Wednesday November 28th, 2007 (Picton to Wellington to Ohakune)
We started off the day on an Interisland Boat Ride from Picton to Wellington. We didn’t do much on the boat; I watched a movie and took a few pictures, and Kacey slept (she had been really tired lately). Once we got in, we got the rental and got going on the road. We hadn’t made much of a decision of where we were going, just roughly toward the central part of the island, probably around Tongariro National Park. Once we reached Bulls, this is where the highway split and we needed to make a decision. As Kacey was just sleeping the whole way, I woke her up once in town. We were hoping to get information packets on the parks, but could not find anything. So with the information we had, we decided to head toward Ohakune and the National Park. We got to Ohakune after much driving and started looking for a place with internet as we wanted to plan the next couple days. We found the Hobbit Motorlodge after driving for a few minutes and they had a vacancy sign with a wireless internet sign. We stopped in, got a room, and asked about dinner. We ended up going to town, filling with fuel, buying a couple groceries, eating at the Mountain Rock Café, and going to bed (after some internet time of course). Dinner was pretty good and since it was not ski season, it was mostly locals just hanging out.
Pictures from Wednesday can be found here.
Thursday November 29th, 2007 (Ohakune to Hamilton)
We got up and headed toward Tongariro National Park and stopped in the Whakapapa Village for some information. We got information for a couple hikes, but as Kacey was not feeling to well, we went to Tawhai Falls and got going. We had a lot of nice views of the volcanoes as we drove, so we stopped for pictures along the way. As we approached Turangi, we stopped for some views of Lake Taupo (map). We stopped in Turangi for some lunch at the Mustard Seed Café. The sandwiches would have been better toasted, but we moved around Lake Taupo toward Taupo. In Taupo we stopped at the doctor to make sure Kacey was ok. Turns out she wasn't tired from hiking and traveling for three weeks, she was pregnant! So as you can imagine, this is a most unique way and place to find out you are expecting, so we will probably never forget this day as long as we live. We then headed to Huka Falls. These were a little cheesy as it is a man-made falls and river that empties from Lake Taupo and it is used to generate electricity. We then headed across the road to Crater of the Moon Park. This was interesting as Kacey had not seen geothermal activity before. There was not much activity or water pools, but there was one bubbling mud pool. We got on the road for the two hour drive to Hamilton. When we arrived, we drove to the place we were hoping might be available, the Barclay. It was, and it was a pretty big and nice room. After some dinner at Pasta Mia, which was pretty good, we got to bed.
Pictures from Thursday can be found here.
Friday November 30th, 2007 (Hamilton to Waitmo to Auckland)
Today we got going pretty early and headed down SH3 toward Waitomo for our 10am tour of the Glowworm Caves. I had been looking forward to seeing the Glowworms. This was a pretty cool boat ride through the cave with a nice tour. At 11am, we then had a tour of Aranui Cave which is a dry cave, so no glowing worms. We stopped in Otorohanga for some lunch at the Copper Tree Café. We each got a small pizza that was not too bad. We then started the three hour journey to Auckland. Once we got near the city, traffic got very bad. Driving downtown was a nightmare as the streets are not straight, and many one ways and no turns made it take a while to figure out how to get to the hotel. At the City Life Auckland, we got put up on the 15th floor with some nice views. We walked through a few stores, ate dinner at the Middle East Café, and got some gelato down at the Harbour. We headed to the room to get ready for the long plane ride back home tomorrow.
Pictures from Friday can be found here.
Saturday December 1st, 2007 (Auckland to Honolulu to Denver to Indianapolis)
Tired, because we lived Saturday December 1st twice.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
South Island, New Zealand
Saturday November 24th, 2007 (Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass)
We arrived in Christchurch (CHC) around 2pm. We decided to change our reservations and not stay here; we instead looked around downtown for about an hour, and then headed to Arthur’s Pass to stay for the night (originally, we had pre-booked our first and last night in New Zealand only). The drive was nice; there were many nice scenic views and they were covered with interesting rock formations. This was also Kacey’s first time driving on the left, which went pretty well as I had been telling her points here and there throughout the trip thus far. We arrived at the Arthur’s Pass Alpine Motel around 7pm and got checked in to our little cottage. We drove in to "town" for dinner at the Wobbly Kea. It was pretty good, actually, and priced pretty well too, considering there is nothing in any directions for miles (or kilometers). The town consists of a DOC (Department of Conservation), a train station, a small general store, a couple places to eat, and a couple small motels. We got back to our cottage and surfed the web a bit to figure out where to stay the next night.
Pictures from Saturday can be found here.
Sunday November 25th, 2007 (Arthur’s Pass to Fox Glacier to Hari Hari)
Today we got up and hiked a trail in Arthur’s Pass National Park. We hiked to the Devil’s Punch Bowl. It was fairly steep, but a well maintained and mostly graveled trail. We headed back to the car and got on the road toward the west coast. Again, the drive was pretty fun as these mountain pass roads are twisty and steep with great views. Even though the weather was light rain and overcast we still stopped for pictures along the way. We also got to experience the Kea bird for the first time. We stopped by the side of the road and we noticed a few of these birds that look like a distant cousin of a parakeet. After we got out to take in the view, the birds started jumping on top of the car like they wanted in. Then we a bird on a nearby rock eating a gasket, which seemed very strange. Then, we read the sign at the overlook which informed us that these birds have taken to eating rubber! This means that the birds were not trying to get into our car, they were eating the rubber from it! Once we reached the coast, we started the drive south along Highway 6. We stopped in Hokitika (map) for some quick lunch, petrol, cash (as there were possibly no ATMs south of town), and a view of the sea. It was a gray sand beach and the crashing of the waves put a mist in the air. We made it to Hari Hari and stopped to see if we could check in early at the Hari Hari Motor Inn and leave our suitcases. Sure enough we could and we did. Kacey also ran in the wool store in town and bought some beautifully dyed combed wool for her grandma to spin. We then headed toward Franz Josef Glacier for our first glacier experience.
We arrived in town and stopped for a few maps. These told us which hike to hit to really see the glacier. We took the Franz Josef Valley Walk which takes you as close as they will currently let you get unguided. With the overcast skies, you could not see all the way up the mountain, which made the glacier look like it was infinite. The walk was through the river beds that fill up during the summer when lots of ice starts melting. There was plenty of little water falls throughout the valley and the walls were very high up. After this walk, we headed south to Fox Glacier. We first went to the lookout for the glacier which was a walk through the rainforest for a not-so-big view of the glacier. We then drove over to the carpark for the hike up to Fox. It was trying to rain just a little so we were attempting to keep the cameras covered up. This walk also had plenty of signage to keep people away from the glacier but as we were very close to the glacier and the melting water river was far away, many people were going up to it anyway. We followed suit as we really wanted to touch it. We took some nice pictures and got going as the rain started to come down a little heavier. We looked funny with our little purple umbrella, but our heads and cameras were dry. We ate dinner in Fox Glacier at Café Neve which for the area was probably ok. We then drove back north to Franz Josef to try to find some dessert. There were more options, but the dessert was disappointing for the cost. We started the trek back to our hotel to get some rest.
Pictures from Sunday can be found here.
Monday November 26th, 2007 (Hari Hari to Nelson via 6)
We woke up and got on the road toward Greymouth. This is where we would stop for lunch and gas. We ate at Café 124, which was not too bad, just small portions. We searched for free wireless internet, but no luck. We then headed to Paparoa National Park. Along the way, we thought we spotted a whale off of the coast, but upon review of the pictures on the computer, it looks like it was probably a rock formation. We stopped at the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. This was pretty neat and we took lots of pictures of water splashing and a few videos to hear the blowholes. We then drove straight through to Nelson and found a place to stay downtown. We ate at Stefano’s, an Italian place, which was not too bad, spent a couple minutes on the internet looking at places in Picton, then went back for some rest.
Pictures from Monday can be found here.
Tuesday November 27th, 2007 (Nelson to Motueka to Picton)
We woke up and got going to the northwest toward Motueka and Abel Tasman National Park. We drove over the mountain to arrive inside Abel Tasman NP and stopped to hike for a bit. We then realized that the main entrance and Visitor’s Center was north near Takaka and would have taken another hour and a half to reach it. We decided to just walk out to one lookout and then head out. It was a little disappointing to not get to hike more, but the views of the water were pretty nice. Abel Tasman is mostly known for ocean kayaking and boating, so there probably was not much more hiking had we headed north. We stopped in Mapua for some lunch at Café One (or something like that). Their salads were pretty good. We got on the road for the long haul towards Picton. Highway 6 between Picton and Havelock had some pretty nice views, along with several logging trucks. It is very noticeable as you view the mountain sides that logging is very heavy here. Many of the hills were bare and areas not bare were lined with “rows” of trees from replanting. We had noticed on the maps a side road from Havelock to Picton, but had not found much information on it. We saw what we thought to be that road, but without much information and wanting to stop in Blenheim for wine/olive oil/chocolate, we stayed on 6.
We arrived outside of Blenheim and started looking for signs. We searched for the information center in town, but could not find it. As it was getting late, we knew shops would start closing soon, so we hurried on in hopes to see some north of town. We found Annie’s Wine Room and Café and stopped in. We got there about 10 minutes before closing. We tasted a few local wines and one olive oil. I did not really care for their particular Rieslings, but Kacey found one red she liked. So, we picked up a bottle of red and a bottle of Omaka Springs Olive Oil and headed out. The woman there told us how to reach one other winery so we headed that way. We arrived there about 10 minutes before closing but unfortunately they had very little wine to try. There was only one that Kacey wanted to try, but she didn’t care for it and we moved on. On our way to the car, we saw down the road a chocolate shop, so we rushed over. To our luck, it was the one store we had read about to stop in; Makana Confections. We got there about 30 minutes before closing and had a look around. We bought some chocolate for us, parents, family, and a few friends and got moving once north once again on Highway 1 toward Picton. We arrived in town and it was somewhat smaller than we had imagined. We first stopped at our first choice of hotels, the Jasmine Court. They had a vacancy sign out front, so we knew we had a place to stay for the night. This place was pretty nice and we quickly did a load of laundry and headed to the Yacht Club for dinner. Do not eat at this place, it was quite disappointing. There was really no one else there and we waited 30 minutes for a poorly prepared dinner, part of which involved a microwave that we could see from where we were sitting. We headed back to the hotel, did a little web browsing and trip planning and went to bed.
Pictures from Tuesday can be found here.
We arrived in Christchurch (CHC) around 2pm. We decided to change our reservations and not stay here; we instead looked around downtown for about an hour, and then headed to Arthur’s Pass to stay for the night (originally, we had pre-booked our first and last night in New Zealand only). The drive was nice; there were many nice scenic views and they were covered with interesting rock formations. This was also Kacey’s first time driving on the left, which went pretty well as I had been telling her points here and there throughout the trip thus far. We arrived at the Arthur’s Pass Alpine Motel around 7pm and got checked in to our little cottage. We drove in to "town" for dinner at the Wobbly Kea. It was pretty good, actually, and priced pretty well too, considering there is nothing in any directions for miles (or kilometers). The town consists of a DOC (Department of Conservation), a train station, a small general store, a couple places to eat, and a couple small motels. We got back to our cottage and surfed the web a bit to figure out where to stay the next night.
Pictures from Saturday can be found here.
Sunday November 25th, 2007 (Arthur’s Pass to Fox Glacier to Hari Hari)
Today we got up and hiked a trail in Arthur’s Pass National Park. We hiked to the Devil’s Punch Bowl. It was fairly steep, but a well maintained and mostly graveled trail. We headed back to the car and got on the road toward the west coast. Again, the drive was pretty fun as these mountain pass roads are twisty and steep with great views. Even though the weather was light rain and overcast we still stopped for pictures along the way. We also got to experience the Kea bird for the first time. We stopped by the side of the road and we noticed a few of these birds that look like a distant cousin of a parakeet. After we got out to take in the view, the birds started jumping on top of the car like they wanted in. Then we a bird on a nearby rock eating a gasket, which seemed very strange. Then, we read the sign at the overlook which informed us that these birds have taken to eating rubber! This means that the birds were not trying to get into our car, they were eating the rubber from it! Once we reached the coast, we started the drive south along Highway 6. We stopped in Hokitika (map) for some quick lunch, petrol, cash (as there were possibly no ATMs south of town), and a view of the sea. It was a gray sand beach and the crashing of the waves put a mist in the air. We made it to Hari Hari and stopped to see if we could check in early at the Hari Hari Motor Inn and leave our suitcases. Sure enough we could and we did. Kacey also ran in the wool store in town and bought some beautifully dyed combed wool for her grandma to spin. We then headed toward Franz Josef Glacier for our first glacier experience.
We arrived in town and stopped for a few maps. These told us which hike to hit to really see the glacier. We took the Franz Josef Valley Walk which takes you as close as they will currently let you get unguided. With the overcast skies, you could not see all the way up the mountain, which made the glacier look like it was infinite. The walk was through the river beds that fill up during the summer when lots of ice starts melting. There was plenty of little water falls throughout the valley and the walls were very high up. After this walk, we headed south to Fox Glacier. We first went to the lookout for the glacier which was a walk through the rainforest for a not-so-big view of the glacier. We then drove over to the carpark for the hike up to Fox. It was trying to rain just a little so we were attempting to keep the cameras covered up. This walk also had plenty of signage to keep people away from the glacier but as we were very close to the glacier and the melting water river was far away, many people were going up to it anyway. We followed suit as we really wanted to touch it. We took some nice pictures and got going as the rain started to come down a little heavier. We looked funny with our little purple umbrella, but our heads and cameras were dry. We ate dinner in Fox Glacier at Café Neve which for the area was probably ok. We then drove back north to Franz Josef to try to find some dessert. There were more options, but the dessert was disappointing for the cost. We started the trek back to our hotel to get some rest.
Pictures from Sunday can be found here.
Monday November 26th, 2007 (Hari Hari to Nelson via 6)
We woke up and got on the road toward Greymouth. This is where we would stop for lunch and gas. We ate at Café 124, which was not too bad, just small portions. We searched for free wireless internet, but no luck. We then headed to Paparoa National Park. Along the way, we thought we spotted a whale off of the coast, but upon review of the pictures on the computer, it looks like it was probably a rock formation. We stopped at the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. This was pretty neat and we took lots of pictures of water splashing and a few videos to hear the blowholes. We then drove straight through to Nelson and found a place to stay downtown. We ate at Stefano’s, an Italian place, which was not too bad, spent a couple minutes on the internet looking at places in Picton, then went back for some rest.
Pictures from Monday can be found here.
Tuesday November 27th, 2007 (Nelson to Motueka to Picton)
We woke up and got going to the northwest toward Motueka and Abel Tasman National Park. We drove over the mountain to arrive inside Abel Tasman NP and stopped to hike for a bit. We then realized that the main entrance and Visitor’s Center was north near Takaka and would have taken another hour and a half to reach it. We decided to just walk out to one lookout and then head out. It was a little disappointing to not get to hike more, but the views of the water were pretty nice. Abel Tasman is mostly known for ocean kayaking and boating, so there probably was not much more hiking had we headed north. We stopped in Mapua for some lunch at Café One (or something like that). Their salads were pretty good. We got on the road for the long haul towards Picton. Highway 6 between Picton and Havelock had some pretty nice views, along with several logging trucks. It is very noticeable as you view the mountain sides that logging is very heavy here. Many of the hills were bare and areas not bare were lined with “rows” of trees from replanting. We had noticed on the maps a side road from Havelock to Picton, but had not found much information on it. We saw what we thought to be that road, but without much information and wanting to stop in Blenheim for wine/olive oil/chocolate, we stayed on 6.
We arrived outside of Blenheim and started looking for signs. We searched for the information center in town, but could not find it. As it was getting late, we knew shops would start closing soon, so we hurried on in hopes to see some north of town. We found Annie’s Wine Room and Café and stopped in. We got there about 10 minutes before closing. We tasted a few local wines and one olive oil. I did not really care for their particular Rieslings, but Kacey found one red she liked. So, we picked up a bottle of red and a bottle of Omaka Springs Olive Oil and headed out. The woman there told us how to reach one other winery so we headed that way. We arrived there about 10 minutes before closing but unfortunately they had very little wine to try. There was only one that Kacey wanted to try, but she didn’t care for it and we moved on. On our way to the car, we saw down the road a chocolate shop, so we rushed over. To our luck, it was the one store we had read about to stop in; Makana Confections. We got there about 30 minutes before closing and had a look around. We bought some chocolate for us, parents, family, and a few friends and got moving once north once again on Highway 1 toward Picton. We arrived in town and it was somewhat smaller than we had imagined. We first stopped at our first choice of hotels, the Jasmine Court. They had a vacancy sign out front, so we knew we had a place to stay for the night. This place was pretty nice and we quickly did a load of laundry and headed to the Yacht Club for dinner. Do not eat at this place, it was quite disappointing. There was really no one else there and we waited 30 minutes for a poorly prepared dinner, part of which involved a microwave that we could see from where we were sitting. We headed back to the hotel, did a little web browsing and trip planning and went to bed.
Pictures from Tuesday can be found here.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sydney, Australia
Wednesday November 21st, 2007
We had a 4pm flight to SYD, which was late and with storms, we did not get off the plane until about 9pm. The Airport Link train was a fast route to Wynyard station, but cost about $13 each. We checked in at the Grace Hotel Sydney, and went to bed.
Thursday November 22nd, 2007
Today we headed to the harbor. We gazed at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge for a few minutes, and then bought tickets to take the ferry to the Taronga Zoo. We spent about four hours at the zoo, got some pictures with some Koalas, and headed back to the harbor. We did something called an Animal Encounter. We spent 10-15 minutes with Koalas in their environment where we got up close with them and took pictures up close with them (Australian law prohibits visitors from touching the Koalas). The Taronga Zoo is much better than the Melbourne Zoo and we really enjoyed our time here. We then walked around the outside of the Opera House for a while. Up close, it seems smaller than what you see in pictures and TV. We headed back to the hotel to figure out dinner and ended up going down the street to La Bora Italian restaurant. The food was decent, but nothing special. We looked for desserts but could not find anything near by.
Pictures from Thursday can be found here.
Friday November 23rd, 2007
We got up, got some food at the Espresso Bar next door to the hotel (good), and took the train to the Blue Mountains. We got to the train stations right around 10, and we had just missed the train to Katoomba that leaves every one hour. So we found some take away sandwiches for the train and boarded the Blue Mountains Line train around 11. The two hour train ride was nice as we needed a little time to sit, listen to music, and play some sudoku. We read that the few shuttle services/tour trolleys leave every hour and are lined up with the train arrivals, so we picked the cheaper one (Blue Mountains Trolley Tours) and quickly got our tickets once we arrived. We really only needed the shuttle to get us down to the Gordon Falls so we could start a hike along the rim. Due to the late start, we decided to not try to get all the way to Three Sisters, so we hopped on the bus for the last kilometer or so. We made it from Gordon Falls, through Leura Cascades, to Honeymoon Lookout. It was a nice hike and fairly rugged. The views were wonderful and made for a quite relaxing time. Kacey grabbed a cupcake to eat and we caught the 5:24pm train for Sydney Central. We switched trains at Central to get us up to Wynyard to stop off at the hotel before dinner. We walked a few blocks south to Captain Torres for some pretty good Spanish food. That night we stayed up late packing as we had to leave the hotel around 6am for the train station.
Pictures from Friday can be found here.
We had a 4pm flight to SYD, which was late and with storms, we did not get off the plane until about 9pm. The Airport Link train was a fast route to Wynyard station, but cost about $13 each. We checked in at the Grace Hotel Sydney, and went to bed.
Thursday November 22nd, 2007
Today we headed to the harbor. We gazed at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge for a few minutes, and then bought tickets to take the ferry to the Taronga Zoo. We spent about four hours at the zoo, got some pictures with some Koalas, and headed back to the harbor. We did something called an Animal Encounter. We spent 10-15 minutes with Koalas in their environment where we got up close with them and took pictures up close with them (Australian law prohibits visitors from touching the Koalas). The Taronga Zoo is much better than the Melbourne Zoo and we really enjoyed our time here. We then walked around the outside of the Opera House for a while. Up close, it seems smaller than what you see in pictures and TV. We headed back to the hotel to figure out dinner and ended up going down the street to La Bora Italian restaurant. The food was decent, but nothing special. We looked for desserts but could not find anything near by.
Pictures from Thursday can be found here.
Friday November 23rd, 2007
We got up, got some food at the Espresso Bar next door to the hotel (good), and took the train to the Blue Mountains. We got to the train stations right around 10, and we had just missed the train to Katoomba that leaves every one hour. So we found some take away sandwiches for the train and boarded the Blue Mountains Line train around 11. The two hour train ride was nice as we needed a little time to sit, listen to music, and play some sudoku. We read that the few shuttle services/tour trolleys leave every hour and are lined up with the train arrivals, so we picked the cheaper one (Blue Mountains Trolley Tours) and quickly got our tickets once we arrived. We really only needed the shuttle to get us down to the Gordon Falls so we could start a hike along the rim. Due to the late start, we decided to not try to get all the way to Three Sisters, so we hopped on the bus for the last kilometer or so. We made it from Gordon Falls, through Leura Cascades, to Honeymoon Lookout. It was a nice hike and fairly rugged. The views were wonderful and made for a quite relaxing time. Kacey grabbed a cupcake to eat and we caught the 5:24pm train for Sydney Central. We switched trains at Central to get us up to Wynyard to stop off at the hotel before dinner. We walked a few blocks south to Captain Torres for some pretty good Spanish food. That night we stayed up late packing as we had to leave the hotel around 6am for the train station.
Pictures from Friday can be found here.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Cairns, Australia
Sunday November 18th, 2007
We arrived in CNS, got a taxi (about the same cost as the bus), checked in at the Rydges, and went to P.J. O’Brien's Irish Pub for dinner. It wasn't anything special, but at least it was a little lively.
Monday November 19th, 2007
Today was our boat trip for snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We went with the Silver Swift company and they were very good. It was about $140 each, but we went out on a high speed boat and had time to hit three different dive sites. There were tons of fish! We first hit Milln Reef where we stopped at Whale and Fishtown. Whale is a spot that got that name because the reef comes up to the surface and causes a vortex, which looks like a whale spouting water. Fishtown got its name in an obvious fashion; it has lots of fish. Last we went to Flynn Reef for a stop at Tennis Courts. I am not quite sure how this got its name. Each spot we were given around an hour to dive, which is quite a long time. The last spot had very strong currents which made it extremely tiring, especially at the end of the day. We were quite tired by the end of it all. They served some muffins, coffee, and tea for breakfast during the one hour ride out. Although highly encouraged to take the free motion sickness medicine, nearly every one got sick off the back of the boat (and some didn’t make it to the back in time). Kacey was close, but just sat and relaxed to get through it. Coming back was the exact same thing; you really think people would have learned their lesson! It was a great day though. We didn’t get to see any sharks, which I really wanted to, but we did see some giant clams.
Pictures from Monday can be found here.
