitia had a go at panning for gold. Stuart even found two (very small) flecks of gold!

Wave Rock

2010-09-20T11:37:00.018+10:00

When we got to Hyden, we stopped in town for a bit to take some photos. They have a clever history display with statues made of old metal bits, with interesting information about the exploration and settlement of the area. For instance, Wave Rock was originally supposed to be "Hyde's Rock", named for an early settler here. But when the surveyors got back to the office, that became "Hyden Rock", whence comes the name of the town.

In fact, Wave Rock proper is really only a small part (down near the ground on the north side) of a very large granite outcrop. At first I was a bit confused; I'm used to the grey granite of south-east Queensland (e.g. at Girraween National Park near Stanthorpe), but in keeping with the generally red soil of the area, Wave Rock is made of quite pink granite.

We arrived around 4pm, and checked in to the caravan park, which is right at the base of Wave Rock. After finding our cabin, we went for a walk to check out the wave. This rock became famous when a photo of it appeared in National Geographic in 1967.

Along the top is a low wall (actually a series of walls) that's part of the water supply catchment for the area. The water that runs down off the granite rock, which climbs up quite a long way above the wave feature at the base, is caught by the wall and directed into a dam at the north-western end.

Water catchment retaining walls. The one at the bottom (left in this photo) you can also see in the first photo of the rock above, if you look closely (click photo to enlarge).

Near the dam there are some stairs which go up onto the rock above the wave. So we went for a walk. The sun was dropping towards the horizon and the wind was very cold!

Boulders breaking off

View out to Lake Magic, a salt lake with water (!) and a resort

More boulders

Eventually we decided we were simply too cold, and so we climbed back down and returned to our cabin. But after warming up a little, just on sunset, I took my tripod back out for some low-light photos of the wave. Laetitia came with me, and a good thing too, because not only did she help me by working my camera on the tripod for a few arty shots with me in the frame, she also got to take some of her own, of the moon rising over the wave.

The person you can see down the bottom right of the photo on the left there is another photographer who was there that night. I saw him again several more times the next day.

At dawn the next day, we convinced each other to get up early for some more photos of and on the rock. The wind up there was bitterly cold! But so worth it.

After breakfast we packed up and put our things in our hire car (the front of which was by now completely covered in dead bugs, from the previous day's driving). We went first to check out Lake Magic.

You can see lumps of salt crystals forming on everything the water touches

The sand around the edge is literally carpeted with salt!

You can tell how cold the wind was by how much I'm wearing

Then nearby, at the eastern end of the granite outcrop, is a place known as Hippo's Yawn. You can see why!

Then it was time to head off to Kalgoorlie. We chose the unsealed route to Southern Cross because it was significantly shorter.

Not far along the road we stopped briefly to look into Mulka's Cave, which has old aboriginal hand-prints all over the walls.

York, WA

2010-09-19T17:00:00.084+10:00

On Sunday we attended the 8am service at the Church of the Epiphany (Anglican) in Mundaring. There were only six locals there (including the clergy; we made it eight). They were very friendly (they even sent us a card, which we received when we got back home). There were no songs or hymns, but we did have communion.

After church we drove on to York. I was interested to see York in particular because I remember really enjoying my time in York, England. (I mean, I knew it was going to be very different! But still, I wanted to have a look.) York, WA is known for its history, which is why Laetitia wanted to go there: it's the oldest regional town in WA, the first place where people settled outside of Perth.

First we checked out the markets and art gallery in the old mill. Because it used to be a working mill, there are four or five floors, each at least 3m high—which makes for a very tall building, and a nice view out the windows on the top story. The gallery was showing an exhibition of photos of fashion, some of which I found very interesting! Then we went to the Avon river, where there's a lovely pedestrian suspension bridge.

In the river we spotted a shopping trolley (yes, even in York, in the middle of nowhere in WA) and, of all things, a plastic chair. There was also a sign warning against swimming in the river, at the risk of catching amoebic meningitis. I wondered what that was, so when I got home I looked it up. Scary stuff!

From there we drove up to the Mt Brown lookout, which gives lovely views over the town and the surrounding countryside. Most of the farmland in that area is devoted to canola.

York, WA (from Mt Brown lookout)

Canola fields (yellow when in flower)

From York, we drove on to Hyden. Along the way I found a few nice spots (the weather being so bright and sunny) to take some photos. The roads all look like this: a row of trees either side, slicing through canola fields (and occasionally a few sheep).

Western Australia!

2010-09-18T19:36:00.051+10:00

Friday 17 September 2010 was the last day of term 3. Yay! I made it. The last couple of weeks I was so busy, I was barely keeping up with everything. Just barely.

The very next day, we flew to Perth. We had been a little concerned because we couldn't check in on the web on Friday evening (the first hints of trouble to come for Virgin Blue), but I did manage to check us in early Saturday morning. In any case, it was an uneventful if long and boring flight (just under six hours).

Arriving in Perth, we collected our hire car and drove away from the airport. The sky was overcast and the light therefore a muted grey, and the air cool with a brisk breeze blowing. We knew that Perth was 2 hours behind Brisbane, but of course our bodies and minds hadn't adjusted to that yet. It felt to us like it was dusk and 5pm for several hours straight! We basically had no real idea what time it was.

We stopped briefly in Maylands for some groceries, a few bits of cutlery from a charity store and a couple of falafel kebabs. Then we drove east into the Perth hills. For our first night we were booked into the Travellers Rest Motel in Mundaring. This was a lovely, restful villa spread around a large, landscaped yard.

Part of the villa

Our hire car (the white Barina), parked outside our room

Our room for the night (note the very necessary ugg boots!)

