Whelk Races and more

I've been saving up for this post! The Great Whelk Race of 2010!

So...it's not so interesting as all that, but some of my nerdier friends might find the fact that I've spent several weeks conjuring up ways to race snails if not intriguing then at least typical.

So, a few weeks ago, I wandered out to Lower Portobello Bay here on the Otago peninsula. I collected several hundred whelks, which are ferocious little intertidal vultures, basically. They hide beneath the mud, with a little elephant-trunk-like tube sticking ever so slightly above the surface. When something dies or is in distress nearby, the whelks rise up from below like so many tiny undead zombies. It's really quite creepy.

Here I am! Getting samples!


But I digress.
The point was to get a fair number of parasitized whelks and see if their speed and accuracy of food-finding was compromised by their parasite load compared to the unparasitized ones.

Once back in the lab, I stuck them in individual containers and subjected them to 25 C incubator temps overnight. This made them release parasites, if they had any.
Aww...trapped.

Are you ready for the jacuzzi?


So, to test their accuracy and speed, I didn't feed them for a few days and let them get nice and hungry. Then I placed them in a container with a freshly killed cockle (clam) and timed how long it took them to find it.
Some get really lost...

How many laps do you really need?!


X-20 is finally homing in on its victim...

Anyways, ultimately, it worked. I got most of them to make it to the food at some point. All 48 individuals got raced 3 times. That's a lot of time spent watching snails crawl.

I'm carefully observing the winning and losing whelks.


So. It was on to grander plans! My great big whelk group race! What could go wrong? Really? So, I set them all up in pairs, matching sizes, uninfected and infected. They were hungry. 6 days without food should be enough to inspire even the laziest of invertebrates.


Unfortunately, it proved difficult to keep them focused on the task at hand...as seen here:


Well, in the end...today, that is. I determined that my whelks are stupid. I can't imagine how they've survived this long. Clearly only about 1/3rd of them are in-tuned with the food-finding. I don't understand why my whelks are so dumb. But oh well. That's science for you. You slave away doing experiments and wind up wishing you'd stayed home with some tea instead. But it was pretty fun for a little while ;)

me having F-U-N.


Oh yeah...and note the disturbing little proboscis and that other darker tube that they use to feed...
creepies.



On another note, I am about to submit for publication my very first manuscript. Ironically, it's nothing to do with my thesis work in Minnesota. Instead, it's a small side-project about limpets I did here in Dunedin. I wrote it up, got input from my lab members and it's almost ready to go. So, you know, next time you're perusing the Journal of Helminthology look for Koppel, Leung, & Poulin, 2010. "The marine limpet Notoacmea scapha acts as a transmission sink for intertidal cercariae in Otago Harbour, New Zealand".
I assure you it will be fascinating! I'm not sure when I'll publish my M.S. work. It's all just about ready to go, but it's difficult to find time to work on it while I'm here and it's not as exciting as New Zealand, so I'm apt to put it off. Even though that's not in my best interest.

Other than racing whelks, not much has been going on. I have been going to a 7am Core class with Kristin that is kicking my ass. And my quads. And my abs. And the rest of my body. I also bought a pass to use the public pool 12 times. I've been a few times now, and swam laps. I also went for my first hilly-ass Dunedin run last weekend. These hills are brutal, but I decided to get serious and I ran them. Whew! I felt great though.

I haven't traveled much lately. My Fiordland trip left me BROKE. I did make a day trip up to Oamaru a couple weekends ago with Jess and Charlotte. We went to the Blue Penguin colony there. It was great! I got to see the birds really close. It turns out these penguins are only about the size of a mallard duck! TINY. But super adorable. And loud. I really enjoyed watching them. They come up out of the ocean at dusk and wander around squealing and honking at one another. They're pretty active all night, too. So I got to just watch them interact. Really cool! Penguins are pretty awesome :)

I'm attempting to locate a job in the Pacific Northwest at the moment. I'm spending loads of time surfing job websites looking for postings in Portland, Seattle, or Corvallis so I can live less than 200 miles from AP, who's been a more than patient bf considering I literally moved to the other side of the planet for 4 months. But, I'm not finding too many great job openings...Here's hoping that something opens up, or that I get into a Ph.D. program. Either would be acceptable. I applied for a Ph.D. studying penguins in Antarctica that is based out of Corvallis. In all likelihood I won't get it because I have never worked with sea birds, but it was a good one to try for! Aim high, right? Every cover letter you write, and every company you contact is good practice, I suppose. I just want to nail something down! I'm getting impatient!

