Monday, Apr. 28, 2008

Took a trip over to SkyTower this afternoon, it's just a few blocks down the street. I was right about being a little afraid of heights, my knees were a little wobbly at the top, while two little girls were running around on the glass floor. How embarrassing.

Looking East, Mission Bay is in the Distance.

Stepping off the elevator. Wobble-wobble.

Looking down, I think that's Woolworth's roof.

Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Auckland Town Hall on the left of the green park.

Glass floor of death, it's 30cm thick and supposedly as strong as concrete.

Harbour boats.

Little Barrier Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Looking West, my building is in this shot.

Pretty cool line of sight from the SkyTower observation deck to my back deck!

Monday, Apr. 25, 2008

Made a little trip to the Auckland Museum yesterday. Along the way, 3 people asked me for directions somewhere. Despite my efforts to the contrary, I guess I have that friendly, approachable look.

Museum entrance.

Old sailboat the polynesians used on the open ocean. No thanks!

Totems (probably not what the Maori's call them!).

"Terrible Lizards..."

Mmm... Octo-pie.

The elusive Kiwi bird of New Zealand. Their national symbol.

WWII Spitfire plane.

WWII memorial statue and stained glass.

Tuesday, Apr. 8, 2008

Sometimes I just don't get the Kiwi sense of humour.


Busy street in the afternoon.

Thursday, Apr. 3, 2008

I've been feeling a little cooped up lately, constantly checking my email for temp job assignments and such, so I decided to do a little hike I've been planning. I say "little" because it looked little on the map. It was also classified as easy. But my definition of easy didn't match the map's definition. Ten minutes into the hike (which began as a 45º incline, and stayed that way for 30 minutes) I was drenched. Drenched in "fitness" I suppose!

First rest stop along the way. I needed it.


It was good to get out there though. This trail began on the beach Karekare, which was the filming location for the movie "The Piano". I never saw it, but I'll have to now.

This is looking back down the hill to Karekare beach.

I didn't take enough photos, by the time I got halfway to my intended destination, it began to get dark. So I staked a spot on the beach an set up camp. I was using a new 'bivy sac' I got for free, it's kind of a glorified sleeping bag which zips up over your face, and has a bug net for air. So setting up camp just meant rolling this thing out. It was a pretty clear night and the stars were on full-blast. I slept intermittently through the night, and never came across another person.

Da Rays! Da Rays!

I got up this morning and walked back to the car along the beach, took about half the time of going through the forest trail. As soon as I could see the car, the rain started to fall, so I think I timed that just about right.

Had a much needed shower and a little nap when I got home. Then went to Aikido after supper. I'm gonna end up in good shape whether I like it or not!

Thursday, Mar. 27, 2008

I get up and get on the road to "SnowPlanet" today. Finally get back on the snowboard after about 6 months.


I get a call from the computer repair guys and he tells me the logic board is fried in the laptop. To repair and install the logic board would cost over $2000, to buy a new laptop will cost $1600.

So I sit here typing this on my new MacBook. Oh the debts! Oh well, we only live once, besides I need a computer to do my job - right? Right?

Anyway, I made it up to SnowPlanet and it was pretty sweet. Short and narrow, with one hill but the snow conditions were good and there were a bunch of jumps and rails.

Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008

Whoa boy. So I wake up this morning to find my laptop frozen. "No biggie" I think, it's happened before. Well, after 3 hours of trying to fix it, I know a problem when I see it. I actually break down and take it to a Mac repair shop, but the first one I go to wants to put me on a 3 week waiting list before they even look at it!

I don't have words to explain my feelings at this moment. So I just get them to put me on their damn list and I leave.

I head over to another shop in town, and these guys say it will be 24 hours, plus they're nice. So I leave it with them. I'm going snowboarding tomorrow at an indoor hill facility, that should calm the frayed nerves.

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2008

A little update on the "waiting list":

1. Waiting for the plumbers to come back and fix my leaky toilet right this time
2. Waiting for the phone guy to come install intetnet (between 12 and 5???)
3. Waiting for the insurance company to give me my money (been waiting for 2 months for that one!)
4. Waiting for the NZ tax department to send me an IRD number so I can work
5. Waiting for the freelance agency to hook me up with some work (see #4)

Not too bad - good week!