Saturday, March 10, 2018

G’Day Mate

Wellington Coast 

Before departing New Zealand we took a morning field trip to the coastline to see how tectonic forces have shaped the environment surrounding Wellington.  As I told you, there are an average of 8 earthquakes a day here.  Our guide was Dr. Hamish Campbell.  Yes, he is a Scot and an expert paleontologist.  He is currently involved in volcanology and paleontology research in Australia, Thailand and the Chatham Islands.  He talks in terms of billions of years.  As we walked along the coastline with him, he pointed out the tectonic faults in the cliffs.  Clear lines of demarcations and layers of granite and sandstone were visible.  We picnicked on the coast and then headed for the airport.

Upon arrival in Sydney, we met our next Site Coordinator, Brian, who described the scene of our drive to Darling Harbour.  Prior to retirement, Brian worked for Qantas Airways.  He also worked on the Sydney Olympics Committee.  

Our hotel is located very near the Darling Harbor which flows into the Sydney Harbor.  It is an extremely vibrant area filled with restaurants, a convention center, a pedestrian bridge and people galore.  In the other direction is China Town.  We are in a great area.  Pictures at flickr.



New Zealand: Thoughts, Sounds and Interesting Things

Interesting to Us
1.  There are no screens on windows here.  
2.  There are few places with air conditioning, including restaurants and supermarkets
3.  You never get a check at your restaurant table.  You just go to the cashier and they miraculously know what you ate and how much you owe.  It eliminates prolonged waiting and the tipping dilemma.
4. Bugs are everywhere.  Locals claim the unusual prolonged rains are to blame.  We were inundated with an influx of flying crickets one night, cicadas last night.  See #1
5. From the accent to the environment, sounds are so different here.


My blogger skills are limited to the amateur level.  If you want to hear some sounds we recorded you will need to select the link below and then download each one.  
New Zealand Sounds