NZ Summer, Australian New Year, Singapore

True to form, I have been very lax in updating this blog. Currently I am on a work trip, in my hotel room in Tarragona, Spain, Wi-Fi'd into their free internet. Just thought I'd give you a little update. Yes it's Saturday night, but it's still a bit cold here for the Catalonians to get too excited. In fact, most places are closed early.

To complete The New Zealand story, I spent a total 2 months downunder enjoying what was to be one of the best summers Christchurch has seen since I can remember. I arrived at end of November and left end of January, so Christmas was smack in the middle.
I stayed with my Dad while in NZ. We managed several trips out in the Jetboat, 4Wheel drive, and motorcycles. I caught up with many old mates from dancing, old-school, to just old... and a few new additions!

See pre-Christmas photos in New Zealand:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81286&l=c2533&id=882525575

If you have me tagged in facebook you will already have seen my photos as I posted them, but for those who are not I will throw in links where appropriate. This site is also pathetic at doing photos, so I'm going to test the linking thing..

Christmas at Dad's place, Christchurch
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81298&l=0c29e&id=882525575

I was fortunate to spend 10 days over New Year with Mum Val, her Husband John, my Brother Matt and Karina in Australia. Matt and Karina have been based in Brisbane for 3 years or so, but Mum and John had moved to Noosa about the time I moved to the UK. They bought into a Management Righs scheme in a Resort Hotel near the Noosa River. It was amazing to see all of you again in your new life surroundings!
Unfortunately the weather was rather wet and windy for almost the duration of my stay, but we made do, and got out when we could.

Photos from Brisbane and Noosa, Australia
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81307&l=86140&id=882525575

Back in New Zealand after the brief Australian excursion I was again working on my tan. I can't say enough about the fantastic weather.. I thing my UK mates were getting rather tetchy with me at the time!
The work side of things went really well, including a visit from my Manager Steve from the UK, and also our US sales manager. Dad and I took Steve for a blast up the Waimakariri river in the jetboat which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Other activities illustrated in the photos below are a motorcycling trip to Akaroa, Ruapuna Speedway, the SounDay concert in Hagley park, work/friends/family group shots.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86786&l=6dff2&id=882525575

On the return trip I managed to meet up with Carmen Doran in Singapore, an engineer and dancing mate from years past. She now works and lives there. Her apartment is high in one of six(?) buildings horse-shoeing around an impressive garden and pools complex. Stay at Hotel Carmen if you can!
We lazed by the pool for a while, grabbed some dinner in town then headed for drinks and dancing. I thought I wouldn't last long with my jetlag kicking in at about 9pm, but Carmen saw the signs and uplifted the group, and led us into Clark Quay. I think it was somewhere around 4am that we made it back to the apartment?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90971&l=8b8b6&id=882525575


Well that pretty much ties up the two months away from the UK. I have been back 3 weeks, over the jetlag and finally seeing some improvement in the miserable UK winter. As I said, right now I'm in Tarragona. Tomorrow I will explore Barcelona, then it's work mode from Monday. More on all of that in the next exciting episode!

Cheers

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.