Puaka-James Hight

This is part of the view from my new office. Only my office space isn't really new, I used to be one floor up in the old Registry building when the earthquakes started in September 2010. We vacated after the Feb 2011 quake and only returned twice wearing hard hats etc with 15 minutes to get stuff out of there.

You're looking at Puaka-James Hight (Puaka being the brightest star in the constellation Orion). The Central Library takes up most of the building.

It is a fine example of the School of Stalinist architecture from the late '60s and early 70's. Inside it is completely 21st century.

My building is no longer known as Registry, it's now Matariki.

In the Māori language, Matariki is both the name of a small distinctive star cluster (Pleiades) and the season of its first rising in late May or early June, and is seen as the beginning of the New Year. In traditional times, Matariki was a season to celebrate and to prepare the ground for the coming year. The name has been specially gifted by Ngāi Tahu to UC.

These new names reflect the growing strength of UC’s relationship with Ngāi Tahu and the mana of Te Ao Māori at the heart of the UC campus.

Both buildings have been significantly strengthened and renovated. All buildings on campus will become (if they aren't already) up to 100% of the current building code. That makes me feel ok about being on the 3rd floor of Matariki.

With a new start in mind, I shall be on my way. I think tonight will be another evening around at home putting some things up.

I'm hoping tomorrow sees the start of work on my roof.