Winter has come

Winter in my part of New Zealand is pretty mild, at least compared to winters I remember from growing up in Missouri. It snows but only on the mountain. There is lots of wind and lots of rain and an annoyingly on-going feeling of dampness. My biggest complaint tends to be that jeans and towels take a long time to dry since having a dryer at home is not generally affordable here. I suppose a second complaint is having to get out of bed on cold mornings since central heating is also not a thing here, but it does mean I move quickly and therefore get out of the house on time, ha!

Thanks to winter weather, I got to have a new experience while driving down to a little township called Rahotu for one of Troway's rugby games (they won, first time beating this team in several years woot woot!). When I left town it was sunny, but started raining not far outside of town. Since some form of rain (which could precipitation, rain, drizzle, general wetness, showers, any other synonym the weather people can think of) was predicted for the day this was not terribly surprising. After I got past the next town the rain stopped and the sun came back out. But don't get too excited, because all of a sudden it got terribly windy, started absolutely pouring rain (but sideways rain due to the wind) all while the sun was still shining brightly. SO - I have officially driven through a rainstorm with the need for sunglasses. Thank you Taranaki. Troway reckons it was actually only raining at the mountain but it was so windy it blew the rain to the highway :)

In other news, school is going well. I have officially finished phase 1, which was analyzing a rather long and mentally painful list of scores for a comparison of how the music was arranged for piano. My poor neighbors have had to suffer through me playing the scores. One commented the other day that he has been able to hear me playing a lot lately and fortunately he thought this was a good thing!
Being a pianist has come with its share of interesting neighbor interactions. When I lived in Vienna, there was a city policy that outrageous activities such as practicing the piano were not allow between the hours of 10pm and 7am, so I was pretty safe there. When I was living in Kansas City there was a fella who lived in the apartment below mine who would bang on the ceiling if he had reached his capacity for classical music (even though I have always tried to be respectful of what hours I play as I understand not everyone has my taste in music). But the winner of non-musical neighbors is the lady who once knocked on my door to let me know that there was some noise coming from my apartment. I was practicing something by Beethoven at this point. I was unsure how to respond to her designation of his music as "noise."

I hope you have a good week. I will seek out adventure so I can write again soon :)
Some highlights from recent daily life below.

Autumn in the park

A nice benefit to rainy days

Winter sunset (not to brag, but this view is walking distance
from home) :)

One-day Auckland Adventure

I made my monthly visit to Auckland this week, to refresh my library stash and meet with my graduate advisor. We spent an hour discussing the ins and outs of deciphering the lives and opinions and thoughts of nineteenth century males....Hmmmm... still much work to be done there :) But since my library visit did not take too long I ended up with a bit of time to kill so I opted to stroll through part of downtown Auckland to take in the sights. Despite numerous trips there now, and living there for awhile, there is plenty that has not yet been explored.

The self-inflicted busy-ness of this year has meant my schedule is a bit scant on adventures, so the time to wander felt like a bit of a get-away. The bus ride to and from the airport was on a different route from what I normally take, so I was treated to seeing new areas, which included passing by restaurants with such appetizing names as 'Love-A-Duck Chinese BBQ,' and 'Love Exposure Chinese.' An intriguing take on fusion was the food-truck advertising 'Authentic Chinese-Maori Hangi,' which I hope to be able to try sometime. (Hangi is a traditional Maori meal of meat and vegetables steamed underground. Think YUM. However, unsure how this fuses with Chinese...).

A particularly nice find was an Asian bakery, tucked in between some restaurants. They had an incredible selection of goodies, everything beautifully created and presented (and affordable!). Some favorites were the cake that had dogs on top, seemingly constructed out of icing, and the melon bread that looked like slices of watermelon. I bought some Japanese cheesecake for Troway to try since cheesecake ranks high on his list of favorite desserts.
I also found a little shop called No. 1 Pancake, where you can get pancakes stuff with yummy options such as chocolate and cream, or ham and cheese, or various other sweet or savory options. It is officially on the list of places to try when I have time :)

Campus building

University Clocktower

Autumn in the city

SkyTower from Albert Park

Yum?

Relaxation to the max...

Mt. Ruapehu on the flight home

Tidbits from daily life

I discovered some time ago that I was not particularly fond of the flavor of New Zealand marshmallows. Fortunately I can occasionally find American ones, which makes s'mores much tastier. Troway had always found it amusing that I only wanted marshmallows that "taste like home" but over the weekend he finally understood why. One of our American guests that came for the wedding left a bag of gummy candies here and we cracked them open when we put a movie on. They tasted American! Which meant they did not taste Kiwi-ish, and therefore after stating they were not going to be his new favorite, made the connection that I feel the same about NZ marshmallows :)

Troway is playing rugby this year, which has been a fun addition to the weekly routine. At least while the weather is good, I enjoy going to watch him play (if there are any really cold and rainy days I will probably chicken out...). I was pleased to realize I have figured out enough about the game to mostly  keep track of what is going on. And he reckons my opinion on how well they played is indicative of whether they really need to get themselves together, since my lack of experience makes it pretty clear if they were not working as a team!

We had a lovely sunny fall weekend just gone so a friend and I took to the back trails of Pukekura Park in town. We stumbled on some we had not walked before, and a nice bonus were some lovely fall colors. We finished the walk off with a stroll the fernery, which has beautiful flowers year round.

My self-prescribed current lifestyle of balancing work and graduate study is busy that it does not allow for a lot of recreational time. But an Escape Room recently opened up in town so a group of us from work went to check it out. We were terribly sure of ourselves at first but quickly found it to be quite a challenge. We did manage to get out though, whew! The musician in me appreciated that an old piano had to be used to unlock something, and we were quite impressed with the set-up.

Happy belated Easter and have a good week!

Grad Student for Real

I wrote last year of my adventures pursuing higher education in New Zealand, at the University of Auckland. It came about as the result of a decision made 3ish years ago that I wanted to pursue a Masters degree in music. I do occasionally question why, as does Troway I'm sure, but I am glad that I have persevered, and ever grateful of the support I have in this endeavour, particularly from Troway (who more and more gets stuck with cooking dinner and cleaning the house, yayteam effort for Denise's sanity!).

Last years' move to Auckland, and subsequent research projects in the second half of the year, resulted in a Post-graduate Certificate in Musicology, as well as introducing me to the ways of university life in NZ (probably still figuring much of that out...). This year I am officially a Masters student, working through a 12-month research project for a degree in Musicology.
It was pretty cool to log in to my account this year and see student level marked as "Graduate." :)

What does this mean for my daily routine now?
I have fortunately been able to arrange my schedule so that I can work in the mornings/early afternoon and then head home to study as needed/able for the rest of the day.

What am I studying?
Nineteenth-century four-hand piano transcriptions by Carl Czerny. One of my projects last year highlighted his transcriptions of other music such as symphonies to be highly complex due to a seemingly intensive effort to not lose any of the original score when reducing it down to a piano version. I have been playing through the piano scores so I can do a comparison of the orchestral scores (or chamber music in the cases of something like a violin/cello/piano trio) and trying to quantify what his method and/or goal was in creating the piano version.

It turns out that in the first half of the nineteenth century the piano was a very popular thing. It had not yet reached its full development to the instrument we have now, which partly contributed to its popularity because each new and improved version was of interest to the musical public. But it also allowed people to socialize musically in the home, while also ensuring their daughters were learning cultivated husband-attracting skills.

In addition to the score playing and analysis, I have a self-mandated extensive reading list to get through over the next few months. It is all interesting to me in one way or another, but my favorite things thus far have been the books or manuals written in the nineteenth century, on a variety of topics.
I have learned that "dazzling gew-gaw" cannot cover up one's mistakes (Carl Czerny).
And that "death can end one's usefulness," no matter how influential one is during one's own lifetime (Alfred Dolge).
A favorite so far is the commentary on a rising opera star, whose figure "did not weary in contemplation" (Edward Holmes).

My program started on 1 March and is a 12-month challenge. By 28 February next year, the goal/assignment is to have thoroughly researched to prove or disprove my working hypothesis, in order to hopefully answer my primary research questions, and produce an approximately 30,000 page thesis explaining all this with, ideally, some useful conclusions.

I am nearly 2 months in and all seems to be going well so far. I will endeavor to give interesting updates along the way.

Happy Easter!

Maketawa Hut Circuit

At the risk of boring you with too many hiking stories, I am sharing my March hiking adventure with you. We always get a long weekend towards the start of March for Taranaki Anniversary so this year I used the day off to avoid research by trekking the Maketawa Hut Circuit.

In 3 hours my friend and I managed to complete the 6.5 kilometer track, and even timed things so that we were leaving the mountain just as it decided to rain!
From the main visitor center the track plunges straight into native forest. It was a rough but clearly visible track that steadily climbed, although it was not nearly as steep as I had expected (a welcome surprise). The majority of the climb to the hut was wooded, but the views when suddenly arriving at the hut were fantastic. It was cloudy over most of the mountain so we did not get to see the summit, but there was an impressive gorge visible on one side of the hut.

The hut itself was lovely, with 16 bunk beds, wood heating, space to prep food and a lovely wooded rustic feel. I have not yet stayed in any of the huts around the mountain but have mentally flagged this one as potentially the best option for a first hut-stay.

From the hut, the track continues up a rather serious number of stairs, definitely the steepest part of the hike. As we climbed higher there was a rather odd sensation of being almost entirely removed from the world due to the clouds, which by this point had descended far enough that there was visibility up and down the track but not off to the sides much. It must have been my day to be a hobbit wandering the NZ wilderness haha!
But the track soon merged with the summit climb, onto a 4WD track that was a quick way back down to the visitor center, something to be grateful of when it started raining.

Pictures below :)
Check back soon for a grad school update and have a good week!

Pouakai Summit

I mentioned in my previous post that a monthly hike was on this year's to-do list.
My brother helped tick off the February hike, as he stayed on for a couple of extra weeks after the wedding. His final weekend here the weather was looking good so we decided to plan a hike.

We picked up some pies on the way out of town and headed to the end of Mangorei Rd to start the trek to the Pouakai hut. In some respects, the climb to the hut is one that could be considered less challenging due to the track being easily accessible, with minimal erosion and uneven terrain. However, this track is not to be considered too easy, as it is a series of stairs almost the entire way to the hut. The signposts advise allow 1-3 hours for the climb. I am not sure how many steps it really is, but it is a lot, my legs kindly reminded me for the next three days! We did quite well actually and reached the hut in 75 minutes.

Since we still had plenty of time at this stage we decided to press on a bit further. We stopped at the tarns to appreciate the stunning view of Mt. Taranaki, and then decided to carry on to the Pouakai Summit. This was a rather spur-of-the-moment decision, but the sign said only 3.2 kilometers and 1 hour to the summit. It was a beautiful day, we had plenty of water, and it sounded doable.

It was doable, and in fact quite enjoyable for the most part, but it did remind me that if I intend to do many serious hikes I should work on my climbing endurance a bit.
We continued on the boardwalk for a bit before gong through a swampy field area (although it was pretty dry after the recent lack of rain). It was the final chunk that was the big challenge. The track was quite eroded which meant we had to occasionally get creative in finding the most economical way up. But as with all these adventures I have attempted, definitely worth the view! If you stood at the right angle, you could see the Tasman Sea and Mt. Taranaki all at once :)

Hiking at Pukeiti

Something I have always enjoyed about New Zealand is the prevalence of beautiful, free, safe places to be outdoors. Mountains, gorges, beaches, gardens and parks are everywhere, and almost all of them are free. The Doc segment of the government works hard to ensure safe and reliable trails and conservation areas are tidy and well maintained. With the wet and windy winters, frequent tourist traffic and natural predators, this is a massive task. Some places are flasher than others, and one should never presume there will be much in the way of amenities, but I have found it is always worth it to get out and discover a new place.

I was having a conversation with dad awhile back, when he shook his head at me and said he was not entirely sure how I managed to cram so much into every day/week/month, whatever. Hate to break it to you daddy, but I am pretty sure it is a hereditary trait :)
But, in order to not disappoint, I have set out to keep busy with a few things in 2019 (the biggie was pulling off the wedding, which I am happy to report was splendid!). One of those things is at to plan and enjoy one hike each month. Of course I am not limited to only one but since I have decided 3-4 hours is a reasonable timeframe to set aside, I figure setting one definite goal is reasonable.

January's hike was a chunk of the outer circle trail at Pukeiti Gardens. This is one of Taranaki's main large gardens, a massive work in progress to protect and main Taranaki rainforest. It is best known for the large amount of rhododendrons, but has a wide range of colorful sections. More recent additions to the garden include a lovely cafe (for the obligatory coffee after enjoying the garden) and several treehouses for the kids.

Mom picked this hike and it was an excellent choice. The outer circle are the rainforest tracks, about 9 kilometers in total that provide treks through rainforest, a summit climb, views of the Pouakai and Kaitake ranges and outlooks to the Tasman Sea. I estimate we did 5-6 kilometers of the tracks, saving the rest for another day when Taranaki summer decided to remind us just how hot it can get! Like any good Kiwi hikers, we retired to the cafe for a cuppa and a treat :)