NZ 31/08/08

1600 Auckland

Barry made me write this: "Thanks for resetting my watch". So there you go.

Hope you're happy.

Okay, today we went and visited Rangitoto Island. The Volcano rim is 198m high. We visited teh light house on the other side of the island. Then we went up to the rim. All in all a good three hour hike.

Oh! Catching the 9:15 ferry over, it was into the wind. Which was freezing! Made me wish that my gloves weren't in my suitcase! The temperature was around 15ºC which made for a nice walk. Got some great views of the scenery on the island and of the city from the lookout. Although soon after getting to the top my camera's batteries went flat any my spare set were in the hotel room.

Also finally got International roaming turned on my mobile. Yay! Can make calls now.

We are going to Orbit the revolving restaurant on the sky tower later this evening. It should be nice.

And Barry has just discovered that he bought a women's size glove. That's all that needs to be said there I think.

2100 Auckland

Dinner was very nice. A very reasonably prices 3 course meal. Views are great, though they do impart a mild feeling on nausea.

Tomorrow: Waitomo - Rotoroua

NZ 30/08/08

1700 Auckland

Well we arrived okay. The Jetstar flight wasn't too bad. I've had better, but I've had much worse. I'm looking at you Tiger...

The Air NZ plane was smaller than what it was supposed to be. Again, not bad. More comfortable than the Jetstar flight. We arrived 30 minutes early, must of had some good tailwinds!

Brisbane Airport is okay if a little confusing. Coming from Darwin, it seems amazing that you have to catch a train to get to the international terminal. O.o Auckland airport is quite nice.

With our hire car (we went with budget), we got upgraded from a station wagon to a brand new Toyota Prado. It had done only 17 km on the clock when I drove it out of the lot. It's frickken huge. Very comfortable. It even has a aux in for an ipod so that should keep Billy happy.

We are just having a rest for a bit before going out before having an early night to recover.

Tomorrow: Auckland

Kia Ora Everyone

Hi All.

Arrived in NZ okay, if not a little tired.

Auckland reminds me of Melbourne a great deal. Very nice weather.

Went to Rangitoto Island today. Had a good walk around. About 4 hrs in all. Going to Orbit the revolving restaurant tonight. Should be nice. In fact I have about an hour to go before I have to leave so this post'll be pretty brief.

We've done a quick shop for snacks for the road trip tomorrow down to Waitomo Caves in the morning then on to Rotorua in the afternoon. Probably about 5 hrs of driving all up.

And can you think we can find a 3.5" to 3.5" jack so we can plug our ipod/s into cd player? Rare as hen's teeth apparently...õ.o very strange.

So to was sunscreen. Hard to find. But that's may be there is very little of the body that gets exposed to the sun here on a regular basis.

Uhh, I'm keeping a better diary this time so I will probably post or edit more later.

But for now, immensely enjoying myself.

- Grover.

Countdown begins

Okay. On holidays, but still have 4 and a bit days until we leave for NZ.

I'm doing some housekeeping like doing washing, pack up some stuff that I'm not using. Tomorrow or the next I'll do a big clean.

For the Trip we just need to finalise what we are doing in between Picton and Nelson. I've found a place where we can do some stuff [here].

Looking good. Getting excited...

Tomorrow I'll also look at changing some money into NZ dollars. We're currently getting around $1.22 NZ for every AUD $. Not bad, not bad at all...

- Grover

3­·5 Days and counting.

Last week of work before I go on holidays. And Thursday is my last day for the week.

 

Woot woot!

 

Then I've got the next week off at home to take it easy in the nice dry season that we are currently having. As well as anything more that needs to be done for holiday.

 

But before that, it looks like this week at work is just goint to be pure bedlam.

 

Hopefully I have seen the last of the acquittals for this quarter which I thought I had finished on Friday. But Today was a total wright off for anything else I need to get done before I leave.

 

I still need to journal a hits load of personnel to their correct cost centres. A big job. Probably all day Tuesday. Then on Wednesday have a three hour training thing in the morning, so that just leaves the afternoon and Thursday to finish up the rest of my work and train a co-worker in some reports that need to happen while I'm away.

 

Sweet Jesus Monkey Christ!

 

This holiday had better be worth it...

 

Yes, I'm complaing about my holiday already...22 hours of work to go.

 

- Grover

Umm, Lost count?

Okay.

 

The biggest problem so far from week 3 is that it is very easy to lose count after 20 or so push-ups. I just did set two of day 3, and I'm noty sure if I just did 22 (as per the guide) or 27. I count in multiple of five to try and make it sound easier. Ie 20 is just four sets of 5. But if you lose count you think "Hmm, mayde should do a couple more just in case".

 

Set three here I go...

