New Zealand, First 4 weeks

Yes, it has only been 6 months and already I’m back in New Zealand. Essentially I have been flown home for two months, to learn new skills pertaining to the latest instrument that Syft is producing. Nice timing really, as Christmas and New year they shut down, and I’ll be in Australia visiting family over the break. Can’t complain aye.
First weekend I was in the Clarence Reserve 4-wheel driving with my Dad. I have been to inspect my house, met up with a lot of mates old and new, and am really enjoying the long summer days. I hear the weather in the UK is miserable at the moment… My manager Steve is heading this way for a visit in January, and I don’t think he’ll want to go back.

Venice 17/18 November 07

Only one weekend later I was in Venice with Kalman and Tess. We planned the trip to include a walking tour and boat tour. The former was well worth it, with our guide leading us into St. Paul’s Basilica and around the narrow streets. It was really interesting to learn about all the details in the architecture. A story could be told about every pillar and street no doubt.

The main reason Venice survives as an economy today is tourism. They charge through the nose for gondola tours but have plenty of delights for all on foot. There was a huge abundance of glassware and finely detailed masks for sale, also clothes, food and chocolate. It was a little chilly at this time of year but a fantastic experience.

Lake District with Zita 10/11 November 07

Once again I must apologize for the shocking formatting on this blogger site… Anyway, onto the point of it all!
I met Zita about 3 years ago while I was traveling around Canada. We had not seen each other since then, when I went back to NZ, and her back to West London. We managed to meet at my flat in Warrington for a catch up trip to the Lake District. I love it up there, and with it being so far from Zita’s place it was worthwhile going. She was also able to visit her Grandfather’s grave and meet formerly estranged family in Kendal. We then headed up to Windermere to feed the ducks.

Next day we visited nearby Chester and found a great place for lunch.

London 3/4 November 07

This was my first ever trip to London. I decided to drive down, mainly so I could tiki tour at my pace and I now have almost complete trust in my little sat-nav to land me where I want to be.
Along the way I stopped at Rugby, the place of my mother’s birth, and of course the game. I found the house where her family used to live and had a bit of a walk around town. This being the year of the Rugby World Cup, they had a plaque with all competing nations emblazoned on it. I found the statue of William Webb Ellis, and a floral tribute to the cup itself. Sadly where I sit is as close as a Kiwi will get to the holy grail!









The trip into London was mainly just a busy queue of traffic, but made it to my mate Kalman’s place no problem.
Later in the evening we went to the Dolphin Bar and met up with Janna and Harley. Fantastic to see you guys!







I met Kalman’s flatmates who, with him are living in a converted warehouse. (Thanks guys for having me there.) The weekend coincided with the November fireworks, and a party at a friend’s 3-storey narrow terrace flat. We trained to xxxx Park and watched several fireworks displays from a large rounded hill. Home to get changed, then we were off to the party. A few drinks, lots of music and a few happy hook-ups (you know who you are!). Being the crazy kiwi I managed to find a way up onto the roof through a hole in the ceiling. A few people followed and we spent a bit of the night stargazing and playing (very carefully) on the roof. Classic photo of Faye the cat!






















During the days Kalman and I explored the touristy bits of London – The London Eye, Tower of London, all the buskers, and Thames Waterfront. Later on Sunday I met up with Greenie, an old mate who I had not seen for several years.

My Flat in Stockton Heath

Here are a few pictures of my pad.

Lake District, Belgium visit

The last month has been as busy as the last with trips away, people visiting and work events. I'm lucky to have good friends in my flatmates and I'm getting to know a few people now through the local dancing crowds. My boss Steve and his wife Karen are also great to spend work and social time with. It's always a treat to hear what family and friends are up to so I endeavour to do my bit and keep this blog up to date.

29,30 September, Lake District
The Lakes are about 2 hours north of Warrington, up above Blackpool in England's North-West. Monique (mate from Christchurch) and her friend Jack (also from NZ) came up for the weekend for a visit. We tripped up past Windermere to Keswick and back again in a day, so it was a fairly long day of exploring amongst beautiful lakes and hills. Lake Windermere reminded me of Wakatipu back home with its tour boats, nice old buildings and waterfront.

10-16 October, Belgium
The main purpose of this trip was for work. We have an instrument installed at a laboratory in Wavre, 30 mins south of Brussels in Belgium. I attended to do some upgrades, and also help out on preparations on a newer instrument for a demonstration at a conference in Brussels. Over the course of the week I and my colleague Paul from Syft NZ had chance to visit a few locations, try the local beers and chocolates...

First stop was Waterloo, North-west of Wavre. A huge hill and Lion monument stands on the site of Napolean's historical defeat.

Next stop Grand Place in central Brussels. The open centre is flanked on each side with stately decorated buildings. There were plenty of drinking spots and varieties of beer to try. Paul and I typically took turns as to who would drink or drive on any evening.

Shortly after, we visited the Atomium. It is a strucure built in the late 50s, consisting of large silver spheres joined by tubular stems you can walk through. Didn't go up in it as the queues were huge, but the view from the top overlooking Brussels would have been pretty neat. Quite an impressive structure for its age. It was originally built for the 1958 Expo of Brussels and replicates a giant crystal of iron.

On the Sunday we firstly visited the Nazi concentration camp of Breendonk, North of Brussels. Paul and I did the audio tour, listening of prisoners' experiences, general life, torture and death in the camp. It was a really creepy place so the smile on my face didn't last long. Most moving were the firing squad posts, gallows and torture room. The place was cold, dark and cramped with mass communal French toilets and showers, straw beds with triple bunks. Definitely not a nice place to be but the visit was very interesting.

