farewell faces

This is it. I leave New Zealand today. Sabbatical over (well almost - I'm not starting my AK job until Nov.1). Just short of 7 months, living 6 in Wellington, has been just the ticket for this formerly stressed museum director. Working part-time and house-sitting has afforded enough time and money to travel, yet stay pretty grounded in one place to make friends and work colleagues who will stay with me forever.
 

This post is dedicated to all the wonderful people on these little islands who made my trip intimate and real. Let's start with those hoots at the College of GPs (yes, that was a reference to OWLcatraz you guys). On my last day, here's what I arrived to (right). Thank you for the classy decs & party planning, Sue L (even if you did plan the first farewell tea an afternoon I was gone).

Not all my pix turned out at the party, but here's a few. These guys gave me a kiwi tea with all the NZ favorites, including the first palatable Vegemite I have eaten (thanks, Jeanette!).

I'm going to miss this international crew - our level 2 team (professional development group) included an American, Australian, a Dane, two Irish, an English and a South African - we seven were only matched by eight kiwis, so I hope the balance stays after I'm gone! (Daniel & Cathy, representing Ireland and South Africa, left)

Note Sue D's very flash desk decorations, including the intricate OWL art (OWL is the online learning platform we administer for our GPs in training). I didn't realise Owlcatraz was a real place until a recent trip north . . . I admit I was a bit scared of it on that desolate road south of Palmy.

This is Lana in the bottom pic with me - her dad just completed a multi-month motorcycle tour of the northwest, including Alaska. Although he was smart and didn't go to Homer during the deluge weeks. Tracking his GPS plots was a popular work break.

I loved working with this group at the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners - mostly for their sense of humor, hard work and welcoming me into the family.

Speaking of families, here's my Te Papa family below. To my right is Kylie, my supervisor, who also became a great friend during my stint working on a project for National Services Te Paerangi. (For great pics of NSTP folks performing at Matariki, see my June post below.) The rest of the gang is from the NSTP team or our larger directorate, Nga Manu Atarau, which facilitates iwi relationships with Te Papa and includes our team and the repatriation team. It's been an honor to work with this group, really. The work is so important and absolutely crucial in New Zealand as the country continues to work toward cultural redress for Māori and better mutual understanding of all NZ's cultures. Our work space is open plan, so the three teams around me are always talking over cubicle walls, singing and laughing. In addition to hearing half of the phone conversations going on in Māori, it was certainly a greater learning experience than just working on my project. From the team meetings, waita (song) practice, te reo classes (Māori language) and frequent exhibit blessings and powhiri, my experience at Te Papa was amazing because I was lucky enough to land in the middle of this group.

On the home front, a close network in the Mana area of Porirua kept me well connected, from friends living at the marina, music pals and Rotary. Since I lived in a suburb of Wellington, it was great to have the friends in the city and friends outside the city. I've written about Cat & Leanne, who live on their boat in Mana Marina. Our usual get together was the Saturday market, though you can read about more serious escapades in the Port Ligar and Tongariro Crossing blog entries below (April & May). When Tom & Chris Laing (top right) visited last weekend, we were on a walk down by the marina when a beeping car pulled up with not only Cat, but four family members hanging out the window -- in town visiting for WOW (World of Wearableart - a huge annual show including fashion & dance - cirque de soleil style). Raewyn & Tim (mid right) run the farm at Port Ligar where I wwoofed in April. I didn't think I'd see them again, so it was great to catch them and meet for lunch later in the city with the whole gang. The farm experience was certainly a highlight of my journey, and even better, to have Cat & Leanne as friends just down the road.


On the music front, Jenny, my fellow horn player who lives up the road, took good care of me with rides every week to rehearsal, and the occasional lunch or movie at our favorite cinema in Pauatahanui. Here's the horn section - what a crew!

Jenny, Adrian, Peter, me

The Kapiti Chamber Choir was also filled with wonderful people and sadly I didn't get any photos of them! Though I always liked bumping into some of them on the train or at a concert in the city. Most of them live further north than me, along the sunny Kapiti Coast. Many were familiar with the St Olaf Choir, so it was a fun connection and a real pleasure to sing complicated choral music again.

Jim & Shirley, April 2010

The Plimmerton Rotary Club also took great care of me. A lively Thursday night bunch, I enjoyed the pre-dinner drinks, socializing, good projects and good company -- even taking home a paper trophy from Quiz Night! I found my house sitting gig through the club since they'd sent a team to Homer in 2008. Jim & Shirley (part of the Homer trip) let me stay with them my first week in Wellington. Sadly, Shirley passed away while I was here, quite suddenly. Her amazing work for refugees to New Zealand will always be remembered (and now carried on by Jim).

I'm sure I've forgotten many people, but just wanted to share some thoughts about the friends I've made and the groups I've had the luck to join while here. It's about time to head to the airport . . . stopping in LA for 8 hours where I'll see 3 friends for dinner, then on to the east coast for a week before getting back to Alaska for a meeting in Fairbanks. Finally, I look forward to stepping on to Homer soil on October 22nd! What an adventure.