Monday, April 6, 2009
Skydiving pictures uploaded
Go now and marvel at what 250km/h ram airspeed does to my chubby cheeks.
Friday, April 3, 2009
The ground hates me, it keeps moving.
Kelly wins. She was the first to get skydiving. Unfortunately I don't have that picture I promised because the CD is in my bag, which is somewhere in the bowls of Cairns International at the moment. I'll post some pics when I'm back in Sydney tonight.
So....Mike Ball, holy hell what an amazing trip. There were about 22 divers and about 12 crew, and the crew's entire job was to make you feel like god for a week. I'll tell you all about it when I get home because it's to hard to explain everything in text. To hold you over here are 2 of my favourite pictures from the trip, and that's all you're getting until I touch down in Toronto.
So....Mike Ball, holy hell what an amazing trip. There were about 22 divers and about 12 crew, and the crew's entire job was to make you feel like god for a week. I'll tell you all about it when I get home because it's to hard to explain everything in text. To hold you over here are 2 of my favourite pictures from the trip, and that's all you're getting until I touch down in Toronto.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
14,000
Alright, contest time again. The title of this blog entry is a clue to something I did today. First one to guess what I did get to be the first person to tell me what an idiot I am when I show everyone the DVD. If nobody gets it when I get back from the reef I'll post a picture.
So, Contiki is over, and it was great as usual. I did a reef day trip on apparently the worst possible day. As soon as we got on the vessel they told is it was extremely rough on the reef due to a high tide a gale force wind warnings. In fact, if the wind were any stronger they would not have gone out that day. This obviously made for one hell of a 2 hour boat ride. Thankfully I took the seasick medication and was fine, pretty much everyone else wasn't. That gives me a bigger confidence boost for the weeklong expedition starting tomorrow.
I did some really fun stuff on the Contiki including - White Water Rafting, Ziplining through the Daintree rainforest canopy, Sandboarding, and the mystery thing today. Not to mention knocking back unheard of amounts of alcohol. (Buy 6 drinks, get a free T-Shirt, dangerous promotion when it's 2-for-1 happy hour, mmmmm 12 drinks in 2 hours) Oh, and all the cool people I met.
Anyhow, that's all for now - I can't upload any pictures because I can't get to the tower on this machine, but check back later and I'll see what I can get done.
So, Contiki is over, and it was great as usual. I did a reef day trip on apparently the worst possible day. As soon as we got on the vessel they told is it was extremely rough on the reef due to a high tide a gale force wind warnings. In fact, if the wind were any stronger they would not have gone out that day. This obviously made for one hell of a 2 hour boat ride. Thankfully I took the seasick medication and was fine, pretty much everyone else wasn't. That gives me a bigger confidence boost for the weeklong expedition starting tomorrow.
I did some really fun stuff on the Contiki including - White Water Rafting, Ziplining through the Daintree rainforest canopy, Sandboarding, and the mystery thing today. Not to mention knocking back unheard of amounts of alcohol. (Buy 6 drinks, get a free T-Shirt, dangerous promotion when it's 2-for-1 happy hour, mmmmm 12 drinks in 2 hours) Oh, and all the cool people I met.
Anyhow, that's all for now - I can't upload any pictures because I can't get to the tower on this machine, but check back later and I'll see what I can get done.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Midway Point
Half way through the adventures, things are great.
Contiki started off a bit slow because we started by going to most of the places that I've already been to so it was a bit boring. Once we got past surfers paradise though it doews nothing bt impress. The eas coast is beautiful.
We're on lovely Long Island (where the long island iced tea is 6 shots of alcohol and a squirt of coke) in the stunning Whitsunday islands. It's a tropical wonderland here. We spent the whole day yesterday aboard the 85 ft. sailboat Camira cruising through the islands, and good news, no seasickness! We were on board from 9-5 and I felt perfectly fine for the whole time, which is a great boost to my confidence about the upcoming Mike Ball journey.
No pictures yet - but I do have some good ones to show off, you'll just have to wait until I get back home to see them.
