The Queen is to open a language institute at a Crowthorne private school founded by her great-great grandmother…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: homeschool. For a different topic see watch types. The blog is also related to: academic.

Have you booked a Photographer for your Christmas Event yet?

Due to some last minute cancellations fotologic now have 2 weekend dates available in December.  If you are looking for an Event Photography Service on 11th or 12th of December please contact us urgently.

For large events we will set up our mobile studio and on-site printing at your event so that guests can leave the event with a photographic image to remember the evening for only £10 per image purchased.

If you would like all your guests to have a free photograph from the evening we can make arrangements.

fotologic

Had quite forgotten just how humid Auckland can be. Oh for the joys of a Wellington breeze

Unfortunately the writer of the NZTA’ s response to my complaints to the Ombudsmen is anonymous (to me at least). It’s probably wishful thinking to imagine that the writer might be too embarrassed and ashamed to put their name to it? However it is my understanding that the Ombudsmen addressed their letters to The Director of the NZTA, so I will assume that it’s fair to say that he is responsible for the responses? Those responses are riddled with lies, false accusations (about me) and utterly ridiculous. I shall deal with all of those matters in due course but concentrate this issue on where I left off from my most recent airing. The NZTA has pretended to the Ombudsmen that the requirement for an approved taxi organisation to maintain a Complaints Register has only come into being since the 1st of October 2007. The NZTA have recently gone on to say that Approved Taxi Organisations (ATO’s) will now be given time to fall into compliance on this and several other matters. The truth is that these requirements are exactly the same as they have been since the 1st of October 1989 OVER TWENTY YEARS AGO. And the manner in which that register and where the register was to be kept and made available is exactly the same as it has always been. I would have thought that the purpose for having a complaints register (and the other required records) is self explanatory, but in case there is any doubt I will quote the NZTA’s own clarification document. Quote: “The register must be available for inspection at any reasonable time by an enforcement officer and given the amount of detail required to be recorded the register should be filled out at the time the complaint is received and at the time that a response is undertaken, to ensure accuracy. A further consideration is that this information may be required in some legal process at a later date where the accuracy of the information is of utmost importance.” Unquote: Note: The underlining is theirs. In my many discussions with The NZTA concerning this they have been most emphatic that these records must be made “contemporaneously” and maintained at our registered office or some other place that would necessarily have to be approved. Our maintenance of the complaints register was checked on both during regular audits and at other random times by the NZTA and was always “in order”. During those checks I always asked the NZTA officers how it was that our records were checked so thoroughly when it was blatantly obvious that other taxi organisations could not possibly be compliant? It was (and still is) an absolute certain fact that the vast majority of taxi organisations (at least in the Wellington area) could not comply when their respective businesses were operated by a taxi driver taking phone calls to the organisation per cell phone whilst he/she was out on the road plying for hire. Apart from the fact that the taxi driver in question was supposed to be “under the control” of the ATO (as required by law) the use of a cell phone for this purpose is ridiculously inadequate. In this situation the company is under the control of a person that is supposed to be being kept under control. It is inconceivable that a driver could write down any details when he or she might be actually driving their cab and performing the other duties that are required of the telephonist / dispatch operator? And clearly the record is not in any “approved” location. The whole idea is absurd. The NZTA has been perfectly aware of this nonsense for over twenty years now and knows full well that there have been cases where women have been sexually interfered with by a taxi operator and when they have phoned the company concerned to complain the phone has been answered by the same working taxi driver that has caused the offence in the first place. I am heartily sickened to hear that the NZTA is still allowing ATO’s to fudge their responsibilities by allowing those operators to carry on so long as they use a hands free device so that the complaint can be shared with his current passengers. I was always reminded by them that that was none of my business and that all I should be worried about was that my company was maintaining its compliance. I have never baulked at maintaining our compliance and did so until the day we ceased trading. The maintenance of the complaints register and the other recording requirements is unquestionably part and parcel (an intrinsic part) of a taxi company maintaining a 24 x 7 service. In the most recent response to my complaints through the Ombudsmen the NZTA has stated that: Quote: “NZ Transport Agency Regional staff take a pragmatic view when dealing with complaint and other registers and the timeliness of information being recorded in those registers that are required to be completed by ATO’s.” Unquote. The suggestion that they have the legal latitude to change the meaning of the word “contemporaneous” and adapt their “clarification” as and when they feel like it is preposterous. At a meeting held between me and the most senior NZTA officers, that was held at their head office, the NZTA refused to answer my question as to what they meant by “contemporaneous” but have since affirmed that “contemporaneous” means exactly that i.e. at the same time (see the first quote here). Please note here that I actually asked for a senior member of the MOT to attend that meeting as a moderator/advisor which he did. His record of that meeting, which I obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, confirms what I have said here. For some reason he was not invited to the subsequent meeting with Mr. Ian Gordon and other senior NZTA officers concerning all of this. A few years ago I was invited to give a speech at an NZTA hui in Hamilton. I was told that I was invited because of my expertise and experience in this industry. I was the only taxi representative invited to speak from the whole of New Zealand. I gave that speech and fielded questions afterwards I was roundly applauded for it (and my expenses were paid for by NZTA). As I said at that hui all of these long standing and well known problems could be fixed within one day if the NZTA had a will, and I was led to believe that my suggestions were well received and entirely doable. What a complete and utter balls up the NZTA has continued to make of it since. They have sent my company and others to the wall and richly rewarded many others for their non-compliance. I am not at all surprised that the Ministers Transport Officials have advised the Minister that there is no point in meeting me or getting any advice from someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in covering up this debacle. Yeah Right Minister. This isn’t the end of the story. Coming soon. NZTA officers directly involved in multi-million dollar tax, benefit and ACC fraud. And the Auditor General, Crown Law and the Ombudsmen can’t deal with this? You have my contact details.

