Trip to Rangitoto Island

I took advantage of the amazing, but hot, weather on my last full day in New Zealand to take a 20 minute ferry ride out to Rangitoto Island. I've been able to stare out of the island every time I walk out the door of my hotel or go for a run along the shore, so it only made sense to check it out.



FYI, Rangitoto Island is the largest, youngest and one of the least modified of about 50 volcanic cones and craters in the Auckland volcanic field. It erupted from the sea in a series of dramatic explosions around 600 years ago, and is now extinct. It dominates the local seascape and a visit there is like stepping into another world. The is land is a public reserve managed by the Department of Conservation and is famed world-wide as a botanical gem.

Field Visit - NZ Style

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to join Landcare Research colleagues James and Suzie and drive around the Hurunui and Waiau catchment that I am modeling for work. It was a great experience, as not only did I get to verify that the data that I have is correct (mostly correct, that is), but I also got a detailed look at farming and livestock practices in New Zealand. It's a bit different than the US, as almost all dairy, beef, and sheep operations are pastoral grazing (not many feedlots here), and most of the irrigation goes to pasture and not crops. Here are some photos from the field visit. Note the diversity in landscape across the catchment, as it ranges from flat plains to very hilly terrain.



Additionally, here is a map where all of the photos were taken within the catchment.

Mt Cook/Mueller Hut Photos

Here's a video and some of the photos from my trip up to Mueller Hut. Even most of these pictures do not do the place justice. Absolutely Breathtaking!

Weekend at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park

It's only been 4 days since I arrived down here in NZ, but I've already headed down to the South Island for some good 'tramping' in the Southern Alps before I needed to head over to Christchurch and North Canterbury to go visit some farms for work Monday. The trip started and ended at Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, but the best part was the middle of it where I spent the night up at about 6000ft (1900m) in Mueller Hut. I just got down the mountain and still need to sort through all the photos before posting here, but wanted to at least give you a taste of what I see from the visitors center. More to follow in the next day or so...



PS - Mt. Cook is the one in the back. It's the highest peak in New Zealand at about 3700+ meters (12000 ft).

Hillary Down Under

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in down here in New Zealand, in the midst of an 8 country tour through the Pacific. While it does not look like any "big" business will be created or new trade agreements signed a result of her visit, PM Key and her did manage to sign the Wellington Declaration. The Wellington Declaration is symbolic document described as a strategic partnership focused on two main areas: enhanced political dialogue "including regular foreign ministers' meetings and political-military discussions" and co-operation in the Pacific. Check out her welcome procession:

Adam's In New Zealand!

I'm in New Zealand for the next month working on a project for Landcare Research that models land use impacts of agriculture and forestry practices on the country's watersheds. Here are some of the highlights of my first day.

1. Arrive at AKL at 5am. Have a quick wash and head off to the office. Feeling well rested because I got a sweet seat in the plane, row 1 aisle of economy class that let me stretch my legs out!

2. Meet all of my colleagues at work. Everybody is super nice and chatty, treating me like I am already their friend. Surprisingly, I have no problem understanding anybody's accent. I leave work mid-afternoon when the jet lag hits and head over to the hotel.

3. Check into the Aarangi Motel, located half a block from the beach. Suddenly don't feel sleepy anymore and take an hour long walk along the beach. Every 1 kilometer or so, stop into a small shop to check the scene.

4. Realize that there is a bi-weekly race called the Stroke and Stride that comprises of a 500 meter ocean swim and 5k run that starts and ends at the beach right in front of my hotel. Decide on a whim to enter. Why not, you only live once!

5. While waiting for the start (literally 30 seconds before the gun), see 3 orcas (killer whales) breach in the middle of the swim course, about 100 meters off shore. Others around me seem a bit nervous, but the race director assures us that it's no big deal. We delay the start for a few minutes for the whales to continue on.

6. The gun goes off and 400+ people (mostly in wetsuits, but me in my speedo) sprint to the water. It's absolute chaos in the cold but bearable sea. I settle into the middle of the pack and just try to survive from being run over or kicked in the face.

7. 8 minutes later, get out of the swim and start running on the paved path along the beach. People aged 12 to 70 are passing me - something I am not used to in the US when I tend to be at the front of the pack. I try to blame it on the fact that I just got off the plane, but realize that New Zealanders are just really into this sport. Heck, they won gold and silver medals in the 2004 Olympic Men's Triathlon.