Contiki started off a bit slow because we started by going to most of the places that I've already been to so it was a bit boring. Once we got past surfers paradise though it doews nothing bt impress. The eas coast is beautiful.
We're on lovely Long Island (where the long island iced tea is 6 shots of alcohol and a squirt of coke) in the stunning Whitsunday islands. It's a tropical wonderland here. We spent the whole day yesterday aboard the 85 ft. sailboat Camira cruising through the islands, and good news, no seasickness! We were on board from 9-5 and I felt perfectly fine for the whole time, which is a great boost to my confidence about the upcoming Mike Ball journey.
No pictures yet - but I do have some good ones to show off, you'll just have to wait until I get back home to see them.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Advancing
Well, I have a new rating as Advanced Open Water Diver - which increases my maximum depth limit to 30 metres/100 feet.
Doing the course brought up a small concern I have about the upcoming travels. We were on a boat and did 2 dives on Sunday, one at North Head (the entrance to Sydney Harbour from the ocean) and one about 2km off Manly Beach in the ocean. I was mildly seasick while the boat was not in motion due to the large surge. Now, I wasn't physically ill but my stomach was quite upset and while changing over my tanks I was on the edge of losing it.
Now, this may also be due to the fact that I had only had a piece of banana bread to eat that day, which was most likely making my stomach hurt more out of hunger than seasickness. I was on a dive boat at North Head last month - and while my stomach hurt I was able to eat a burger on the boat without becoming sick - even though my stomach hurt even then.
So I'm a bit concerned about spending 7 days on a boat in the ocean. Now, the boat we were on was only for about 12 people, about 20 feet long, if that. Spoilsport (the Mike Ball vessel) is 100 ft. long, with a double hull and is 3 floors tall. That and the fact that the great barrier reef probably shelters boats from the major surge out in open ocean is convincing me that it is not nearly going to be as bad as things were on the weekend.
That, and whenever I get nervous about getting on board I read this, and all of a sudden I tell myself that no matter what I'm going to suck it up and just do it. Not to mention seeing pictures of just how big Spoilsport is makes me feel better as well. Compared to this, which is the vessel we were on over the weekend.
P.S. I've already gone out and stocked up on the Australian version of Gravol. And I'm considering getting some ginger pills to go with it. (Ginger is the only non-pharmaceutical remedy that worked to cure motion sickness on Mythbusters)
Doing the course brought up a small concern I have about the upcoming travels. We were on a boat and did 2 dives on Sunday, one at North Head (the entrance to Sydney Harbour from the ocean) and one about 2km off Manly Beach in the ocean. I was mildly seasick while the boat was not in motion due to the large surge. Now, I wasn't physically ill but my stomach was quite upset and while changing over my tanks I was on the edge of losing it.
Now, this may also be due to the fact that I had only had a piece of banana bread to eat that day, which was most likely making my stomach hurt more out of hunger than seasickness. I was on a dive boat at North Head last month - and while my stomach hurt I was able to eat a burger on the boat without becoming sick - even though my stomach hurt even then.
So I'm a bit concerned about spending 7 days on a boat in the ocean. Now, the boat we were on was only for about 12 people, about 20 feet long, if that. Spoilsport (the Mike Ball vessel) is 100 ft. long, with a double hull and is 3 floors tall. That and the fact that the great barrier reef probably shelters boats from the major surge out in open ocean is convincing me that it is not nearly going to be as bad as things were on the weekend.
That, and whenever I get nervous about getting on board I read this, and all of a sudden I tell myself that no matter what I'm going to suck it up and just do it. Not to mention seeing pictures of just how big Spoilsport is makes me feel better as well. Compared to this, which is the vessel we were on over the weekend.
P.S. I've already gone out and stocked up on the Australian version of Gravol. And I'm considering getting some ginger pills to go with it. (Ginger is the only non-pharmaceutical remedy that worked to cure motion sickness on Mythbusters)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Excitement Builds!
I'm officially done work, and am starting the dive course tonight in Manly.