Tuesday November 20th, 2007
Today we rented a car and went north to the rainforest. We first stopped in Barron Gorge National Park at Lake Placid. We watched the ducks and ate a little food. We then drove up to the Hydro Station. There were some nice views of the Gorge along the way. After this we headed to Kuranda. This was a mountainside road that was very curvy with a steep elevation change. We stopped at a lookout about half way up for some views of the ocean and towns below. Once in Kuranda, it was obvious this was a little tourist stop. We stopped only for some information and moved on to the Barron Falls Lookout. Barron Falls feeds in to an enormous gorge. There was a nice hike through the rainforest to get down to the lookout. Next we drove over to Wrights Lookout.
From here we decided to drive inland (west) to Mareeba and drive south down highway 1 to Atherton, and then head back east to Gordonvale. We stopped in Atherton and looked for some information and Kacey ate some Greek food. Next we headed to the Curtain Fig Tree. This was a pretty large display of a Curtain Fig Tree. We also snapped many pictures of an Australian Brush Turkey, but only a couple came out any good. Our next stop was at Lake Eacham which is park of Crater Lakes National Park. Here we saw a few more Brush Turkeys and got a look at some turtles in the lake. We then stopped at Lake Barrine, just down the road, and got a view of several pelicans feeding. As it started to rain (as it was on and off all day), we ran to the car and headed over the Great Divide toward Gordonvale. Near Gordonvale, we snapped a few pictures of the natural Pyramid, a hill naturally shaped like a pyramid. There was not that much to see of it, so we headed north back to Cairns. We stopped at Adelfia for some good Greek food and called it a night (after buying a half liter of gelato for dessert).
Pictures from Tuesday can be found here.
Wednesday November 21st, 2007
We bummed around this morning. Ate lunch at La Pizza (nothing special here) and walked the boardwalk.
Pictures from Wednesday can be found here.
We arrived in CNS, got a taxi (about the same cost as the bus), checked in at the Rydges, and went to P.J. O’Brien's Irish Pub for dinner. It wasn't anything special, but at least it was a little lively.
Monday November 19th, 2007
Today was our boat trip for snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We went with the Silver Swift company and they were very good. It was about $140 each, but we went out on a high speed boat and had time to hit three different dive sites. There were tons of fish! We first hit Milln Reef where we stopped at Whale and Fishtown. Whale is a spot that got that name because the reef comes up to the surface and causes a vortex, which looks like a whale spouting water. Fishtown got its name in an obvious fashion; it has lots of fish. Last we went to Flynn Reef for a stop at Tennis Courts. I am not quite sure how this got its name. Each spot we were given around an hour to dive, which is quite a long time. The last spot had very strong currents which made it extremely tiring, especially at the end of the day. We were quite tired by the end of it all. They served some muffins, coffee, and tea for breakfast during the one hour ride out. Although highly encouraged to take the free motion sickness medicine, nearly every one got sick off the back of the boat (and some didn’t make it to the back in time). Kacey was close, but just sat and relaxed to get through it. Coming back was the exact same thing; you really think people would have learned their lesson! It was a great day though. We didn’t get to see any sharks, which I really wanted to, but we did see some giant clams.
Pictures from Monday can be found here.
Tuesday November 20th, 2007
Today we rented a car and went north to the rainforest. We first stopped in Barron Gorge National Park at Lake Placid. We watched the ducks and ate a little food. We then drove up to the Hydro Station. There were some nice views of the Gorge along the way. After this we headed to Kuranda. This was a mountainside road that was very curvy with a steep elevation change. We stopped at a lookout about half way up for some views of the ocean and towns below. Once in Kuranda, it was obvious this was a little tourist stop. We stopped only for some information and moved on to the Barron Falls Lookout. Barron Falls feeds in to an enormous gorge. There was a nice hike through the rainforest to get down to the lookout. Next we drove over to Wrights Lookout.
From here we decided to drive inland (west) to Mareeba and drive south down highway 1 to Atherton, and then head back east to Gordonvale. We stopped in Atherton and looked for some information and Kacey ate some Greek food. Next we headed to the Curtain Fig Tree. This was a pretty large display of a Curtain Fig Tree. We also snapped many pictures of an Australian Brush Turkey, but only a couple came out any good. Our next stop was at Lake Eacham which is park of Crater Lakes National Park. Here we saw a few more Brush Turkeys and got a look at some turtles in the lake. We then stopped at Lake Barrine, just down the road, and got a view of several pelicans feeding. As it started to rain (as it was on and off all day), we ran to the car and headed over the Great Divide toward Gordonvale. Near Gordonvale, we snapped a few pictures of the natural Pyramid, a hill naturally shaped like a pyramid. There was not that much to see of it, so we headed north back to Cairns. We stopped at Adelfia for some good Greek food and called it a night (after buying a half liter of gelato for dessert).
Pictures from Tuesday can be found here.
Wednesday November 21st, 2007
We bummed around this morning. Ate lunch at La Pizza (nothing special here) and walked the boardwalk.
Pictures from Wednesday can be found here.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia
Friday November 16th, 2007
We arrived in AYQ near Ayers Rock (aka Uluru) and headed for Yulara (aka the Ayers Rock Resort). It was kind of surreal seeing the large monolith sticking up out of the ground while flying in. We checked in at the Lost Camel Resort and went to the grocer to purchase food for lunch and some random snacks. The rooms are interesting here. No TVs, just a radio and fridge. The hotels are very well made so they keep the heat out fairly well. Drove to Uluru, stopped at Cultural Center and spent a little time reading there. Went for two hikes (driving counter-clockwise around Uluru); the Kuniya Walk and the Mala Walk. Came back to the hotel for a quick break. Drove back to Uluru for the sunset view. Ate dinner at the Pioneer BBQ and Bar, which is a cook your own food place with live entertainment (locals playing covers).
Pictures from Friday can be found here.
Saturday November 17th, 2007
Today we slept in, relaxed some, got a coffee (cheaper than Starbucks, in the middle of the desert), and went to grocer for juice and muffins. Finished grocer food for lunch. We drove to Kata Tjuta (aka the Olgas), talked to Ranger Sam about park rangers here in the desert (~43 rangers). We ate dinner at the Pioneer Kitchen. Not too bad; pizza and vege wrap. We tried to do a Night Sky Show at the Observatory, but it was too cloudy.
There is not much to Kata Tjuta National Park. There are only a couple trails at Uluru and a couple viewing points along the way. The climb is usually closed unless you are here in their winter. The Olgas only have a couple trails as well and only a couple viewing areas as well. The Valley of the Winds trail is also usually closed.
Pictures from Saturday can be found here.
Sunday November 18th, 2007
We got up at 5am for the sunrise at Uluru. There were not really any good viewing places as it is a roadside stop and not elevated above the trees. Drove by to see if the climb was open and it was already closed due to winds. We bummed around by the pool until check-out. We ate at the Gecko's Café nearby and were disappointed. They gave our pizza to someone else, but we were the ones that noticed the mistake. When we brought it up, they did not apologize or anything and said that they were now putting another pizza on. Not until after I started to pay did I mention that this was disappointing and as soon as I mentioned a review of the place, she said sorry and no payment was necessary. The damage had been done and I threw a $20 at her and said it is too late.
Yulara is a resort that was planned and built in the mid 80’s. They did a fairly good job of hiding the resort in the hills and with trees. Crowd controls are pretty good too. This may be due to expenses here and several bus options for people to come in from Alice Springs. The bad part of the buses is when two or three show up to do a hike. They are loud and make shots difficult. The town is a little expensive, but deals can be found – like eating food from the grocer for breakfast and lunch. Dinner can be done for $30-60. The food actually is not too bad considering you are in the middle of the desert; we didn’t really have anything bad. I think the Aussies know how to plan and get food (and other things) to these remote towns fairly well. I thought a lot about how the village works (I can’t help it). I believe they satellite in TV, internet, phones, and a few radio stations. They then re-broadcast the radio here with transmitters as there are a few stations (some just may be accessible from Alice Springs. I doubt that any fiber has been run here. They make their own electricity and water. Internet is expensive too. There are wireless options around, but they were not available from our room. The rate was $25 for 24 hours (cumulative over two days) which is not too bad for out here. I am guessing it would not be that quick, though, as the internet terminals are not that fast either (about half your time at them is spent waiting for the pages to load). And, since the terminals are some proprietary crap software, we could not log into our bank to move funds.
Pictures from Sunday can be found here.
We arrived in AYQ near Ayers Rock (aka Uluru) and headed for Yulara (aka the Ayers Rock Resort). It was kind of surreal seeing the large monolith sticking up out of the ground while flying in. We checked in at the Lost Camel Resort and went to the grocer to purchase food for lunch and some random snacks. The rooms are interesting here. No TVs, just a radio and fridge. The hotels are very well made so they keep the heat out fairly well. Drove to Uluru, stopped at Cultural Center and spent a little time reading there. Went for two hikes (driving counter-clockwise around Uluru); the Kuniya Walk and the Mala Walk. Came back to the hotel for a quick break. Drove back to Uluru for the sunset view. Ate dinner at the Pioneer BBQ and Bar, which is a cook your own food place with live entertainment (locals playing covers).
Pictures from Friday can be found here.
Saturday November 17th, 2007
Today we slept in, relaxed some, got a coffee (cheaper than Starbucks, in the middle of the desert), and went to grocer for juice and muffins. Finished grocer food for lunch. We drove to Kata Tjuta (aka the Olgas), talked to Ranger Sam about park rangers here in the desert (~43 rangers). We ate dinner at the Pioneer Kitchen. Not too bad; pizza and vege wrap. We tried to do a Night Sky Show at the Observatory, but it was too cloudy.
There is not much to Kata Tjuta National Park. There are only a couple trails at Uluru and a couple viewing points along the way. The climb is usually closed unless you are here in their winter. The Olgas only have a couple trails as well and only a couple viewing areas as well. The Valley of the Winds trail is also usually closed.
Pictures from Saturday can be found here.
Sunday November 18th, 2007
We got up at 5am for the sunrise at Uluru. There were not really any good viewing places as it is a roadside stop and not elevated above the trees. Drove by to see if the climb was open and it was already closed due to winds. We bummed around by the pool until check-out. We ate at the Gecko's Café nearby and were disappointed. They gave our pizza to someone else, but we were the ones that noticed the mistake. When we brought it up, they did not apologize or anything and said that they were now putting another pizza on. Not until after I started to pay did I mention that this was disappointing and as soon as I mentioned a review of the place, she said sorry and no payment was necessary. The damage had been done and I threw a $20 at her and said it is too late.
Yulara is a resort that was planned and built in the mid 80’s. They did a fairly good job of hiding the resort in the hills and with trees. Crowd controls are pretty good too. This may be due to expenses here and several bus options for people to come in from Alice Springs. The bad part of the buses is when two or three show up to do a hike. They are loud and make shots difficult. The town is a little expensive, but deals can be found – like eating food from the grocer for breakfast and lunch. Dinner can be done for $30-60. The food actually is not too bad considering you are in the middle of the desert; we didn’t really have anything bad. I think the Aussies know how to plan and get food (and other things) to these remote towns fairly well. I thought a lot about how the village works (I can’t help it). I believe they satellite in TV, internet, phones, and a few radio stations. They then re-broadcast the radio here with transmitters as there are a few stations (some just may be accessible from Alice Springs. I doubt that any fiber has been run here. They make their own electricity and water. Internet is expensive too. There are wireless options around, but they were not available from our room. The rate was $25 for 24 hours (cumulative over two days) which is not too bad for out here. I am guessing it would not be that quick, though, as the internet terminals are not that fast either (about half your time at them is spent waiting for the pages to load). And, since the terminals are some proprietary crap software, we could not log into our bank to move funds.
