As brothers we will stand, and we'll hold your hand..

(Finally warm enough to wear sandals WITHOUT SOCKS and shorts)

In other news, the weather has been absolutely stunning the past week. This is the type of weather we've been expecting since we arrived in New Zealand but haven't actually received until now. I never thought I'd see so many rain-less days on the North Island!

What better way to start the week than with some chores and gardening? To be honest, the chores were a little therapeutic and it's always nice to have everyone working together on various tasks around campus. The long weekend proved to be quite disastrous to the campus in terms of things that needed to be cleaned. I even voluntarily cleaned the kitchen on Monday afternoon for everyone's sanity. Yesterday after the chores were done we split into groups and did various gardening tasks and weeding. The Ecoquest campus is bordered by the Whakatiwai River on the northern side, and over the past years Ecoquesters have made efforts to remove all the invasive weeds from the stop bank and replacing them with native shrubs and trees. The majority of us pulled weeds around the juvenile plants, while a small group composed the weeds and another few people planted trees. In addition to that, Tasha and I worked with Ria in the vegetable garden. We picked some lettuce, greens, scallions, and silverbeet for the kitchen. I also cleared some room and planted a row of snow peas and carrots, which will hopefully start to sprout by the time we get back from Northland.

After gardening and weeding we had a few hours off in which the vast majority of us simply hung out and lied around on the deck outside the Wharekai. Paul played the guitar, some people did yoga, others read books, but most of us just soaked up the sun. It's amazing how strong the sun is here, after being in the sun for only a few minutes I can already feel it heating my skin (and lots of people found out just how quickly they can burn here). I even got a little tan! Summer is peaking its head over Whakatiwai and smiling at us.

(The Wharakai on a late spring day with flowers in bloom)

Yesterday morning we did get some rather sad news. Sally, one of the field leaders that accompanied us in the first 2 weeks or Ecoquest but then left, was back. We were all happy about this because we love Sally, but I knew that it was a little strange for her to be here. That morning Ria announced that she will not be accompanying us to Poor Knights next week as she has a medical emergency and will need to go into surgery this weekend. As she choked up a little bit, she told us that her recovery will take a few weeks and that she will unfortunately not be able to assist with the beginning of our Directed Research Projects, and that Sally was here to take care of us.

Although she was vague about what is actually wrong with her, it still makes me really scared. Ria has become like a second mother to all of us here at Ecoquest. Her and Jono are the founders and the lifeline of Ecoquest. She is one of the most beautiful, kind, and wise people I have ever met. She is incredibly patient and selfless, and I hope that she puts herself and her health first time time, when it really matters. As Valerie perfectly said it yesterday, "We'll be fine, take care of yourself, please." I'm hoping to get everyone together to make a card for her that everyone can sign with a personal message, with a line written across the top borrowed from a Mumford & Sons song:

You are not alone in this.

Because we never are, but sometimes people forget that.