One of the many lovely gardens

After checking in, we drove out to the nearby Mundaring Weir. The road there from the town is quite a long downhill drive. The cold wind was really starting to pick up by now, and we were glad to have our coats. We found some very pretty wildflowers beside the road and around the weir.

Eventually the cold (and our tiredness, remember the two hour time difference!) meant we returned to our room for a simple dinner of 2-minute noodles and an early (by Perth time) night.

Quilt Extravaganza

2010-09-12T20:20:00.002+10:00

Today Laetitia took me to a quilt show in Cleveland. It was held at the Redland Performing Arts Centre (in the same place, I think, as my Senior Dinner back in 1991). Some of the quilts were amazing—intricate details, creative ideas, all kinds of sizes and patterns. My personal favourite was one made by a mum for her son. It had these fantastic comic strips with the boy being a hero, along with exciting designs of space travel, dragons, and fishing (apparently the five-year-old boy likes going fishing).

But an additional highlight of the day for me was seeing there an old English teacher from high school, Anne Green. (Hmm, and here I need a Shakespearean quote about teachers or teaching. Ideas?)

Reflections on Easterfest 2010

2010-08-21T22:37:00.001+10:00

Laetitia took me to Easterfest this year. She's a regular goer, since before it changed its name, and has been wanting to take me along for years. This year I finally let her take me along.

We camped with friends from Mackay, in a borrowed tent. Well, when I say “we camped”, actually only Laetitia camped in the tent. I found on the first night that I was getting an allergic reaction to something in the tent, so I spent the nights in the car instead. But it was good to be in the midst of hundreds of tents, with many friends around. I especially enjoyed the discovery directly across from us of the tent of Benoir (I hope that spelling's right), one of the leaders on the year 9 camp I went to not long before Easter!

I also enjoyed running into so many friends walking around at Easterfest—old friends, new friends and students. With special thanks to Lily for the warm welcoming greeting within barely a minute of entering the gate!

But the point of Easterfest is the music, so I'd better say something about that, hey?

First let me start with what I didn't like: Too much noise without musicality, mostly from one tent in particular. But there were plenty of very good alternatives. I liked Sons of Korah, of course, and Newsboys on the main stage (even though there's only one Aussie left, and he's apparently not an original member either). Also enjoyed some of the other groups on the main stage (though not all of them). But I think my favourites were the “smaller” (lesser-known?) artists in venues like the YWAM Chai Circle, with its lovely relaxed atmosphere and intimate setting, and the jazz in the Hammered Silver tent. Bel Morrison and her band made some awesome music in the YWAM tent—and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend! They played really well together, with delicacy and musicality and, well, just actually listening to each other and playing as a group instead of trying to drown each other out like so many others.

I also enjoyed sessions by Jeff Crabtree and Steve Grace in the Vision Arena. Steve Grace in particular inspired me to think quite differently about how to be generous with some of my gifts.

So, overall, a positive experience, but I'm still not sure I want to go back next year. Cold, crowds, and uncomfortable nights are less than enticing.

It's been a while… Sorry.

2010-08-18T21:55:00.000+10:00

I've been so busy. And I haven't written here for ages. But my head is buzzing with ideas—not just for here, but also for my photography blog. And although I'm still vacillating, I think I really do want to sell my photos.

School has been … full-on. I'm now teaching year 12 Physics (in addition to the year 11 class) instead of year 7 PE. Which I think is an improvement! I'm enjoying the rotation through the classes in year 10 Science; I'm getting to know all of the year 10s (well, three classes so far, and the last class next term).

I've also enjoyed being a leader on a Scripture Union camp over the winter holidays. And last weekend Laetitia and I went up to Mackay for the Student Festival of Fashion—and to see old friends. Catching Bel Morrison at our church there was a special surprise!

Should I write more detailed posts about any of these? Let me know…

Year 9 camp

2010-04-01T08:45:00.000+10:00

Just got back from three days in the bush with seventeen year 9 boys (plus a year 12 mentor and two camp leaders). Can you imagine spending three days with a group of teenage boys and no showers?

It was actually quite fun. The camp was at Meebunn-bia (which means “in the company of an eagle”) near Rathdowney, and the place is run as an adventure camp. Our year 9 cohort was split into five groups (three of boys and two of girls). My group did quite a bit of hiking, as well as a hoop pine climb, belayed-climb-based obstacle course, high ropes courses and a 150 metre flying fox. Many of the boys found it quite challenging—facing their fears as much as the physical aspects. Camping overnight meant making tents out of two tarps and a rope between trees, and preparing and cooking dinner with food they'd carried up on their backs. Toilets were a mix of hole-in-the-ground and composting toilets.

It was good to see some of the boys really growing as they faced and overcame their fears.

Term 1 at a new school

2010-04-01T08:24:00.000+10:00

Phew! Term 1 is finished.

My new school is quite similar to the one I left in Mackay: both Christian, about the same size, K-12. If anything, the students here are more obedient, although not necessarily less lazy.

I'm teaching Physics and Maths A in year 10 and 11, plus an odd mix of other things - year 9 ICT and Christian Foundations, and a year 7 PE class!

I'm not sure what else to talk about here, so feel free to ask questions…

Renting a house in Brisbane

2009-12-16T13:03:00.005+10:00

To all those well-meaning people who told me that the rental market in Brisbane has become “pretty bad”, and that it is now “quite hard” to find a place to rent, I have one thing to say: With all due respect, you have no idea!

I went to Brisbane for a few days last week, to look for somewhere for us to live in 2010. I spent most of my first day there, Wednesday, driving around Kingston, Loganlea, Waterford and Loganholme getting rather demoralised because the only place I managed to see the inside of had mouldy ceilings (we're trying to escape all that!). Nevertheless, on Thursday I started in Eagleby, and I found three places that would suit us very well and a handful of others we could live with, scattered around these suburbs. On Friday I saw yet another really nice house.