Pictures from Sunday can be found here.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Melbourne, Australia
Monday November 12, 2007
After about 24 hours flying and waiting in airports (ORD, LAX, and SYD), we arrived in MEL. Customs and baggage took almost an hour due to a random search or visa hiccup (not sure which). We got through, tried to exchange $$US for $$AUD, but they wanted to charge about 8%. So we instead pulled some cash off the ATM (about 1-1.5% for us). We picked up some brochures for the city, bought two bus tickets, and headed for Melbourne CBD (central business district). We snapped a few pictures on the way in on the bus; typical looking city on the ride in. A fair amount of tall buildings were on the horizon. We arrived at the bus station where we received a free transfer to our hotel. We were dropped off at the front door of the Adelphi and in we went. We checked in, got to our room, and proceeded to immediately shower. We felt and probably looked nasty. After a quick rinse, we sat around for a few minutes, checking out the Australian TV shows while we rested for a bit. Around 2:30, we proceeded to talk a walk down the Yarra River. There were many little restaurants and some upscale shopping. We walked to nearly the end of Southbank and stopped for a sandwich and a pastry. This was our first realization that prices are high for goods and food in Melbourne. Part of this is the fact that there is no tipping at any time. Also, all taxes are included in your price. Once you understand that, it becomes a little easier to shell out the money. We proceeded to start walking back to the hotel. Along the way we stopped at a grocery and picked up some water, two peaches, and a mango. We also stopped for 15 minutes at the internet café to email the family and a couple friends.
After another quick rest in the hotel room watching some Netball, we headed down to meet Justin in the lobby. Once he arrived, we headed down for a walk west along the Yarra through the Alexandra Gardens. It was good to catch up and hear about his stay here, as he was leaving the next day for home. We proceeded back toward the Southbank and discussed the Eureka Skydeck. It is the tallest residential structure in the southern hemisphere. We decided to pay and head up to the observation deck. It was a pretty good view; the afternoon sun was throwing some serious glare our way, but we made due. The observation deck has a glass shelf that you can pay to ride on; it proceeds to extend out 10 feet over nothingness with a glass bottom. I recorded a video of it coming out, we will see if it came out.
After coming down, we started looking for a place to eat. Most of the places on the river are unnecessarily marked up, so we headed toward the center of town. Justin let us know that (similar to Europe) the best places are in the alleys. There was one stretch of street where all the restaurants were competing for business pretty loudly. After listening to the spiels and trying to get a little extra, we picked Vons. Both Justin and I got the Kangaroo and it was very good! Kacey got the Gorgonzola Gnocchi, but it tasted more like Romano. Our waiter didn’t speak English very well (sounded French) and was obviously not an experienced waiter. We asked a few times for drinks, but no tipping, so no worries. As it was getting late, Justin headed back and we quickly fell asleep.
Pictures from Monday can be found here.
Tuesday November 13, 2007
Today we slept in until about 8 or 9. We decided to walk to the Queen Victoria Market to see what all it had; we read that you can find anything and everything. Well, they were almost correct-there were no cars for sale. On our way, we stopped by the alley way off of Flinders Lane one block west of Swanson Street. This alley way had numerous little coffee shops and we ended up eating breakfast here every morning. Once at the Market, we started walking through the clothes and souvenirs area first and it was mostly stuff we didn’t really need. We walked for about an hour before we got to the food. It was wonderful; just to put in perspective each row was about 150 yards long, and there were about 8 rows before we got to the food and then there were about 4 rows of food. There were lots of local Australian fruits and vegetables, so we picked up some snacks. I ate a $1 mango, and Kacey got some strawberries and cherries. We also got some nanshi (sp?), which look like white apples and taste like them too. Then we crossed the street to another row of food, and some indoor shops with cheeses, meats, olives, wines, and pastries. We ended up buying some bread, white cheese, salami, and olives along with the fruit. We also bought a fig stuffed with mascarpone. Ah, so good.
We came back to the hotel room to eat and after a little rest we walked to the Royal Botanical Gardens south of the city. The guides said it would be about 1 mile, but it was probably 3 or 4 to get there. Once there, we let the cameras start snapping. We walked most of the gardens over a 2.5 hour period. There were plants and trees from all over the world here. We almost trammed back, but were not sure how the short ride ticket worked, or how much it was. By the way, the tram system here can get you where you need to go, but it is a little expensive (unless you have a day pass and use it all day). Also, you have to kind of know how it works; it is not a simple ticket purchase and ride till your stop like subways are. There are different ticket options and different zones and you can buy certain tickets at certain places.
For dinner we headed to Grossi Florentino. They have 3 eating areas; an upstairs fancy place, and two downstairs places. We ate at the one that is a small café/pasta bar that was supposed to be one of the better places. Well, the menu was limited and although Kacey’s pumpkin tortellini was good, my lasagna was so-so. Not much flavor or cheese. We then looked for a place to eat dessert, but as it was just past 9pm, everywhere closed up quickly.
Pictures from Tuesday can be found here.
Wednesday November 14, 2007
Today we got up early to rent a car and head for the Great Ocean Road. The process was fairly painless as driving out of the city during the day is not too hard. We reached Geelong within an hour and kept on moving to Torquay. Just after Torquay is where the road started to get fun. This road reminded me just a little of the Road to Hana. A few straight a ways and a lot of hairpin turns thrown in there to make it load of fun to drive. On our way to the Split Point Lighthouse, we stopped at quick overlook. This was our first taste of the rest of the day. Once we reached the Split Point, we stopped to take a look, and ended up walking down to the beach. I was tempting the tide and walked out on some rocks just in time for a tidal wave to come in (about 6-9 inches out of nowhere). After attempting to dry my socks out, we hiked back to the car and I put my sandals on in hopes my shoes and socks would dry out.
We stopped in Lorne to pick up some information packets on Otway National Park. We read about a few water falls in the area, so we drove back to one, the Erskine Falls and hiked down for a view. While heading back down to the Ocean Road, we also stopped at Teddy’s Lookout for a nice view of the valley and ocean. Our next stop was Apollo Bay for a quick bite and a view of the ocean. We ate at the Apollo Bay hotel; the fish and chips were not spectacular, but we ate it up and moved on to Maits Rest. This was a nice loop walk through a Rain Forest. We were going to stop and hike to the Hopetoun Falls, but the road was closed.
As the forest turned to rolling pastures, we stopped at Castle Cove look out for a quick view of the ocean and some cliffs. Coming up next was the Melba Gully State Park. This was another nice Rain Forest hike that we had all to ourselves. This hike included what is believed to be the oldest tree in Australia (an Otway Messmate). Amongst this beast are the Mrytle Beech trees. These trees, which provide the canopy for the rain forests here, grow fast and tall. These trees are having difficulty with disease in the area, so much work is being done to protect them, and in effect protect the rain forests.
Next on our route was to be the 12 Apostles in the Port Cambell National Park. Unfortunately, we missed the turn as the carpark was on the inside of the Ocean Road (everything else was on the ocean side). So, next we turned in for a stop at Loch Ard Gorge (this is when we realized we had passed the 12 Apostles). After some gawking at the cliffs here, we headed back a few kilometers to the 12 Apostles. A short walk out to the cliffs, we were again amazed at the formations in the rock off the coast. The pictures probably won’t do justice to the size and height of these formations. Next on our trip we stopped at a scenic view of a natural arch made in the rock. (We forgot to take a picture of the name of the place (PB140093 – 97)). Just down the road from here was London Bridge (which some people now call London Arch). We had heard about this stop along the Ocean Road. This is another rock formation that used to form a double arch (hence the London Bridge name), but in 1990, the arch connecting the rock to land fell into the ocean. Two hikers were stranded on the formation and were rescued by helicopter. After a quick 2.5 hour drive on a long, fairly flat, lonely road, we were back in Melbourne. This is where the fun started. We were very hungry and just wanted to eat. Since we had a car, we headed to Carlton which is known for its Italian restaurants. Parking was sparse and navigating these streets at night was no picnic. We headed to one that was supposed to be open until 10, but it was not. We went to the first place that looked ok and open; the Key on the Wall Ristorante can be skipped if you are in the area. We headed back to Brunetti for coffee and dessert. After finding a place to stash the car overnight, we finally got to bed around midnight.
Pictures from Wednesday can be found here.
Thursday November 15, 2007
We bought a day pass for the MetLink system. We went to the Melbourne Zoo. Then we headed down to St. Kilda Beach. Ate some gelato and walked around a bit. We saw the Luna Park, but it was closed. Trammed to the store Books for Cooks. We got the idea for Tapas there and ate dinner at Movida. We bought the chef's new cookbook and had him sign it too!
Pictures from Thursday can be found here.
After about 24 hours flying and waiting in airports (ORD, LAX, and SYD), we arrived in MEL. Customs and baggage took almost an hour due to a random search or visa hiccup (not sure which). We got through, tried to exchange $$US for $$AUD, but they wanted to charge about 8%. So we instead pulled some cash off the ATM (about 1-1.5% for us). We picked up some brochures for the city, bought two bus tickets, and headed for Melbourne CBD (central business district). We snapped a few pictures on the way in on the bus; typical looking city on the ride in. A fair amount of tall buildings were on the horizon. We arrived at the bus station where we received a free transfer to our hotel. We were dropped off at the front door of the Adelphi and in we went. We checked in, got to our room, and proceeded to immediately shower. We felt and probably looked nasty. After a quick rinse, we sat around for a few minutes, checking out the Australian TV shows while we rested for a bit. Around 2:30, we proceeded to talk a walk down the Yarra River. There were many little restaurants and some upscale shopping. We walked to nearly the end of Southbank and stopped for a sandwich and a pastry. This was our first realization that prices are high for goods and food in Melbourne. Part of this is the fact that there is no tipping at any time. Also, all taxes are included in your price. Once you understand that, it becomes a little easier to shell out the money. We proceeded to start walking back to the hotel. Along the way we stopped at a grocery and picked up some water, two peaches, and a mango. We also stopped for 15 minutes at the internet café to email the family and a couple friends.
After another quick rest in the hotel room watching some Netball, we headed down to meet Justin in the lobby. Once he arrived, we headed down for a walk west along the Yarra through the Alexandra Gardens. It was good to catch up and hear about his stay here, as he was leaving the next day for home. We proceeded back toward the Southbank and discussed the Eureka Skydeck. It is the tallest residential structure in the southern hemisphere. We decided to pay and head up to the observation deck. It was a pretty good view; the afternoon sun was throwing some serious glare our way, but we made due. The observation deck has a glass shelf that you can pay to ride on; it proceeds to extend out 10 feet over nothingness with a glass bottom. I recorded a video of it coming out, we will see if it came out.
After coming down, we started looking for a place to eat. Most of the places on the river are unnecessarily marked up, so we headed toward the center of town. Justin let us know that (similar to Europe) the best places are in the alleys. There was one stretch of street where all the restaurants were competing for business pretty loudly. After listening to the spiels and trying to get a little extra, we picked Vons. Both Justin and I got the Kangaroo and it was very good! Kacey got the Gorgonzola Gnocchi, but it tasted more like Romano. Our waiter didn’t speak English very well (sounded French) and was obviously not an experienced waiter. We asked a few times for drinks, but no tipping, so no worries. As it was getting late, Justin headed back and we quickly fell asleep.
Pictures from Monday can be found here.
Tuesday November 13, 2007
Today we slept in until about 8 or 9. We decided to walk to the Queen Victoria Market to see what all it had; we read that you can find anything and everything. Well, they were almost correct-there were no cars for sale. On our way, we stopped by the alley way off of Flinders Lane one block west of Swanson Street. This alley way had numerous little coffee shops and we ended up eating breakfast here every morning. Once at the Market, we started walking through the clothes and souvenirs area first and it was mostly stuff we didn’t really need. We walked for about an hour before we got to the food. It was wonderful; just to put in perspective each row was about 150 yards long, and there were about 8 rows before we got to the food and then there were about 4 rows of food. There were lots of local Australian fruits and vegetables, so we picked up some snacks. I ate a $1 mango, and Kacey got some strawberries and cherries. We also got some nanshi (sp?), which look like white apples and taste like them too. Then we crossed the street to another row of food, and some indoor shops with cheeses, meats, olives, wines, and pastries. We ended up buying some bread, white cheese, salami, and olives along with the fruit. We also bought a fig stuffed with mascarpone. Ah, so good.