8. Hang around after the race eating really yummy free sausages, fresh of the "barbie". The race director announces some random names to come and get 'spot prizes.' My name gets called as, "Adam....I'm not gonna butcher his last name, but I think he's American." I walk up and choose some blister proof goo (the other choice was soap for a car wash).

9. Head back to the hotel and try to watch election returns, but end up passing out by 9, which was late enough to see the Republican massacre. At least they didn't take the Senate!

To sum up, a great first day in New Zealand. You can see some more photos here. I'll continue to post during my month-long trip down here.

Cheers Matey!

Vidya Featured In Hindu Newspaper!

Jewel in the crowd
by BINDU TOBBY

Economics Major turned jewellery designer Vidya Gopal says her venture Adya started as a fun activity.

“I strongly feel that we no longer need to have careers defined by one aspect of our education or strengths; we have the ability to develop multiple interests and work in areas that speak to us in diverse ways,” says Vidya Gopal, quite simply.

With a bachelor's degree in Marketing and a Masters degree in Economics (from The Ohio State University, USA) becoming a jewellery designer was not really a natural extension of her educational background.

Her venture ‘Adya' started out as a simple interest after she was introduced to the techniques of making necklaces and earrings by her mother-in-law who used to have a jewellery business herself. “It was always a fun activity for me to work with her collection of beads whenever I visited. Given my love for travelling and shopping, I started developing a collection of beads during my trips. I was able to create designs that incorporated the different cultural influences, arts, and crafts of the places that I had visited,” says Vidya.

Her pieces try to mirror her global experiences and each of them, which is one of a kind, is further customised to the specifications that her clients have.

She says, “One my favourite beads is the ‘Shiva's Eye' from Dharamsala. It is a beautiful shell bead with a natural swirl and while the swirl has many connotations across different cultures, (Tibetan symbol for the origins or seed of the universe) this symbolism resonated with me deeply as I started my new venture.” She adds, smiling, “As I combine these beads in my designs I hope that it carries that feeling of new beginnings and potential energy for those who wear the jewellery, apart from looking stunning!”

Her first local exhibition in Bangalore was at the 2009 Christmas Bazaar at the Spastics Society of Karnataka, followed by a small showing at the ‘Things' boutique in Domlur earlier this year.

Her online store is based at Etsy (a global community of buyers and sellers of handicrafts ranging from jewellery to furniture) and designs (mainly necklaces) are available online at adyadesigns.etsy.com.

A peek at the online store is a treat with each piece captivating you with its brilliant colours, combinations and subtle elegance.

Since Adya does not have a retail presence in India, the prices currently listed against each of her pieces are US dollar prices but she is happy to work with any clients locally and discuss materials, pricing and specifications of the jewellery.

She adds, “The next steps for Adya Designs in terms of evolving the product further is to source beads and materials from local women's co-operative societies, communities and artists at fair trade prices — sourcing papier-mâché beads from women co-operatives in Ghana or Tibetan beads from the refugee community for example would not only address the global perspective that is part of the design of the product, but also allow me to play a small part in helping promote and sustain local arts and handicrafts around the globe”

Vidya can be contacted on adyadesigns1@gmail.com or through the online store website at adyadesigns.etsy.com

Note, the original online article can be found on the Hindu newspaper website here.

Backpacking trip to Bigelow Range

This weekend, I decided to take advantage of the great Maine weather and go on a 3 day backpacking trip to the Bigelow Preserve in Western Maine. The trip started near Flagstaff Lake, the fourth largest body of water in Maine that was created in 1950 when the power company dammed the river (apparently, there are even some remnants of a few towns underwater!). I then hiked up to the Appalachian Trail (AT) and hiked the ridge line of the Bigelow Mountain Range until tenting out at the Horns Pond Campsite, where I met at least a dozen AT thru hikers that were on their way from Georgia to Katahdin - many of which have been hiking the 2175 mile trail since March!

On day 2, I volunteered to help some members of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) with their semi-annual task of cleaning out the campsite's two composting toilets (because the campsite is in a sub-alpine zone with very shallow soil depths, they are unable to use the much easier to maintain 'big hole in the ground' privies). The process consisted of mixing the 'waste' with wood chips, tilling it up, and then putting it in large bins to be 'cooked' by the sun before being dried and then distributed around the campsite as fertilizer. It is safe to say that this volunteering job will give me a lot of 'guilt free' hikes down the road.

Day 3 essentially took the same route back to Flagstaff Lake. Unfortunately, the cloud level was below the 4,000 foot peaks that I was hiking over, so much of the day was spent hiking in the fog. Regardless, it was a great trip that I would recommend to anybody looking to do a challenging but rewarding hike. Here's a bunch of photos from my trip, including the infamous composting toilets:

Vidya's Latest Jewelry Creations on Etsy!