So we put in applications for our favourite four to three real estate agents, and I flew back to Brisbane on Saturday with a reasonable hope that we'd be approved for at least one of them. Today (Wednesday) we were approved for the place I saw on Friday, in Loganlea. We've just signed the lease (by email-print-sign-scan-email back, because the quality is better that way than by fax).

Seriously: If you want to experience a hard rental market, move to Mackay. It took us two months to find a place to rent here, and in the end we only got this house by word of mouth, not through real estate agents or advertising. (And if you want to see just how bad renting can get, try Moranbah, where a three-bedroom house costs at least $600 a week.)

However, I am glad I went to look during the week. On Saturday morning I inspected a house in Loganlea. We had to go through in groups of three because the tenants were still there. I was in the second group. There were still people driving up when I came out! (In comparison, when we first moved to Mackay, Laetitia was going through rental houses in groups of about ten, and there would be at least four such groups looking at each place.)

Thank-yous after three years

2009-12-07T10:46:00.000+10:00

Perhaps one really does have to leave to get people to actually say “thank you”. Certainly I've received more thanks than usual at the end of this year.

My fellow maths and science teachers signed a card for me, and pooled contributions to get me a gift of a couple of games: Tantrix and Rush Hour. The former I'm enjoying already; the latter I plan to use in my classroom. Both are about building logical and spatial reasoning skills.

I also received many thank-you cards from students. I thought I'd share a few of their nice comments. They have honoured me greatly with their kind words.

In first term this year I taught Maths B in year 11, but then the classes were reorganised and I switched to teaching Maths A instead. There were a few students in that Maths B class who I continued to help with their maths in after-school tutoring—and many other times when they asked! It seems some of them still think of me as their maths teacher:

I was a private maths tutor to one student since the end of last year. In our tutoring sessions, as well as working on maths, we discussed many topics including dealing with stress, time management, careers and life after school, … and we prayed together.

When I was studying to be a teacher, I was warned that I wouldn't see some of the best fruits of my work for years. Here's (part of) a lovely letter from one student who I first taught two years ago, and then again this year:

But I will finish with a short note written for me at the end of the last day of school. Rushed, unprompted, but so meaningful to me:

On practicum during my studies, my mentors and lecturers were always commenting on my apparent passion for my subject. I really wanted them to be commenting on my love for my students. But it's very hard to build up that kind of relationship in the context of a four-week prac. Now, three years into my teaching, and with God's constant help and guidance, it seems I'm finally getting somewhere.

Thank you, Father, for an amazing three years. Thank you for all that you've taught me about being a good teacher. Thank you for the lovely encouraging words from my students. Thank you for allowing me to be such a big part of their lives, and for encouraging and growing their passion for and enjoyment of learning through me.

Ian's core values

2009-11-29T19:41:00.000+10:00

Funny how some things don't change—at least, not in a hurry.

I've been going through old stuff in preparation for our move to Brisbane, and it's providing me with a good opportunity for reflection on my first three years of teaching. This afternoon I rediscovered some notes I'd made during one of my teaching pracs. At that time I decided my core values for my classroom were:

Respect for others and self
Build others up
Self-discipline
Follow God's leading

These lead on to a similar number of simple classroom rules, but that's not the point here. This is: in the last three years, these core values haven't changed. I wrote these up before I started teaching full-time, and in the mean time I have imbibed, digested and regurgitated my school's own philosophy and value system. My teaching skills and strategies have grown from almost nothing to—well, perhaps I can now call myself a teacher, although not yet one good at managing a large class of thirteen-year-olds. My opinions on many aspects of teaching and learning have changed as my ideas have been challenged, bruised, mangled or proven downright absurd through daily testing at school. But in the end, I still think these four statements sum up what I feel should be valued most highly in my classroom.

Interesting, no?

(PS- For my teacher friends, a challenge for you to think through. What are your core classroom values?)

Wedding: Tim Helbig and Angela Catt

2009-11-07T20:03:00.002+10:00

My cousin Tim got married last Saturday. I flew down to Sydney on Friday afternoon after school, via Brisbane. I flew back home on the direct flight on Sunday. I stayed with my family (mum, dad, sister) at Hotel Formule 1 at Sydney airport. (As in, the hotel is an easy ten minute walk from the terminal.)

The wedding was at Rockdale Uniting Church, officiated by my mum's cousin Sam. It was a beautiful service: positive, fun and God-centred. I was very impressed with their vows—no prompting! They had a lovely reading based on the apocryphal book of Sirach:

A loyal friend is like a safe shelter, find one, and you have found a treasure. Nothing else is as valuable; there is no way of putting a price on it. A loyal friend is like medicine that keeps you in good health. Only those who fear the Lord can find such a friend.

Never abandon an old friend; you will never find a new one who can take their place. Friendship is like wine; it gets better as it grows older.
Being independently wealthy or working for a living both can make life pleasant, but it is better to find a treasure.
A man’s name can be preserved if he has children or if he establishes a city, but finding wisdom is a better way. Owning livestock and orchards will make you famous, but it is better to have a wife you love.
Wine and music can make you happy, but a happy marriage is even better.

After some family photos in the church grounds, we hopped on a luxurious coach to take us to the reception venue, the St George Motor Boat Club. It was an interesting trip: the poor bus driver had to manoeuvre around a few traffic “calming” devices. While Tim and Angela were getting formal photos taken (out in the Marina, I think), the rest of us gathered for pre-dinner drinks. The view from the balcony, out over Georges River, was fabulous, with the sun slowly heading towards the horizon.

Inside the function room, I was seated at a table with my sister and cousins—well, my other cousins; obviously Tim's seat was out the front with Angela! They made a very grand entrance. Each couple came in to a different song, and they each did a little mime to match.

