Mt. Victoria

It has been a while since I dragged you up the side of a volcano. (This one is dormant)  What do you say? Will you follow me as I travel to this cone that lies just a stone's throw away from North Head?  It's just across the harbor from downtown Auckland. Devonport sits at it's feet. I have lots of nice pictures.

Good. It'll be easy. All you have to do is click and pay a minimum of attention. I had to climb the thing on a hot day. You'll see that it's quite a bit higher than North Head, and if you asked Dianne, she would tell you that it's no picnic climbing that one. She knows. 

So lets go...

I have already walked from home to the Sturges Road Train Station and taken the Western Line to Britomart. I then took the ferry you see tied up there and am now in Devonport. 

I turn around and see my goal. That's Mt. Victoria. 

 I'm heading up the main street and will start my climb in just a couple of blocks.

From this point on it's all uphill.

Ah, I like this. I won't have to share the road I've been following anymore. 

I'm getting close to the top now and look what I see. This has got to be some cool place I can explore. I even have my head lamp with me. I can't wait.  

Think again. It turned out to be a World War Two bunker all right, but it was closed. The Folk Music Club of Auckland uses it to practice in. Good acoustics no doubt. 

How do you like that? Why do they put a sign along the road that gets my hopes up, and then lead me to a locked door. Hmmph.

I'm hot and sweaty and out of breath, and now I'm mad besides, as only a 68 year old kid who didn't get his way can be. 

(And no, I'm not joining the Folk Music Club.) 

I'm almost at the top and you can already see how much higher I am than North Head. 

At least there is a 'Disappearing Gun' to look at. 

 Don't need my head lamp here. 

 What must it have been like to fire such a monster?  The men must have gone deaf and I'll bet the concussion was terrific.  

I'm on my way back down and overlooking Devonport. At the top is the ferry terminal.  

 The trip down is shaded and lots easier than going up. 

 These remind me a little of sweet william flowers. 

 I saw this on the way up, but didn't want to stop then. This is a home that is rented out to visiting New Zealand writers.

 Very Cool.

I've shown you this fig tree before but I can't pass it without taking another picture. 

 I have about 15 minutes before my ferry arrives and it's low tide, so I've come down to the beach below the terminal building to look around. 

 Gentle waves...

 ...but raucous gulls. (Is there any other kind?)

On our way back, I spotted this jet-boat returning with a load of scrambled tourists.  Not my kind of ride. I've watched it do lots of 360's. 

 We are approaching the Ferry Building.  I've had a good hike, but I'm tired. I hope you enjoyed coming along.           -djf

Rose wine tasting day at Maison Vauron

I have always liked free stuff. I remember a time long, long ago when Jeanne and I made the fullest use possible of a mall full of freebies...

(Warning: You are about to enter a segment of reminiscing. Some readers may find the following boring. Not objectionable, just boring. Read at your own risk.) 

Jeanne was completing her last semester of classes at N.M.U. and I was working. We were living in an 'efficiency apartment,' otherwise known as 'a large closet with a stove, refrigerator, and bed crammed into it.'  We had no real financial worries at the time because we had so little of anything that there wasn't much to worry about. Still, when we could save a few bucks on the grocery bill, we jumped at the chance.   

One weekend, we discovered that the Marquette Mall was having a food fair. We went out there about noon on Saturday and discovered that it was a dandy.  This was in 1974. If a seller of hot dogs back then wanted you to taste his product, he didn't cut them up into teeny-wienies stuck with toothpicks, he put a whole one in a bun, cut it in half and gave you a proper taste. (Condiments on the side.)  

The mall was full of such opportunities. To make a long story short, Jeanne and I roamed the mall that day, making several revolutions of the place at least, and enjoyed our lunch and dinner there.  Oh, we did some shopping in between courses and hauled things to the car, but always felt compelled to return and try just one more flavor of frozen yogurt in those tiny little cones...

Well, it's forty-some years later and despite the fact that we are retired and comfortable, the promise of free stuff still stirs my soul. Especially when it's free rose wine, bread, cheese, sausage, olives and crackers.  

From 11 to 3 last Saturday, I roamed Maison Vauron and enjoyed myself. Jeanne's knee was just not up to the walk from the train station, down the long hill to the restaurant and wine cellar and back again, so I didn't have my mall-roaming sweetie with me this time. (I brought her some goodies though)

Today's look into New Zealand is at a rose wine tasting event. Come along. 