Vid has really ramped up here jewelry designs over the past few months, and things have definitely come a long way since she first sold some earrings and necklaces at last year's Christmas Bazaar in Bangalore. Over the past few months Vid has come up with a ton of new creations and posted them for sale on ETSY.com, a website dedicated to selling handcrafted items directly from the creator. We've even come up with a cool and creative name for the store, Adya Designs! Here's a slide show of some of her latest items:



The rest of the designs can be found here. As this is still an evolving project, we'd love to get feedback.

We're Alive and Well!!!

Yes, we know that it's been more than 3 months since our last blog post. The need to update the blog was pointed out by more than one person this week, so a big thanks goes out to Emil and the Florritys for pushing us to make a new post. We could come up with a whole host of excuses, but the real reason is that we've been spending all of our free time watch you tube videos of our new favorite Tamilian performer and global phenom, Wilbur Sargunaraj. Here's a clip of one of his top hits, "Love Marriage":



In all seriousness, we've been wanting to post all of our recent adventures and updates, so consider this post just the beginning of our re-entry into the blog-o-sphere...

Tons of New Photos from Our Latest Adventure

Adam's parents came to visit us these past couple of weeks, and considering it is so hot in Bangalore, we decided to head back up north to the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. There, we spent some time in Dharamsala, the Indian home of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and exiled Tibetan Government. (his residence is in rear of photo)...

and Shimla, the former summer capital of British Raj...

On the way back home, we also stopped at Nek Chand's Famous Rock Garden in Chandigarh...


Everybody had a great time. We'll upload more photos to the blog soon along with a longer repot on the trip. In case you cannot wait, more photos from all 3 places can be found on our Picasa site.

Scenes from our Himalayan Trek

We just got back from a nearly two week trip to north India that was highlighted by a 9 day trek over Kuari Pass in the Garhwal Mountain region of the Himalayas. The altitude and steep slopes made the trek more difficult than we anticipated, but we managed to trek over 100km without any major problems. The breathtaking scenery that accompanied us most of the trip more than made up for the extra effort we had to put in climbing up and down the mountains. Here's a must see slide show from our trip, including a few photos from Rishikesh, where the trek we organized the trek through the outfitting company, Red Chilli Adventures.

Happy Tamil New Year!!!

Yesterday we celebrated the Tamil New Year which is called Vishu. The year is based on the lunar calendar from what I understand.

Vishu is actually one of my favorite festivals in India because of the way it's celebrated. Here goes the description. My mom usually wakes us up at dawn, and asks us to keep our eyes closed. She then takes us (eyes still closed) to her where she keeps an altar. She then gives us some water in our palms, and asks us to wash our eyes and open them.

When you open your eyes, you are greeted by a mirror right in front you, flowers, fruits, rice and other grains, basically all the things that are beautiful and essential to your life, including yourself. It's such a great way to start the new year!

A couple weeks back we also celebrated the Kannada new year, called Ugadi. The custom here is also really cool. You start the day by taking a shower, wearing nice clothes, etc. The first thing you eat is a mix of neem flowers which are bitter, and jaggery (raw sugar). Its points to the fact and probably reminds us to accept that life is bitter-sweet. Another really cool idea!

Here are some pictures from both the festivals. Needless to say yummy food consisting of whatever is in season is part of the parcel! Yay for mangoes! :)

Update of A Random Update from Bangalore

Summer is Upon Us: The rains never came and it still has not cooled down yet. Yesterday, it the thermometer topped out at 100.2 deg F!!! Thankfully we have a back up power source and can sit under that high speed fan all day long!

RCB and the IPL: We went to the game and RCB won against the Kolkata Knight Riders. RCB is 4 for 4 when we go to the matches. I think they should pay us to show up and watch it live.

Taco Bell: We have still not eaten there yet, but continue to see advertisements all over the city that are enticing us to 'make a run for the border.'

Trekking: We leave for the Himalayas via Delhi on Friday. Due to the late snowfall in the mountains this year, Kuari Pass is about the highest that we can do next week without any mountaineering skills or equipment. The trek the trek that we have booked through Red Chilli Adventures still has open slots if you want to join us! If you are interested, click here and select the trek that departs on April 19.

