A quick Fantail picture

A picture of a Fantail from my last trip. These little guys are the flycatchers of NZ, and their tail darts here and there every few milliseconds it seems. They'll come within inches of you at times to catch insects, or just scope out the scene.

Not much else is happening, one more week of classes and then 3 weeks of finals. I went out and ate some mussels for the first time in my life. They were pretty good, and supposedly you have to have them while in New Zealand. I'll pass on the Urchin Roe though, I've seen enough of those things in lab. Cheers!

Climbing at the Quarry the other day

Shot by Marty, a much better photographer than me. Have a test tomorrow afternoon, but I'll post some other stuff later this week. Good luck with Finals and Work people.

~J

Taupo part Deux

I don't have many pictures of myself, but many other people took some, so I will post 'em when I get a chance. Here's some more!

The lake from up a pitch

Gary on lead on Small Pocks

Nicole giving her approval

During the Battle with the stuck rope

At the base of the Plateau with Nicole, Tom and Gary (L to R). The first day

Nicole doing an exfoliating pumice scrub. OH THE HORROR!

Joanna on the Brilliant Crack Sayonara

Stephanie with the east shore in the distance

This weekend I went Rock climbing down South on the West side of Lake Taupo, at a place called Whanganui Bay. I think I've mentioned it before, but it is an old volcanic caldera that beheaded itself in a similar manner to Mt. Tehema in Lassen National Park or Crater Lake. Word has it is is deeper than Crater Lake, and like the deepest lake in the U.S. the waters are impossibly blue. It being a volcanic area, there is incredibly light pumice everywhere, so you can amuse yourself for a little while by chucking pieces into the water and watching them float.

Whanganui Bay (pronounced Fah-gun-ooee, Wh = F in Maori) is an old Maori settlement, and there are 500+ climbs. If you have the means and the time, one can take a boat out to the cliffs on the waterside and climb up from there if you want to. The rock is ignimbrite and it has lots of pockets and vertical columns. Great climbing in a beautiful area!

My friend Nicole from good old CA joined myself and some of the University Rock Climbing club members down there for the weekend. We had a blast, other than getting a rope stuck on a 3 pitch climb (called Tibia) just as the twilight was fading Sunday evening. It took climbers Marty, Owen and myself a while to get it down, but cracking jokes and snapping pictures during the night passed the time till Marty finally ascended and rebuilt the anchor. Got back just before 3 am this morning...ugh. Here are some pictures for y'all. Happy Mother's day Mom!

Taupo, looking north

One of the Climbing Areas, on the right side of the Big column is the 3 pitch route Tibia

Interesting gravel sorting by a small stream

On belay on an 18, Fun!

Climbing/Sunset

So here's a few pictures I've been meaning to post. Not too much has been happening lately. I got to do a little climbing at an old basalt quarry in town here. I've gotta say, it isn't much but it still puts the columns in Eugene to shame. Fun climbing! My friend Nicole from Humboldt has rolled into town from Oz (Australia). We went to high school together and she has been tearin' up the surf down in Ragland the past week. I'll post more when I get time. Later!

Sunset at Pixie beach

The Mt. Eden Quarry

Nicole and I at the quarry

The Quarry (nice grassy landings!)

This is for you mom. They play a lot of field hockey here!

Mantis in my Pantis

So I get up this morning, all ready for an invigorating ride complete with dodging car doors and honking horns, and to my surprise I discover that my bike has some other passengers. Timbo, if I remember correctly, you said you used to battle ants all the time when you lived in Hawaii. Word has it that the bro was the most feared ant fighter this side of the Tonga trench, errr... that side. Well anyhow, the little guys decided that inside of my bike frame would be a good place to set up shop. It really is a perfect ant home. A small, easily defendable entrance (holes in the chainstays) with an impenetrable casing. As I wheeled my bike out of the shed, the surprised ants started tearin' around all angry, like chuckin' a single doughnut into an over eater's anonymous help group. They were, as I often say "all up in my grill like that."

And no wonder, would you like it if some dude started jostling your house around at that hour of the morning? Feeling guilty, I set out to make them feel at home. I doused the entrance to their home with chain lube and red grease to get rid of all that rust that surely coated the inside of the chainstays. Then, thinking that they might enjoy the thrill of zero gravity, I powered the bike off a few of the bigger curbs near my place. Making sure not to sit on my seat and crush any of their poor souls, I figured my morning commute, complete with city transit exhaust might boost their Carbon Monoxide levels. I changed routes though, so they could enjoy the roller coaster ride that is college hill road (I routinely pass cars on this badboy). On my way there I tried a few laughable stunts in Aotea square, complete with big bunny hops, just to seal the deal for my new tenants. Sadly, by the time I made it to campus, they had all left for seemingly greener pastures. You can't win everybody over.

Cheers