catch up time

Hey everybody...no, I still don't have internet at my new apartment, so I'll have to write something up for you all here at work. Luckily, my friend Kevin posted some pictures of our previous adventures, and I'll talk about them and link you to his gallery for now. Anyways, here goes:

Comet McNaught (was it discovered by a Scotsman? I don't know). The night was stunning, the sunset was beautiful but there were so many clouds. We were all about to give up and call it a night at around 9:20 as the sun was setting until a group of locals told us to stay for another 15 minutes. They had seen it the previous night at around 9:45 or 10, and lo and behold, at about 9:45, we saw the faintest little streak in the air. As there was a little light in the sky because of the sun just setting, the comet was really faint, and half of our comet watching group left shortly after seeing the speck through the clouds. Despite the three mosquito bites I received on my camera-holding hands, me and 4 others were lucky enough to stay until 10:30 to see the clouds roll out and a geyser of a comet paint the sky in all of its radiance.

Thundercat speedboats. We all decided to act like hicks from the heartland as we watched the nascar of the sea...yes, indeedy. It was a big viewing party of the race over at Tom and Greg's house where we had beer and chips and salsa, oh and some bbq to boot. Here are some pics from Kev's sweet SLR camera.

New apartment in Seatoun. My flatmates at the old flat in Hataitai had decided to move out because the rent was increasing for February and it just wasn't worth the money to stay at that humble, yet old place. I took the opportunity to talk to my housing coordinator at work to see if she knew of any places opening up and luckily enough she was just notified of a sweet place in Seatoun (yep, Kevin's neighborhood). It's a loft apartment with its own kitchen, washer and dryer, fully furnished, and has a view of the ocean. You can walk to the beach across the street in 30 seconds or less, and it's pretty sheltered from the wind. I'm paying more money per week for this, but it's definitely worth it. And don't worry, I still hang out with my old Hataitai flatmates. I don't really have pictures of this up yet (still waiting for internet) but patience is a virtue!

I'm gonna leave you with some goofy pictures of dive dorks (went snorkeling again on Sunday and got some pictures of me being totally retarded, as promised).

And thanks again to Kevin for posting his pics on the net.

MIA

Sorry I've been Missing In Action for the past week. A lot has happened since we've last spoke and I've just been too busy to keep up with it all. I am at work right now so I don't have much time to tell you all about it, but here's a little preview of blog posts to come!

1. petec's arrival from R&H
2. comet mcnaught (saw it!)
3. thundercat speedboat race
4. new apartment (no internet yet, d'oh!)

Stay toooooned....

random

Hahaha, one of my co-workers named Simon Jung uploaded this photo the photography mailing list at work today. Sorry, just had to share it with you all. Have a good day!

Snorkelin'

Yesterday was I think the true start of my adventures here in New Zealand. My co-workers and I bought some rad snorkeling gear on Saturday at a local dive shop. It was a good thing we went in a group so we got a 20% discount on our items! I got some fins (for my feet), gloves, a snorkel, a mask, booties (I guess that's what they call the boots that you put on to go into the fins), and an inner hood/vest lining to go under my wetsuit, which I got for a bargain price at "The Warehouse" the next day (kind of like Costco).

I didn't bring my camera because I knew water would be involved and I assumed someone else might have a camera, but alas, nobody had one ready... so you can't see what I looked like in my gear. Next time.

So we went swimming off the coast of Island Bay, another suburb in Wellington. I got to see a bunch of creatures of the ocean, including some blue cod, red mokis, some striped fish, two starfish, a crab, jellyfish, and a baby octopus! Some of the co-workers were out spear-fishing and caught some good grub. I didn't have a harpoon so I was just sight-seeing in the water. I wish I did though, when I saw those blue cods mozying under me.

Eventually (I think two and a half hours later), the water started to get cold and my muscles were getting tired from swimming around, so we got out of the water. I waved at two random people riding on horseback by the coast and they waved back. It was strange to think that I'm doing this without being "on holiday," just on a weekend. I actually work in this crazy land of nature and beauty.

This is just the first step, and I will be snorkeling more often now that it is so close and convenient and fun! In about a month, I'll be taking scuba certification lessons with my co-worker and we'll be exploring the waters in greater detail!

ULTIMATE!

Real Ultimate Ninjas, you ask? Why, no! Ultimate Frisbee! When I first arrived in Wellington in November of '06, my co-worker Kevin and I went to check out a flat over in Seatoun, owned by a very nice fellow co-worker at Weta. It was a pretty windy day (nigh uncommon in these waters), but I upon gazing at Seatoun (a suburb in Wellington, pronounced "C-TOON") from his deck, I spotted a rectangular green field in the middle. Immediately, I thought of my buddies back home and our Sunday ultimate frisbee games. I then asked our hospitable Seatounian co-worker (who was more than accomodating and cooked cheese and bread for lunch for us) if anybody at work played Ultimate Frisbee. He kind of grinned and pointed at the air, which had some good 30 mile per hour gusts. And I kind of nodded in disappointment but smiled, as I always do. For those unfamiliar with the game, it's super-addictive and kind of like soccer, except with a frisbee, and you can't run with the frisbee in your hand. Wikipedia link.

Fast-forward to, oh, I don't know, a couple weeks later, and one of my flatmates, Sarah, mentioned that she was going to play Ultimate Frisbee! I was like "what the hey...," but then I told her that I used to play back in the States and she was pretty excited, so she told her teammates and they were all excited...except, silly ol' me, forgot to get/bring running shoes! By this time, they were on their last games of the 2006, so I told them that I would play with them in the new year.

Tonight was the first game of the new year and I brought a co-worker, Arun, with me to have a go at it...and it was loads of fun. Same rules as in the States and some really good players. One of them caught the frisbee so high in the air that I dubbed him the "human dog." It was insane. The only difference this time was that they kind of play in an organized league-type fashion, where team captains organize who plays who on that day, and there are 3 levels: A team, B team, and you guessed it, C team. However, like the games I played in the States, everyone has a great, laid-back attitude. Not to say that there wasn't any competitive spirit. Au Contraire (or however the French spell that). There was some good running. Our team (called "The Scissors", because we "cut" so well), lost by 1 point (9-10), but it was a great game. We were extremely lucky as well because there was no wind (whodathunk??), but the grass was a little damp from some light mist early on. Despite slipping and falling on my left knee and bruising it a little, I'll be back next Tuesday, for sure.

happy holidays

Hey folks, I'm back in NZ. Hope everyone had a great holiday! It was funny when I told my friends that I was "on holiday"...The kiwi/brit-isms are already taking over my mind!

Anyways, here's a recap of some things that happened last year before I went "on holiday":

Saw our co-worker Merlin (animator) perform in a funk band at Cabaret in Wellington. It was free admission and his band was totally rockin'! Here's a little video of Merlin's sweet solo performance.

Also, I saw a game of cricket for the first time. It was pretty cold as the "Southerlies" (winds from the Antarctic South) were blowing and eventually the game got rained out. It was pretty fun though because when they put the game on hold (to see if the rain would stop), they played fun songs having to do with rain (Why Does it Always Rain On Me - Travis, Who'll Stop the Rain - CCR, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head - oldie?, Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR...). Here's a couple pics from the game:


Sri Lanka is in the blue there, and the New Zealand Black Caps were losing when the game got rained out, so they lost. Buggah!

And finally, here's a pic of the stunning sunrise during my flight in to New Zealand this morning somewhere over the South Pacific Ocean: