Driving up to Albany

Wow, it's August already!

I had a meeting with my mentors today. However, we ran into a slight problem: Paul, one of my mentors, had already moved his lab to a different university - Massey University in Albany, which is about 30 minutes North of Auckland!

So Allen and I decided to drive up there after lunch. Luckily, traffic wasn't bad, and we made it there on time.
I had seen Massey University before, while on the bus to the hot springs in Waiwera, but I never found the time to go back and look at it some more. It's such a pretty campus; very rural, not unlike UNH, actually.

Paul's new lab is in a little community of science labs. Interestingly, every lab has its own small house (it almost looks like a residential community!) and the buildings are connected by short walkways.
Walking up to Paul's building, I noticed a flashy little car: a sparkling green Mazda MX5 - what kind of Phd student or professor drives such a car??! Maybe I should start thinking about a Phd... *haha*

The meeting went very well. Both Paul and Allen were very excited about the data we collected over the past few weeks. Now I'm almost done - I just need to do my write-up.
Also, the project has become so interesting that they decided to look for a Phd or postdoc to continue it (if they get the grant money).

Two hours later (talk about long meetings...!) Paul offered to take me back to Devonport, from where I could take the ferry back into Auckland. Allen lives much farther away and it would be a long commute for him.

As it turned out, the little green Mazda belongs to Paul! I didn't know that being a professor can come with benefits like that!

Paul dropped me off at the ferry wharf in Devonport and I caught a ferry back to Auckland :D

Later that night, my roommates, two other girls from The Railway Campus, and I went out to eat sushi.

We didn't really know where to go, but there are a ton of Japanese restaurants on Queen St and around central Auckland. We finally decided to go to one that Lindsay had been to before.

The restaurant was very nice - great atmosphere, and *real* Asian customers (the food must be good, then, right?!).

However, as it turned out, sushi did not seem to be their specialty :( The "large mixed sushi platter" we ordered had about 15 pieces on it - not much for five hungry girls (especially considering the big price tag!).
We also had some miso soups, but everyone agreed that the small dinner could only be improved by a generous dessert!

On our way out, I noticed that most customers had ordered a regular meal (meat or fish, with veggies and rice). That would have probably been the better choice - rather than the appetizer plate *haha* :)

Luckily, there was a great ice cream place on the way back home!