We came back to the hotel room to eat and after a little rest we walked to the Royal Botanical Gardens south of the city. The guides said it would be about 1 mile, but it was probably 3 or 4 to get there. Once there, we let the cameras start snapping. We walked most of the gardens over a 2.5 hour period. There were plants and trees from all over the world here. We almost trammed back, but were not sure how the short ride ticket worked, or how much it was. By the way, the tram system here can get you where you need to go, but it is a little expensive (unless you have a day pass and use it all day). Also, you have to kind of know how it works; it is not a simple ticket purchase and ride till your stop like subways are. There are different ticket options and different zones and you can buy certain tickets at certain places.
For dinner we headed to Grossi Florentino. They have 3 eating areas; an upstairs fancy place, and two downstairs places. We ate at the one that is a small café/pasta bar that was supposed to be one of the better places. Well, the menu was limited and although Kacey’s pumpkin tortellini was good, my lasagna was so-so. Not much flavor or cheese. We then looked for a place to eat dessert, but as it was just past 9pm, everywhere closed up quickly.
Pictures from Tuesday can be found here.
Wednesday November 14, 2007
Today we got up early to rent a car and head for the Great Ocean Road. The process was fairly painless as driving out of the city during the day is not too hard. We reached Geelong within an hour and kept on moving to Torquay. Just after Torquay is where the road started to get fun. This road reminded me just a little of the Road to Hana. A few straight a ways and a lot of hairpin turns thrown in there to make it load of fun to drive. On our way to the Split Point Lighthouse, we stopped at quick overlook. This was our first taste of the rest of the day. Once we reached the Split Point, we stopped to take a look, and ended up walking down to the beach. I was tempting the tide and walked out on some rocks just in time for a tidal wave to come in (about 6-9 inches out of nowhere). After attempting to dry my socks out, we hiked back to the car and I put my sandals on in hopes my shoes and socks would dry out.
We stopped in Lorne to pick up some information packets on Otway National Park. We read about a few water falls in the area, so we drove back to one, the Erskine Falls and hiked down for a view. While heading back down to the Ocean Road, we also stopped at Teddy’s Lookout for a nice view of the valley and ocean. Our next stop was Apollo Bay for a quick bite and a view of the ocean. We ate at the Apollo Bay hotel; the fish and chips were not spectacular, but we ate it up and moved on to Maits Rest. This was a nice loop walk through a Rain Forest. We were going to stop and hike to the Hopetoun Falls, but the road was closed.
As the forest turned to rolling pastures, we stopped at Castle Cove look out for a quick view of the ocean and some cliffs. Coming up next was the Melba Gully State Park. This was another nice Rain Forest hike that we had all to ourselves. This hike included what is believed to be the oldest tree in Australia (an Otway Messmate). Amongst this beast are the Mrytle Beech trees. These trees, which provide the canopy for the rain forests here, grow fast and tall. These trees are having difficulty with disease in the area, so much work is being done to protect them, and in effect protect the rain forests.
Next on our route was to be the 12 Apostles in the Port Cambell National Park. Unfortunately, we missed the turn as the carpark was on the inside of the Ocean Road (everything else was on the ocean side). So, next we turned in for a stop at Loch Ard Gorge (this is when we realized we had passed the 12 Apostles). After some gawking at the cliffs here, we headed back a few kilometers to the 12 Apostles. A short walk out to the cliffs, we were again amazed at the formations in the rock off the coast. The pictures probably won’t do justice to the size and height of these formations. Next on our trip we stopped at a scenic view of a natural arch made in the rock. (We forgot to take a picture of the name of the place (PB140093 – 97)). Just down the road from here was London Bridge (which some people now call London Arch). We had heard about this stop along the Ocean Road. This is another rock formation that used to form a double arch (hence the London Bridge name), but in 1990, the arch connecting the rock to land fell into the ocean. Two hikers were stranded on the formation and were rescued by helicopter. After a quick 2.5 hour drive on a long, fairly flat, lonely road, we were back in Melbourne. This is where the fun started. We were very hungry and just wanted to eat. Since we had a car, we headed to Carlton which is known for its Italian restaurants. Parking was sparse and navigating these streets at night was no picnic. We headed to one that was supposed to be open until 10, but it was not. We went to the first place that looked ok and open; the Key on the Wall Ristorante can be skipped if you are in the area. We headed back to Brunetti for coffee and dessert. After finding a place to stash the car overnight, we finally got to bed around midnight.
Pictures from Wednesday can be found here.
Thursday November 15, 2007
We bought a day pass for the MetLink system. We went to the Melbourne Zoo. Then we headed down to St. Kilda Beach. Ate some gelato and walked around a bit. We saw the Luna Park, but it was closed. Trammed to the store Books for Cooks. We got the idea for Tapas there and ate dinner at Movida. We bought the chef's new cookbook and had him sign it too!
Pictures from Thursday can be found here.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Australia & New Zealand Pictures are Up!
http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/
You will find a link for Australia & New Zealand on our site. Feel free to browse through our pictures, or try the Favorites link if you have a slow internet connection or less time. Sorry for the delay in posting, but I had web hosting problems. So, please let me know if you find any problems. Also, I am not sure when the guest book will be working, but I am trying. Feel free to leave picture comments on this post.
I hope to pull out the journal we kept on the trip and write a post about each city we stayed in; not just for you the reader, but for us to reminisce our wonderful trip. Maybe I will have time this weekend for that.
Enjoy!
You will find a link for Australia & New Zealand on our site. Feel free to browse through our pictures, or try the Favorites link if you have a slow internet connection or less time. Sorry for the delay in posting, but I had web hosting problems. So, please let me know if you find any problems. Also, I am not sure when the guest book will be working, but I am trying. Feel free to leave picture comments on this post.
I hope to pull out the journal we kept on the trip and write a post about each city we stayed in; not just for you the reader, but for us to reminisce our wonderful trip. Maybe I will have time this weekend for that.
Enjoy!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Format War - It's Nearing the End
Lots of news today, and people are predicting the end! Good for the consumers? Well, most of them.
Engadget Death Watch
Wal-Mart bows out
Toshiba "reconsidering the market"
It is good for the consumers that were waiting to make a decision. It is bad for people like me, but not in the way you would think. See, I have been supporting Blu-ray for a while now and since I picked a camp, I have been purchasing very cheap Blu-ray discs on Amazon ($15-20 each). Once Blu-ray is declared the winner, Sony camp will have no more reason to move Blu-ray discs at severly discounted rates. Oh well...
Just curious, any readers out there declare this enough evidence to hop on board? If not, go read some of the news articles about player makers that are siding with Blu-ray as well.
UPDATE 16-Feb-2008:
This just in!
Engadget Death Watch
Wal-Mart bows out
Toshiba "reconsidering the market"
It is good for the consumers that were waiting to make a decision. It is bad for people like me, but not in the way you would think. See, I have been supporting Blu-ray for a while now and since I picked a camp, I have been purchasing very cheap Blu-ray discs on Amazon ($15-20 each). Once Blu-ray is declared the winner, Sony camp will have no more reason to move Blu-ray discs at severly discounted rates. Oh well...
Just curious, any readers out there declare this enough evidence to hop on board? If not, go read some of the news articles about player makers that are siding with Blu-ray as well.
UPDATE 16-Feb-2008:
This just in!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Rose-Hulman on the Superbowl!
If you were watching part of the 6 hour Superbowl 2008 pre-game, you may have seen the part where different people from the NFL read a part of the Declaration of Independence. If you viewed Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning of the Colts and wondered where they were filmed, it was in fact at the White Chapel at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (my alta mater).
I have some friends that were married there (it was built after I graduated). Alan and Ericka Study, along with Dan and Shawnna Householder were married at the White Chapel.
I have some friends that were married there (it was built after I graduated). Alan and Ericka Study, along with Dan and Shawnna Householder were married at the White Chapel.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Ideas, Starting Now
Ok, so it has been a little busy lately. I can't tell you why yet, but trust me.
http://gizmodo.com/349163/google-contest-winner-delivers-clean-water-via-bicycles
I ran across this article the other day and thought I would share it. Being an engineer, I absolutely love thinking up ideas, especially when they can help people. No, I have never had an idea with nearly the impact that this could have, but I do have ideas all the time that I don't even write down. I should have made that a resolution for this year... at least capture those ideas.
Hey, I can use Google Documents for that!
http://gizmodo.com/349163/google-contest-winner-delivers-clean-water-via-bicycles
I ran across this article the other day and thought I would share it. Being an engineer, I absolutely love thinking up ideas, especially when they can help people. No, I have never had an idea with nearly the impact that this could have, but I do have ideas all the time that I don't even write down. I should have made that a resolution for this year... at least capture those ideas.
Hey, I can use Google Documents for that!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Do You Talk To Your Cats? Now You Can!
Some people say that cats can not be trained because we can not communicate with them. I disagree. For example, our cats play fetch, as well as scratch their scratching post before eating. We trained them through repetition (except for the fetch part, we have no idea where they got that). So, for you all out there who have cats and would like to communicate better with them, take a look at the link and read through their suggestions. I found a few of the facial expression notes interesting and am already working to better talk to my cats.
http://www.wikihow.com/Communicate-With-Your-Cat
http://www.wikihow.com/Communicate-With-Your-Cat
Friday, January 11, 2008
Alzheimer's Reversal
Sorry, I am a little late in getting this post up. Very amazing stuff!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109091102.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109091102.htm
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Web Hosting
I am curious of everyone out there - who hosts your website and are you pleased?
I have been a user of ipowerweb for a couple years now. I have been having problems recently, but didn't think anything of it for a few days. Now, as I started googling ipowerweb, I see the news. They have been having major problems for months and there are talks of lawsuits and massive movements to other web hosting solutions.
So, I am just getting ready to move...
I know some of you out there appear to have a small hosting of a blog, and then use flickr for photos. Photos is my major use of my website, so I am now considering this route too.
I have been a user of ipowerweb for a couple years now. I have been having problems recently, but didn't think anything of it for a few days. Now, as I started googling ipowerweb, I see the news. They have been having major problems for months and there are talks of lawsuits and massive movements to other web hosting solutions.
So, I am just getting ready to move...
I know some of you out there appear to have a small hosting of a blog, and then use flickr for photos. Photos is my major use of my website, so I am now considering this route too.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Friday, January 04, 2008
Warner Bros. Makes A Decision, For Now
(January 4, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros.
Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the
Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry
Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner
Bros. Home Entertainment Group.
from deadlinehollywooddaily via engadgethd
One By One - Alter Bridge
I mentioned last year I had this new album, Blackbird, by Alter Bridge. It really is fantastic. Read the lyrics to this song and you may see why this is one of my two favorite songs on the album. Also, listen to part of the song here. Unfortunately, you can not get the full effect of the intense cord progressions of the chorus in this sample, so head over to the Alter Bridge website and you can listen to their songs there (bottom left on their page).
Underneath the desert sun
They bid my brother’s blood to run
Many miles away
Hell has come today
Fire raining from the sky
See the face of fear asking one last time
Let me get home safe
Before it’s too late
One by one
The brave will fall
Life is lost again
They gave it all
Deep within the castle walls
So many grievers’ funeral songs
Echo in their sleep
Ode to memories
The sacrifice of flesh and blood
For a promise land that may not be won
Let us not forget
The hero laid to rest
One by one
The brave will fall
Life is lost again
They gave it all
And they gave it all
A price we can’t ignore
Is there hope in what they're dying for?
