I am mostly taking advantage of this time that Josie and I are on separate continents to post some of these outstanding videos of her.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Nature Notes With Nanette
I tried to post this several times while I was in New Zealand but was always unsuccessful. There will be more coming from this series, so stay tuned for those. It needs no introduction. This is Josie Bryan at her finest.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Gallery Feb 12-17
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| Angelus Hut in the background next to lake |
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| on the ridge |
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| NZ fur seal |
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| Under the sea!-this really is in a tide pool near Kaikoura |
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| sweet Man- of- war-tiny too. I let him go back into the ocean, but it was maybe already dead. : ) |
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| Green algae on rocks-basis of the ecosystem! |
Rutherford slept here-well, really studied here!
Aimee left today-what a bummer. 'Sunny' was not happy with the silence inside the vehicle.
Air Pacific is not the way to go. I spent another day inside trying to get home/Wyoming in April. The airline wants to charge me more money for a mistake they made-go figure.
I was supposed to be in Kaikoura so that I could watch whales tomorrow morning but I didn't want to pass up staying here. It is the Blue-Lipped Mussel capital of the world. Ok, that isn't why I stayed here. Ernest Rutherford-element 104 on the periodic table,credited with splitting the atom, and naming and discovering the proton...The father of Nuclear Physics...went to school in the building I am in right now. I am not sleeping in it-I'm out back in the yard in a tent, but pretty cool all the same. He was only here 2 years- 4th and 5th grade. My kids/students ages-maybe one day one of them will make a new discovery!
I may stay here and ride the Polorus Mail Boat-sounds really interesting-pigs, mussel farms, sandy beaches, chance to see marine mammals-right up my alley. If not, I'll get to the whales and then on to Christchurch to see the International Flower Festival and go to the opening concert Friday night.
Wait and see...
Air Pacific is not the way to go. I spent another day inside trying to get home/Wyoming in April. The airline wants to charge me more money for a mistake they made-go figure.
I was supposed to be in Kaikoura so that I could watch whales tomorrow morning but I didn't want to pass up staying here. It is the Blue-Lipped Mussel capital of the world. Ok, that isn't why I stayed here. Ernest Rutherford-element 104 on the periodic table,credited with splitting the atom, and naming and discovering the proton...The father of Nuclear Physics...went to school in the building I am in right now. I am not sleeping in it-I'm out back in the yard in a tent, but pretty cool all the same. He was only here 2 years- 4th and 5th grade. My kids/students ages-maybe one day one of them will make a new discovery!
I may stay here and ride the Polorus Mail Boat-sounds really interesting-pigs, mussel farms, sandy beaches, chance to see marine mammals-right up my alley. If not, I'll get to the whales and then on to Christchurch to see the International Flower Festival and go to the opening concert Friday night.
Wait and see...
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Good Idea, Bad Idea?
Several nights ago during a discussion Josie and I did a little math. According to our calculations when Josie was graduating from college I was the same age as the students she teaches in FL. Twelve. I don't know if we would have been so keen on hanging out then. But at our present ages (which will not be listed here) and after only knowing each other for about 30 seconds we seemed to think it would be a good idea to hang out. In a foreign country. And hang out we have done. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 5 plus weeks.
Turns out it was a pretty good idea. Of course Josie's opinion could be different, seeing as she had to endure all my weird/bad habits. She showed me grace on the days when I wore my cranky pants. She quickly learned to stuff a granola bar in my mouth every afternoon around 2:00pm when my blood sugar began to drop. She refers to it as the "witching hour." And of course she was patient with my super weird habit of doing push-ups in random places.
We have shared all of our different bits of wisdom and life philosophies. I am up to date on politics, am intimately familiar with New Zealand bird life, and know so many stories about the Bryan family I feel like I know them all, although I have not met any of them..yet. I have shared all my New Zealand knowledge with Josie and she knows which rivers to cross and which ones not to cross :)
We climbed to the top of a volcano in Mt. Egmont National Park, saved a Canadian from sure death by dehydration in Fiordland National Park, sat on top of a moraine that was created yesterday by the glacier 100' below us in Mt. Cook National Park, woke up to kea (world's only alpine parrot) trying to eat our tent in Arthur's Pass National Park, woke up to what I thought was rain hitting our tent, but turns out it was hundreds of sandflies trying to get in our tent in Nelson Lakes National Park, watched fur seals on Farewell Spit, showed the Kiwis how to dance at the sweetest outdoor music festival, and we laughed. We have laughed so hard on so many different occasions that we had to stuff shirts in our mouth so we didn't wake our camping neighbors.
