Saw VI???

Saw VI? Are you kidding me? Do they make these movies every three months?

Fun Fact

Evidently on Windows, the C fopen function will read a file with the hidden attribute, but not write to it. Yay symmetry!

Bloody Hell

Nothing I like more than getting off of plane after having been traveling for 18 hours than to get a phone call telling me that some douchebag is using my name to post hateful idiocy on some blog I've never been to. Now if you google my name a bunch of stupid shit comes up near the top. Thank you very much cowardly dipshit! The sad thing is that I think I know this guy and he seemed all right when I knew him. I guess someone could have scraped his info off the web like they did mine, but if so, they've been posing as him for a while now.

LAX

Back in the states again. Very tired and kind of grumpy. Especially in light of having to go through security <i>again</i> at LAX and because this stupid terminal seems to only sell water at the kiosks, not coke. Looking forward to being home soon in just a few hours.

Goodbye Queenstown

Finishing up breakfast at our B&B here in Queenstown before we head off to Auckland for our last night in NZ. Feeling a little sad to say goodbye, but it's been a good run.

Yesterday we took a bus tour to Fiordlands National Park at o-dark-early. This was followed by a cruise through the fjord of Milford Sound. Fjords are really cool, as it turns out. The whole area was cut from really hard rock by glaciers, so the resultant walls are tall and steep. On our way back we were supposed to fly a prop plane back, but the clouds prevented that, so we took a helicopter ride instead. That was fabulous fun! I've never ridden a helicopter before, so it was extra cool, especially when the earth just sank away from us. We even got to land on the snow covered peak of a mountain, which was wet, but super fun. Sadly it was extremely crowded, so I don't know if any of my pictures are any good.

The day before yesterday we had a very long drive from Paramata to Queenstown. We saw two glaciers and saw some amazing countryside. Our GPS also guided us through the steepest pass in NZ as a shortcut, so that was exciting. It was raining most of the day which was nice except for the hiking to the glaciers bit, but even then it was refreshing.

Now to finish packing, have a shower, then it's off to Auckland. I must get some sheep pictures before I go. I've seen a thousand fields with cute grazing sheep and not photographed one if them.

Greetings From the 42nd Parallel

So the crossing from Wellington to the South Island went well. After a few hours of driving through hilly, temperate rain forests we finally arrived at the Monaco Resort (which is in Stoke, not Nelson, as we had been led to believe) on the northern coast of the South Island. The resort consists of a number of Olde English buildings containing a bunch of rooms. Ours was a studio. We dined at their French restaurant, the Orangerie, where I got one of the best filets I've had in my life. The food there was seriously good. Sadly I awoke in the middle of the night with horrible stomach pains, so I was unable to enjoy breakfast there.

Today we started with a trip to the wearable art museum which incongruously also holds a car museum. The wearable art part of the museum is cool because it holds the trippiest costumes you've ever seen. Evidently the area has been having a high fashion show for twenty years now. Who knew?

We then drove west to the West Coast region which is wild, empty and beautiful. We went to a park on the coast which has "pancake rocks" which are sedimentary rock formations that are layered like pancake stacks. Whilst in the park we happened upon a family of Keas (or possibly Wekas) on the path in the underbrush, which was very cool. We finally got here at our B&B, where I'm currently chilling. Tomorrow is a trip through the mountains and glaciers of the south. In really stoked because I'm expecting something out of Lord of the Rings. Time for bed now!

So Happy

So happy to be here at the Paramata Lodge just outside of Ross, NZ.

So happy to hear the roar of the ocean through the window.

So happy to see (and photograph) stars I've never seen before.

So happy to hear strange bird cries in the darkness while standing beside my camera and tripod on cold, wet grass.

So happy because I've a nice comfortable bed awaiting me after a long day's drive seeing new and beautiful vistas.

So sad because the time here will not be long enough.

Wellington

Sitting in the nicest Holiday Inn ever in Wellington, about to head out to the ferry to the South Island. Didn't get to see much of Wellington, sadly. Yesterday was mostly driving, viewing the beautifully green countryside of the North. We went to the Kiwi House and saw some kiwis fooled into thinking it's daytime, some Keas, some Kakas, and a bunch of other birds.

Time to go, more soon.

Greetings from The Future

The flight from LAX was not so bad, much better than I had expected really. After a brief perusal of our beef jerky, an examination of my boots and some questions about our plans, we were off and running.

Auckland was pretty cool. We went on the Sky Tower which afforded a fantastic view of the Auckland area.

Today we drove into the countryside to Waitomo Caves, where we went on a couple incredible tours where we saw cool underground features and the beautiful Glow Worms which look like little blue stars in the darkness. After that we had a delicious dinner and a walk through the verdant countryside. Everything is so green here! And there are so many foreign (to me) birdsongs. Tomorrow perhaps some kiwi viewing and then on to Wellington and the South.

Note To Self: Tacos

Note to self: do not have a big taco dinner the night before a long flight. Ok, heading out the door momentarily to The Future!

The Deep Breath Before the Plunge

I sit here resting (and by resting I mean vibrating slowly) less than 48 hours before I get on a plane for another hemisphere on a Trip to the Future. I feel strangely calm, considering how nervous I've been of late. Work has been like deep sea diving in the La Brea tar pits lately. No matter how hard I struggle progress has been very slow. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, though. Just in time, too. On top of work I have been wrapping up the trip planning, which I have procrastinating on far too long. Gotta get started with packing and preparing. Anyway, in a few days my cares will be behind me.

Zombieland

Best. Zombie. Movie. Evar.

The role Woody Harrelson was born to play.