Continuing the recapping, on Independence Day (July 4th, in case someone isn't paying attention) we went up to Sacramento (the California State capital) and went rafting again. This was a week after we had gone white-water rafting, but this was quite a different affair.
This time we were in a raft, roped together with about 5 or 6 other rafts, drinking beer and basically just floating down the river (as opposed to navigating it and paddling to stay on course). Oh, and there were about .... I have no idea of the number, a lot of other people around doing the same thing. Apparently it is something that they do every year up there; it is definitely a tradition I can appreciate. Another would be this thing involving beads. We experienced that tradition that day as well, although not nearly as much as we should have, I feel.
I could describe the day more, but I'm lazy and I don't remember much of it right now.
What probably made the day was the incident that occured on the way home. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Kyle and Stefan decided that we should rent a convertible for the trip (which is only 2 hours anyway...). It was a mustang, not red though. There are photos but I don't seem to have them at the moment. So the point was, on the way home there was an incident. Something that I've seen a few times in various movies before - the only one I can think of right now is 'Overnight Delivery', but in that movie it isn't proper - but had not experienced in in reality before. It was highly amusing, and made the journey home all the more enjoyable for all of us. I'll leave it up to your imagination.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Catch-up time
Almost 2 months since I last wrote something. One would think that I must have been terribly busy to have taken so long to send an update...
Well, I have been busy, kind of. I'm not sure what exactly has kept me so occupied for 2 months, but I haven't really been sitting in front of the computer at home anytime recently.
Now that I finally have sat down to do this, I hope I have something interesting to say.
I've waited 2 months to talk about going white-water rafting.
The week after my last post - 25th,26th June (I don't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday, [Although reading my previous post I see that it was Sunday since I did the running on Saturday]), we went rafting.
I believe the name of the river was Merced, up right near Yosemite national park [which Kyle and I still haven't managed to go and visit]
The section of the river that we were on was supposedly a Grade 4 (it only goes up to 5 I think) but it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped for. A Grade 4 river meant that there were two or three 'Grade 4' rapids, and then the others (which were a few, but not a lot) were lower grades. For a grade 4 river we didn't feel that we were in that much danger of falling out - although Jons somehow did manage to fall out once, and whacked his side on a rock; he had a nice bruise for a while in the following days. I jumped out later in a much calmer section of the river and eventually we all jumped in the river and floated down on our backs through a 'safe' rapid. We were wearing lifejackets and wetsuits so it wasn't difficult to stay afloat.
We had a guide in our boat telling us when to paddle (and doing most of the steering from the back) and the six of us each had a paddle (which is the most important thing on the boat you must never let go of it ), although the concept of paddling was a little too difficult for Kyle. He seemed to enjoy mimicing paddling without actually putting most, if any, of the paddle in the water. This might have been because I was on his side of the boat and I kept commenting on the fact that he wasn't doing anything, or flicking water at him, but I think it is also because he is lazy.
We were out on the water for a few hours, with a stop for lunch in the middle, so it was definitely a full day trip - especially once you add in the 3 hour drive each way and the getting up at around 5am (or 6am, something like that).
I'm not sure if it is worth the $150, but it was enjoyable and I wouldn't mind doing it again.
Well, I have been busy, kind of. I'm not sure what exactly has kept me so occupied for 2 months, but I haven't really been sitting in front of the computer at home anytime recently.
Now that I finally have sat down to do this, I hope I have something interesting to say.
I've waited 2 months to talk about going white-water rafting.
The week after my last post - 25th,26th June (I don't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday, [Although reading my previous post I see that it was Sunday since I did the running on Saturday]), we went rafting.
I believe the name of the river was Merced, up right near Yosemite national park [which Kyle and I still haven't managed to go and visit]
The section of the river that we were on was supposedly a Grade 4 (it only goes up to 5 I think) but it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped for. A Grade 4 river meant that there were two or three 'Grade 4' rapids, and then the others (which were a few, but not a lot) were lower grades. For a grade 4 river we didn't feel that we were in that much danger of falling out - although Jons somehow did manage to fall out once, and whacked his side on a rock; he had a nice bruise for a while in the following days. I jumped out later in a much calmer section of the river and eventually we all jumped in the river and floated down on our backs through a 'safe' rapid. We were wearing lifejackets and wetsuits so it wasn't difficult to stay afloat.
