some interesting stuff

Today was just another homework day. I even tried knitting- I’m getting the hang of it but I’m still not sure what to do when I mess up, so I end up taking out all the stitches and starting over with just yarn and knitting needles. I’ll try again when I get some more time- I’m getting determined! I can’t wait to start using New Zealand yarn- they have wool, alpaca yarn, and possum yarn! I’m not so sure about the last one…

Anyway, I was keeping up with New Zealand news and found this article about paua (or abalone), which are about the size of your fist or bigger with rounded shells, which scrub algae off of rocks. They’re local to New Zealand, but I think they might also have them in California. Anyway, they make really beautiful shells which are commonly broken up and used in jewelery, and the meat it quite expensive. Three men were found having over 700 of these little creatures, and they each got nine months in jail as a result. This is the harshest punishment ever received for poaching, but New Zealand generally really cares about their environment. The article is here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/5003654/Paua-plunderers-jailed . When you look at it, notice that they write their dates backwards.

Also, a 55 year old American man died while diving the Poor Knights Islands while diving yesterday. He went out with the same company that Dave and I went out with- Dive Tutukaka! It’s a really professional company that I would highly recommend going out with. I’m sure they did whatever they could for him. Turns out, he’d already had two heart attacks and he had another one underwater, he didn’t have any problems on the actual dive. Crazy that things like that happen, but at least he was out doing what he loved when he died. More information on that here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5006245/American-dies-on-NZ-dive-trip .

On a side note, I have a disease called “diveritis,” where all I want to do is get back in the water and go diving. Just a warning, if you ever learn how to scuba dive, you’ll get it too. I’m going diving next weekend but even that seems too far away.