Another packed weekend. Why am I so busy? I guess being bored sucks, but I've forgotten what that's like. Anyways, this past weekend involved scuba diving off a boat, running around a haunted maze, and acting like Colin Farrel and Sam Jackson in the movie S.W.A.T.
Boat DiveThis was actually quite the adventure, as we all got geared up at the Splash Gordon Dive shop, boarded a boat that was towed by a 4x4 and rode over to the ocean like Team Zissou. Once we got in the ocean, our skipper floored it and we were blasting over the waves like Crocket and Tubbs.
The water viz was awesome - the clearest we've seen yet in Wellington. Saw tons of fish and they were not shy. Some of them swam up really close to my face and I could've grabbed some but those were the kind that reportedly don't taste very good. I guess they knew they weren't in any danger. One of the people on our boat caught a crayfish (like a good-sized lobster without the pinchers) and we all posed with it. Check out the pics from Kevin's underwater camera
here (I'm the yellow snorkel).
Spookers NightAt around 4 p.m. that day, after a nice freshwater shower and rinse off of gear, we gathered at Weta to board a bus that took a bunch of us on a two and a half hour ride up north to the countryside, where we all paid to get scared. The busride was cool because we watched the horror movie "The Descent" - definitely something my Dad would love, as he's an avid horror movie fan. We saw the UK version as the ending was a bit more extended, apparently. It definitely put us in the right mood for the event. AND it was a full moon, to boot. The event is called "Spookers" and is basically the NZ equivalent of Knott's Scary Farm. There were two mazes we went through. The first was a 3D maze and the second was a longer maze in the cornfields. I screamed like a little girl and it was fun. I think the scariest part was when the two monsters with chainsaws ran around and cornered people in a portion of the maze that kind of looped in on itself. Pure and utter mayhem. Here's some
pics from the night.
CounterOpsOn Sunday, a few of us went to this thing called "Counter-Ops", which is basically a fun teambuilder that puts you in simulated war/police situations with realistic gear and weapons (not real bullets). Pete's brother was visiting from Long Island, New York, and he is an avid paintballer, so they wanted to check this thing out. I was a bit reluctant at first, because I am definitely a pacifist, but I'm glad I went. It was a great team exercise, an excellent workout, and I just felt cooler at the end of the day, haha. It felt like being in the game Counterstrike. We all got suited up in jumpsuits, vests, helmets, safety goggles and got MP5 replicas that shot little rubber bullets. It was quite safe as the bullets were small and only felt like somebody flicked you with their finger if you were hit. It was fun dressing up like SWAT and running around shouting "ROOM CLEAR!" and "ALPHA TWO COMING OUT!". The instructors were ex-military so they were ready to kick butt and enforce discipline but they were totally chill and mellow and all about making sure we had the most fun out of the whole experience (while totally kicking our lazy computer butts into shape).
Phew...I'll never get a break, it seems. This weekend will be a Guitar-Hero 2 Rock session on Mark's Xbox 360 and Round Two of our co-worker Iron Chef Showdown at Lori's place. Stay tuned...
On the 20th of April, last Friday, I organized the first of hopefully many monthly pie days at Wexford (the animation building at Weta Digital), continuing Chad Shattuck's tradition at Rhythm & Hues. The kiwis here like savory pies, so they all wanted mince and cheese and steak and bacon and egg in their pies, so Jeremy and I bought a few from the store. But the real pies as we know them in the States are called "dessert pies" here, and Lori and I baked a total of 4 pies (well I baked one, she baked three).
