Distinguished Lecturer Tour in New Zealand
Andrzej Jajszczyk · 2005
It took more than 30 hours to get from Poland to New Zealand, including two stops at transit airports in Frankfurt and Singapore. We landed in Auckland on Sunday morning, August 21. We were mentally prepared for winter, but sunny skies and pleasant temperatures, close to 20˚C, clearly revealed that “kiwi-style” winter is something different than what we have in central Europe. We took a taxi and soon arrived at the nice Airedale Hotel in downtown Auckland. The newly renovated building in art deco style used to be the tallest structure in the city, but now, obviously, it is dominated by modern skyscrapers and the impressive Sky Tower. In the hotel I was soon contacted by Professor Nurul Sarkar of Auckland University of Technology, the local ComSoc chapter chair. Since my lecture was planned for Tuesday, my wife and I decided to fight our 10-hour long jetlag by intensive sightseeing. On Monday we decided to visit two beautiful islands located in the Hauraki Gulf, just north of Auckland. The first one was Rangitoto, a volcano that erupted out of the sea only 800 years ago. It is covered with native pohutukawa forest and large patches of old lava. We climbed to the summit, enjoying magnificent panoramic views. On our way back we explored an easily accessible cave. The second island, Waiheke, was something very different: beautiful beaches, picturesque vineyards, as well as restaurants and cafes. Next day, in the morning we went to an observation deck in Sky Tower, which is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. Views of the city and harbor were spectacular! In the afternoon I met Prof. Sarkar. We briefly visited Professor Felix B. Tan, Head of the School of Computer and Information Sciences at Auckland University of Technology, and then went to an auditorium at Auckland University. My lecture, preceded by a reception with a variety of food and drink, was entitled “Nonblocking, Repackable, and Rearrangeable Switching Networks.” Although the number of participants was not impressive, the dozen people who did attend were quite active in asking questions and discussing my talk.