There followed a delicious dinner (yes, even mine; my only complaint was that there wasn't enough of it). Speeches over dessert, punctuated by many pilot jokes (Tim being a commercial airline pilot). After that, some dancing. The music got very loud at that point, so I went out to the balcony instead.

Unfortunately I didn't get enough time to really get to know Angela, but from what I saw and heard she seems a really lovely lady, with a good sense of humour. I pray that Tim and Angela have many more wonderful days ahead, filled like their wedding day was with laughter and the company of good friends.

I have a job!

2009-10-28T17:21:00.000+10:00

Next year I will be teaching at Calvary Christian College. No, not the one in Townsville; we're trying to escape from the humidity, remember! This is the one in south-east Queensland, at Carbrook, just north of the Logan River. I will be teaching senior Physics, and some combination of Maths and Science.

I'm not allowed to say this (here)…

2009-10-25T07:34:00.013+10:00

I'm glad I don't work for Education Queensland.

They have a new (as of October 2009) Code of Conduct, which applies to all their staff including teachers, administrators, janitors, even (to the extent that they are able to) contractors. The new Code is generating some response in the media, due to some parts of Section 2.2.2 “Protecting Students from Harm: Sexual Misconduct” (p.11–12).

Overall, I think the policy is fine. I understand and agree that my “interactions with students must be and be seen to be professional at all times” (p.12). However, there are a couple of points they make that I think are unreasonable, short-sighted and probably unenforceable. First:

“You must not use internet social networks such as Face Book [sic], My Space [sic] or YouTube to contact or access present students enrolled in any school or institute.” (p.12)

I originally joined Facebook because it was something my students were doing and I wanted—professionally—to find out more about it, so as to be able to relate to them in their world and their language. Indeed, I was explicitly encouraged to do so by my supervisors at my school. And I found that after a while, some of my students began using Facebook as a way to ask me for help with their schoolwork. It was a medium in which they felt comfortable enough to ask questions. Now, part of my professional job is to build a relationship with my students within which honest communication and dialogue can take place, a relationship within which they feel safe enough to ask questions and learn from the answers. And I'm very comfortable using digital media as a means to communicate; after all, I was using electronically-mediated social networks years before my students were even born! So why not use a contemporary internet social network as a means to provide another avenue, another option if you like, for my students to contact me if they wish?

But it goes a step further. In a recent incident in Adelaide, two young girls lost in a drain used Facebook to ask for help. That's right, they had mobile phones and were in service range, but they updated their Facebook status rather than calling triple-zero. Now, leaving aside the wisdom of their choices, consider: perhaps a teacher, i.e. a responsible adult who knows them and cares about them, might see their status update and be able to get help to them? In this case, they fortunately had another young friend online who saw and called for help. Good teachers care about their students. Not just about what happens in the classroom. We care about their lives.

Of course, I soon discovered that Facebook was also a good way to get back in touch with many of my own old friends. I have grown to like the way I can keep in touch with so many people without an excessive effort on my part. But some of my personal friends (e.g. from church or other family friends) happen to be students. At state schools and private schools. And TAFE and universities—for crying out loud, some of them are older than I am! And now all Education Queensland staff, including teachers, are not allowed to use Facebook or other internet social networks to contact or access (whatever that means) students in any school or institute.

However, I am quite capable of setting up my Facebook account so that my friends can see everything, but my students can only see as much of my private life as I choose to share with them. Which brings us to the second point:

“If you use internet social networks in your personal time you must ensure that the content is appropriate and private, and that you restrict access to specific people who are not students.” (p.12)

Now don't get me wrong. As I just said, my Facebook profile is set up to restrict access, especially from my students. And I never initiate contact with a student on Facebook. But even my blog is an internet social network that I use in my personal time, and it's not exactly private. I'm also trying to establish a photography blog as a means to sell some of my better photos. Making that private defeats the purpose! In fact, technically, using email is a kind of internet social network. How far will this wedge eventually be pushed?

Bottom line: My employer does not own my personal time. If I choose to use it to build a publicly accessible profile on an internet social network, that's my business, not theirs.

Speaking of my business, I am also a private tutor to several students. As part of that professional relationship, we have exchanged contact details. Which also contravenes the same section of the new Code…

Making dinner

2009-10-13T21:11:00.004+10:00

I enjoy cooking.

Today I came home already feeling a bit run down, the shopping wasn't done yet, lots to do, gotta go out at seven, time is short… One of those days. Oh, and since Laetitia's going to do the shopping, I have to make dinner too. And there's almost nothing in the fridge to make it with.

Rummage around for ingredients. Change my mind a couple of times about what to make, based on what I (don't) find. Oh, and when the shopping comes back there'll be things to put away, too.

But once I actually start cooking— I dunno, I just start to feel better. Is it the smell of the spices? The frying garlic? The soothing action of stirring the pan? The sound of the onion sizzling in the warm oil? Actually I think it's as much the creativity: God the Creator has made me in his image, and I thrive on making something out of—well, not out of nothing; out of the raw ingredients that God has made.

And by the time dinner is ready, I'm feeling much better. I enjoy cooking.

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

2009-10-07T22:02:00.005+10:00

I cried today.

I took a minute to tell a couple of students that I wouldn't be around next year. These are two who I've taught, tutored and encouraged since they were in Year 8 in my first year here at MCC. Two who have particularly taken to, and thrived under, my style of maths teaching. Two who I have had the privilege of watching grow and mature. I would so love to stay so I could see them continue to grow and flower into beautiful young ladies, as I'm sure they will over the next few years.

I wanted to let them know before they heard rumours—I'm sure there must be some floating around the school by now. All the staff know I'm going, thanks to a not-so-subtle hint from Craig at staff devotions on Monday. Many of them have children at the school.