 I am approaching. They started without me? 

 Crepes are already flying off the griddle.

 Music sets the mood as I enter...

...and am greeted at the first tasting site. I take a wine glass and choose a wine. These are the least expensive wines, around $14.00.  

(divide by 1.48 to get our U.S. dollar approximation) 

With my first taste in hand, I move over to sample some cheeses. The guy circulating the event with a basket of bread chunks just went by. I approve of this place already.   

 Okay, the pieces are rather on the small size it's true, but, I'll be back. 

 Some crackers to go with the cheese?  Yes, please. Thank you. 

More expensive wine here, mid-twenties, but he offers olives and sausage as well. 

 This is the high-end table. The wines here cost from $38 to $44 a bottle.  To tell you the truth, I didn't think the pricey one tasted twice as good as one of the mid-range choices.  I'm sure that's my lack of experience talking though.  

 I did not sample all of the 15 wines being tasted, although I tried one wine twice. And brought home two bottles of it.  

 Walking the rows of racks here and sipping, I thought back to a tasting I enjoyed with friends Kathleen and Lee at a cellar back on Ludington Street in Escanaba. And how I enjoyed the wines they had made at home in the Copper Country. I thought their rhubarb and a mead were especially fine...

 Notice the silver bucket on the table. Tasters were encouraged to pour unwanted wine from their glasses into the bucket, rather than drinking it if it was not to their taste. I saw many people also spitting tasted wine into it.  That's how it's done if you want to keep a completely clear head. 

 It's time for me to start putting together a treat for Jeanne and Allie.

First, a couple of loaves of bread. 

 Then I stopped at the counter where you see the couple now standing. I bought two kinds of cheese and some chicken/duck liver mousse. 

 Finally, back upstairs where I bought two bottles of the wine that I had decided on earlier. 

Here is my bag all loaded up with my treasures. 

 Back downstairs I go...

...and out of the restaurant. Business at the sidewalk tables is brisk. 

I'm tempted to return for just one more taste, it's free after all....but no, I've had enough. I have my goodies in hand. I head for the train and home.  

This is the wine I chose.     -djf

  

The plane trees of Auckland, aka Platanus acerfolia

This will be a somewhat shorter post than most of my other offerings have been and it just may spin off the main topic. You've seen pictures of the trees I'm about to show you before, but you might not remember them specifically. They're in Victoria Park in Auckland and are beautiful. I've often wondered what they were. 

When I was in the city some time back to take pictures of the Kava Room, I spent some time  across the street from there in this park. At one point, a lady came along, walking her dog, and when she paused to let him sniff a tuft of grass near the bench on which I sat, I asked her if she knew the name of the trees that sheltered us.   

"They're plane trees," she said. 

When I got home Wikipedia told me lots more about them. 

Besides appreciating them for their beauty I now like them for their name as well. I'm going to talk a bit about that in this post. So settle back, take a look at a few wonderfully photogenic trees, (they are very good at posing I've found) and learn something about the wonderful world of 'binomial nomenclature.' 

These are ideal trees for parks. It is so cool in the shade. And look at how the trees seem to arch their limbs over us, as if they were reaching across the shoulders of a friend.  

(That was my bench on the right. The lady and dog have moved on.)

Do you remember learning about Carl Linnaeus in school?  He was that Swedish botanist who began binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. 

You probably recall. All the names are written in Latin. The first name is capatalized and is of the Genus name of the organism. The second word is the species name.  Both words, usually, by their original meaning in Latin, try to describe the object of the name. Take a look at the leaves of this plane tree.  

 That young leaf is about the width of my hand.  

These more mature leaves are huge. That one is about three hands wide. 

It looks a lot like a maple leaf.  Whoever named this tree, when he called it Platanus 'acerfolia' was saying in effect, "It has leaves (foliage) that look like a maple tree's leaves. 'Acer' is the genus name of the maples. (Acer sachharum is the sugar maple..a maple with sugar in it.)    
Can you understand why I like this binomial naming thing?   

And it turns out that there is an Acer pseudoplatanus. ( The common name for the genus Platanus in North America is sycamore, and pseudo means false) 

So, we have a Platanus, a 'sycamore' with leaves like a maple in Auckland and we have a maple that looks like a false sycamore in North America. I love it. 

These are massive trees. ( Little wonder they need big leaves.) And they are certanly worthy of their elegant name.  

That's a Platanus acerfolia if ever I saw one. 

 “The world is so full of a number of things, I ’m sure we should all be as happy as kings― Robert Louis Stevenson

Now let's look at this naming business in more detail. (I warned you I might spin off the main topic.) 

While it is true that many scientists stick to the basics when naming an organism, some have fun with the process, naming it for people or just getting silly.

A species of spider has been named Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi. 

I wonder what Mr. Young thinks of having a spider named after him? Maybe the namer of the spider liked this recording of Neil's.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0t0EW6z8a0 


If you're ever asked to give an example of the binomial system, (however unlikely that seems to you right now, it could happen) here's one that you can use that is 100% genuine and super easy to remember. I'll bet you couldnl't forget it if you tried. The binomial name of the western gorilla (the most common one) is Gorilla gorilla. Just remember to capalize the first name and italicize it if you write it sometime and you'll sound like a scientist.   

I also like these following examples.

This namer had trouble coming up with enough names. He was a scientist who had discovered nine species of leafhoppers. He apparently ran out of fancy sounding names after eight.  He just gave up and called the last one Erythroneura ix. (lke the roman numeral for nine) 

Another namer had a great sense of humor. (or maybe he was just tipsy)  He was a biologist who discoverd a whole eclipse* of moths. Do you think he had fun naming them? He started with Eucosma bobana, and then continued with E. cocana, E. dodana, E. fofana, E. hohana, E. kokana, E. lolana, and E. momana. 

Actually it's little wonder that he had to resort to such lengths. There are 670 described species of the moth Eucosma. (He had probably already named some after his family, his friends, his enemies, his high school graduating class, old college sweethearts, streets in his town, and names at random out of the phone book.)   

As I imagine it, he was sitting at his kitchen table one night with his wife. 
"Honey," he said, "I've still got 37 more moths to name by Monday morning and this is Sunday night. I'll never make it. What am I going to do?"
"Don't worry dear," his wife replied, "Bob and Anna  gave us a bottle of scotch last Christmas. It's still in the cupboard. What'ya say we get that out and toast to them. Maybe we'll get some ideas...."
Several shots later, Bob and Anna had become bob 'n ana and then finally bobana. 
They had found the solution. 

Here are some more legitimate scientific names.

How about the insect, Cedusa medusa; the beetle, Agra phobia; the other beetle, Ytu brutus; and the fly, Pieza Pi?   And you thought scientists were just a bunch of nerds. (Probably just jazzed up on beakers of really strong coffee) 

Want a few more? There is a fungus named Spongiforma squarepantsii, an endangerd snail in Fiji known as Ba humbugi, and a wasp which is called, Polemistus chewbacca. I think my favorite one is the fossil fish, Fiordichthys slartibartfasti.  (from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Slartibartfast was a Magrathean who designed planets and whose specialty was fiords.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5xcvAoKojo


Other fantasy worlds have contributed names as well. There is for example, an arthropod called Gollumjapyx smeagol and a dinosaur (it had a dragon-like head) known as Dracorex hogwartsia.  

Well, I warned you that we might wander a bit tonight. I've taken you from Auckland, to North America, through Fiji and to Hogwarts.(sort of)  It's funny how that happened. I was just sitting there in Victoria Park, waiting to have some kava and wondering what those trees around me were?  Go figure.                                -djf


*The correct group name for moths is an 'eclipse' of moths.

Summer storm

These pictures were taken on November 10, 2019.  Jeanne had been watching a storm approach us for the last couple of hours on her computer and it has just arrived. There was some lightning but it wasn't really as fierce a storm as the weather service predicted or as these pictures might make you think. Jeanne hauled in most of her pots of tomatoes and cucumbers in case hail happened. None did.  

It went rushing by, swirling, posturing, and looking savage, but not impacting its watchers much at all. Even what lightning I mentioned seemed to be of the cloud to cloud variety and relatively mild.  Flashy, but not ferocious. (definitely a good thing) 

Still, I think the pictures turned out pretty well. I rather enjoyed running back and forth from the front yard to the deck and snapping these shots. It was a very fast mover and the clouds were constantly changing. 

I think the Waitakeres got more rain out of it than we did.  

I hope you enjoy these...                                                                     -djf

Those little tendril-like bits of cloud were swirling all over the place. I wondered if I might  see a tornado develop but it never did.    -djf