In 3 days I'm leaving to go on a 2-week road trip with Kristin and a friend of hers from Minnesota. We'll be 3 Midwesterners, hitting the kiwi trail. We've got an action packed line-up that includes swimming with dolphins, cruising a sound, a day of hiking, an eco tour, kayaking, glow worm caves, a glacier hike, and a cruise through wine country....and tons of other stuff. I can't wait! Although, I'm sure I'll be sick to death of my sleeping bag by the time we get back.

Well, that's a good enough update for now. I'll have to try to be more on top of my blog. Day to day life just doesn't seem that exciting, so I don't think to write...but really, there's always something going on!

I Loaf You

Since I got to New Zealand, I've been settling into a somewhat better eating routine than I was in during the chaotic last 8 months (or so) in Minnesota and in Michigan. A happy by-product of my newfound groove has been that I'm attempting to prepare/cook foods in advance, rather than eating out or consuming packaged goods at the alarming rate I have been known to achieve.

If you know me, then you're probably aware that I have about 4 "meals" that I make regularly. In descending order of frequency: Tacos, enchiladas, tuna-medlies, and tortellini. I don't generally venture far from my culinary path. I just make these things and then portion them out in little tupperwares to be consumed at a later date.

Well, here I am in the land where shredded cheese is a little spendy (I grate my own), tortillas are questionable, and vegetables are plentiful. Vegetables are one of my weak points. I make frozen veggie-medlies or asparagus and that's all. So, I've decided to embrace the plentiful veggies and all-season Farmer's Market while I'm here. My two flatmates are both quite capable cooks/bakers...why can't I be too?

So, I've managed to create some foods that can be considered all mine. I've discovered that stir frying garlic, red bell peppers, zucchini, brown rice, and tofu can create a super awesome pile of stuff to cram into a tortilla.

Last night I roasted potatoes for the first time in my life. But not just potatoes...pumpkin too! There is this variety of pumpkin here in New Zealand that is specifically for eating. So I covered chunks of red potatoes, pumpkin, garlic, and carrots in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them. They were delicious. I realize that this is not an amazing culinary achievement, but I'm still learning.

My final achievement is a simple one. My mom has been making this since I was wee...and yet, I never bothered to learn how to make it myself.
BANANA BREAD.
I'm not a baker. In fact, I can barely follow directions at all. I lack the attention span or patience to read and re-read my instructions. However, this is something I want to remedy as baking can supposedly be quite therapeutic and I could use all the therapy it can bring me (if not the calories).

I managed to make my loaf. It was rather pretty (by my standards). I must note, however, that my loaf was rather more yellow than my Mom's. Her loaf is brown and nutty and my loaf was light and smooth. I think I like the nuts. Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time) I will try something more texture-ific.

Look how pretty my loaf is!

A little bit about life in NZ

So, New Zealand is not the same as the US. Mostly this is a good thing...but then there are other aspects that make me miss the blatantly consumerist aspects of America. Anyways, here's a run-down of some of the more unique aspects of NZ for me, thus far:

First of all, there's that pesky bit about driving on the left side of the road. Then there's this silly law that says people turning left have to yield to people turning right in face-to-face traffic. What this amounts to is confusion regarding whether a blinker is legitimately signaling a turn, or quite possibly, prelude to an accident. Every time you come to an intersection and you want to go left (that is, turn a tight corner without crossing traffic) you have to stop and see if the guy tooling towards you at 80 km/hr is planning on turning the same direction you are and if he is, you have to let him go first...even though there might be people behind him, in which case, those people are allowed to go around him, before he turns and you remain sitting at the corner, confused about who the hell ought to be turning and when. Anyways, it's stupid. See diagram.


Other things about New Zealand. Well, it's full of sheep. And I don't just mean you see them a lot. It's more than that. You drive down a road: Look left - Sheep. Look right - Sheep. Look left - Sheep. etc. You could go an entire day without ever not seeing sheep on either side of you.

Pedestrian crossings: You, as a pedestrian, do NOT have the right-of-way...don't even think about it. If you step foot into a roadway and get clobbered by a tool truck..well, you should've ran faster. When you walk around in Dunedin (and even smaller towns) it's very common to see a person standing on the curb, leaning forward to peek up and down the road. This person is calculating how much time he or she has to scamper nimbly across however many lanes. Then, if traffic is heavy, they RUN. No one casually strolls across the street with the naive assumption that traffic will slow so they can make it. Hell no. They dart through traffic breaks with the full knowledge that cars will kill them. The exception to this is the infrequently constructed and sparsely distributed pedestrian crossing areas. Other than at traffic lights, where there are signals for pedestrians, these stripy-poles indicate the only safe legally legitimate place for pedestrians to be in the road. They are marked by a tall black and white striped pole with an orange circle or globe on the top. When a pedestrian steps a toe onto this walkway, under the heavenly protection of the orange globe, all traffic comes to a skidding halt while said pedestrian strolls across, perfectly safe.