A Random Update from Bangalore

It’s been a few weeks since we have written anything substantial on the blog. Here are a few random bits about our life in Bangalore…

Summer is Upon Us: It’s hot. Maybe not hot by Indian standards, but definitely by Bangalore (and DC) standards. Temperatures are hitting 36+ degrees C (95+ deg F) on a daily basis and the sun is very intense during the day. We are happy to spend most of the daylight hours indoors under a high-speed fan. Last week, it rained one night, which resulted in some amazingly cool weather the next day (cool enough that we could play tennis at 4 in the afternoon!). Today's weather report says that it will rain again in the next few days…yay!

RCB no longer rules the IPL: The Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team has been on quite a losing streak since we wrote so fondly of them a couple of weeks back. They have lost 4 out of their last 5 matches and are now on the cusp of losing their playoff spot. We’re going to the game tonight, so maybe that will bring them some good luck, as they have never lost a match that we have attended.

Taco Bell is Now Open: Those of you reading this in the US are probably wondering what the big deal is, but here the opening of the first Taco Bell in India is a huge deal! It is located on the other side of Bangalore, so we have yet to check it out. However, yesterday, we did see the first Taco Bell advertisement – Tacos for just 18 rupees (40 cents). It’s likely that the food will be better than the ‘Taco Hells’ scattered throughout the US, but stay tuned for a restaurant review.

We’re Going Trekking: We signed up for an organized 9 day trek to Kuari Pass in the Himalayas for the end of this month. We have been training hard by climbing about 9 floors of our apartment 8 times every day in our hiking boots. While most of the trek will be done at elevations between 1500-3000 meters (5,000-10000 ft above sea level), the next to last day will bring us up to about 3650 m (12,000 ft). Unlike backpacking in the US where you have to lug all of your food and supplies yourself, organized multi-day hikes in India come with a guide, a cook, and porters that carry everything except your lunch! This is going to be an amazing experience for sure, and we imagine that some amazing photos will soon be uploaded to a blog near you.

New Jewelery Designs

Vidya's been developing a great set of new jewelery designs. She recently shared some of these creations with a boutique owner here in Bangalore who liked a lot of the designs and offered to host an exhibition and sale at her store "Things" this weekend. For those of you who are here in Bangalore, here are the details of the exhibition:

Date: Saturday, April 3
Time: 11am-2pm
Place: Things
Address: 294/1, Domlur Layout, 7th Cross, Above Corporation Bank, off Old Airport Road
Phone: 080 2535 6678
Incentives: Great looking jewelery, free cookies and drinks

Additionally, for those of you who cannot make it to the exhibition but are interested in anything you see or have feedback, please contact Vidya at Gopal.8@gmail.com

Here is a slideshow of some of her top creations:

What are you missing out at IPL cricket matches?

Check out these awesome videos from when we went to the match of Bangalore vs. Chennai (videos are courtesy of our dear friend Ikky-jaan). This local fan put all the cheerleaders to shame!

The Bagel Story

Presenting whole wheat soy bagels with fresh cream cheese!
This Saturday we attempted to make bagels and cream cheese...the process and results are below...overall we gave it two thumbs up! Check it out!

IPL Mania!

India’s biggest professional sports league, India Premier League T-20 Cricket, recently started its 3rd season and IPL mania had definitely struck the country. It’s obvious that we have also caught the IPL bug, as we have been to all 3 of the home matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore over the past week. Perhaps our interest in the team has brought a bit of luck to home team, as they currently have a record of 4 wins and 1 loss and sit atop the IPL standings (Note: each team plays 14 games in the season, so there’s still a long way to go). As the RCB theme song goes, Royal Challenges Game for More!

Some highlights from the matches include:

- Nearly catching Robin Utthapa’s sixer in the upper deck (with Adam’s swollen palm to prove it)

- Laughing at crazy Kannadigas dancing in the aisles and on fences between overs while sometimes throwing in a bit of air guitar (and sometimes joining in on the fun)

- Watching all the men drool at the cheerleaders, known as the Mischief Gals!

- Eating personal sized Dominos Pizza and gelato (yum)

- Cringing at the teeny-boppers behind us as they scream out for heartthrob Virat Kohli, “Koooohhleeeee, Koooohhleeeee” (Note: Kohli means hen in Kannada, hee hee)

- Joining 50,000 fans in doing the “Mexican Wave”

Here’s a slide show from the matches:


Finally, if you want to check out any of the matches, you can watch them live on You Tube.

What can you do for me?