For every hero gone
For every family torn
We will honor you forevermore
One by one
The brave will fall
Life is lost again
They gave it all
One by one
The brave will fall
Life is lost again
They gave it all
They gave it all
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Comcast - Day 1
Day 1 status after being switched from Insight to Comcast.
HDTV Not Working (Jan 1, football day)
Thanks Comcast. Get ready Dish/DirectTV. I am switching soon.
HDTV Not Working (Jan 1, football day)
Thanks Comcast. Get ready Dish/DirectTV. I am switching soon.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Google Street View has come to Indianapolis
Google Maps has added Indianapolis to Street View. But, they have not stopped at just downtown, no, they have added the greater area, including many cities and towns within 50 miles!
Greenwood, IN
So, this includes Martinsville, Terre Haute, Greenwood, Brownsburg, Shelbyville, Bloomington, Lafayette, Kokomo, Muncie, Anderson, Columbus, Crawfordsville, the list goes on (sorry Ft. Wayne, you were just barely missed).
Now, if NAVTEQ would only add my subdivision! (My battle continues with them, as they supply map data for nearly ALL online map services for Indianapolis and Greenwood)
Greenwood, IN
So, this includes Martinsville, Terre Haute, Greenwood, Brownsburg, Shelbyville, Bloomington, Lafayette, Kokomo, Muncie, Anderson, Columbus, Crawfordsville, the list goes on (sorry Ft. Wayne, you were just barely missed).
Now, if NAVTEQ would only add my subdivision! (My battle continues with them, as they supply map data for nearly ALL online map services for Indianapolis and Greenwood)
Recycling and Cleaning
We are doing some cleaning around the house and we are attempting to recycle nearly everything we throw away during this cleaning. (BTW, we currently recycle glass, plastic, and newspaper/phone books, and we compost).
I know there are several good options out there for recycling old cell phones, but I thought this was especially easy. You print out this postage-paid label for a box, and throw your cell phones in the box. Its that easy! We are sending about 5 cell phones out on Monday.
http://www.recellular.com/kab/shippingLabel.asp?RequestID=199&barcode=KAB054
I know there are several good options out there for recycling old cell phones, but I thought this was especially easy. You print out this postage-paid label for a box, and throw your cell phones in the box. Its that easy! We are sending about 5 cell phones out on Monday.
http://www.recellular.com/kab/shippingLabel.asp?RequestID=199&barcode=KAB054
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all! And my God bless you and yours during this season of remembrance.
So I am up on Christmas morning reading news, actually. This article about the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD war sparked a thought as I disagree with their opinion.
Lucky for my side, Blu-ray has Disney, which is what I hope will help end this so called war.
So I am up on Christmas morning reading news, actually. This article about the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD war sparked a thought as I disagree with their opinion.
Some powerful voices are telling buyers to remain on the sidelines.If people take a passive approach and wait for one side to win, no one will win. We, the consumers, will continue to be the losers until some sort of agreement is made, or dual media players become more prevalent. I say pick a side, and go with it! Pick the side that you prefer (depending on if you are an XBox 360, PS3 fan, Disney fan, etc).
Consumer Reports instructed readers not to purchase either HD DVD or Blu-ray players. Film critic Roger Ebert recently wrote that he's not buying until the format war is settled.
For consumers, picking one high-def player means some favorites flicks won't be available in their chosen format.While this is true, the flicks will continue to be available in regular, good old DVD. So, you will be able to purchase and watch in home any movie you desire. For example, I wanted to purchase the Bourne Trilogy, but as it is not available in Blu-ray (my choice), I will purchase the DVDs. And, as I have picked Blu-ray, I have access to great titles such as The Simpsons Movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, and all Disney filmes. I say we the consumers work to end the war and pick the side we think is better (Blu-ray!) and help ensure they win the "war".
Lucky for my side, Blu-ray has Disney, which is what I hope will help end this so called war.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
New (To Me) Web Site!
Ever try to park at the airport parking during a very busy holiday or other time of the year?
Now, we need not worry anymore. I just made my first reservations, for about the same price as the long term lots, and they may even wash my car!
http://airportparkingreservations.com/
The website was very easy to use. I will let you know how the experience ended up.
Now, we need not worry anymore. I just made my first reservations, for about the same price as the long term lots, and they may even wash my car!
http://airportparkingreservations.com/
The website was very easy to use. I will let you know how the experience ended up.
Monday, December 17, 2007
PS3 to get DivX Support Tomorrow
According to a thread on neogaf.com and Engadget, Playstation UK leaked the updates to v2.10 scheduled to come out tomorrow.
Among them, DivX support! This is one of the last things that XBox360 had that PS3 did not have (that I want). So now when I am streaming my mp3s to the PS3, I can watch those TV shows I have as well!
Among them, DivX support! This is one of the last things that XBox360 had that PS3 did not have (that I want). So now when I am streaming my mp3s to the PS3, I can watch those TV shows I have as well!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
It's full throttle at 15
This is Kacey's cousin!
------------------------------------------------------
It's full throttle at 15
Sophomore at Carroll has her sights set high
By Ben SmithThe Journal GazetteAdvertisement
She has been to Charlotte. She has been to the Brickyard. She has met Kyle Busch and David Stremme, followed with a more clinical eye than most Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin.
You could say Andrea Hans is into NASCAR.
Where it gets interesting, though, is when she tells you she also wants to get into NASCAR.
As a driver. As a competitor. As an equal, maybe, someday, to the Busches and Stremmes and Hamlins and Stewarts.
This is not as preposterous as it sounds, even after you’ve learned that Hans is a 15-year-old sophomore at Carroll who loved NASCAR but never thought about it beyond the spectator context until three years ago, when her dad, Karl, bought her a go-kart.
“I loved it,” she says.
And that led to novice racing in the go-kart. And that led to quarter midgets. And that led to a deal with Team Full Throttle, a program specifically designed to develop young, prospective NASCAR drivers on and off track.
Hans’ dad bought her the Legends car, sort of a mini late-model stocker, from fellow Team Full Throttle racer Thomas Hartensveld. It’s one more step in a journey that has been nothing if not meteoric.
“The difference between quarter midgets and Legends cars is (the Legends car) has a lot of throttle control,” says Hans, who raced from Kansas to Ohio in quarter midgets and won her share. “In the midgets, we’re just used to flooring it the whole time around the track. The Legends cars, we have to roll off the throttle and roll on. And we use the brake. The quarter midgets, we don’t use the brake that much.”
It’s an adjustment, Hans admits, but she’s had a few practice runs at Baer Field and in Charlotte, N.C. She needs all the practice runs she can get, because come January she goes to Lowe’s Motor Speedway to run a road course, her first official Legends event.
Life’s a blur, in other words. In more ways than one.
Her career, for instance, accelerated to warp speed the day Tom Baker called. Team Full Throttle’s founder, Baker brought not only expertise and guidance to the table but connections. He got started 15 years ago in New York state, just sort of informally mentoring young drivers, showing them how to deal with the media and woo sponsors and move up in short-track racing.
A perceptive man, he took one look at the rise of Jeff Gordon – polished, media-savvy, a sponsor magnet – and realized the game had changed. And there were all these kids coming after Gordon who needed to understand just how the game had changed.
Team Full Throttle was the result.
“We’re an independent company, and what we do is cultivate drivers for NASCAR opportunities,” Baker says. “We’re very fortunate in the fact that our company gets probably 20 inquiries a week from drivers who want to be involved. And whenever we’re at a racetrack, we’re obviously keeping an eye out. You never know who the next star is gonna be.”
The program, he explains, does two things at once: train and develop drivers and also manage and represent them. They counsel young drivers on when to move up a class, where to move and how long to stay there.
Hans struck them as someone who was ready to move on from the quarter midgets. She’s the first female driver Team Full Throttle has ever signed.
“She’s an outstanding young lady,” Baker says. “Her parents are top-notch people who add class to anything they do. She’s got a lot of energy, and she’s a very good racer, and she just needs to be developed at her pace.”
bensmith@jg.net
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/SPORTS09/712160437
------------------------------------------------------
It's full throttle at 15
Sophomore at Carroll has her sights set high
By Ben SmithThe Journal GazetteAdvertisement
She has been to Charlotte. She has been to the Brickyard. She has met Kyle Busch and David Stremme, followed with a more clinical eye than most Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin.
You could say Andrea Hans is into NASCAR.
Where it gets interesting, though, is when she tells you she also wants to get into NASCAR.
As a driver. As a competitor. As an equal, maybe, someday, to the Busches and Stremmes and Hamlins and Stewarts.
This is not as preposterous as it sounds, even after you’ve learned that Hans is a 15-year-old sophomore at Carroll who loved NASCAR but never thought about it beyond the spectator context until three years ago, when her dad, Karl, bought her a go-kart.
“I loved it,” she says.
And that led to novice racing in the go-kart. And that led to quarter midgets. And that led to a deal with Team Full Throttle, a program specifically designed to develop young, prospective NASCAR drivers on and off track.
Hans’ dad bought her the Legends car, sort of a mini late-model stocker, from fellow Team Full Throttle racer Thomas Hartensveld. It’s one more step in a journey that has been nothing if not meteoric.
“The difference between quarter midgets and Legends cars is (the Legends car) has a lot of throttle control,” says Hans, who raced from Kansas to Ohio in quarter midgets and won her share. “In the midgets, we’re just used to flooring it the whole time around the track. The Legends cars, we have to roll off the throttle and roll on. And we use the brake. The quarter midgets, we don’t use the brake that much.”
It’s an adjustment, Hans admits, but she’s had a few practice runs at Baer Field and in Charlotte, N.C. She needs all the practice runs she can get, because come January she goes to Lowe’s Motor Speedway to run a road course, her first official Legends event.
Life’s a blur, in other words. In more ways than one.
Her career, for instance, accelerated to warp speed the day Tom Baker called. Team Full Throttle’s founder, Baker brought not only expertise and guidance to the table but connections. He got started 15 years ago in New York state, just sort of informally mentoring young drivers, showing them how to deal with the media and woo sponsors and move up in short-track racing.
A perceptive man, he took one look at the rise of Jeff Gordon – polished, media-savvy, a sponsor magnet – and realized the game had changed. And there were all these kids coming after Gordon who needed to understand just how the game had changed.
Team Full Throttle was the result.
“We’re an independent company, and what we do is cultivate drivers for NASCAR opportunities,” Baker says. “We’re very fortunate in the fact that our company gets probably 20 inquiries a week from drivers who want to be involved. And whenever we’re at a racetrack, we’re obviously keeping an eye out. You never know who the next star is gonna be.”
The program, he explains, does two things at once: train and develop drivers and also manage and represent them. They counsel young drivers on when to move up a class, where to move and how long to stay there.
Hans struck them as someone who was ready to move on from the quarter midgets. She’s the first female driver Team Full Throttle has ever signed.
“She’s an outstanding young lady,” Baker says. “Her parents are top-notch people who add class to anything they do. She’s got a lot of energy, and she’s a very good racer, and she just needs to be developed at her pace.”
bensmith@jg.net
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/SPORTS09/712160437
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Home, Cold Home
So the reason I have not posted in a while is we were in Australia and New Zealand for three (3) weeks! It was a blast, and exhausting, and memorable. I believe we took around 4700 pictures, so I have a lot of sorting to do. I will post links here when they are all up. Our itinerary...
4 nights in Melbourne
2 nights in Ayers Rock
3 nights in Cairns
3 nights in Sydney
1 week driving from south to north island New Zealand
I wrote a journal through the trip, and I intend on writing a little about each city or area on here as time allows.
4 nights in Melbourne
2 nights in Ayers Rock
3 nights in Cairns
3 nights in Sydney
1 week driving from south to north island New Zealand
I wrote a journal through the trip, and I intend on writing a little about each city or area on here as time allows.