Arthur Attrill

I heard this today and just checked out the evidence.  Bodyworks has been bought out by cityfitness (and profitness in Christchurch has been bought out too) .

 I thought one of their locations has closed, but an email to members states that it is still open but now under the name cityfitness.

Has this affected anyone?

There have been two visitors making waves in Wellington over the weekend and its due to their unusual nature.

Ships are a common sight in Wellington Harbour but not so these two.

Tied up at Queens Wharf over the weekend have been visitors from the French Navy and from the “people with too much money club”! 

 The Vendemiaire is a Floreal Class light monitoring frigate (“frégate de surveillance”) of the French Marine Nationale.

She is the fifth ship of her class, and the first French vessel named after Vendémiaire, the first month of the Republican Calendar.

The Floreal class boats are also sentry frigates. The concept of a”sentry frigate” emerged from French government’s desire to protect its Exclusive Economic Zone (12 million km²) around the world. Another need was to address matters of humanitarian aid, diplomacy, or naval law enforcement.

These constraints defined the need for a ship which would be small; extremely stable to allow use of a heavy helicopter in all weather; small crew, while retaining capacities to accommodate navy commandos; light armament; economic and long-range propulsion system.

The Vendemiaire has a crew of 88, a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h), 13,000 nautical miles (24,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h). It has a top speed of 20 knots. 

It has an armament of 1 x 100 mm CADAM gun, 2 Exocet MM38 missiles and 2 x 20 mm modèle F2 guns. It also carries 1 Panther helicopter.

She is based at Noumea in New Caledonia as part of a permanent French Navy fleet in the Pacific but is a frequent visitor to Wellington.

Also alongside was the Vive la Vie.

This is a 197ft long megayacht built by premier yacht builders Lurssen in Germany at a reputed cost of $120 million dollars.  

Accommodating 12 guests and 12 crew, she was originally called Project Bounty Hunter.

She was an award winner in the World Superyacht Awards 2009 and its easy to see why.

And if you want to hire her, she is available for charter in the region of  €450,000 a week!!!

……Thursday 5th – Friday 6th November

Day 18

The Overlander at Ohakune

The Longest Day.  We arose at 5.30am, showered and lugged our bags down the many many steps from Bobby and Clare’s house to the car, where we drove blearily to the rail station in Wellington.  My sleep-fogged brain registered that Bobby only had to pay $8 to park in the middle of town for the whole day. $8! To park for a whole day in the capital city?! Marvellous.  One coffee and cinnamon scroll later, we hopped on the Overlander for our 12 hour journey up North Island to Auckland.  If anyone thinks that planning this the day before flying back to the UK, a word of advice.  Don’t.  It was the stupidest idea ever in the history of bad travel planning.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice train journey with beautiful views, but TWELVE hours of it was enough to make me wish I’d flown or driven.  Anyway – the views are all a bit weather dependent, and we left Wellington in drizzle, so the Kapiti coast was not looking its best.  We did see Ruapehu and Tongariro, the Raurimu Spiral was a feat of railway engineering and mostly the scenery was green and worth looking at, but TWELVE HOURS.  The other thing I forgot was that most trains enter cities and towns through the grimy industrial bits.  Hmm.  We landed in Auckland at about 7.30pm and decided that we could do with the exercise, so we walked up Queen Street to our apartment (nearly to K Road).  Bloody hell, it was a long way dragging a wheely suitcase, but I needed the exercise.  Apartment was small and not as nice as the first one, but it was only for one night.  We walked back to Vivace for our final evening meal in NZ (I’m not counting the food in the airport the next evening).  It was very good food – I had veal with asparagus and some really nice sauce of some description.  We downed a bottle of Freefall Pinot Gris between us, had cheesecake, and wandered back up the street stuffed and tipsy.

Day 19

Lookout!