Tea time: Tea time is one of my favorite parts of my experience here so far! It is generally accepted that you are allowed a morning and afternoon tea break, where the tea/coffee milk and sugar are provided by the employer. So at 10:30am and 3:30pm most Kiwis, Aussies, Brits, etc. can be found socializing in the tea room, sipping hot beverages and commiserating about their lives/research etc. I like to capitalize on the free tea, but, because I'm an American, I feel like a total poser and thus make my tea and quietly disappear back to my office or lab. Regardless, I think having a tea break twice daily is an excellent way to make employees happy and seriously believe that Americans should really consider incorporating it ;)

The houses...! The houses in New Zealand are really more like villas. Many are cottage-like, with large windows, fireplaces, and heavy wooden doors. The yards are called gardens and they really are more like gardens than anything else, because they're blooming with flowers and lined with shrubs and medium sized trees.

These flowers are blooming NOW! And it's autumn :)



The houses in Dunedin are built right into the steep hillside, which means that they're either built on a terrace or literally set back into the hillside. Mine is like that. In the front room the yard and grass are at foot level, but you go to the next room over on the same floor and look out the window and the yard is now 10 feet down! They're basically adorable. And quaint. Here's the not-so-great part: They're COLD. And WET. Apparently, settlers and home-builders didn't think insulation was even a little important. As a result, they houses are damp and cool all the time. Usually, they're colder than the outside temperature. An unhappy side-effect of this is that you have to wear layers when watching TV and your towels never get completely dry. Oh, and because of the moisture there is a constant battle between tenants and black mold. To combat the cold, we run heat pumps. Heat pumps are situated up near the ceiling and run on electricity. Their function is to suck in the cold air, remove all moisture from it whilst heating it, and then churn out dry, hot air near the ceiling where puny mortals at ground level will only feel tiny wisps of warmth anyways. In sum, the houses are perfectly adorable but basically non-functional.

Hiking and tramping! So much to see and explore! And accommodations galore. Wherever you decide to walk or hike, there is almost certainly a little hut in the middle of the trail for you to stay at. See my blog about tramping the Roaring Meg Pack Track for a description of Meg Hut, which I stayed in two weekends ago. For people who aren't so crazy about staying in a electricity-less hut, there are Backpacker's Lodges scattered all over the country. These usually cost around $30.00/night and are great little houses with bunks or regular beds. The catch is that you might have to share a room with strangers, but if you're the social type, that doesn't matter! I stayed in a super quirky Backpacker's last weekend. It was rigged so that little toys on strings raised and dropped from the ceiling when you opened the doors and there were things tacked all over the walls. There was a map of the world with pins for every person who's stayed there (I got to place the first pin for Michigan!) and a fridge that everyone wrote something on. Lots of fun!

The Toilet Tree -!


Map of the world complete with pins for each visitor. Mostly Europeans!


Graffiti fridge


Well, that's all I'm going to write about for now. Maybe I'll add more NZ info later!

Emily

Photolink update 2 - Catlins trip

Here is a link to a more extensive photo album than the one I have on facebook. Feel free to peruse!

http://picasaweb.google.com/emily.koppel/NewZealandTrips2010#

Emily

Here: Hooker's Sea Lions on the beach at Cannibal Bay in the Catlins.

Getting Situated and Going Tramping

Hello again! I'm obviously really bad at blogging, or else I'd have written about 5 entries between this one and the previous one...SIGH. I've been keeping very busy indeed. To break this long entry up a bit, I'll make 2 parts.

CHAPTER 1.

The first couple of weeks here were fairly uneventful. I met many people and got oriented with the lab/building layouts, went through orientation programs, filled out paper work...etc. Not too interesting! I also began to "break myself in" to the daily 1.6 mile walk from our house to the university (and then back again). Doesn't sound like too big a deal, until you stare at the ginormous hill you have to climb. I've never lived somewhere so hilly (being a flatlander living in the Midwest!). I suppose a happy side-effect will be firm calves? haha. I don't know. But anyways, the only bummer about it is that I haven't been running at all. I just don't have energy after shifting my bulk up that giant hill in the evening :P I should toughen up!