We had a guide in our boat telling us when to paddle (and doing most of the steering from the back) and the six of us each had a paddle (which is the most important thing on the boat you must never let go of it ), although the concept of paddling was a little too difficult for Kyle. He seemed to enjoy mimicing paddling without actually putting most, if any, of the paddle in the water. This might have been because I was on his side of the boat and I kept commenting on the fact that he wasn't doing anything, or flicking water at him, but I think it is also because he is lazy.
We were out on the water for a few hours, with a stop for lunch in the middle, so it was definitely a full day trip - especially once you add in the 3 hour drive each way and the getting up at around 5am (or 6am, something like that).
I'm not sure if it is worth the $150, but it was enjoyable and I wouldn't mind doing it again.
Monday, June 20, 2005
another uneventful week
Didn't do much at all this week, kind of like last week.
During the week I went out a few times for dinner - three in total I believe. Maybe I shouldn't be doing that so much, might save a bit more money, although there is not a hell of a lot more to do around here.
Kyle spent the weekend down in LA with a friend from NZ who was on his way to England (I don't know what his name is), so I took the opportunity to ... sleep a lot, and read. I've nearly finished the book I've been reading, big achievement for me - actually reading.
That's all I really have to say about the week. Next Saturday I'm running 400m in a corporate relay. Haven't done any proper sprinting in about 5 years (since high school), but I'm sure I'll be fine. And on Sunday apparently I'm going white water rafting, something else I really think that I should be doing in NZ rather than here, but it's something to do.
If Jared is lucky I might get around to posting the T-shirts for him this week; I wouldn't count on it though.
During the week I went out a few times for dinner - three in total I believe. Maybe I shouldn't be doing that so much, might save a bit more money, although there is not a hell of a lot more to do around here.
Kyle spent the weekend down in LA with a friend from NZ who was on his way to England (I don't know what his name is), so I took the opportunity to ... sleep a lot, and read. I've nearly finished the book I've been reading, big achievement for me - actually reading.
That's all I really have to say about the week. Next Saturday I'm running 400m in a corporate relay. Haven't done any proper sprinting in about 5 years (since high school), but I'm sure I'll be fine. And on Sunday apparently I'm going white water rafting, something else I really think that I should be doing in NZ rather than here, but it's something to do.
If Jared is lucky I might get around to posting the T-shirts for him this week; I wouldn't count on it though.
Monday, June 13, 2005
the week that was, whatever number this is
Not a very exciting week this one. Sorry.
I'm going to work backwards because it is easier to remember that way.
I see that Wellington was about 10 degrees and raining today. I bet that sucks a bit. I can emphasize, really. Here today the roadside Clock/thermometer said that it was 89 degrees F (= 31.6 C). We went to the pool, played a bit of pool-basketball, read in the sun, etc. It was terrible.
Saturday was kind of the same. I went and played soccer for a couple of hours, which I do on Saturdays whenever I'm at home, and not in bed, and can be bothered [so about once a month then]. It was pretty hot yesterday too. California weather sucks.
We didn't actually go out drinking at all yesterday [wait, I didn't go out], but I claim that was a combination of the fact that we went out on Friday night and that Kyle was out with his Father.
Oh yeah, Kyle's Father got here yesterday. He brought us cheese and butter in a can (just the butter in the can, not the cheese). Someone has to come over to bring me some Sultanas.
So we went out on Friday to "that bar that we go to". We have learnt by now not to expect anything at any bars around here, so saying that it was disappointing might not necessarily be true, however it was definitely not one of the better nights there.
I have started working on my project that I was working on earlier. Can't say what it is, "Confidential" ;). I hadn't been working on it for a couple of weeks because I was doing something else. That's done now, I hope.