The lovely staff at Bianco off Queen let us leave our luggage with them after we had checked out, so we left it and went to the Zoo!!  We spent all day there – the weather was brilliant, and all the animals were out.  The Africa enclosure looked a bit sad and dusty (one lonely zebra) but the meerkats were great.  You can climb down under the meerkat enclosures and go through tunnels, popping your head up (in a Perspex dome) in their enclosure.  We saw everything and were hot dusty and tired by the time we caught the bus back to Queen Street.  We collected out luggage and headed off to catch the airport bus.  Not much to say about waiting in the international departure lounge at Auckland airport.  You could be anywhere.  We took off at 11.45pm on the Friday and landed at Heathrow at 1.35pm on Saturday, having eaten the usual airline food and watched a wide selection of movies.

So that’s it folks – the big trip was over.  We liked it.  We’ll be going back

……Tuesday 3rd – Wednesday 4th November

Day 16

Up at 7am (next time, can I do a holiday that doesn’t require me to get up at the crack of dawn regularly?).  Caught the bus into town to get a train to Featherston – a wee town in the Wairarapa, where we got picked up for our wine tour of the Martinborough area.  There were only ten people on the tour (one of whom didn’t drink alcohol) and we were a reasonable mix of ages and nationalities.  First up – coffee in a cafe in Martinborough and then we drove out to the Alana Estate, where several wines were sampled.  Unless you were Bobby, who just necked the first sample without waiting for all the guff about swirling it about and holding it in various parts of your mouth to get the different tastes.  The rest of us were polite and did the swirling and sniffing bit. And the drinking bit.  No spitting here – we were going to drink all of it (no matter how much we didn’t like it).  Next up was Muirlea Rise; a really small boutique vineyard, with a very entertaining owner (Shawn).  He did us the tour, showed us his shiny new bottling doodah (we all went oooh).  He was very proud of his vines and his idiosyncratic approach to making wine, which basically went: it’s different every year – some are good, some are not so good.  If you like it, buy some. If you don’t, that’s ok too.  He was very enthusiastic, and his wine was lovely, so we bought some – a very rich pinot noir; almost port-like.  Lovely.  After two vineyards it was lunchtime, so back to The Village Cafe in Martinborough for a selection of absolutely delicious local and other NZ foods – big fat olives, salmon, peppers, hams, fresh made bread and more wine (and coffee).  Feeling fat and dozy, like dormice, we waddled off to the bus and Te Kairanga vineyard.  Which we were a bit disappointed with.  Bobby was really happy that they were all reds, but on sampling six or seven, I couldn’t find one I liked and neither could Bobby or Rob.  There was tipping of wine and no finishing of samples – blee.  Last but not least was Murdoch James Estate, which was very picturesque and had a big proper cellar with barrels stacked way high.  Their wine was good, although by this time, you could have given me cat’s piss and I’d have drunk it.  Their wine was not cat’s piss – it was very nice.  Then it was back to a wee cafe in Martinborough for coffee and cheeseboard, which was thoroughly enjoyable, and then back to Featherston for the train to Welly.  We all dozed off on the train – sleepy, full of cheese and slightly pissed.  To round off our gourmet day, we ordered pizza from Dominoes and watched Star Trek.  They do takeaway pizza orders online!  How cool!  How easily pleased am I?!  I very much enjoyed the day bimbling round vineyards and tasting stuff and eating nice food, although we started off doing the whole “I taste a hint of passionfruit” and ended up on “that’s crap.  Next!”  So civilised.

Day 17

On our own in Wellington.  Clare and Bobby entrusted us (well, Rob) with setting their house alarm and locking up before we caught the bus into town to go to Te Papa.  We had a bit of a lie in, so didn’t get into town until about 11am.  We planned to sort of look at other bits of town, but ended up spending most of the day in Te Papa.  I do like this museum – Brian and I spent some time wandering round it in 2006 and enjoyed it then too.  Pleasingly for Rob, they had the colossal squid on display in a big tank (a bit like some important dead person lying in state).  It was big, I’ll give it that.  The short movie clip of how they caught it and got it back to the museum was interesting.  I went online and build my very own virtual colossal squid.  Mine is called Bob and he’s wandering the deep oceans.  Occasionally I log in and see how he’s doing.  We were impressed by the skeleton of a blue whale hanging above us in one of the display areas.  I like the geology area too, with lots of information about volcanoes and earthquakes.  We also went to look at the big shock absorbers in the basement of the museum – this is not as exciting as it sounds, but from an engineering and geology point of view it was informative.

In the evening we took Bobby and Clare out for dinner to the Ban Mai Thai Cafe and had some tasty thai food.  Clare suggested we go to Strawberry Fair Cafe for pudding; I’m glad I’d kind of said bugger the diet for the holiday, cos we had puddings that were absolutely huge and very very nice.  Big fat pavlova with cream and passionfruit and a spun sugar creation sitting on the top – the blokes just thought it looked like a tit on a plate (it was sort of boob-shaped).  But it was yummy.  Again, an early-ish night as we were catching the 7.20am train from town.  Bobby offered to drive us there – bless him.  Just as well he works at the train station – it just meant he got to work a bit earlier than usual.