I can't believe it's already time to start moving around the country again. I can't wait until Monday when I head south, and the inevitability that comes with "South = Colder?" that I'm not used to at home.
The thing I'm probably most looking forward to is diving in a place called the Cod Hole. I heard about it on a travel show here and thought it was in some far off remote location I'd probably never go to. Then I signed up on this Mike Ball trip in the Great Barrier Reef and find it's one of the places we go.
Why am I excited? Well, it's home to a species of fish known as Potato Cod (Impressive, n'est pas?). These fish are the size of, if not bigger than people, are very curious and not afraid to swim right up to you, and swim along while you're diving. Being eye to eye with a fish the size of me is going to be a great experience!
I can't believe it's already time to start moving around the country again. I can't wait until Monday when I head south, and the inevitability that comes with "South = Colder?" that I'm not used to at home.
The thing I'm probably most looking forward to is diving in a place called the Cod Hole. I heard about it on a travel show here and thought it was in some far off remote location I'd probably never go to. Then I signed up on this Mike Ball trip in the Great Barrier Reef and find it's one of the places we go.
Why am I excited? Well, it's home to a species of fish known as Potato Cod (Impressive, n'est pas?). These fish are the size of, if not bigger than people, are very curious and not afraid to swim right up to you, and swim along while you're diving. Being eye to eye with a fish the size of me is going to be a great experience!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Finalization
I've thrown some research behind Cairns, and have decided on what I want to do.
The Mike Ball Expeditions 7-day Coral Safari (itinerary / map). It's bloody expensive coming in at just over $3000, but I think it will be well worth the investment. It includes all food, beverages, fees, transport, food, fuel, air, etc. The only extras would be if I wanted to rent a camera for a day.
On the topic of expense - this is probably why I've left myself $3000 sitting in my bank account at home. My rough calculations estimate that after paying for this trip, I will have about $5000 AUD to cover any costs incurred while travelling. Which should be plenty of cash to survive 16 days on a bus + the last few weeks of living and working here.
I'm also refusing to touch my taxes and superannuation (pension) until I leave so that I will be able to afford paying tax in Canada on the money I've earned. As of my last paycheque I've paid $1622 in tax, of which I get a percentage back, and $849.77 in superannuation, of which I get all of it back.
The Mike Ball Expeditions 7-day Coral Safari (itinerary / map). It's bloody expensive coming in at just over $3000, but I think it will be well worth the investment. It includes all food, beverages, fees, transport, food, fuel, air, etc. The only extras would be if I wanted to rent a camera for a day.
On the topic of expense - this is probably why I've left myself $3000 sitting in my bank account at home. My rough calculations estimate that after paying for this trip, I will have about $5000 AUD to cover any costs incurred while travelling. Which should be plenty of cash to survive 16 days on a bus + the last few weeks of living and working here.
I'm also refusing to touch my taxes and superannuation (pension) until I leave so that I will be able to afford paying tax in Canada on the money I've earned. As of my last paycheque I've paid $1622 in tax, of which I get a percentage back, and $849.77 in superannuation, of which I get all of it back.
The State of the Union
So, I am officially the Restaurant Associates supervisor for all Twilight at Taronga concerts. This includes the VIP section as well as the sponsors buffet and bar the we have at the concerts. Which means I'm responsible for the 150 guests (or so) plus the 4 staff I have working for me.
The state manager of New South Wales (a similar position in Canada would be the manager of Ontario) has officially given me a pay raise for my remaining weeks as a thank you for all the hard work I've done. I've moved from pay grade 3 to grade 5, a level usually reserved for management, and there are only 6 grades.
My Contiki tour is fully booked and paid for, set to begin Mar. 8. My Advanced Open Water course is booked and paid for and is Feb. 28 - Mar. 1. All I have left to do now is book my liveaboard in the Great Barrier Reef with Mike Ball Expeditions. My dive shop in Manly is good friends with the people who do the bookings and said if there are any upgrades I will be first on the list.