I just wanted to let them hear it direct from me first. And after we talked about the situation, and I walked away heading back to the staff room… I cried.

I'll miss them. And many others besides.

68kg!

2009-10-05T20:47:00.004+10:00

For most of my life I was 57kg. I got to that weight by about age 16, and stayed that way for years, regardless of how much I ate or what exercise I did (or didn't). Now 57kg is okay, if a little on the thin side for my height.

In 1997 I was living in the USA for a while, without my usual distractions to entertain myself, and with a nice friendly gym within walking distance. So I decided to join the local gym to see whether I could put on a little more muscle. For the first few months my weight stayed around the same 57kg (except of course I was measuring it in pounds), but I could feel the difference as my muscle tone improved. And then gradually, bit by bit, my weight began to rise. By the end of the year I was up to about 63kg…

And then I got sick in February 1998. I seemed to lose about 6kg in two weeks! (Yes, if you're wondering, that was the start of my new diet regime. Suddenly things I'd been eating all my life started making me sick.)

So I was back to 57kg. Fast forward several more years.

In 2006 I was in Brisbane, finishing off my studies in Education, and looking for a new job as a high school teacher. The job God provided was in Mackay. With the stress of finishing my uni course, moving to a new city, starting a new job, finding somewhere to live (not easy in Mackay), my first year of teaching… my weight started going down again. I was punching new holes in my belt (to make it tighten a little smaller). When I got all the way down to 53kg, I decided I'd better do something about it.

And I did. In August 2007 I joined the local gym.

Since then I have gradually been building back up again. Like the previous time, back in 1997, the first few months were more tone than bulk. But the weight gains did come with continued effort. Last year I celebrated with friends when I reached 60kg—it was, for me, a milestone worth marking. In the last couple of weeks I've been consistently over 68kg.

My goal is to be comfortably over 70kg. And I realise that I may not make it—the gains are getting harder and slower, I'm definitely fighting my body's natural inclination to stay thin. But I'm highly motivated: I'm fitter and stronger than ever before, I feel great, and my wife loves the improvement in my looks…

Invited to dinner

2009-10-04T20:25:00.006+10:00

Twice this week, Laetitia and I were invited to dinner by friends from church.

On Tuesday we spent the evening with Miranda and Lawrence and their three children. Miranda cooked us a delicious meal including a fabulous white cake for dessert, in spite of her nervousness about cooking for our special diets. We met their dog Boaz, ate outside on the back patio, and finished the night by watching Shrek the Third on their (rather large) TV.

On Saturday we spent the evening with Fiona and Craig and one of their children (Brandt). Now Fiona once ran a catering business. She (and Craig) cooked up a veritable feast! There was so much food! She had gone to some effort to prepare menus for us and all, printed on fancy paper:

(I've scanned the back of Laetitia's menu at the side, so you can see the back of the fancy paper.)
We took some photos of all the food too:

Over dessert we played 500 (teaching Brandt how to play in the process). Oh, and we also met their dog Tess, their new puppy Electra and their cat Sonic.

Thanks Miranda and Fiona for fabulous meals and great company—and for taking such care to feed us so well.

We need to move

2009-10-01T13:13:00.002+10:00

One day in February this year, I came home from school during the day to find Laetitia having to hold herself up against the wall for support, and I knew then that this would be our last year in Mackay. It was time to move to somewhere less humid.

Laetitia's heart has a leaky valve, and with the high humidity here in summer (tropical monsoonal wet), each year she has found it a little harder to breathe than the last.

If it weren't for the summer weather (and the high cost of accommodation), we'd much prefer to stay in Mackay. We really like the people here: we've made good new friends, we love our church family, we've found clubs and hobbies we enjoy. I've really grown in skills and character through the support of my colleagues at work.

But now, it seems it's time to go.

Nuts'n'bolts chess set

2009-09-27T17:42:00.002+10:00

What a beautiful chess set! Now if only I can find someone who'll make one for me…

Making a romantic video

2009-08-22T16:04:00.005+10:00

So I made a romantic video of myself for Laetitia for our eleventh anniversary. Well, to be precise, I only starred in it. Lindy did the filming and production. While I'm not going to show you the video (that's for Laetitia's viewing pleasure, not yours), I will give you a quick Mastercard-style summary:

Blank DVD: less than $1
New dress shirts: $70
The look on her face: priceless

Thank you Lindy! She likes it.

Eleventh Anniversary

2009-08-22T01:00:00.000+10:00

Dear Laetitia,

Thank you for spending the last eleven years as my beloved wife.

Thank you for loving me, cherishing me and honouring me.
Thank you for standing by me in times of trouble and distress, and in times of peace.
Thank you for comforting me when I have been ill, and cheering with me when I have been well.

Thank you for telling me the things I need to hear, which aren't always the things I think I want to hear. Thank you for forcing me to pay attention to details I might otherwise overlook. Thank you for reminding me of the things I forget. Thank you for encouraging me to grow.

Thank you for sharing your clever wit and humour with me. Thank you for playing your suave sax music for me, and for singing with your beautiful voice.

Thank you for being you, with me, for eleven wonderful years. I love you.

Ian xx

Retinal Pigment Epithelium Defect

2009-08-07T21:06:00.005+10:00

I've been bothered by a funny spot in my vision lately. There's a patch in my left eye that has… issues. So I went to see the only eye doctor in Mackay, Dr Rod Kirkwood—who is a lovely, patient, gentle man who exudes calmness and confidence. And it appears (pun intended) that I have a retinal pigment epithelial defect.

People keep asking me what that means. I don't know, exactly. But I think the question they're really trying to ask is, what am I seeing? So I thought I'd have a go at describing it.