Múlt heti tervünk valóra vált (“mondja Apa most” – ezen idézet megfejtéséhez tudósok előnyben), mert Györgyi javaslatára ki akartuk próbálni az itteni egyik uszodát, ha még a tengerben nem sikerült fürdeni (ez nem teljesen igaz, mert Rebi ruhástól megfeküdt benne a héten, de mivel csendes volt az óceán, a következő hullám már nem kapta el).

Tegnap időben tértünk aludni, aminek következtében ma f8 tájban keltünk fel Bence már kelt volna hamarabb is, de határozott atyai rábeszéléssel célt értem, és indoklás nélkül elfogadta akaratomat, melyet a szigorú hangsúllyal kimondott, elképesztően kifinomult grammatikával megfogalmazott “Aludj még!” felszólítás adott tudtára.

8 körül szálltunk autóba, Albert hűségesen elszállított minket a Huia Pool uszodába, ami Lower Hutt központjában van, és már kívülről is nagyon jól nézett ki, meg a nap is hétágra sütött, ami sokkal szebbé tesz mindent.

Kértem egy családi jegyet, ami 2 felnőtt + 4 gyerek szabályos bejutását teszi lehetővé és ára hivatalosan $12. Ezzel szemben nekünk csak $7-et kellett fizetni, amely összeg barátságosságát még a zárható szekrényhez szükséges 50 cent kifizetése sem tudta elrontani (Vajon miért tud itt ennyi minden olcsóbb lenni? Még a $12 is simán belefért volna szemben azzal, hogy a XI. kerületi Kondorosi Uszodába a sima felnőtt belépő 1000 Ft körül van, emiatt nem is nagyon jártunk oda, szóval inkább buktak rajta, mert ha lett volna hasonló árban jegy, biztos sűrűbben megyünk, mint ahogyan terveink szerint ide gyakran eljárunk majd. És nem csak az ára miatt kitérő vége)

Gyors átöltözés és Bence-átöltöztetés után irány a medencék világa! Bence még nem rendes fürdőgatyóban, hanem amolyan fürdőpelusban feszített:

A kis manó az elején nagyon félt a vízben, hiába voltunk ott körülötte mindannyian, csak remegett és mindig ki akart mászni a medence oldalán. Ez eltartott egy jódarabig, a néhány játék amit vittünk egy darabig lefoglalta, de aztán inkább a medence mellett óhajtott játszani. Megértő szülőkként megértettük eme kívánságát, de azért a beépített csúszdára megpróbáltuk rávenni. Némi határozottsággal (Rebi felvitte és elindította) sikerült is, de nem nyerte meg a tetszését. Még harmadszorra sem Rebi is kipróbálta a csúszdát, eme élmény segített újraértelmezni a “bomba ugrás” fogalmát.

Ezután inkább maradtunk az engedékeny üzemmódnál, Gabi és Rebi át is mentek a nagy medencébe rendesen úszni, én meg maradtam a kis tökivel. Egyre bátrabb lett, időnként bementünk a medencébe is, majd a brenyushoz (mindjárt kép is lesz róla) tartozó, sekély, pici medencében egészen otthon érezte magát.

Még egy kellemes forró pezsgőfürdő is van eme jó kis helyen, amit rögtön kipróbáltunk Gabival, amint én is felfedeztem. Ide majd télen is jövünk, az tuti!

Végül f11 körül jöttünk ki (parkolási időlimitet is elértük, meg Bence is álmosodott, meg Rebi kivételével nekünk is elég volt), de hogy gyakran jövünk még ide, azt bizton állíthatom!

Csütörtökön eljött a nagy nap(ok egyike). Már régóta esedékes volt, hogy benézzünk az Immigrationhöz személyesen is, mely dolog előzményei a következők voltak:

• Gabi és Rebi orvosija november 13-án lejárt, eme tény sajnálatos módon csak november 11-én este tudatosult “okos” fejemben (Bencéé még korábban), de 12-én személyesen belátogattunk Immi nénihez, ahol a hölgy tudtunkra adta, hogy a 3 hónapos határidő csak a PR-nál érvényes (hát ki vagyok én, hogy vitatkozzak vele?), amikor összeszedtünk a kérelemhez mindent, akkor csak menjünk be nyugodtan és elintézhetjük helyben.
• Fordítás sebtiben (beizzítva otthoni legkedvesebb gé ó té barátnőm angoltudását, aki bizony már sertéstrágya-adagoló berendezés használati utasítását is fordította (vagy valami nagyon hasonlót /ha olvasod, Hugi, javíts ki nyugodtan egy megjegyzésben’!/)) és egész jól össze is raktuk ketten, csak aztán az itteni konzult, Szentirmay Klárát nem tudtam elérni, mert 1 hétre elutazott.
• 1 hét várakozás.
• 23-án meglátogattuk Klárát (most ismertük meg, előtte még nem találkoztunk), aki nagyon kedves volt, szépen átbeszéltünk minden bírósági szöveget, majd ő is a nevét adta hozzá, hogy hiteles, amit kivonatoltunk.
• 24-én akartunk bemenni (ugye megjön a kedve ha vár a keddre alapon), de nem jött össze, mert túl sok munkám volt.
• 25-én fénykép hiányában maradt el a dolog.
• 26-án (épp egy hónapja vannak itt a többiek) reggel épp készülődtünk, hogy beautózzunk Woburn vasútállomásig a 7:56-os vonatra, mikor kaptam az tixtet, hogy az a vonat kimarad (TranzMetro szolgáltatás, itt ilyen is van!), úgyhogy sürgősebbre vettük a figurát és elértük a 7:42-est.