That's life as it stands now. I'm a bit homesick and have wanted to go home for the past 2 weeks or so. I have a feeling it's because of the monotonous routine of work. I'm really looking forward to travelling and coming home. I've rebooked my flight home and it is set for April 15, which I think is going to stand depending on how the liveaboard in Cairns goes.
The state manager of New South Wales (a similar position in Canada would be the manager of Ontario) has officially given me a pay raise for my remaining weeks as a thank you for all the hard work I've done. I've moved from pay grade 3 to grade 5, a level usually reserved for management, and there are only 6 grades.
My Contiki tour is fully booked and paid for, set to begin Mar. 8. My Advanced Open Water course is booked and paid for and is Feb. 28 - Mar. 1. All I have left to do now is book my liveaboard in the Great Barrier Reef with Mike Ball Expeditions. My dive shop in Manly is good friends with the people who do the bookings and said if there are any upgrades I will be first on the list.
That's life as it stands now. I'm a bit homesick and have wanted to go home for the past 2 weeks or so. I have a feeling it's because of the monotonous routine of work. I'm really looking forward to travelling and coming home. I've rebooked my flight home and it is set for April 15, which I think is going to stand depending on how the liveaboard in Cairns goes.
Monday, January 26, 2009
It's contest time!
So, apparently there is a contest to give Toronto a slogan so that it will be a world class city. I heard about this on Fark.com, so anyone who has heard of that site can see where this is going. (Fark is a comedy news site)
Here are some of the best:
And finally, my personal favourite that will keep me laughing all day:
Toronto: Where the Leafs keep blowing until April
Here are some of the best:
- Toronto: English enthusiasm, Scottish hospitality, Russian optimism, West Indian work ethics, Chinese hygiene and American cars. Diversity is our strength!
- Toronto:Where transit comes to a stand still when it snows. Who knew it would snow in Canada in the winter.
- Toronto: a city of identical neighbourhoods, each with a neat-sounding name.
- Toronto: So much to see, no place to park.
Toronto: Come check out our Os.
And finally, my personal favourite that will keep me laughing all day:
Toronto: Where the Leafs keep blowing until April
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Movin' On Up
So, I get a text message from my boss this morning, she wants to have a chat. *shudder*
We have something coming up at the zoo called Twilight at Taronga, which is a series of concerts every weekend through February. She wants me to run the VIP section at the concerts!
I don't know if you can count that as a promotion, but running a section for VIPs sounds fairly important - so I'm calling it one anyway.
Also, I get to work on January 26th! Which means nothing to anyone back home, but here it's Australia Day, which means double time and a half for public holiday! That'll be about $50 an hour! Woohoo!
We have something coming up at the zoo called Twilight at Taronga, which is a series of concerts every weekend through February. She wants me to run the VIP section at the concerts!
I don't know if you can count that as a promotion, but running a section for VIPs sounds fairly important - so I'm calling it one anyway.
Also, I get to work on January 26th! Which means nothing to anyone back home, but here it's Australia Day, which means double time and a half for public holiday! That'll be about $50 an hour! Woohoo!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Mmmmm, bouncy
Stumbled upon this while picking up some veal for dinner and couldn't resist:
Been a long time since I had any roo. I've heard people describe it as springy. HAHA! Get it, I made a funny.
Been a long time since I had any roo. I've heard people describe it as springy. HAHA! Get it, I made a funny.
Friday, January 16, 2009
P.S.
One more thing.
Dad, Jess, Barb -> Thanks for the gift card - I bought a ticket to go see Top Gear Live @ Sydney Olympic Park, and had a bit left over to put into my diver course.
Mom, Gord, Steph -> Thanks for the gift certificate, it paid for the other part of my diver course.
Photos from the underwater camera are being developed as we speak, I'll scan them and post them either early next week or in a few days. Hopefully they turned out good.
Dad, Jess, Barb -> Thanks for the gift card - I bought a ticket to go see Top Gear Live @ Sydney Olympic Park, and had a bit left over to put into my diver course.
Mom, Gord, Steph -> Thanks for the gift certificate, it paid for the other part of my diver course.