Friday, October 26, 2007
New Music
I am back home and done with Puerto Rico for the year. I figured I would get back on the blogosphere by talking about a new CD that is out. Alter Bridge just released their second album, Blackbird. Let me say in brief, it is great. The guys have really moved beyond their initial release One Day Remains and pushed themselves musically. This album has a wonderful mix of different musical sounds and has very quickly become one of my favorite at this time. If you liked their first album, you will love Blackbird.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Thanks Again, Google
How many times have you used an online Map service and wanted to slightly tweak the route (e.g. use a different highway or interstate, or take the south route versus the north route)? Its not easy! You had to give the service an intermediate waypoint to fake it out, then map from the new waypoint to the final destination. Kind of a pain in the butt.
I was playing on Google Maps this morning (yeah, I do it sometimes) and accidentally found a new feature. When your cursor is moved over a driving directions route, the cursor changes to a box. You can then drag the route to a new route! It essentially creates a destination on that new route that the map service thinks you want to drive through. If you right click and remove the destination, the route is moved back to the "google preferred" route.
Here is a quick example for driving to Toledo from Indy. We normally drive through Ft. Wayne, but by dragging the route to somewhere near Richmond (or anywhere along I-70), a destination is dropped in and the route changes.
I thought it was cool. Give it a try!
I was playing on Google Maps this morning (yeah, I do it sometimes) and accidentally found a new feature. When your cursor is moved over a driving directions route, the cursor changes to a box. You can then drag the route to a new route! It essentially creates a destination on that new route that the map service thinks you want to drive through. If you right click and remove the destination, the route is moved back to the "google preferred" route.
Here is a quick example for driving to Toledo from Indy. We normally drive through Ft. Wayne, but by dragging the route to somewhere near Richmond (or anywhere along I-70), a destination is dropped in and the route changes.
I thought it was cool. Give it a try!
Monday, September 17, 2007
It's the End of the World. . . No, Just Another Lawsuit
When I first saw the headline "God sued for terror acts", I figured that was it... the end of the world. But as I read the article, it is just a man using the absurdity of the case to make a point regarding frivolous lawsuits. I am not entirely sure if I like the idea of using God to prove a point about our law system, but I am sure it will get some attention. I doubt, though, that it will do any good.
What are your thoughts?
What are your thoughts?
Friday, September 14, 2007
Goodness
I am finally back home. Just in case anyone still visits this blog, I am not dead. I have been gone for work most of the past 3 months. I am now home, for about two weeks. Most of my time is spent in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I have been working on my Spanish speaking skills, but as I have not been taught, I am picking up conversations and listening to Pimsleur Spanish learning series.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
I'm Back, and its Time to Rock (afire)!
I have been gone for work for about three weeks. While I am enjoying a little time off and trying to catch up on news, I found this on Engadget. Before even watching, I knew I would love this.
So this guy, Chris Thrash, got his hands on this set of the Rock-afire Explosion from an old Showbiz Pizza. He has posted a few videos on YouTube, but I have created a link to a couple of my favorites.
See his YouTube link for all the videos.
So this guy, Chris Thrash, got his hands on this set of the Rock-afire Explosion from an old Showbiz Pizza. He has posted a few videos on YouTube, but I have created a link to a couple of my favorites.
See his YouTube link for all the videos.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Another sick trip to Puerto Rico
I spent the past two weeks in Puerto Rico for work. As happened last year, I got an upper respiratory infection, again. I have a few ideas for why it always happens. The air is extremely dry due to air conditioners constantly running (work and hotels). Normally humidifying the room helps, which I forgot to do. This time, I started the trip slightly sick. And, feeling ok half way through, I stopped taking meds. Had I done those two things correctly, I may be feeling much better. Hard to say, as I was working 14 hour days.
Lesson learned, I suppose.
Lesson learned, I suppose.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Calamari anyone??
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are familiar with the iPhone commercials. This commercial has created such a stir in the area for calamari, that this restaurant added calamari to the menu!
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/seasick/iphone-popularity-forces-calamari-on-menu-275940.php
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/seasick/iphone-popularity-forces-calamari-on-menu-275940.php
Thursday, June 21, 2007
PS3, Finally In the Game
Today I ordered my PS3 from Costco. Costco still has the fantastic repair/return plan built into their gaming systems, so this is the best way to go (only recently was the 90 day part added due to abuse). We have already changed our BlockBuster selections over to Blu-ray in anticipation. Also, I have my copy of Planet Earth in Blu-ray on its way.
Guitar Hero 3, here I come!
Guitar Hero 3, here I come!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Update - Safari
I hope to read about other people's experiences regarding Safari on their PCs. Here were my 3 strikes that led to setting Firefox back to my default browser
1. Safari did not import my Bookmarks from IE or Firefox - Firefox imported my Bookmarks from IE when installing and Safari didn't. You would think that is a brand new deployment of a browser to the PC world, that is something that the average Joe would want to take place automatically.
2. Gmail.com crashed Safari and continues to do so - Not much more information than that, I still can't get on gmail.com using Safari.
3. Hotmail.com crashed Safari - although I am not a huge fan of Hotmail, I still use it for certain things.
So, for now, its Firefox for me (although I am still looking forward to a couple of Safari's other features)!
1. Safari did not import my Bookmarks from IE or Firefox - Firefox imported my Bookmarks from IE when installing and Safari didn't. You would think that is a brand new deployment of a browser to the PC world, that is something that the average Joe would want to take place automatically.
2. Gmail.com crashed Safari and continues to do so - Not much more information than that, I still can't get on gmail.com using Safari.
3. Hotmail.com crashed Safari - although I am not a huge fan of Hotmail, I still use it for certain things.
So, for now, its Firefox for me (although I am still looking forward to a couple of Safari's other features)!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Apple Announcement That I Care About
Safari was announced today for Windows. I am going to give it a try on my desktop, because I am thirsty (read the story). To my mac fanboys out there, tell me your thoughts on Safari vs. Firefox
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Two New Things
Browsing some news today, I found two cool technologies worth sharing.
A sound way to turn heat into electricity
MIT's wireless electricity demoed, dubbed WiTricity
A sound way to turn heat into electricity
University of Utah physicists developed small devices that turn heat into sound and then into electricity. The technology holds promise for changing waste heat into electricity, harnessing solar energy and cooling computers and radars.
MIT's wireless electricity demoed, dubbed WiTricity
A team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers reported in Science Express, the online publication of the journal Science, that they had demonstrated wireless transmission of electric power by magnetically coupled resonators. They dubbed their technology "WiTricity" for wireless electricity. -via Engadget
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Cingular or AT&T? Who cares, neither works!
I have been a Cingular customer for a few years now, and have been generally happy. You know, inexpensive phones, nice coverage, and good plans. As of Friday afternoon sometime, if you too are a Cingular customer, you can not call me.
Sound weird?
Well it is to me, and to Tier 3 Tech Support at Cingular. After 45 minutes and multiple tech support levels, they don't know what is wrong. A trouble ticket is getting logged, and that is it for now. Great, glad that my wife, all my family and some friends are all Cingular.
We learned because my neighbor tried to call me Friday afternoon, and was told that his call could not be completed as dialed. So, he called my wife, who is also a Cingular customer, and got through just fine. So after talking to him, I tried to call my phone from my wife's cell phone, and no go. But, I can call all of them just fine!
I am guessing they magically fix it tonight and the problem just goes away. If not, I am guessing they give me a new phone (which I wanted anyway).
Sound weird?
Well it is to me, and to Tier 3 Tech Support at Cingular. After 45 minutes and multiple tech support levels, they don't know what is wrong. A trouble ticket is getting logged, and that is it for now. Great, glad that my wife, all my family and some friends are all Cingular.
We learned because my neighbor tried to call me Friday afternoon, and was told that his call could not be completed as dialed. So, he called my wife, who is also a Cingular customer, and got through just fine. So after talking to him, I tried to call my phone from my wife's cell phone, and no go. But, I can call all of them just fine!
I am guessing they magically fix it tonight and the problem just goes away. If not, I am guessing they give me a new phone (which I wanted anyway).
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Is this even possible?
When we received our sewer bill last week, we were a little surprised.
sewer bill Hosted on Zooomr
I quickly checked the water bill to make sure it was not also outrageously high; it was not.
When I called them, they explained that the meter reader fat-fingered the reading and immediately fixed it. But, they had not the capability to keep that first entry from reaching our bill. As you can see from the bill, we only paid $13.39.
Sorry for the excessive blurring, I don't trust many things these days.
sewer bill Hosted on ZooomrI quickly checked the water bill to make sure it was not also outrageously high; it was not.
When I called them, they explained that the meter reader fat-fingered the reading and immediately fixed it. But, they had not the capability to keep that first entry from reaching our bill. As you can see from the bill, we only paid $13.39.
Sorry for the excessive blurring, I don't trust many things these days.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Our Belize Trip: Day 1
Our trip to Placencia, Belize was an interesting and much needed one. It was nice to get away to a place that is pretty slow and low key, as well as not too touristy (yet). It took us most of a day to get there due to the connections we chose (but wasn't too expensive). So, I consider Day 1 of 4 our first full day there.
Day 1 was filled with a lot of nothing. We stayed at a place called Westwind Hotel. (See it located on the map. The black line is the sidewalk, and the gray path is the road). We sat around the room. We sat in hammocks. We sat by the beach (which, although hot, was very breezy). We walked to a couple stores. I listened to music most of the day on the beach while Kacey knitted. One time as we had walked out to explore, we walked by a place called Omar's Diner. Omar's is a two story *house* where the first floor is his restaurant and the second floor is where his family lives.
(Notice, this sidewalk is considered the second biggest thoroughfare of the town, and is about 100 yards off of the beach). As we walked by his place, he was advertising his fresh Red Snapper they had caught that day. It smelled good as we passed by, so we figured we would head back there for dinner.
We sat down for dinner later that night at Omar's Diner. There was one other couple there at the time who were ready to receive their food. Kacey ordered the Snapper, but I always love to try new seafood, so I got the Barracuda steak. We sat and sipped our juice as we waited a few minutes for our food. The couple next to us had ordered the same thing as us and were enjoying their food; we were looking forward to eating our meal!
It was getting a little dark out when I noticed the smell of smoke. This wasn't the smell of his kitchen, this was something burning. But, in a small village like this, I wasn't surprise if someone was burning something in their yard. But I got to thinking a little bit - a small fire, in a hot environment, with a very nice breeze always flowing, no fire department, and no access even if there were a fire department. I guess the wind shifted for a minute as the smell dissipated, but a couple minutes later, I heard the voice of an older woman yelling for Omar in Spanish. I asked Kacey if she understood, and she thought it was "Omar, Omar, come quick". Seemed strange to ask a known chef to leave his kitchen while preparing food, but he quickly ran out. Then, we heard yelling.
The smell of smoke had returned, so I stepped outside to see what was going on. Then, I heard someone yelling "Fire". The house next to Omar's Diner was on fire.
Let me describe the homes here just a little bit. All of the homes are small, but close together. Most newer homes are made out of concrete and a pine wood, shingled roof is placed on top. Palm trees and other bushes also surround the homes.
I could not really see much of a fire at the house next door due to the large amount of smoke pouring out as the trees and bushes were burning. I ran back to the other side of Omar's where Kacey and a few other tourists stood and let them know that yes, there was a good fire going. And, that with the winds, Omar's was next to catch fire. The next ten minutes were filled with lots of yelling, people running with buckets towards the fire (no fire department, trucks, or hydrants), people running in and out of Omar's house to remove their belongings (as most fires here tend to spread quickly, they know the drill), people removing palm branches and other brush from near Omar's house and the gift shop across the sidewalk, people trying to wet down the gift shop to prevent it from going up in flames, and us, standing there watching helplessly.