Tomorrow I head back to the States and to a life that was all flipped around during my absence. I am pretty sure some strangers came into my house packed up my underwear, my bikes, and all my other stuff and moved it to the desert. Weird. I hear the Hanna family lives in the state they call Utah. A big thank you to all the good people that helped Clay make the transition to Canyonlands. You are much appreciated.
I randomly asked Josie the other day what had been our best idea so far. I thought she might say the music festival, the jumping pillow, or when we finally did laundry after more than two weeks of wearing the same clothes. She responded, "Going on this trip. " So, good idea, bad idea? Most outstanding idea!
Turns out it was a pretty good idea. Of course Josie's opinion could be different, seeing as she had to endure all my weird/bad habits. She showed me grace on the days when I wore my cranky pants. She quickly learned to stuff a granola bar in my mouth every afternoon around 2:00pm when my blood sugar began to drop. She refers to it as the "witching hour." And of course she was patient with my super weird habit of doing push-ups in random places.
We have shared all of our different bits of wisdom and life philosophies. I am up to date on politics, am intimately familiar with New Zealand bird life, and know so many stories about the Bryan family I feel like I know them all, although I have not met any of them..yet. I have shared all my New Zealand knowledge with Josie and she knows which rivers to cross and which ones not to cross :)
We climbed to the top of a volcano in Mt. Egmont National Park, saved a Canadian from sure death by dehydration in Fiordland National Park, sat on top of a moraine that was created yesterday by the glacier 100' below us in Mt. Cook National Park, woke up to kea (world's only alpine parrot) trying to eat our tent in Arthur's Pass National Park, woke up to what I thought was rain hitting our tent, but turns out it was hundreds of sandflies trying to get in our tent in Nelson Lakes National Park, watched fur seals on Farewell Spit, showed the Kiwis how to dance at the sweetest outdoor music festival, and we laughed. We have laughed so hard on so many different occasions that we had to stuff shirts in our mouth so we didn't wake our camping neighbors.
Tomorrow I head back to the States and to a life that was all flipped around during my absence. I am pretty sure some strangers came into my house packed up my underwear, my bikes, and all my other stuff and moved it to the desert. Weird. I hear the Hanna family lives in the state they call Utah. A big thank you to all the good people that helped Clay make the transition to Canyonlands. You are much appreciated.
I randomly asked Josie the other day what had been our best idea so far. I thought she might say the music festival, the jumping pillow, or when we finally did laundry after more than two weeks of wearing the same clothes. She responded, "Going on this trip. " So, good idea, bad idea? Most outstanding idea!
Friday, February 10, 2012
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| sweet sign |
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| Awesome concert! Aloe Black and the Grand Scheme |
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| Yes, Aimee ate 6 croissants for breakfast! |
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| Haast beach-Tasman sea-very sandy place to swim |
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| Kea-Avalanche Peak-Arthur's Pass National Park |
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| Avalanche Peak -glacier in background |
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| north of Pancake rocks |
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| Most Northern Point of the South Island-Latitude 40 |
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Photos
Aimee don't jump
Aimee thinking about how cool glaicers really are!
View from Brewster Hut
good food fast!Top 10 List of Things That Will Cause Josie deS Bryan to Say "Wow That's Cool," While The Rest Of Us Roll Our Eyes
Although I have not known Josie that long one of the attributes I quickly learned to appreciate about her was her excitement for little things in life. As someone who tends to run through life not paying attention to a lot of details I appreciate someone who gets excited about things that most of us don't even notice. After several weeks of spending about 24 hours a day together I could have made this a top 100 list, but internet is expensive here so I tried to narrow it down.
10. Mice on hiking trail. (Granted, there are no native mammals in New Zealand)
9. Sheep Shearing.
8. Some guy named Rutherford who had something to do with the periodic table.
7. Aged leaves.
6. Nurse logs.
5. Bark.
4. A teenager fishing. On the beach.
3. Mounds of dirt covered with a tarp and tires.
2. Ferns.
1. That sticky piece of tape on the granola bag used to reseal the bag.
10. Mice on hiking trail. (Granted, there are no native mammals in New Zealand)
9. Sheep Shearing.
8. Some guy named Rutherford who had something to do with the periodic table.
7. Aged leaves.
6. Nurse logs.
5. Bark.
4. A teenager fishing. On the beach.
3. Mounds of dirt covered with a tarp and tires.
2. Ferns.
1. That sticky piece of tape on the granola bag used to reseal the bag.
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