Photos from the underwater camera are being developed as we speak, I'll scan them and post them either early next week or in a few days. Hopefully they turned out good.
Planning for the Future
So, I've officially been promoted to function supervisor at work, and my first function is tomorrow with another person where I get to learn what the hell I have to do. It's nice because I get paid more!
It looks like my plans are shaping up to be somewhere along the lines of this:
Feb. 25 -> Last day of Work
Feb 28-Mar 1 -> Advanced Open Water Diver course
Mar 2-Mar 6 -> Kangaroo Valley @ Penny's parents house
Mar 8 - Mar 23 ish -> Contiki tour to Cairns (and beyond!)
Mar ?? - Mar ??+5 -> Liveaboard dive boat in Great Barrier Reef
After that, I'll take a look at my funds and either travel a bit more, or head back to Sydeny and get a flight home. If work continues to give me this many hours through February, I Should have accumulated about $11,000 before paying for the trips. Not including taxes paid (of which I don't know how much I'll get back) and superannuation (about another $1,500).
The more I look at the things I will be able to do the more excited I get. The best part is, I told my boss my plans and she is happy for me! If you've seen the emails I get from her, you know how much of a bitch she is, so I'm fairly impressed.
I've uploaded a few albums to the picture site. The albums are:
Life -> While going to work I took a photo of whatever I was looking at every few minutes, so you could see what it was like going to work for me.
NYE08 -> New Years Eve, there aren't any bridge fireworks photos because I took a video of the whole thing. I'll show it to everyone when I get home because it's 12.5 minutes long and 1.2GB.
Chrismas Day -> Christmas day wandering around the city and then hitting Manly Beach
Sculptures by the Sea -> An annual thing they have at Bondi Beach with artists creating things to put on display. Like most art, I didn't get it and neither will you.
Lastly, I went out to do gift shopping today, and found absoutely nothing. All I could think of for getting everyone was t-shirts or hats. So, while I'm adventuring if something screams Dad or Shannon or Jess or Mom or Barb or whatever, I'll pick it up and bring it home with me, other than that suggest something Aussie you want and I'll go find it.
That'a all for now, cheers!
It looks like my plans are shaping up to be somewhere along the lines of this:
Feb. 25 -> Last day of Work
Feb 28-Mar 1 -> Advanced Open Water Diver course
Mar 2-Mar 6 -> Kangaroo Valley @ Penny's parents house
Mar 8 - Mar 23 ish -> Contiki tour to Cairns (and beyond!)
Mar ?? - Mar ??+5 -> Liveaboard dive boat in Great Barrier Reef
After that, I'll take a look at my funds and either travel a bit more, or head back to Sydeny and get a flight home. If work continues to give me this many hours through February, I Should have accumulated about $11,000 before paying for the trips. Not including taxes paid (of which I don't know how much I'll get back) and superannuation (about another $1,500).
The more I look at the things I will be able to do the more excited I get. The best part is, I told my boss my plans and she is happy for me! If you've seen the emails I get from her, you know how much of a bitch she is, so I'm fairly impressed.
I've uploaded a few albums to the picture site. The albums are:
Life -> While going to work I took a photo of whatever I was looking at every few minutes, so you could see what it was like going to work for me.
NYE08 -> New Years Eve, there aren't any bridge fireworks photos because I took a video of the whole thing. I'll show it to everyone when I get home because it's 12.5 minutes long and 1.2GB.
Chrismas Day -> Christmas day wandering around the city and then hitting Manly Beach
Sculptures by the Sea -> An annual thing they have at Bondi Beach with artists creating things to put on display. Like most art, I didn't get it and neither will you.
Lastly, I went out to do gift shopping today, and found absoutely nothing. All I could think of for getting everyone was t-shirts or hats. So, while I'm adventuring if something screams Dad or Shannon or Jess or Mom or Barb or whatever, I'll pick it up and bring it home with me, other than that suggest something Aussie you want and I'll go find it.
That'a all for now, cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