I've begun working in the lab, mostly dissecting fish called "common bullies" for Kristin's postgrad research. I've learned a lot of new parasites and am finally starting to get better at my dissections! In addition, I went out on the peninsula to collect small limpets (related to snails) to look inside them for parasites as well. I've found some neat parasites that have been sent out for genotyping. The first one I found wound up matching a species already in the database, which meant that my limpets were possibly the next host in the life cycle. I'd like to do a project while here, but it's a lot of work coming up with one and executing it in a timely manner! Hopefully something pulls together for me. Sometimes I feel like maybe I should have been an accountant or a coffee shop owner. Science can be so rewarding but more often it's just frustrating.

CHAPTER 2.

So last weekend, Kristin and I went on our first trip since my first weekend here. We drove out to Wanaka, in Central Otago. Basically, Wanaka is in the middle of the South Island. It was a cool little town. We stayed at a Backpacker's Lodge called The Purple Cow which was only $28.00/person/night. For that fee, we had access to a room with two bunk beds (and we had 2 [drunk German] roomates filling the other empty beds), a bathroom, and a huge kitchen with stoves, fridges, etc so we could cook our breakfast the next morning. It was a cool experience, since I've never stayed in a hostel-type place before. You just use the bowls, silverware, etc. in the kitchen to make your food and then when you're done you just wash them and put them on the shelf for the next person to use. Pretty cool. Like a Co-op with a constantly changing suite of tenants.

The Purple Cow Backpacker's Lodge in Wanaka.

Our quad-room at the Purple Cow. Too bad we both got stuck with top bunks and sick/drunk ppl below us.

Also while we were in Wanaka, we meandered all over town going to little tourist shoppes and generally putzing. We went to a Mexican restaurant called "Amigos". Apparently decent Mexican food is difficult to come by in NZ, usually being really bland and generally weird. For example...on what planet does your enchilada platter come with a side of fries? Planet New Zealand. That's where. Anyways, we ordered a chimichanga and steak fajitas. They were both delicious! I was thrilled :) Oh, but here's a new spin: You know the baskets of chips and salsa you get at Mexican places in the States? Well, here...you get none. Usually. But at Amigos they brought out this little pudding cup with about 7 chips shoved in there and some tomato-ish salsa dribbled around them. Delicious...but that was all we got. However, we felt lucky, because a table of 6 girls next to us were seated and they got the exact same pudding cup except they had to share it among the 6 of them. Oh frugal Kiwis.

Well, from Wanaka we headed south to the trailhead for Roaring Meg Pack Track. We went there on a recommendation from our flatmate Rachel. Rachel is a very tall, very fit Kiwi. Kristin and I were about to embark on our very first "real" tramp (hike) complete with overnight stay in remote hut. The hut was a mere 6km (3.7 miles) away from the trailhead we parked at. The trail was a good way to test the tramping waters, because it was an easy one (according to tall,fit,kiwi-Rachel). Experienced, fit trampers could reach the hut easily in 2 hours, while newbies might take more like 3...we were told.

We started out all smiles and ambition. Loaded packs full of delicious foods and drinks for dinner. Sleeping bags and mats stuffed down tight. Water bottles filled. Hopeless naivete. We found the track easily enough. It was more like a 2-track from a truck. Packed down quite well and wide. Unfortunately for us, we were about to begin a rather grueling ascent to the top of Tuohy's Saddle. We didn't even know for sure what a "saddle" was. But we were game. Besides, it was less than 4 miles! How hard could it be? Well, to make a long story short: HARD. It took us nearly 4 hours and we were exhausted. We got passed by two ladies in their 50's who not only started after us, but arrived at the hut easily an hour before we did. So much for youthful vigor.
It was pretty much a bitch-fest on the way up for us (my feet hurt, kristin's legs were tired, this isn't worth it, I hate boring mountains with no animals, I can see nature from my car just fine, etc. etc.) But in the end, we made the sharp descent down to the hut totally alive. Go figure.

Me at the top of Tuohy's Saddle. Success!

We shared our hut with 3 guys and the 2 ladies we met on the track. We cooked dinner over a miniature stove, boiled water from the river to make into tea or coffee, and ate a LOT of chocolate. The hut had no electricity, but a nice fireplace that kept us toasty warm (warmer than our house, but that's another story altogether...). There was a pit-toilet nearby that was remarkably serviceable, considering it was miles from civilization. Just BYO-TP and you're good to go. It was a good night. The sunset over the hills was AMAZING and the stars were great.