Csodaszép napsütésben tadamm-taDAMM-oztunk be a wellingtoni vasútállomásig. Jók ezek a magyar motorvonatok! Végigsétáltunk a vízparton (ahol a múltkori fényképnapló készült), leraktam a kajámat az irodában, meglátogattunk egy St. Maria templomot, majd 8:50 körülre értünk az Immigration bejáratához, 3-an voltak előttünk.

Kb. hn órás várakozást követően O’Brian kisasszonyhoz kerültünk, aki kedves és készséges volt, alig nézte át a dolgokat (legalábbis az orvosikat, szerintem a dátum nem is nagyon érdekelte), a két kölök azon nyomban megkapta a Student Visa-t ill. Visitors Permit-et, Gabiét előre láthatóan még majd “továbbgondolják”.

Gyakorlatilag 2 órát töltöttünk bent, és 11-kor már a Willis St.-en battyogtunk felszabadultan: Rebi elkezdheti végre a sulit jövő héten (már meg is beszéltem az igazgatóval, hogy hétfőn vár minket), úgyhogy egy gonddal kevesebb.

írtam már, hogy imádom Wellingtont?

……Sunday 1st – Monday 2nd November

Day 14

Up early without brekkie, checked out and drove to Picton, which took about 30mins through hilly wooded countryside.  Dropped the car off and trundled off to find some food.  Passed a dive shop which Rob couldn’t resist.  I could, given that it was 9am on a Sunday and I was starving and desperate for coffee.  He popped in to discover that dive equipment which is reasonably priced in the UK is astronomically priced in NZ – I think that my Suunto Gecko computer was almost double the price. OMG.  We found a lovely cafe on the waterfront bit and settled down for lots of coffee and good food.  Picton was lovely – I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was a really lovely wee town with a reasonable selection of local shops, a busy looking wharf and marina area, and a really nice park right on the shore.  There was a tiny electric train track with a little station – train rides for 20 cents.  And you could hire little model sailboats for 20c and float them across the pond like you did when you were a kid.  After breakfast, we wandered round for a bit killing time before the ferry.  We came across the Edwin Fox – apparently the 9^th oldest sailing ship in the world.  The bumph said it was an ex-convict transporter which plied various trade routes before ending up in NZ. It was in a big open sided shed with pigeons flying to and fro, so how much longer it’ll be preserved without being coated in pigeon shite, I’ve no idea. 

We caught the 13.10 sailing on the Arahura to Wellington, which takes about 3 hours, and sails out through the channels of Queen Charlotte Sound.  The scenery was fairly spectacular, but it was bloody freezing on the outside decks, and I have to say, there’s not that many places to get a decent view from the inside.  There was a forward facing deck with comfy looking airline-style seats, but they were all taken by old people dozing and not actually looking at the view.  The buggers.  The crossing of the Cook Strait was fairly uneventful and we go into Wellington on time to be met by our mate Bobby.

Bobby and Clare emigrated to NZ several years ago, and I last met up with him when I was in Welly after Joy’s wedding. It was really good to see him and also to meet Clare, who I’d heard lots about (from Bobby) but never met.  They very kindly put up with us for several nights, and Bobby had booked the Monday and Tuesday off work to spend some time catching up.  We headed to their house to eat chilli, drink wine and catch up on gossip.

Day 15

A lie-in!! It was bliss. We lazed over breakfast and headed into the centre of Wellington to have a mooch round and book a wine tour – yes, the three of us had decided that spending a whole day sampling alcohol and eating nice food was the way to go.  We went via the Weta Cave in Miramar and had a bit of a geekfest, poring over the construction of chainmail and weapons from LOTR.  The short film about the development of Weta was really interesting, and the props and models from his films were very interesting.  Even better than that is that getting in is free! How cool.  We drove into town and had lunch, then booked the wine tour and went for a wander round.  Rob had never been to Welly before, and thought that out of all the places we visited, Welly felt like a “real” city to him.  Shopping for stir-fry ingredients, and then home to drink wine, natter and cook dinner, which everyone enjoyed.  Bobby persuaded us to watch Role Models, and I surprised myself by really enjoying it. For all you non-LRPers out there – get the movie and chuckle.  Relatively early night, cos we needed to catch an early bus to the train station to get to Featherston on the other side of the Rimutakas.