Uh.... don't have any trips planned at the moment. I must look into that.
I'm going to work backwards because it is easier to remember that way.
I see that Wellington was about 10 degrees and raining today. I bet that sucks a bit. I can emphasize, really. Here today the roadside Clock/thermometer said that it was 89 degrees F (= 31.6 C). We went to the pool, played a bit of pool-basketball, read in the sun, etc. It was terrible.
Saturday was kind of the same. I went and played soccer for a couple of hours, which I do on Saturdays whenever I'm at home, and not in bed, and can be bothered [so about once a month then]. It was pretty hot yesterday too. California weather sucks.
We didn't actually go out drinking at all yesterday [wait, I didn't go out], but I claim that was a combination of the fact that we went out on Friday night and that Kyle was out with his Father.
Oh yeah, Kyle's Father got here yesterday. He brought us cheese and butter in a can (just the butter in the can, not the cheese). Someone has to come over to bring me some Sultanas.
So we went out on Friday to "that bar that we go to". We have learnt by now not to expect anything at any bars around here, so saying that it was disappointing might not necessarily be true, however it was definitely not one of the better nights there.
I have started working on my project that I was working on earlier. Can't say what it is, "Confidential" ;). I hadn't been working on it for a couple of weeks because I was doing something else. That's done now, I hope.
Uh.... don't have any trips planned at the moment. I must look into that.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Sky Diving
And then last week, we went Sky Diving. We this time meant Stefan, Jons and I and 4 of the other interns.
It is interesting the reactions I get from the people I have told this to so far; sure it was fun, but it wasn't that big a deal. We got the gear on, got in the plane, went up, jumped out, dropped for a bit, then 'sailed' for a bit.
I could say more about it, but I have it on DVD, so I'll get it on the computer and find somewhere to put it.
It is interesting the reactions I get from the people I have told this to so far; sure it was fun, but it wasn't that big a deal. We got the gear on, got in the plane, went up, jumped out, dropped for a bit, then 'sailed' for a bit.
I could say more about it, but I have it on DVD, so I'll get it on the computer and find somewhere to put it.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
DisneyLand/LA 26th May - 30th June
As indicated in the title, two weeks ago we (Myself, Stefan, Kyle and Shyla) went to LA for the first time. It was a long weekend ("Memorial Day" on Monday 30th May) and we additionally took Thursday and Friday off from work; flying down there early on Thursday morning and coming back on Monday night meant we had the most of 5 days down there.
I told Kyle I was writing about LA and his response was: "It was good. That is all." He may be referring more to the '5 days off' rather than actually being in LA.
The first three days [and primarily the purpose of the trip] were spent in Disneyland.
We had a "three day park hopper ticket", which meant we could go to Disneyland and California Adventure Park for three days, and we could get "fastpass" tickets, allowing us to avoid (to a certain extent) the long lines for the rides.
The first day (Thursday) we spent entirely at Disneyland, and went on almost every ride there
in that time. We had arrived in LA at about 8am, and after the mucking around getting the rental car sorted had gone straight to Disneyland. We had got up gotten up at 4am, and didn't leave the park until after the parade, which I think was around 8pm or so by the time it was finished, so it wasn't surprising that we were all pretty tired that night.
Friday we started at Disneyland and went on the last of the rides we hadn't already been (including "It's a small world", but not "The Madhatter's Tea Party" - 'the tea cup' ride, which Shyla and I wanted to do but we never actually did in the end) before moving over to California Adventure park. This park is more for older children than Disneyland, and I think we all found the rides much better there.
We went on the big rollercoaster of course, but we didn't actually get around to going on the sun wheel thing.
We went on the "river run" ride ... a few times.
This was after the first time. After buying a dry shirt, we sat and watched the fireworks and then "Fantasmic", a fireworks/lightshow thing out on the water.
On Saturday we went back to California Adventure, went on the "Tower of Terror" and then went to an Aladdin musical, which was actually pretty good.
