Tauranga Moana and Hector's Dolphin

Last weekend Miang and I spent a wonderful time with sister Jeanine and brother-in-law Murray. The pictures show us on the walk beside the Uretara river as it passes through the wetlands to the sea. The place is almost idyllic, quiet, beautiful and with abundant birds flying over and nesting in the marshes.

Miang and I had taken advantage of my invitation to give an after dinner speech at the Federation of Maori Authorities (FoMA) conference in Mt Maunganui to travel to Tauranga and spend time with family. Jeanine went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that I kept to my strict diet.

The FoMA event was impressive with around 500 people present. There were two dinner speakers, first Waka Vercoe, who spoke in both Maori and English, finishing with a Waiata from Apirana Ngata, and then a recitation of Edward Lear's "Owl and the Pussycat", which he had learned as a child at Te Teko primary school, as bizarre an educational experience for a young Maori child as one might imagine. Notwithstanding that he claimed a belated affection for the poem and delivered all three verses with perfect recollection and diction. I spoke later on, reflecting on the renewed Maori economy and related issues, finishing with the famous Apirana Ngata "He Tangata" whakatauki . The audience was generous and I was much hongied afterwards.

Wednesday this week was the Science Awards dinner where I was supposed to present the inaugural Royal Society of New Zealand "Callaghan Medal" for Science Communication to Sir Peter Gluckman. Sadly, I suffered another obstruction event that day it was impossible for us to attend.

The medal was made by Fattorini of Birmingham and the picture shows the initial test striking. The final is in bronze. I haven't seen the actual medal yet. You may be able to recognise me on the head side. The obverse shows a representation of Hector's Dolphin, surrounded by electron orbital paths, each electron containing a koru. Yes, I know the electron is an elementary particle singularity, but I didn't feel the argument was worth having.