There seems to be a big mobilisation of climate change deniers at the moment. Someone on Twitter described selective use of stolen emails, “Climategate”, as pre-Copenhagen smears. They added a quote from Churchill which I think is very apt: “A lie is halfway round the world before the truth can get its pants on.”

Most of the local media seems to be taking a relatively balanced approach to the Climategate email issue (see for example A climate scandal, or is it just hot air?). However, we now have  a “controversy” manufactured by the local Climate Science Coalition an Climate Conversation Group. A group of climate change deniers, none of them climate scientists themselves, who attempt to cast doubt on the science produced by real climate scientists. This started with a press release (Are we feeling warmer yet?). picked up and promoted by Ian Wishart (a local conspiracy theorist and climate change denier) and some local conservative and religious apologist blogs (see for example I confess I now believe in manmade Global Warming, Climate scientists caught lying and New Zealand not warming?).

Basically, it was a manipulation of raw data from NZ weather stations to support their preconceived claim of no temperature change over time. Accompanied by a claim that NIWA has dishonestly adjusted the same data to produce a temperature change.

The issues, and the scientific facts, are well covered by Garth at Hot Topic (NZ sceptics lie about temp records, try to smear top scientist) and items at the NIWA web site. I recommend reading these.

Nature of the distortions

The scientific issues involved, and the distortions made by the deniers, are an interesting example of how scientific data can be manipulated dishonestly. The issues are well illustrated by these graphs from NIWA. The figure shows the raw temperature data from three stations in Wellington. The main Kelburn station data (green) shows what is most probably a significant increase of temperature over time. This data is consistent, taken from the same site since 1930.

However there was also data available from before 1930 from a separate station at Thorndon site (blue). This site was much closer to sea level and understandably gave higher readings.

In essence, what the climate change deniers did was combine the data from these two stations without any corrections. it produced the result they wanted because the combined raw data was skewed by the higher temperatures at the Thorndon site and hence removed the temperature trend. They simply attached the blue plot to the green one!

The figure illustrates how climate scientists deal with these sort of problems. Unfortunately there was no overlapping data for the two stations. But there were concurrent data (red) for the Airport station (at approximately the same elevation as the Thorndon station was) and the Kelburn station. This enable determination of an adjustment factor which could reasonably be applied to the raw Thorndon data.

The resulting graph after proper combination of the data from the three stations is shown in the next figure. (Here, the red and blue data have been adjusted by the factor determined fror the red and green data).

Now, of course,  the complete data made available by NIWA, and their graphical presentation of NZ temperature trends over time, are more complex than this. They contain information from more met stations. But, I think, the consideration of the Wellington station data clearly presents the issues involved.

It also clearly demonstrates the deception attempted by the NZ Climate Science Coalition.

(Sure, I am going to get deniers who wish to talk about the non-Wellington data – a tactic for prolonging the attack and divert attention away from the dishonesty of the Climate Science Coalition and the Climate Conversation Group).

Attack to divert attention

Some of the deniers have partly acknowledge their deception. Richard Treadgold, who collated the information in the press release has acknowledged that they purposely avoided proper adjustment for site differences. However, he still attempts to shift the criticism by claiming NIWA hadn’t provided details on adjustment method.  NIWA claims that they had made the Coalition aware of methodology several years ago.

But you can see the tactic. The best defense is attack – accusation of more cover ups! Similar to the way creationists react to discovery of fossils of transitional forms – by then claiming there are two “missing gaps” instead of one! Anything to prevent attention turning back to the deception of the Climate Change Coalition the Climate Conversation Group. And the climate change denial blogs have quickly taken up that chorus.

But the real question for those bloggers was asked by US blogger Deltoid: “I wonder how many of the folks accusing NIWA of cooking their data will correct their posts?” (See New Zealand Climate Science Coalition caught lying about temperature trends).

My concern about the attacks on reason, on science. While some people have been concerned about the implications of the “Climategate” emails others have resorted to extreme and emotional  attacks on integrity of scientists involved. Some are even attacking the very idea of science! Peter Griffin from the NZ Science Media Centre described it this way a few days ago: “The comment sections of some blogs have become particularly grubby places to congregate” (see Climategate brought out the worst in us).

Mind you – it would be interesting, wouldn’t it, if somebody hacked into the servers used by the Climate Change Coalition and the Climate Conversation Group. Just imagine the exchanges which probably took place over how this data should be massaged and presented. Over who could be used to release the “report.” And what blogs and newspapers could be trusted to carry their message uncritically.

Just imagine the “Deniergate” that could result!

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Rihanna spent Saturday night in London partying it up at two of London’s most exclusive clubs. Starting off at The Wellington in Knightsbridge, as she left, the adverse weather conditions prompted club manager Uylsess to come over all chivallrous and pull out an

UMBRELLA

for her. Unfortunately, the umbrella caught a gust of wind and flew inside out, causing Rihanna to shriek with laughter exclaiming: “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!. What is this?!”

