Well I am now in Auckland catching up with the family. All went well in the South Island although we got spanked a few times buy the steep Fiordland mountains. We had to retreat back to the relative safety of Queenstown with our tails between our legs.
We took some seditives in the form of beer and then had a good couple of days climbing with old friends.
Going out with my brother Graeme tonight for a couple of quiet drinks, I hope I don't find as much trouble as the last effort we had.
Greg the coffee machine will be fine until my return. Thanks for you concern
I had a nice weekend away in Warrnambool. Visited Mum and Dad and did a dive on Sunday with Rickie. (Back of the breakwater, choppy, messy, visibility less than a metre, maximum depth 6m!) It was Rickie's first dive in 5 years and frankly it showed: he lost his weightbelt within half an hour. Classic Rickie quote: "I thought something was happening when I started going up, but since I wanted to go up anyway, it wasn't until I went to go down that I realised I'd lost it". The main thing is that we said we'd going diving, and dammit we did.
Friday saw me present at the Department's Doctoral Consortium. It was the first chance to air my (toned down) views in a public academic forum. I think it went well, and the reaction ranged from piqued curiousity to concerned opposition. Better controversial than ignored.
Since it was Valentine's Day on Thursday, Marie and I had a romantic dinner at Poppy's Thai on Lygon St. It was our first Thai meal since Thailand! Delicious too - I heartily endorse the yellow chicken curry.
Quick question Neal: with the coffee machine, is there any cleaning or maintenance I should be performing, other than intermittent wipe-downs and tray-emtpyings? It's not getting much use, but still, it'll be a month.
This is my first blog in a while. Despite being in the house together for a week with no housemates to make sure we play nice, Greg and I have so far refrained from killing each other. My job is going well and i have managed to meet some fun new grads. The only downside is that Steve Bracks keeps hanging around my desk, asking me questions. He's becoming a bit dependant and I'm not sure what to do about it.
Hey Neal, sounds like it's going well done there. I know it's pretty scary, but you'll be fine. And remember, if you're not sure about a climb, you can ring me up and I'll let you know if it's okay. As you know, I've helped a lot of people just like you with a hand-up during this stage of their climbing development.
Anyway, things have been pretty quiet here the last week, getting back into the routine. Gerd's in Tassie for two weeks and Theresa is in Perth (probably?). Went to Mexican last night with Marie, Paddy and Rickie, which was good. Went to Ivan's party on Saturday, and Friday was Rickie's birthday so we went out to a few bars in the city. Both were Very Late Nights Indeed. Other than that, I've just been in and out of Uni and catching up with people. I've got a doctoral consortium on Friday, which should be interesting.
Hi there here is my first blog from NZ.
Yesterday Adam and I returned from Milford after a couple of days in the Darrens mountains. We caught up with Tim and Frog a couple of freinds of mine. We walked up to Hommer Saddle above hommer tunnel intending to climb a mountain called Moir's mate. We had to retreat due to some cloud and high winds.
We are heading off again tomorrow to Chinamans Bluff which is in north west of queenstown for a couple of days then we will head back to Milford when the weather clears up...
Well, we returned to Melbourne yesterday in the early morning - 7:30am local time. After sleeping off the jet lag and post-trip exhaustion, Marie's now preparing for starting her new job on Monday, and I'm well, still sleeping off the exhaustion. I've been getting shit from people for my extensive blogging, wondering how much time I've spent in internet cafes (1-2 hours a week). Well, some people take lots of photos, other people write. I did take a few snaps, and I'm now wondering how to include them here. I like Gerd's approach, but I don't think I have the patience for the hours of fiddling around required.
Neal left this morning for a month in New Zealand, heading back to his beloved Queenstown and surrounds for rock climbing and camping. Theresa is flying off to WA for a month-long driving trip, where she'll get to see a lot of landscape. So, it's a case of two in, two out. Later, Gerd is heading to Tasmania for a couple of weeks before his relos come over - so the house will be a bit empty before becoming bustly again.
Tonight I'm catching up with a large group of friends from my uni days (undergrad) for dinner and drinks.
Re: returning from travelling. Marie and I think that Stewart St is the best hotel we've stayed in. The room's quiet and the en suite's nice and clean with hot water. There's no mini-bar, but you can drink the tap water. It has internet and laundry facilities, and while it's self-catering and no one comes to clean the room, the staff are very friendly and informal - I give it 5 stars.
Re: returning from travelling(2). Two re-discovered joys of western living - big soft fluffy towells, chess and tim-tams.