Hoegaarden Brewery is out to the east of Brussels in the town of the same name. Resurrected after a fire by Interbrew (who also owns Stella Artois) the brewery makes an unusual white beer from wheat among others. Here we had lunch before taking a tour (thanks to our sat-nav) through rural countryside back to Wavre.

UK Life Update

Just looking back on the last few weeks I realize I’ve been up to plenty of mischief, so here’s the summary -

- Farmer Plil’s Festival
- Steve’s Budapest Stag do, and wedding in Manchester
- Trip to Conwy and Llandudno
- 30th Birthday weekend celebrations
- Catch up with Pete, Gin and Marianna in Belper
- Meeting more family in Derby
- Matlock Bath and Heights of Abraham cable car.

Farmer Phil’s festival

To be honest I didn’t know what to expect. A decade ago the festival started with a band, Hollywood Tease, invited to play at cousin Nick’s 21st birthday. This time, at the 10th year anniversary they returned (for the 10th time) to play alongside an impressive collection of local bands. The final act was a fantastic performance by the Blues Brothers tribute band, complete with a Cortina entrance and all those classic songs. My good mate Kalman came up for the weekend and we had a blast. I helped out with odd jobs on the stage setup, then worked the bar for periods between drinks, jumping around in the crowd and exploring the stalls. Phil, Karen, family and the crew did a great job so may it continue for many years.

Working at the Bar

Phil's Chieftain Tank

The Blues Brothers Tribute Band

Kalman, Daniel and a scared girl

Recovery Day

Budapest Stag do

I jumped at the opportunity to visit the capital of Hungary, which is split by the Danube river into Buda and Pest. The occasion was the second stag do for my manager Steve, who was married the following weekend in Manchester. Eight guys were on the trip, and the object was basically to explore as many pubs and clubs as possible, shoot a few guns and have a look at the geography. Our first evening started brilliantly with our lovely guide Szusza. Frankly, we wouldn’t have dared go into some of the places she took us, but beyond the inconspicuous doorways and lazy bouncers lay some real gems. On bar was at the top of an old department store. A long graffiti covered stairway led to a sunny open roof space with lots of people and cheap drinks.

The second day we visited a shooting alley. In typical Budapest style the doorway said nothing and was hidden away behind old slummy buildings. It led to a cold underground bunker where you could let off a cannon and nobody outside would hear. Clearly remnants of Soviet rule, as was the brick-shaped ex-Russian army dude with the guns. Zees ez de Luger, de Glock 9mm semi auto, Magnum 9mm and ze pump action shotgun. Zair ez ze target. BOOM... Despite scary appearances everything was well controlled and we had a great time popping live rounds, learning a new appreciation of the power of such weapons.
On our second evening we were able to navigate ourselves surprisingly, around all the bars we had previously visited and found a few more. This is a brilliant place for nightlife and is highly recommended.

River Danube Nightscape

The final morning we spent looking around the city and waterfront, admiring all the beautiful people as much as the awesome architecture, which seemed to be everywhere. The weather was pleasantly warm the whole time we were there. It's a great place to visit.

Gellert Statues

Road Trip to Conwy and Llandudno

Llandudno was the place my grandparents went for their honeymoon, and also for family holidays. I headed out there one Sunday with flatmate Melinda and her friend Chris. We stopped first at Conwy castle. This is the first real castle I had ever seen, so I was just like a child, running up each of the turrets to explore. Onto Llandudno we drove around Gogarth Peninsula and up to the top for a look. Very chilly weather. They had a cable train which went for a seemly pointlessly short distance up the final part of the incline. Remember, we’re not talking mountains here in the UK!







30th Birthday weekend celebrations

The main event was a blast around the local go-kart track, but I was most looking forward to seeing old NZ mates Kalman, Tobias and Sarah. Thanks a lot guys for making it a great weekend! Saturday afternoon we all tripped up to Blackpool to see what all the fuss is about. The seaside town is built on family amusements and Blackpool rock. Plenty of lights, rides, themed shops and skill-testers, the ultimate prizes being larger-than-life Crazy Frogs and Spongebobs. Lots of BB guns for sale too...
Had a great party in the evening – thanks Claire for coming up from Shrewsbury. We had a great night out on Stockton Heath and Warrington town.



Catch up with Pete, Gin and Marianna in Belper

Had not seen these guys for months. Even though Marianna lives in Belper now, she is pretty busy now with life and new business http://www.embersmerino.com/, and I hadn’t caught up with her. Pete and Gin had just returned from a Contiki tour of Europe and Ireland, so we managed to meet up for dinner at the local pub before they headed off to Norway. Great to see you all!

Meeting more family in Derby

My second cousin Judy is a fantastic host and organizer of family dos, and just as good at making chocolate cake, scones and strawberry jam. On this occasion she arranged to bring together more family at John and Dorothy’s place. I met their other son and the twins Brenda and Sue. I even had a few presents to open.

All these people are cousins, so it was a real family occasion to celebrate my 30th at my home away from home.

Matlock Bath and Heights of Abraham cable car.

The day after the above family bash, I strolled around Matlock Bath in search of a chocolate shop Judy had mentioned. That was quickly forgotten for the awe of all the motorcycles parked up along the parade. A couple were pulling wheelies and stoppies to the crowd’s appeal. I forgot my day’s chores and took the cable car up the Heights of Abraham to get a bit of a view. After all, it was a beautiful Sunday and winter is fast approaching.