She ended up strutting to her car and heading off to Bungalow 8. She was later seen finally heading for her hotel at 03.45am to get some rest.

The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.

Nu när jag vet säkert till vilka ställen jag ska (Peking, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur) efter London och innan Nya Zeeland så kan jag kika på resplanen igen. Efter att ha kikat lite lätt på vad jag vill se och göra på varje ställe så vet jag även bättre hur länge jag behöver vara på varje ställe som minst. Det blir en väldigt komprimerad resa, men jag ser detta mer som ett stort smakprov på olika platser. Om jag älskar dem så kommer jag lätt att återvända i framtiden.

Januari 2010
(11 – Möjligen åka denna måndag istället för mer tid i London)
12 – Flyg till London (250 kronor)
13 – 15 – Se England
16 – Flyg till Peking (17:40, landa 12:00 nästa dag 10,5 timmar senare, för 3222)
17 – Kanske hinner se lite Peking på kvällen efter att ha landat
18 – 21 – Se Kina
22 – Flyg till Hong Kong (15:30 – 18:50, direktflyg för 3334)
23 – 25 - Se Hong Kong
26 – Flyg till Kuala Lumpur (12:55 – 16:45, direktflyg för 2589)
27 – 29 – Se Malaysia
30 – Flyg till Auckland (21:30 – 12:50 nästa dag, direktflyg för 5782)
31 – Landar i Auckland, tre dygn efter Victor
Total flygkostnad: drygt 15000

Som sagt en rätt tajt plan. Flera datum har satts med hänsyn till att priserna i vissa fall annars blir väldigt mycket högre. Vistelsen i Kina får inte bli för kort, något det känns som det är risk för nu. Kortar hellre ner vistelsen i Hong Kong då, för det är ändå mest bara en storstad, om än speciell. Vistelsen i Malaysia kortar jag helst inte ner på då jag gärna lapar ordentligt med sol och tar det lugnt innan äventyren i Nya Zeeland börjar.

Jag tog mig även en snabbtitt på flygresor.se på en hemresa med planen att vara där sju månader (en månad äventyr, sex månader jobb). För att få komma in i Nya Zeeland med mitt arbetarvisum så måste jag för vissa bolag visa upp en hemresebiljett (eller iaf en utresebiljett) för att släppas in i landet. På Nya Zeeländska immigrationsverkets hemsida står att det räcker att kunna bevisa att man har råd att köpa en, men enligt rykten kan vissa bolag ha hårdare regler.

Augusti 2010
2 – Flyg 08:30 från Auckland till Tokyo 16:40 (11h 10m flygtid) direktflyg för 6663 kronor.
23 – Flyg 08:30 från Tokyo till London 17:45 (18h 15m flygtid), byte i Peking, kostar 6352.
Total flygkostnad: drygt 13000

Totalt landar jag på 28 000, och då har jag inte kommit från England till Sverige, och jag har inte räknat med några resor i Nya Zeeland eller eventuell titt till Australien. Detta är mer än 50% dyrare än jag räknat med. Men … fuck it, man lever bara en gång, pengar som bara sitter på kontot och ser söta ut är rätt meningslösa. Och att resa, uppleva, se nya saker, och träffa nya människor är verkligen livet!

Fotnot: För skojs skull kollade jag vad ett flyg till Sydney från Wellington kostade den 15:e mars: 1361 små kronor för en enkel resa. Hmm, lätt värt att glida dit 1-2 veckor i mars när sommaren i Nya Zeeland börjar lägga sig ^^

Nearly up to date now! Yesterday, we went to Neil’s house to meet up with Tom and Oscar. Esther was working, so we missed her this time. Neil had made a wonderful lunch, and we played games with the boys, including the Power Tower, which involves running the length of the house to land on beanbags. I STILL think Julia deserved the perfect 10 for hers! We also played Snorta, and if I spot a box while I’m here I’ll be bringing it back with me!

After lunch, and a bit of Ice Age 3 on DVD, we headed out to Tom and Wendy’s house for a barbecue. Sadly, the weather all day was perfect English November. Strong winds, plenty of rain, and definitely chilly! Justin was also at Tom and Wendy’s so we caught up with him and how his plans are going for their move over here in January. I also met Anika, who is beautiful, and I’m sure will be walking very soon now, and Mere and Doug. Great food again, and lovely to spend time with this branch of the family.

Then back, through pretty challenging driving conditions, to Palmy to see how Gordon has been doing while we’ve been away.

Te Papa, the National Museum in Wellington, is fabulous! We stayed until we were thrown out at closing time, and I could have stayed another day at least! Edited highlights from my visit (apart from the Colossal Squid, which goes without saying, and is Oscar’s favourite) are definitely the illuminated photo-map of NZ, which was stunning; the Awesome Forces section on earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and other natural phenomena, including the Earthquake House where you experience an earthquake; the children’s areas; the Passports section featuring early settlers; and the natural history section which has an entire whale skeleton in the ceiling, and a stuffed kakapo, which may be the closest I get to the real thing!

