July 13th
As another fun packed week draws to a close I have to try and remember what we have done. It seems to have been mainly work for all of us. Claire has done an extra shift at Whitcoulls, I have done three MacOnSite jobs, and Nicky has been as busy as ever with her regular hours an emergency cover.
However, we have managed a couple of good evenings out. On Wednesday we went to the Stardome in Cornwall Park. This is also where One Tree Hill is located. You may remember Nicky and I tackling it without extra oxygen when Sir Ed died. We had a wonderful time in their "planetarium" learning what we were seeing in the night sky about Auckland - the southern hemisphere basically. This was very informative because I knew that what looked like The Plough to me couldn't be The Plough because that is only visible in the northern hemisphere. I was very pleased to discover that it is actually the Southern Cross - the star cluster which appears on the New Zealand flag. We were also told where we could see the Milky Way, which is much easier here than in England. Then, at the end of the evening and with the virtue of a very clear sky, I was able to see Jupiter and 4 of its moons through one of the telescopes. This was the first time I have looked through a telescope at a star (or planet in this case) and seen some detail, instead of just a white spot. It was fantastic.
Then on Saturday we were invited to diner by a family who Nicky know's through her Life Group at church. We had a lovely roast chicken followed by a scrummy chocolate dessert, good wine and stimulating conversation. Claire and I were the lucky ones and were able to have a lie-in this morning, but Nicky was working at New Lynn so had to be up.
Today we have had wonderful warm sunshine - nothing like January at all - more like spring, but fog (!) is forecast for later in the coming week.
Two of Claire's school friends from England arrive on Thursday to stay with us for 8 days, so I don't know how easy it will be to update the blog, but I will try.
Until next time,
Rick
However, we have managed a couple of good evenings out. On Wednesday we went to the Stardome in Cornwall Park. This is also where One Tree Hill is located. You may remember Nicky and I tackling it without extra oxygen when Sir Ed died. We had a wonderful time in their "planetarium" learning what we were seeing in the night sky about Auckland - the southern hemisphere basically. This was very informative because I knew that what looked like The Plough to me couldn't be The Plough because that is only visible in the northern hemisphere. I was very pleased to discover that it is actually the Southern Cross - the star cluster which appears on the New Zealand flag. We were also told where we could see the Milky Way, which is much easier here than in England. Then, at the end of the evening and with the virtue of a very clear sky, I was able to see Jupiter and 4 of its moons through one of the telescopes. This was the first time I have looked through a telescope at a star (or planet in this case) and seen some detail, instead of just a white spot. It was fantastic.
Then on Saturday we were invited to diner by a family who Nicky know's through her Life Group at church. We had a lovely roast chicken followed by a scrummy chocolate dessert, good wine and stimulating conversation. Claire and I were the lucky ones and were able to have a lie-in this morning, but Nicky was working at New Lynn so had to be up.
Today we have had wonderful warm sunshine - nothing like January at all - more like spring, but fog (!) is forecast for later in the coming week.
Two of Claire's school friends from England arrive on Thursday to stay with us for 8 days, so I don't know how easy it will be to update the blog, but I will try.
Until next time,
Rick
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