Meg Hut.


Sunset over the tussock hills in Pisa Conservation Area.

Unfortunately for us (and our bunkmates who were trying to sleep), Kristin and I had to get up and make the hike back to the car the next morning early in order to make it back to Dunedin for a 5pm seminar in the zoology department. That meant getting up and making breakfast and then rolling out before 8am. So we did just that. We went faster on the way out since it was almost all downhill. We saw many sheep and cows, but not much else. Even so, the views we got that morning were gorgeous. I was beginning to think it had all been worth it. That was before Kristin's knees started hurting and I started getting blisters. I'd had no problem with the climb up the hills, but downhill was another story. The constant pushing of toes in boots and my naturally screwy feet meant that I was destined to form not one, but 3 blisters. Eh...they happen. Next time though, I'll definitely know what parts to preemptively cover with blister strips :o By the time we got back to the car I could not have been happier to rip those boots off my aching feet!


Merino sheep in the high country of Pisa Conservation Area against the stunning backdrop of the Southern Alps in Central Otago.

At the time, I thought "This tramping crap is maybe not for me. It hurts. It's sweaty. It's rough." But for some reason, looking back now, all I can think is how fun it was and how much of a badass I felt like after surviving the climb (even though we took lots of resting breaks! Shhh!) It really was beautiful up there. It was a cool experience. Blisters or no. Maybe I'll do it again. Anyone want to join me? I promise I'll only complain a little ;)

We made it back to Dunedin just barely in time for the seminar. Mostly, this is because we stopped here and there on the way to enjoy the finer points of the trip. Oh, did I mention I was driving? I am slowing acquainting myself with driving on the opposite side of the road. It felt wrong and weird at first, but I settled in. Kristin looked nervous for the safety of her car though!

Anyways, we stopped at some fruit stands. It's autumn here, so loads of fresh produce...MMM. We stopped at a place that mixes real fruit into vanilla ice cream. That was so great that we got it 2 times on our trip :) We also stopped at a Cheesery and a Winery. At the Cheesery I bought a block of delicious cheddar. Cheese is insanely expensive here, but I love good cheese. I had a block of Tillamook that Aaron bought me before I left Oregon and I had been hording it for weeks, only eating the littlest bits at a time. Buying new (equally good) cheddar here gave me license to devour my remaining Tillamook! At the Vineyard we stopped at I bought a bottle of "Otago Gold" which reminded me of a sweeter Reisling. Kristin bought 2 bottles of 2001 Reisling that she apparently loves to death. I guess it's time for a wine and cheese party. The cheese house and vineyards were worthy stop-overs. Hell. It was a worthy WEEKEND.

For my next installment (maybe if I write it like a goal, I'll actually follow through!): Life in NZ and this coming weekend's roadtrip to the southern tip of the South Island.

~Emily

Web albums

Check out pics of my home in NZ and places I'm seeing at http://picasaweb.google.com/home

I will update again soon.

Day one in New Zealand

Hello from NZ :)

My flights went pretty well. No major hold-ups or anything. Just a 6-hr layover in LA that made me wish I had somewhere to lay down. I got to Dunedin at 9:30 or so in the morning and Kristin picked me up. She kept me awake until about 9pm so that I could get a normal night's sleep, which I did. I feel great today.

For anyone who is curious, in the US your time is as follows:

Michigan (Eastern time): It's 6 hours later than here, but you are one day behind me. So if it's noon here on Saturday, then it's 6pm there on Friday.

Pacific time, it's 3 hours later there and still one day behind.

Right now, Kristin's getting prepared to head out for a field collection (I'm going too) that is about 4 hours west of Dunedin. It should be really warm and very pretty! Up higher, but much windier. I'm finding out how terribly unprepared I am. I don't own a filter for my water bottle, I don't have a daypack for hiking, no coffee travel mug, no hat, etc. I guess I just didn't really know what i was getting into fully. Maybe I can pick stuff up used or online for a bit cheaper.

When we get back, hopefully I'll meet all the lab people and get started with payroll and lab work. I'd like to develop a project that can be completed in the time I'm here.

I haven't been able to get a phone yet, nor have I been able to get my computer to access the wireless at Kristin's house yet. So right now I'm fairly disconnected. Haven't been able to call home yet at all. :( I did find out that international text fees are 50 cents/text, so for now I'm just going to keep texting to a minimum, but that will be my primary mode of communication until I can get a local phone/plan!