We don't know anyone, no one knows us, we have no buckets, we felt bad as we struggled with what to do. Then, we noticed a small girl crying a few feet away from us, so we look to her. She catches our eyes and says to use "I live there, that is my house and it is going to burn down". As we give her a little hug, we try to talk to her briefly, asking her about her family. She tells us that she has a couple brothers and sisters, but no one is in the house. Then, a local villager runs to her, crying, and starts hugging her. An old man starts telling us that he tried to convince the town last year that he wanted money to put in a fire department, but politics got in the way. Then, as he is telling us that Omar has two large butane tanks for his kitchen (a sign that Kacey and I need to get out of there), some men run by, toward the ocean, with a generator and pump, and a large roll of 3" hose. We decide it is time for us to get out of the way, away from the commotion and butane tanks, and walk back toward our hotel (up-wind, about 150 yards north of Omar's).
As we get to the beach, we see the men fiddling around with the generator. They do not have it started, and a 4-wheeler arrives to shed some light on the scene, as it is pretty dark out by now. In my efforts to enjoy the trip, I was not constantly carrying my camera with me, but at this time, I decide to run back, get it, and snap a few pictures of the scene at the ocean. When I return, I snap these.
Sorry for the blur, it was very dark, I was walking, and not wanting to use the flash due to the sensitivity of the situation. I then looked inland toward the house, and snapped these.
Here is the short video I shot of the fire. You will be able to see people throwing buckets of water on the house. I also heard rumors that a few men got onto the roof and were having buckets handed to them to dump in hot spots.
After shooting this, I turn back to the team at the generator, which is still not running. As I approach, I see their problem; the starting cord for the engine was pulled off. They had disassembled the starting mechanism to put it back on for another pull. They had to do this each time trying to start it. God was looking down on them as the next pull they tried, it started right up. Everyone started yelling and cheering! Then, as they started to pump, they yelled for help. The 12 foot hose that went into the ocean appeared to be duct taped to the pump, which meant with every wave, it could have been ripped off. Kacey jumped into the ocean with a couple other people to hold it down. I notice that a couple men are holding the end because they are using a milk crate to prevent seaweed from entering the pump. I jump in to help as well (with my camera and all my money). After a few seconds, I realize we are all going to be there a while. I quickly jump out, take off my shirt, throw it in the sand, and put my wallet and camera on the shirt. I jump back in to assist.
For nearly an hour, myself, and about 4 other men, struggle to hold the crate down, with the hose inside it, whilst about 3 foot waves pound us. We are constantly skimming seaweed off of the crate to prevent it from clogging up. Every once in a while, one of us will spot a large wave and yell "BIG" (that is what they shout in Deadliest Catch, so its what I started yelling). When a big one comes, it may knock one man down into another, while the others hang on. Kacey and a couple others are still holding the hose down to keep it still in the waves. As the hour progresses, a few other men tire jump out, but only because someone else has come to jump in and help out. We are all talking about getting a beer after this, and as most men were locals, I told them "I came to your country to enjoy some water activities, but I never imagined this!" Also towards the end of the hour, children begin to run and jump into the ocean. They seemed happy; I am guessing because what could have been a catastrophe, has been put out. One of the children asked Kacey, "You came here wanting an adventure, right?!" It wasn't until the last 3 or 4 minutes that I jumped out as many others had jumped in. The fire was mostly out, and just smoldering as the last fire report we received was "They are putting out hot spots, almost done". One of the two men running the pump grab me and shakes my hand for a few seconds, saying thank you my friend. And, after a couple minutes, they notice that the waves are washing out the sand below the generator, and it is falling into the ocean. They start to maneuver the generator and as I pile sand under neath it, it turns off. But, with the start cord broke, we decide, we are done.
Everyone quickly ran toward the house to see the damage. Kacey and I are left behind to just sit and asses the situation. I ask her to take all of our stuff back to the room and start drying the money and cleaning up (we were covered in seaweed, but she deleted those pics). I walk toward the house and in the dark a few people notice me, and thank me for helping while shaking my hand. The house is destroyed, but the gift shop and Omar's are saved (minus minor burning of the exterior wood).
It was an exciting night; many more memories are in my mind that I can write down, but here are a few pics snapped the next day. This is looking south toward the burned house with Omar's in the back ground.
A closer shot of the house.
Omar's
Omar's closer
We have a few more pictures, but they will be posted with all the others, once I get them online. Thanks for reading our story.
Day 1 was filled with a lot of nothing. We stayed at a place called Westwind Hotel. (See it located on the map. The black line is the sidewalk, and the gray path is the road). We sat around the room. We sat in hammocks. We sat by the beach (which, although hot, was very breezy). We walked to a couple stores. I listened to music most of the day on the beach while Kacey knitted. One time as we had walked out to explore, we walked by a place called Omar's Diner. Omar's is a two story *house* where the first floor is his restaurant and the second floor is where his family lives.
(Notice, this sidewalk is considered the second biggest thoroughfare of the town, and is about 100 yards off of the beach). As we walked by his place, he was advertising his fresh Red Snapper they had caught that day. It smelled good as we passed by, so we figured we would head back there for dinner.
We sat down for dinner later that night at Omar's Diner. There was one other couple there at the time who were ready to receive their food. Kacey ordered the Snapper, but I always love to try new seafood, so I got the Barracuda steak. We sat and sipped our juice as we waited a few minutes for our food. The couple next to us had ordered the same thing as us and were enjoying their food; we were looking forward to eating our meal!
It was getting a little dark out when I noticed the smell of smoke. This wasn't the smell of his kitchen, this was something burning. But, in a small village like this, I wasn't surprise if someone was burning something in their yard. But I got to thinking a little bit - a small fire, in a hot environment, with a very nice breeze always flowing, no fire department, and no access even if there were a fire department. I guess the wind shifted for a minute as the smell dissipated, but a couple minutes later, I heard the voice of an older woman yelling for Omar in Spanish. I asked Kacey if she understood, and she thought it was "Omar, Omar, come quick". Seemed strange to ask a known chef to leave his kitchen while preparing food, but he quickly ran out. Then, we heard yelling.
The smell of smoke had returned, so I stepped outside to see what was going on. Then, I heard someone yelling "Fire". The house next to Omar's Diner was on fire.
Let me describe the homes here just a little bit. All of the homes are small, but close together. Most newer homes are made out of concrete and a pine wood, shingled roof is placed on top. Palm trees and other bushes also surround the homes.
I could not really see much of a fire at the house next door due to the large amount of smoke pouring out as the trees and bushes were burning. I ran back to the other side of Omar's where Kacey and a few other tourists stood and let them know that yes, there was a good fire going. And, that with the winds, Omar's was next to catch fire. The next ten minutes were filled with lots of yelling, people running with buckets towards the fire (no fire department, trucks, or hydrants), people running in and out of Omar's house to remove their belongings (as most fires here tend to spread quickly, they know the drill), people removing palm branches and other brush from near Omar's house and the gift shop across the sidewalk, people trying to wet down the gift shop to prevent it from going up in flames, and us, standing there watching helplessly.
We don't know anyone, no one knows us, we have no buckets, we felt bad as we struggled with what to do. Then, we noticed a small girl crying a few feet away from us, so we look to her. She catches our eyes and says to use "I live there, that is my house and it is going to burn down". As we give her a little hug, we try to talk to her briefly, asking her about her family. She tells us that she has a couple brothers and sisters, but no one is in the house. Then, a local villager runs to her, crying, and starts hugging her. An old man starts telling us that he tried to convince the town last year that he wanted money to put in a fire department, but politics got in the way. Then, as he is telling us that Omar has two large butane tanks for his kitchen (a sign that Kacey and I need to get out of there), some men run by, toward the ocean, with a generator and pump, and a large roll of 3" hose. We decide it is time for us to get out of the way, away from the commotion and butane tanks, and walk back toward our hotel (up-wind, about 150 yards north of Omar's).
As we get to the beach, we see the men fiddling around with the generator. They do not have it started, and a 4-wheeler arrives to shed some light on the scene, as it is pretty dark out by now. In my efforts to enjoy the trip, I was not constantly carrying my camera with me, but at this time, I decide to run back, get it, and snap a few pictures of the scene at the ocean. When I return, I snap these.
Sorry for the blur, it was very dark, I was walking, and not wanting to use the flash due to the sensitivity of the situation. I then looked inland toward the house, and snapped these.
Here is the short video I shot of the fire. You will be able to see people throwing buckets of water on the house. I also heard rumors that a few men got onto the roof and were having buckets handed to them to dump in hot spots.
After shooting this, I turn back to the team at the generator, which is still not running. As I approach, I see their problem; the starting cord for the engine was pulled off. They had disassembled the starting mechanism to put it back on for another pull. They had to do this each time trying to start it. God was looking down on them as the next pull they tried, it started right up. Everyone started yelling and cheering! Then, as they started to pump, they yelled for help. The 12 foot hose that went into the ocean appeared to be duct taped to the pump, which meant with every wave, it could have been ripped off. Kacey jumped into the ocean with a couple other people to hold it down. I notice that a couple men are holding the end because they are using a milk crate to prevent seaweed from entering the pump. I jump in to help as well (with my camera and all my money). After a few seconds, I realize we are all going to be there a while. I quickly jump out, take off my shirt, throw it in the sand, and put my wallet and camera on the shirt. I jump back in to assist.
For nearly an hour, myself, and about 4 other men, struggle to hold the crate down, with the hose inside it, whilst about 3 foot waves pound us. We are constantly skimming seaweed off of the crate to prevent it from clogging up. Every once in a while, one of us will spot a large wave and yell "BIG" (that is what they shout in Deadliest Catch, so its what I started yelling). When a big one comes, it may knock one man down into another, while the others hang on. Kacey and a couple others are still holding the hose down to keep it still in the waves. As the hour progresses, a few other men tire jump out, but only because someone else has come to jump in and help out. We are all talking about getting a beer after this, and as most men were locals, I told them "I came to your country to enjoy some water activities, but I never imagined this!" Also towards the end of the hour, children begin to run and jump into the ocean. They seemed happy; I am guessing because what could have been a catastrophe, has been put out. One of the children asked Kacey, "You came here wanting an adventure, right?!" It wasn't until the last 3 or 4 minutes that I jumped out as many others had jumped in. The fire was mostly out, and just smoldering as the last fire report we received was "They are putting out hot spots, almost done". One of the two men running the pump grab me and shakes my hand for a few seconds, saying thank you my friend. And, after a couple minutes, they notice that the waves are washing out the sand below the generator, and it is falling into the ocean. They start to maneuver the generator and as I pile sand under neath it, it turns off. But, with the start cord broke, we decide, we are done.
Everyone quickly ran toward the house to see the damage. Kacey and I are left behind to just sit and asses the situation. I ask her to take all of our stuff back to the room and start drying the money and cleaning up (we were covered in seaweed, but she deleted those pics). I walk toward the house and in the dark a few people notice me, and thank me for helping while shaking my hand. The house is destroyed, but the gift shop and Omar's are saved (minus minor burning of the exterior wood).
It was an exciting night; many more memories are in my mind that I can write down, but here are a few pics snapped the next day. This is looking south toward the burned house with Omar's in the back ground.
A closer shot of the house.
Omar's
Omar's closer
We have a few more pictures, but they will be posted with all the others, once I get them online. Thanks for reading our story.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Back from Belize!
Stories and pics to come soon. In the meantime, ponder this...
Did C&K a) catch a 50 lb tuna on a fishing trip or b) help put out a house fire or c) help catch a run away horse
We did one, just wait and see! Comment with your guess (if we already told you, don't ruin it)!
Did C&K a) catch a 50 lb tuna on a fishing trip or b) help put out a house fire or c) help catch a run away horse
We did one, just wait and see! Comment with your guess (if we already told you, don't ruin it)!
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