During our recent trip to Goa with Vidya’s parents, we had the great idea (NOT!) to drive our scooters from our beach vacation location in Calangute to the state capital of Panjim. Although the trip was less than 15km and could mostly be done on back roads, it did require us to get on the state highway and cross a major river in order to enter the city. Little did we know that our trip over that bridge would have resulted in the need to pull over for a “random” police check (i.e., stop anybody that does not look Indian and/or is not wearing a helmet). Here is how the scene leading up to the police check and the interaction with the kind Goan traffic cops played out…

Adam (while getting on the bridge): Crap! There’s a rotary? There are two bridges here that go to Panjim?!!! Which bridge should we take?,
Vidya (sitting behind on the bike, and grabbing me harder by the moment): Look out for all of the lorries! Just go straight, just go, go!!!

Adam: Can you help me merge? Urrgh!!!

Vidya: Ok,,,slow down, will make sure Ma and Pa follow us too.

Both the bikes safely merge onto the rotary and exit to the bridge.

Adam: Phew!!! (and in my mind: stay calm…almost to the city!).

Vidya: Looking good...it’s way too narrow for any crazy drivers.

As we are getting off the bridge, two traffic cops on the left flag both bikes down. We know that Vid’s dad likely got stopped for not wearing a helmet on a state highway, but we had no idea why we are sitting here too.

Adam: Vid, do you know why we got stopped?
Vidya: Cause you are fair and handsome?! (ie. foreigner alert!)

Adam (cautiously): Good afternoon sir. How are you sir?

Traffic Cop: Haan! (nice looking scapegoat I say!) How are you?

Adam: I am doing well sir. We are on our way to Panjim. How do you get to Panjim???

Traffic Cop: Do you know why we stopped you?

Adam: No sir, I am wearing a helmet, no?

Traffic Cop: Yes, you are wearing helmet. Can I see driver’s license?

Adam (nervously): Um, ohhhh, you want to see my license?

Traffic Cop: Yes, you need an International Driver’s license in India.

Adam (even more nervously): Yes, I know that sir. I have a license, sir, but I ….I left it in the hotel room, sir. Traffic Cop: Ohhh! But you need a license to drive in India. It is a very big fine! 950 rupees ($20 US). Big fine!
Adam: Uhhhh, I just need to know how to get to Panjim? Is this the state highway? How do I get to Panjim?
Traffic Cop: What can you do for me? Vidya: Sir, I have a license from the US. Do you want to see my license from the US sir?

Vidya reaches into her purse and pulls out her barely used Maine driver’s license. The traffic cop scans it over but quickly discards it.

Traffic Cop: You are not the one driving…. Big fine for driving without license in India. 950 rupees. What can you do for me? Huh????

Adam: So is that Panjim? (Waving my hand over) How do you get there, sir?

Traffic Cop (now both confused and amused): Um, well, you needed to take that bridge over, or go straight and then go around the next rotary and head back towards us…. WWhhhat can you do for me?

Adam: So go down, and then take a left??? (like are you sure dude?) So that’s the only way to Panjim? We don’t have to go back?

The traffic cop appears to be tired of trying to extract something from us besides a plea for directions and looks back and sees his colleague collecting some cash from Vidya’s dad*.

Traffic Cop: Who is that back there?

Vidya: That is my father and mother, sir. We are all from Bangalore on family vacation.

Traffic Cop (now showing a big smile because he knows that some money has changed hands and that we are just one big happy family trying to get to Panjim): Okay, make sure that you bring your license next time. It’s big offence to not drive in India without a license. Just remember to go around that rotary up there and head back towards the bridge. The first exit will take you to Panjim.

Adam and Vidya (together): Okay sir. Thank you sir!!! It will never happen again sir. Have a great day sir!!!

Traffic Cop (still smiling): Okay!! Haan-haan. All the best! (He shakes hands with us)

All of us cautiously take off, head around the rotary, and successfully exit towards Panjim without incident and take a huge sigh of relief!

Here are some outcomes of the story:

1. Avoid state highways at all cost when you are an inexperienced scooter driver in Goa.

2. Always wear a helmet when riding on a two-wheeled vehicle

3. When stopped by a Goan traffic cop, the key is to act totally confused and constantly deflect the idea that you have to pay for what you might have done wrong

4. Goan traffic cops are some of the coolest and nicest policemen that we have ever met!

* Note, the money that exchanged hands was only Rs. 100 ($2/-), which was the authorized fine for driving on a state highway in Goa without a helmet. Vid’s dad was even provided a citation that was valid for 24 hours in case he got stopped again for the same infraction.

An 'action' photo of the same traffic cop that we quickly snapped on our way to the airport: