It is finally a fine weekend. I finally got some fresh air. And a walk. And time with family.

The start of the short Auckland City Walk (1 hour), a must for anyone wanting a mini adventure.

A large-ish waterfall between two rock walls. It made a lot of noise. But finding it was hard. This is the closest I could get and it involved climbing up some very slimy and slippery rocks to get to.

The largest Silver Fern I have ever seen. See how silver it is in comparison to the green fern on the left. Unique to God’s Zone.

A magnificent Kauri tree. One of the biggest in Auckland.

A happy mum also enjoying the sunny day!

Okay this photo is old but I have only just downloaded photos from my mobile phone to my computer.

This a photo of very thick fog in Auckland on May 16.

Now there is absolutely no denying that the storm that has hit us during the last two days has been particularly nasty, however, one thing that is getting to me is the way the media blow it up, and the way in which the general public then go into panic mode. I had a friend telling me that the motorway was closed and they shouldn’t be driving because there are slips and stuff. The irony here is that the motorway was never closed and the person couldn’t explain to me how you could get a slip in the middle of central Auckland where there are no hills to slip.

Coming back to the one in 10 year storm idea. Compare these two police media release pages. The first is for yesterday. The second is for July 10 2007. One year ago. Where we got hit by a very similar storm which took out power up here for two days. 48 hours. Not 3. And that was a year ago, not 10.

26 July 2008:

10 July 2007:

Press Release: MASSEY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION FEDERATION

Massey University dumps on International Students

From 2009 all new International Students studying at Massey University will face an immediate 6 - 7% average increase in tuition fees and ongoing annual tuition fees increases due to a removal in fee Grand-parenting for International students.

Fee Grand-parenting of tuition fees for International Students ensures that students do not face tuition fee increases throughout their course. Massey University introduced fee Grand-parenting in 2005 to give International Students stability in their finances while they study.

“The decision by the Massey University Council last Friday to remove these protections for students’ financial wellbeing will severely hurt international students” says Albany Students’ Association (ASA) President, Brad Heap. “This decision was made entirely behind closed doors; students had no knowledge of this move and the University did not consult with a single student on the changes.”

“Massey University has decided to put profits before pastoral care of students and I find this disgraceful. You would expect the University to have a social conscience and protect their students not dump fee increases on them without consulting them,”said Heap.

MUSAF is committed to ensuring that the University treats all students as individuals and does not treat its International Students as ‘cash-cows’. MUSAF will continue to work with students across Massey University’s three campuses to ensure that the University actively consults with students and in the meantime urges Massey University Council to reverse its decision.

ENDS