- Grover

Dark Knight

Had this saved as a draft for some reason...

As many people have said, I'll repeat with an emphatic Wow!!

This movie has gone into my top 10 of all time.

There are some very well acted parts, Bale is back, mostly as Bruce Wayne. Which is okay because I found Bale's acting as Batman endlessly amusing. It looks like he is trying to do a "Magnum" look or something.

We needed to see more of Michael Cains' Alfred. More sarcasm would have been nice.

Gary Oldman is better as the poor policeman trying to keep the peace against the rising tide.

Morgan Freeman is as great as ever, reprising his role as Lucius Fox.

But the stage is set, and mostly occupied by Health Ledger's Joker.

What an amazing character this is. The performance by Ledger is nothing short of mesmerising. From the introduction (and that rather shocking magic trick), to his last line, sparkles with brillance.

It pains me more than I can say that he's dead and we will never see this Joker ever again.

If you have been under a rock and haven't seen this movie. Go tonight!

- Grover

Week 3 Day 2 Complete!!

Take that body!

Just completed day 2 of week 3 and managed a maximum of 29. Not bad at all if I say so myself. 109 push ups. Amazes me that when I started this challenge not so long ago I was flat out finishing week 1, day 1. Mind you those last 4 of the last set were very difficult.

It's amazing how much you recover from a rest day. It's apparent that the rest days are just as important (perhaps even more so) as the actual exercise itself.

- Grover.

Week 3 - Again.

Okay, here's to me attempting week 3 again of the 100 push up challenge.

 

I'l post on how I go...

 

- Grover.

Push Back - Fall Over

Looks like I will have to redo week three.

 

A couple of things this week have conspired against me.

 

Main problem is that I gave blood this week, and any attempt at doing the number required was making me feel very strange indeed. Day one was fine, even did a max of 30, but I'll have to take it easy to get over my donation.

 

Will continue with the program, but will do two week threes.

 

- Grover

Avatar.

This week I finished watching Avatar.

It's strange, as it made me feel really nostalgic about my childhood, watching all those long running cartoons on a Saturday morning.

But it's well written, a nice mix of characters, some good fights and some good humour. My favourite moment is when Sokka is recovering some feeling in his body during a fight, and he says "Hey, I think I'm getting some feeling back." Only to have some of the wall fall on top of him. The pain-filled "ow" making perfect comedy timing.

Azula's descent into madness was a little too quick, and Aang was extremely lucky to get his charkra fixed in the big battle.

But yeah, good fun and the story runs smoothly with only a couple of episodes of filler.

- Grover

The System - It works!

Just been advised that my parcel of NZ clothes has arrived.

 

Sweet. Will pick up after work.

 

Only took about a week or so. Mind you, would want it to take very long after spending $70 in postage.

 

Also had to get it delivered to a friend's address, as UPS don't post to PO Boxes, and my residential address is not secure...

 

Oh well, is here and I have enough time to check suitability and order another something else if needs be.

- Grover.

Japan 07

Okay, not sure how well this is going to work, but here I go:

Post is a slide show of some of the photos from Japan Trip. I have put a link to the page in the random links over on the right.

Handy eh?

- Grover

Push - Push Back

Quick note:

Did exhaustion test for push ups today.

Completed 28!! On the first test I managed 21...That's just a little bit of wow right there.

Bit apprehensive as from what I've read on other people's blogs who are also taking the challenge; the next two weeks are not easy. But will try best to keep with it.

- Grover

Nose is Happy

I love perfumes and smelling good. I have 5 that I use regularly.

These are:

Green Irish Tweed by Creed
Body Kouros by YSL
Higher Energy by Dior
Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier
Cool Water by Davidoff

Thanks to eBay, I now can add these to my collection:


Millesime Imperial by Creed
Men by Vera Wang
Safari by Ralph Laurent

I have learnt that Creed perfumes are very different from mainstream perfume houses. Very different, but very nice.

Safari is an old favourite, I just haven't had it for a couple of years.

Vera Wang is new to me. Very nice.

I can retire Cool Water to a friend as I have the superior Green Irish Tweed, which smells 10 times better.

The Imperial, at first smelling, I thought the fragrance would not last long on the skin. But on the first day, it lasted all day and into the evening! It's base is fairly floral, but it's not girly at all.

- Grover.

Push Ups Week 2

Well, just completed week 2 of One Hundred Push Ups training program.

 

Must be doing okay because the last set call for a maximum of at least 15 and I did 20 so, Improvement!

 

I have to do another exhaustion test on the weekend to determine which column I have to follow for weeks 3 and 4.

 

If I do more than 26 push ups then on day 3 of week 3 the total I would have to do would be 121!

 

Keeping that scary thought in mind it will be a challenge to work towards...

 

- Grover.