There's a small patch in the vision of my left eye where the image is distorted. The patch is a bit bigger than my blind spot, and near but not coincidental with it. The colours there are wrong—just a little bit. It's like I've just looked away from a light. And if I look at a bright area like the sky or a white wall, it shimmers, almost like a migraine aura.
Also, lines or edges passing through this patch do not look straight. Here's my attempt to fill out an Amsler grid. Note this is not a real Amsler grid; in fact my patch is just off the edge of the standard grid at its normal size (because my defect is away from the centre of my vision). I'm just trying to give you some idea of the way lines “bulge” outwards a little.
There you have it. Dr Kirkwood says he doesn't think it's anything to worry about, or that we can do anything much about. But he wants to see me again in a few weeks, just to check that nothing's changed. Apparently these things can sometimes be caused by a viral infection.

I'm just glad that with my skin's apparent attractiveness to all the fungus around here, I haven't become infected with this scary fungus.

Fungal Infections

2009-08-02T16:36:00.004+10:00

So I've had a small itchy red spot on one arm for a couple of weeks. Today I noticed it had developed a characteristic small circular shape, a red ring around a clear centre: ringworm. What is it with Mackay? Laetitia's skin attracts the bugs, mine seems to attract fungus.

Why I hate football

2009-07-16T21:34:00.003+10:00

Apparently there were some fights on the field in the third State of Origin match. So what did I see on the playground at school today? Teenage boys mucking around play-fighting at the try line in their lunch-time touch footy game.

It's not that I think it's especially dangerous—to them. It may be hazardous for the primary school children watching from their classrooms to copy the older students' behaviour, of course.

No, the problem is the way they copy their pro-player heroes. They unconsciously imbibe the idea that fighting is okay, that fighting is an acceptable way to express their feelings, that fighting is a good way to sort out differences of opinion. That fighting is fun.

It's not.

Flee the Night

2009-07-12T15:54:00.003+10:00

Susan May Warren's book Flee the Night is a gripping novel about a woman trying to save her daughter and a man trying to help her. Actually, the romantic element I found difficult to believe: are any real women that pathetically confused about what they want? But the suspense and action sequences are well written.

The book also has a sub-current of regret and forgiveness that's covered in a balanced and believable way, from a Christian basis.

Recommendation: Worth reading, if you're into “romantic suspense”.

Recording messages for absent missios — ideas please?

2009-07-11T22:29:00.006+10:00

Each year in January, Laetitia and I trek off (all right, we usually drive) to Mt Tamborine for a conference run by our branch of the Christian mission organisation CMS. At the conference, people record audio messages for missionaries who can't make it that year.

Currently, we use cassettes for this. They're cheap, the machines are simple and therefore easy to use, and you can make do with only a handful of machines by swapping cassette tapes in and out, one tape per missionary (or family). Unfortunately, they're also low quality, the messages now have to be digitised to be sent (they're usually actually delivered on CD these days), and (believe it or not) tapes are getting harder to find. Oh, and eventually all the old cassette decks will die and it won't be worth trying to fix them.

Is it time yet to switch to digital? If so, how? If not, when?

From what I can see the most suitable digital replacement is something like an Olympus Notetaker, say the VN-3500PC (or older equivalents, VN-3x00PC) or the WS-210S. Of course, there are other brands and models, and I'm not particularly interested in their relative merits at this point. They're all reasonably affordable, at $50–$150 each (based on a quick check on ebay).

No, what I'm interested in is this: I can see three major issues with replacing the old cassette decks with these digital devices.

1. Price & convenience—to the dishonest. These things are useful and they are not cheap. If someone steals a cassette recorder (and who would?), big deal. But these cost a reasonable amount, they're extremely useful, very sexy, and small enough to hide in a pocket and walk away with. Think: at the conference, you'd have to tether them to something very well fixed, or implement a check-out or $20 deposit system.

2. Ease of use. The young, the techno-savvy and the geeks would be able to use them. I know I would have no trouble. But the over 60s who've never used a microwave, let alone a computer? Those with arthritis or otherwise poor dexterity? (The buttons on these things are small and often don't give good tactile feedback, unlike the satisfying clunk of a cassette deck.)

3. Organising the recordings. The devices are not cheap (see point 1) so you probably don't want to buy too many (unlike the cassettes). It's also not very easy (see point 2) to sort your recordings accurately into different folders on the device. So you would probably have to ask everyone to record who their message is for at the start (e.g. "This is a message for XX. Hi XX, this is..") and then have some techie spend a significant amount of time sorting through the messages after the conference to make sure they end up going to the right people.

Point 3 is not all bad, though. Indeed, it probably wouldn't take as long to sort the messages as it currently does to digitise them. And on the upside, people could record one general message for several people at once. ("This message is for XX as well as YY. Hi guys..")

Any ideas? Comments? Suggestions?

Fox and Child

2009-07-07T15:17:00.004+10:00

When we're in Brisbane, Laetitia and I like to find movies that we can't see back home. There are only two cinema complexes in Mackay, and they're both BCC. If the film ain't mainstream and popular, it likely ain't comin' to Mackay!

So the day after the wedding, we went to the Palace Centro to see The Fox and the Child, a beautiful movie about a young French girl and her fascination with a wild fox near her family's rural home.

The photography in the movie is wonderful. I'm glad I wasn't the cameraman, with some tricky and cold-looking sequences chasing wildlife through snow-laden forest. I was also impressed with the honest approach taken; this is no idealised fairy tale. It's quite realistic in presentation, apart perhaps from one incident (but I won't discuss that here as it would be a bit of a spoiler).

Recommendation: If you're a photographer or videographer, you'll love it. If you like wildlife, go for it. Your children will certainly enjoy it. Otherwise, take it or leave it; the plot isn't really that exciting.

The Loving Hut

2009-07-06T15:36:00.005+10:00

After the wedding, for dinner that night we decided to try a new restaurant reviewed by a friend. It's called The Loving Hut, and it's on Logan Rd in Mt Gravatt (right near Photo Continental).

And it was fabulous! For people with special diets, eating out can be a real bother. But in this restaurant, everything on the menu was vegan! Yippee! What a pleasure.

And it tasted great. It's been so long since I had a nice satay, so I chose the Satay Nuggets, and I wasn't disappointed. Delicious! Finished with a rich apple cake and whipped coconut cream. We went home very full, with food left over for lunch the next day, and it wasn't expensive either.

Yum! Give them a try. Thanks, Annie, what a find!

Beth & Nathaniel

2009-07-06T11:54:00.003+10:00

Well, it's probably time for a blog post, eh? It's been a while.

Just got back from Brisbane. We went down there for a cousin's wedding: Laetitia's cousin Nathaniel, to Beth Hendy. As it turns out, several of my friends know Beth, even though I didn't until Saturday!

It was a lovely wedding in St Thomas' Anglican Church on High St, Toowong. Conservative ceremony, with some old hymns (I only knew one of them). Beth & Nathaniel asked people not to take photos during the service.

The reception afterwards was at Hillstone St Lucia, also known as the St Lucia Golf Club. It was fun to be there as a guest rather than a musician! While we were all gathering outside, someone was writing a proposition in the sky (“Marry me…”). And the food was delicious!

More photos, as usual, on Flickr.

Hearing God

2009-05-17T14:55:00.011+10:00

Some people say they hear God speaking to them as an audible voice. I don't. I've always felt confused, skeptical and even disheartened to hear people talking about God that way.

So when I was studying at CHC a few years ago, and I got a chance for a research assignment to choose a topic of relevance to my own spiritual growth, I chose “Hearing God”. For that assignment, I read a number of books and essays on the subject. One of those books was Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard. At the time, struggling to write an essay by a due date, and not yet ready for the deeper stuff later on in the book, I never got further than about half-way through it. But I knew I wanted to finish reading it some time.

Recently my wife bought me a copy, and I have now been able to read it carefully and thoroughly from cover to cover.

The book is excellent. The style is conversational and gentle, but precise and unambiguous. Firmly grounded in the Bible, most of the book is a theology of hearing God, as much about why as it is about how and when. Specific, personal communication from God is placed in the context of a life lived with God and for God. Theoretical principles are related to everyday life.

Theologically, I was most affected by Willard's profound description of “words” as being a personal expression. When you and I speak, our words are an expression of our very selves, of our desires, our will, our understanding. So too everything we call “God's Word”—the Bible, Jesus and any personal communication—is, in the same way, just an expression of God himself. And while our words are powerful enough, God's words have such authority and power that they always accomplish their intended purpose.

Practically, I have been encouraged on several counts. First, that I am not alone in struggling to recognize God's voice. Also that God's word (in the deeper sense just described) can also be heard not just in the Bible and through circumstance but from others who speak to us, and even sometimes when God speaks through us—all of which I can relate to, after looking for such occasions since I first read the book several years ago. Willard gives specific suggestions on how to practise and process living in a conversational relationship with God.

But the book is also somewhat confronting, in a very positive way. After all, if you don't actually notice and pay attention to your difficulties and faults, you will never be able to learn, correct your faults and grow. I found I had to take the last few chapters one at a time, and give myself time to digest and reflect on each before moving on.

Recommendation: A challenging but very valuable read. If you want to better understand how God communicates with his people, or you want your personal relationship with God to grow stronger, you could certainly benefit from reading this book.

Busy, busy, busy

2009-05-17T07:46:00.003+10:00

Sorry, it's been a while since I posted here. That's because I've been quite busy. Since the end of Term 1 I've had to turn down four separate invitations to do more. I'd actually enjoy doing those things—coaching a Lego robotic soccer team, for instance. (That is, coaching the students programming the robots, not coaching the Lego robots!) But I just don't have time for anything else.

I'll try to find some time soon for more updates here, though.

Inkheart

2009-04-04T18:45:00.000+10:00

Beautiful. I cried. Twice.

Changing the subject

2009-04-04T11:35:00.003+10:00

Well, Term 1 is over. *Phew*

Actually, the time seems to have passed much more quickly than usual. Perhaps I'm finally starting to get the hang of this teaching thing. My senior classes are fabulous. (Can't say the same for my year 9s though!)

Unfortunately, one of my favourite classes won't be mine to teach any more. Like last year, our two Maths B classes in year 11 have grown too small to justify keeping separate, especially since the Prevocational Maths class in year 11 is at 27 students and growing. So we'll combine the two Maths B classes and split up the Prevoc class instead.

Fortunately I get to teach Maths A. One of the Maths A teachers is going to take the new Prevoc class.

A DIY Light Tent

2009-03-22T13:55:00.009+10:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but today I finally got around to it. I made myself a light tent. What is a light tent? One of these:

I found instructions in September last year. You just get a cardboard box and some white material, and start hacking away.

I think I need something better than double-sided tape and duct tape, though. The material fell off the sides a few times.

Here it is in action:

And here are my first few subjects:

TC Hamish

2009-03-11T06:44:00.003+10:00

Yes, I know it's been a while since I posted anything here. So perhaps the passing-by of a cyclone is a good stimulus to get me going again.

Cyclone Hamish looked for a bit like it might make a direct hit on the north or central Queensland coast, but then veered south-east just in time. A day spent cleaning up the yard, tying the bins to a tree, moving pot plants into the foyer; a nervous day on cyclone warning; gusty but not dangerous winds, squally but patchy rain; a storm surge on top of a 6m tide causing only minor flooding in low-lying parts of Mackay. And then a clearing sky and cooler air in the wake, as the cyclone moved off down the coast.

