Lots of Tutorial organising - it's been rather busy trying to find Tutors, rearrange Tutorials, sort out locations, find whiteboards, etc. etc. Beginning to work out a system for doing things, which is a great improvement on not having one.
PhD work has also been interesting - lots of reading at the moment but as someone who hasn't done a great deal of Applied Maths or Engineering, there's plenty to catch up on, not to mention the quantity of numerical methods I haven't used before. However, as with any subject, that's part of the motivation - learning. I've also successfully set up my computer with two monitors, so that's an achievement right there:
Also, thank you to Aunt Isabel, who has found and contacted me about a friend of hers that is an experienced researcher in the same field - amazing!
As to what I'm doing the rest of the time, the last three weekends have been great fun and I've taken well over 350 photos since the previous post. I'll include a smattering:
[This is a picture taken from near an ANZAC memorial on Otago Peninsula, which Greg kindly took me along for a trip to see. ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is coming up on the 25th April and is a particularly important date in the calendar here. From what I've been told, it is much like Armistice Day in UK and there'll be a large number commemorative events and remembrance services run over that weekend.]Incidentally, whin bushes (gorse) are everywhere here. It's very homely for me, but in NZ, gorse is seen as a pest which supplants endemic species. Looks nice though.
[This is a picture of the semi-industrial harbour area, just to contrast with the nice scenery - I think the cream building is the Cadbury's factory. While this all looks very flat, I'm actually standing on the continuation of the road on the right. Generally speaking, this is a very hilly area and while it may provide wonderful views, I'll have calves of steel by the time I get home.]
[This is a view towards the city centre looking roughly South, with the Pacific in the distance. The blue building just visible at the end of the middle road is one of the local Irish pubs - not bad to be honest but still slightly surreal.]
[A nice view of Knox from the same hill as above, looking more Easterly. To the right are the Botanic Gardens which I walk through on the way to the Department. As you can see in the photo, Autumn has crept in and, given the hail and showers today, is now stamping with both feet. Summer seems well and truly over, though the weather is so variable, it could pick up all of a sudden. In the words of Eric Idle...]
[This is me at the top of the world's steepest residential street (Baldwin St), which I have just walked up and have expended so much effort leaning that, apparently, I can no longer stand up straight for a photo. It has an average gradient of 1:2.68 allegedly, which is pretty good going. There are several houses on the way down where people are selling 'I've climbed the world's steepest street' certificates from their garages. Some have expanded to pottery and the like, probably so people can take a break half-way up and buy something to make the journey feel more worthwhile.]Anyway, I'd better run for dinner, so regards to all! Please keep in touch and apologies for my slowness in getting back to people - am working on it :)
Best
Phil
