Miraz Jordan

Ruapehu and Tongariro from the Desert Rd. Then a late lunch at Bulls, where you can’t forget where you are.

Huka Falls was amazing as always. So much water!

This motel has its own thermal mineral pool. A 10 minute bathe is a great way to start the day.

The pipe bands keep coming in the street parade. Wellington Police brought their dog. 50 bands apparently. National comps.

Rotorua seems an unlikely place for a pipe band competition, but there we are.

Ready for a breakfast cruise on the Lake Rotorua paddleboat.

Clear water springs at Hangarua.

Mighty redwoods at Hangarua.

Looking out over Lake Rotorua from Mt Nongotaha.

Single lane stop and go around roadworks on the Desert Road. Which was open today because rain stopped the road closure intended to let them repair this bridge. Lucky for us.

Taihape’s humorous loo signage.

Doing all my Internetting before a 7 hour scheduled power outage.

Middle of the night. There’s a loose pipe banging and the house is shaking a bit in the wind. But the last, long, shake was definitely an earthquake. Only a 4.0, but not helping me get back to sleep. Sigh. 〰️

The latest new house on the block is a Totalspan steel frame build. So glad we can't see this new house from our place, thanks to a hill. We've had so many go up around here lately.

Looks like today will be an indoor day and that the water tank will be full again.

Enjoyed the first session of the Te Reo Māori course I'm doing this year with Te Wananga o Aotearoa. 3 hours in the evening — not my best time of day, but I managed. Tonight we learned the short and long vowels: a e i o u and ā ē ī ō ū.

This is … interesting …

… radiation from deep space is not only intensifying, but also doing so faster than previously predicted. …

Galactic cosmic rays come from outside the solar system. They are a mixture of high-energy photons and sub-atomic particles accelerated toward Earth by supernova explosions and other violent events in the cosmos. … The sun’s magnetic field and solar wind combine to create a porous ‘shield’ that fends off cosmic rays attempting to enter the solar system.

… Cosmic rays penetrate commercial airlines, dosing passengers and flight crews …. Some research shows that cosmic rays can seed clouds and trigger lightning, potentially altering weather and climate. …Cosmic rays will intensify even more in the years ahead as the sun plunges toward what may be the deepest Solar Minimum in more than a century.

Via SpaceWeather.com, 05 March 2018.

Ahhh, what a way to start the day, with Rare Kenya Silver Tip white tea:

From the Kenyan plantations in Africa this is a most delicate tea — the uppermost bud carefully hand picked for brewing.

I enjoy watching short science videos while I eat breakfast. The new Nature League is already great:

Brit …goes through characteristics of life on Earth, including importance of carbon.

A few Kuaka visit our beach every year, but now it’s time for them to leave: 🐦

With the changing of the season, the first godwits have started leaving … for their long flight to Alaska.

… their 17,000km-long migration to the breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra is the longest known non-stop journey for any bird.

In fact, I think I haven’t seen any on the beach for a while now.