For a while there Hamish was at category 5, with 300km/h winds near the eye and a central air pressure around 925hPa. That's pretty serious stuff! I did some research and learnt quite a bit about tropical cyclones. Apparently they are normally surrounded by a layer of very high cirrus, the result of the net outflow of damp air from the middle of the cyclone at the very top of the troposphere. Last night (Tuesday night) I observed a beautiful side-effect of this. The full moon was surrounded by a lunar corona, a band of rainbow colours. As the high-level cloud drifted past, the ring distorted gently as different sections shifted in and out. It was so beautiful!

25 Random Things

2009-02-06T23:11:00.004+10:00

On Facebook at the moment, there's a meme going around, where you are supposed to write a note with 15 or 25 (depending who you ask) random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself, and then tag some friends who you want to do the same. I thought my blog might also be an appropriate place to publish my reflections. So here goes:

1. Jesus first, my wife second, everything else third.

2. I believe that “We die only once, and then we are judged.” (Hebrews 9:27) If you die tonight, will you go to heaven? If you are not certain, talk to someone about it.

3. I believe the world was created in six days. I used to think otherwise, but in the mid-1990s I decided I was tired of just accepting what everyone else told me, so I did my own research. The evidence to my mind is overwhelmingly in favour of the universe having been created by an astoundingly clever designer.

4. I'm not the man I used to be, and that's a very good thing. God has done the most amazing miracles in my life. Not the “ta-da! magic” kind of miracles. He has changed my heart. I am actually amazed that some of my old friends who knew me as an arrogant, noisy schoolboy stuck with me long enough to see the changes. Thank you! (You know who you are.)

5. The older I get, the more comfortable I'm becoming with mystery. As a teenager I wanted to know and understand everything. The unknown was just a few books or semesters away. But now I have begun to recognize the unknowable. Some things I will simply never know, never understand. And I'm okay with that.

6. I was dux of my high school, got a TE score of 990, and was awarded an Australian Student Prize without even knowing such a thing existed. (The $2000 prize literally floored me when I got the letter about it. I sank to the floor in surprise.)

7. When I was a child, I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Both my parents had been maths teachers.

8. But I got side-tracked by my own intelligence—or perhaps more accurately, by my scholastic success. I got to the end of high school, and couldn't decide what to do at uni (uni was never optional for me), until one of my teachers showed me that I didn't have to choose between maths and computers, I could study both at the same time (in a Bachelor of Science course at UQ). At the end of my pass degree, the most natural thing to do was to continue on into honours. And the only honours course I qualified for was combined maths and computing.

9. At the time, and for a very long time afterwards, my honours year was the hardest work I'd ever done. Some of my maths subjects were so esoteric, my friend Scott and I would go to the refec after each fifty-minute lecture and spend a couple of hours talking it through, trying to get our heads around it.

10. My honours research project was in combinatorics. Specifically— actually, no, I won't bother trying to explain it. Ask me if you're interested.

11. My honours project was published in a journal (The Australasian Journal of Combinatorics, vol.14, p.109), and I was sent to a conference in Geelong to present it.

12. I nearly went broke while I was there. (My bank account got down to about $4.)

13. During my honours year I lived in a house in St Lucia with (variously) 4-6 other uni students. Only two were on the lease, which meant inspections were… interesting. Don't ask about meals, shopping, cleaning rosters or the TV. Or the car seat we used as a couch. Or the mangoes that fell into the pool. Come the think of it, I could probably write 25 random things just about share-house living in Brisbane—but I don't have to, because John Birmingham already did.

14. I got first class honours, with a GPA over the four years of around 6.5 (two 5s were my lowest results: in statistics and ODEs). I was awarded a university medal.

15. I nearly did a PhD. I applied for, and was granted, an APA scholarship for computational combinatorics.

16. But I took a job as a programmer instead, because it paid more.

17. I'm one of a relatively small number of people in the world who actually understand C++. Even pointers and memory management. Yes, even template instantiation.

18. I can still remember the opcodes for programming in 6502 machine code. I also speak Z80 and 68000. I like the 68000 the best. I was delighted when I discovered recently that my graphics calculator, a TI-84+, is driven by a Z80!

19. I nearly wrote my own operating system, twice. First time in high school, for an Apple ][e. Second time at uni, for a PC. Both times I decided in the end that the extant offerings would do, even if they weren't perfect.

20. I don't think computer programming should be called software engineering. Engineering as a discipline has been around for, what, maybe a thousand years? Computers have been around for less than a century. When we understand what we're doing a little better, and can reliably build software that does what we want, without failures requiring a restart, without annoying glitches, without blowing out the budget before we even get started… then perhaps we might be able to consider associating software with the dignified profession of engineering.

21. I stopped being a professional programmer in 2004. One morning I prayed that God would take away from me anything that stopped me from doing his will. By lunch time I had lost my job.

22. I started studying to be a teacher at QUT, but hated it.

23. I have lived in four countries and visited many more. I haven't been to South America or Antarctica. I speak two languages fluently and smatterings of a couple of others. I like languages and I'm fascinated by cultural differences.

24. But at the end of the day I like four countries the best. Scotland is very pretty (when it's not drizzling) and the people are nice. Germany appeals to my logical and organised side. Ireland stands for peace on the international scene. But Australia is where I consider my home to be.

25. Learning to play the violin and viola is quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. (Come on, I could hardly get to the end of this list of 25 things without mentioning music, now could I?) It's much harder than driving a car. I used to think I had poor motor skills and coordination, until I thought more carefully about just what exactly is involved in playing fiddle. But playing viola in chamber groups, right in the middle of the harmony and the sound… that's where I like to be.