We decided we had to get a picture with 'someone'; I thought Sulley was pretty good. Stefan got a picture with Mr Incredible, and we also got photos with Mickey (of course), and a couple of princesses.
On Sunday we went to Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. It wasn't particularly exciting, and there isn't really that much to say about it. Hollywood didn't look that nice. Much of it looked kind of dirty, and of course there were quite few homeless people around.
We left Hollywood and went down to Santa Monica beach and Fremont beach. The beaches seemed very "American" to me, which I will state and then not explain at all. You can work it out.
Monday, we were aware of the fact that we had to leave that day, so we didn't want to do anything much. We spent a couple of hours at Newport beach, then went to some shopping centre. Not a terribly exciting finish to the trip, but we had to watch the time and I don't think any of us had much energy left really.
So... that was Disneyland.
I told Kyle I was writing about LA and his response was: "It was good. That is all." He may be referring more to the '5 days off' rather than actually being in LA.
The first three days [and primarily the purpose of the trip] were spent in Disneyland.
We had a "three day park hopper ticket", which meant we could go to Disneyland and California Adventure Park for three days, and we could get "fastpass" tickets, allowing us to avoid (to a certain extent) the long lines for the rides.
The first day (Thursday) we spent entirely at Disneyland, and went on almost every ride there
in that time. We had arrived in LA at about 8am, and after the mucking around getting the rental car sorted had gone straight to Disneyland. We had got up gotten up at 4am, and didn't leave the park until after the parade, which I think was around 8pm or so by the time it was finished, so it wasn't surprising that we were all pretty tired that night.
Friday we started at Disneyland and went on the last of the rides we hadn't already been (including "It's a small world", but not "The Madhatter's Tea Party" - 'the tea cup' ride, which Shyla and I wanted to do but we never actually did in the end) before moving over to California Adventure park. This park is more for older children than Disneyland, and I think we all found the rides much better there.
We went on the big rollercoaster of course, but we didn't actually get around to going on the sun wheel thing.
We went on the "river run" ride ... a few times.
This was after the first time. After buying a dry shirt, we sat and watched the fireworks and then "Fantasmic", a fireworks/lightshow thing out on the water.
On Saturday we went back to California Adventure, went on the "Tower of Terror" and then went to an Aladdin musical, which was actually pretty good.
We decided we had to get a picture with 'someone'; I thought Sulley was pretty good. Stefan got a picture with Mr Incredible, and we also got photos with Mickey (of course), and a couple of princesses.
On Sunday we went to Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. It wasn't particularly exciting, and there isn't really that much to say about it. Hollywood didn't look that nice. Much of it looked kind of dirty, and of course there were quite few homeless people around.
We left Hollywood and went down to Santa Monica beach and Fremont beach. The beaches seemed very "American" to me, which I will state and then not explain at all. You can work it out.
Monday, we were aware of the fact that we had to leave that day, so we didn't want to do anything much. We spent a couple of hours at Newport beach, then went to some shopping centre. Not a terribly exciting finish to the trip, but we had to watch the time and I don't think any of us had much energy left really.
So... that was Disneyland.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
The beginning (kind of)
Depite my much professed dislike for the concept, I have decided this paradigm is the perfect medium for giving details about our adventures in the USA. So in the future, rather than the mass e-mail approach (which I managed about twice I believe), I will hopefully be making updates to here instead. I also have to figure out the best way of dealing with all the photos I already have, as well as the many more sure to follow. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated.
Naturally this first post is a little (!) dull. We did just get back for LA, so I should be writing about that, however I will be leaving that till later, hopefully accompanied by photos.
And as it is 12:40am in San Jose at the moment, I am going to bed.
[ and apparently the clock is a little slow...]
Naturally this first post is a little (!) dull. We did just get back for LA, so I should be writing about that, however I will be leaving that till later, hopefully accompanied by photos.
And as it is 12:40am in San Jose at the moment, I am going to bed.
[ and apparently the clock is a little slow...]
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