Another beautiful sunny day, and Kevin kindly offered to drive us round Wellington to give me a flavour of the city. It’s beautiful, and as you know, I’m not a city person. The first view, with the harbour, was amazing. Some beautiful buildings too. We also drove up to the Beehive, and saw the original Parliament buildings. As we drove, Kevin pointed out the various landmarks, including the Museum Hotel, which he swears was put on rollers and moved from one side of the road to the other. Must have been astonishing to watch!

We drove up to Mount Victoria – Nicky, don’t do it! The road is very narrow, and the drops are spectacular. So is the view from the top. Again, photos will follow! It was great to see the city and harbour spread out below in the sunshine. So many buildings just cling to the sides of the hills, surrounded by the Bush, which is protected. I’m not sure I’d be comfortable living in an earthquake zone (they record an average of 1 quake a week in Wellington), with a platform braced on stilts over the abyss for car-parking space…….

After the tour around the city and the bay, Julia and I took the car to Te Papa and parked there. By this stage, the Wellington Wind was giving a demonstration performance, which was definitely impressive! We met Neil for lunch, at The Lido, and had omelette and chips, which is a house speciality, and I had my second Flat White coffee, which was nicer than the first. It was great to see Neil again, and catch up with him.

After lunch, we zipped around Wellington Library, which is very similar to Palmy Library, then headed off to Te Papa.

I’m back in Palmerston North again after a couple of nights away in Wellington – feels as if we’ve been away for a week at least! We drove down on the scenic route, stopping at the Brown Sugar for a fabulous vegetable frittata lunch, sitting in the sunshine in the courtyard garden. We went down the Kapiti Coast, with magnificent views, and called in to see Helen’s garden (and add some marigolds) before driving round Plimmerton. Very Mags! All in beautiful sunshine, which was an amazing contrast from the chill, bleak morning we’d left in Palmy! Wellington was stunning in the sunshine, with a definite Wow Factor.

Kevin had returned from Ireland the previous day, so it was very good of him to give us houseroom. We sat in the very hot sunshine on the deck at the back of his house and chatted until it was time for him to go to the Wellingtonian of the Year dinner. I saw my first Tui bird!

After an early dinner, we went to visit Marianna and Fiona, tow of Helen’s friends who were free at short notice. It was lovely to meet them, and we had a good evening there, before going back to find Nick and Andy watching TV. We had a chat with them, which was good too. They have definitely grown since I last saw them!

Photos of the Kapiti Coast will follow as well!

And so do college students write papers and study dismally-long hours in the library – running on caffeine and satisfied junk-food cravings, or the occasional crepe at Cafe Bonaparte when you have the time/money for brunch!

Both are savory; must come back for a sweet crepe some day.

My Florentine crepe – Roma tomatoes, pine nuts and pesto, caramelized onions, parsley, Ricotta cheese:

Rachel’s Wellington crepe, with black forest ham and cheddar cheese:

This guy leads an extremely busy life. I know he is promoting his recently published books The Greatest Show on Earth and consequently gets into book tours. But his publishers certainly work him hard.

Next March (Wednesday 10th) he is speaking in Wellington during the Writers and Readers Week at the NZ International Arts Festival (see Richard Dawkins in Wellington next March). Just announced is an appearance in Auckland on Saturday 13th March. But on Sunday 14th March he will also be speaking at the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne!

I am a little bit younger than him but I couldn’t stand that pace.

Anyway, details of the Auckland appearance are:

Saturday 13th, march, 2010

The University of Auckland Fisher & Paykel Auditorium, Owen G Glenn Bldg, 12 Grafton Rd, Auckland

Richard Dawkins LIVE! The Greatest Show on Earth

The University of Auckland is pleased to present one of Britain’s foremost science writers Richard Dawkins in his only Auckland appearance.

Richard Dawkins will be introduced by Brian Boyd, The University of Auckland’s Distinguished Professor of English. He teaches a course in Literature and Science that includes Richard Dawkins’s The Blind Watchmaker.

About Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins will present evidence for his argument that evolution is an incontrovertible fact. In his new book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, the renowned evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist takes on creationists, including followers of “intelligent design” and all those who question evolution through natural selection.

Tickets will be available from iTicket (go to RICHARD DAWKINS LIVE! – iTICKET). The Auckland Alumni pre-sales have sold out but you can pre-register for sales to the general public starting November 30th.

I wonder where else in New Zealand he will speak?

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(132 ft) high. Wellington Memorial. Located William Brown Street, Liverpool.

For an ant to have had wings would be his undoing.

“Green Cabs had another 45 minute delay to get a cab in Wellington this morning perhaps they should get more cars on the road.” —not what I would call excellent service, but only one of the flies in the ointment.

Around a flowering tree, one finds many insects!

Green Cabs and Wellington Combined are the two preferred suppliers for Telecom in Wellington from December. I’m surprised the chairman didn’t mention that it is now to be shared between the two.