Summer Fling King
Dear Reader,
I've been here almost two years now and it's been a time of my life that I will look back upon with mixed emotions. I came to New Zealand eight years after travelling here as a backpacker and having had the most wonderful adventure but inevitably that kind of life experience is hard to live up to, let alone duplicate. I never expected this recent time in the country to match that odyssey though.
I suppose milestones are always useful in that they cause us to look backwards and forwards and I recently had a meeting with my boss - most significantly to seek some vision for the future or at least some possibility of a window of improvement towards a brighter future. It was interesting and good to discuss our viewpoints but it left me with a week of contemplation as I processed my thoughts. The conclusion however from my point of view was that I was to hand my notice in last week as I faced the fact that my future was pretty limited in my present situation, in my job and therefore in this country. So where am I? What's happening? Where am I going? Was it worth it? Please, God - could someone let me know too!!So that's a summary of my current thoughts.
But as you can imagine, coming to the point where I have to decide whether to go back to live in Britain or stick it out here is a horrible decision. Especially if you take as long as I do to make decisions. I wouldn't have said I was crippled with indecision, more like I was frozen between worry that I was doing something stupid and dread that I was sticking with something that was going nowhere.Eventually I got to the point where I couldn't bear it any longer and jumped. I'll have to live with it and see if it was right or wrong.
I finish work at the end of June and I've booked myself and my car on the ferry to the south island for a month long jaunt - driving around, camping and basically just going walkabout. After that - if I haven't found anything 'significantly interesting' I'll sell my car, ship my stuff back and buy a one-way flight to the UK via a two month stop in India. That's what I'm thinking right now.
To be continued...
Anyway - let's get on with the news of the last couple of months. Waitangi Day is a public holiday here in New Zealand and commemorates the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840 - the treaty between the British and Māori. (Like all of these things - it is quite controversial and both sides have differing opinions on quite how fair the agreement was). The day also coincides with Bob Marley's birthday and so there is an open air concert in Wellington called One Love. Bob Marley has nothing to do with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi as far as I'm aware, but there is a big reggae following in NZ and so, why not? Let's have a party.
Another event I went to this summer was to watch England play the Black Caps at cricket. It seems a compulsion in NZ to invent some contrived alternate name for any national sports team. The original is obviously the All Blacks (rugby), other examples are Tall Blacks (NZ basketball team), Silver Ferns (NZ ladies netball), Black Sticks (hockey), Kiwis (rugby league), All Whites (football though they mistakenly call this game 'soccer'), Black Socks (Softball), and it goes on - and on.The most amusing one I've heard is that the national badminton team are called the Black Cocks! I jest not. Anyway - I went to watch the cricket with an old flatmate who lived in the UK for 5 years and who was torn with his loyalty despite being a local! We found ourselves sitting with the legendary Barmy Army and the whole day was a very funny and entertaining experience. The repertoire and humour in the singing was very impressive. Attractive young women who walked past were warmly applauded, a lot of beer was consumed but it was just a lubricant for even more witty comments and jollity. The cricket was really good too, and we won! 
I am now a dedicated fan of Ceroc dancing. I take myself off every week to my classes and 'freestyle' that follows and judging from quite a few comments I've received, I'm no longer entirely incompetent. I am now an Intermediate Plus dancer. Intermediate Plus dancers are so much more skilled and experienced than mere Intermediate dancers. If I wasn't so noble and dignified I'd scoff at those lowly Intermediate dancers ;)
When I heard that a friend in Nelson (on the South Island) was having a weekend event I booked myself in and bought a flight on a tiny twin prop plane the size of a small bus that sounded like a motorised kitchen implement and the ride felt like sliding downstairs while seated in a large biscuit tin. 
Lovely view of the Marlborough Sounds from the plane.
It was a full weekend of dancing, with workshops and evening events and was topped off with the Sunday night Summer Fling Ball. It turned out to be a very surprising night for me.
During the evening we were all invited to pop a note into a pot and vote for our Summer Fling Kind and Queen. I'm not quite sure of the credentials for a Summer Fling King or Queen so I didn't actually vote, but come the end of the evening when the lucky/noble/regal pair of names was announced - I was one of them! (And - NO - I wasn't the Summer Fling Queen!) I was the King. I was the King. Hurray. And my Queen was a gorgeous 21 year old from Palmerston North. I was saddened to hear that I couldn't keep her though. I had to give her back after a couple of dances. Heck - I'm the King - surely I can do what I want? 
Summer Fling King trophy
We were both awarded a fine bottle of New Zealand wine, a box of chocolates and this magnificent trophy. I've placed mine next to my cricket club award for 'Most Improved Player - 2007, Team 2CB' that I got last year. They're on my 'glory shelf'. I come into my room and do my Walk of Fame as I visualise the cheering of the crowd while I soak up the adulation from my fans. I don't think it'll change me though - you know - all of this hero worship. I'm still the down-to-earth guy I always was. I won't let it go to my head!
I met up with Shaun and Michelle recently. They're old flatmates of mine and we went to a 'jungle' themed party. I wore my ex-US army Vietnam era helmet and they came as soft toys.
Music I've added recently to my ipod's top playlist are:
Snowpatrol - Set the Fire to the Third bar
Julee Christie - Questions in a World of BluePink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
This is not a Breakdown - The Realm
Five out of six of us in the house where I'm living have just moved out because of various reason (not me I think!) and we had a goodbye meal the other day. They're good people and I'll miss them. I've enjoyed living in the house for the last 18 months - despite the lack of heating/insulation/double-glazing etc. I won't miss the cockroaches in the bathroom - fortunately there aren't any in the kitchen though - the mice have eaten all of them!
Some of my ex-flatmates - Sara, Jo and Nik.
Alice and Colin (the only one staying).
Yes, our house can be quite chilly. It actually reminds me of my parents' home in England before they fitted it with central heating. Winter mornings are freezing, condensation on the windows, some days you can see you breath. Yes, to me it feels like the 1970s. Not that NZ is backwards or anything. I'm not saying that it's undeveloped and still catching up with the rest of the modern world! (Well...in terms of heating and insulation it may be).
But despite having chilly, wet winters, an idiosyncrasy of some kiwi folk is perennial bare feet. Not just at home - but out and about. You can be walking around on a dreary, wet day and see the odd person wrapped up in winter jacket and hat...but with short trousers and bare feet! I don't quite understand it because there's often broken glass lying around from the boy-racers (very common in NZ) who once they've finished refreshing themselves with a bottle of Tui (budget beer) obviously tend to decline the use of recycling bins and just lob the empty out of their Subaru window! NZ prides itself on its clean, green image but its like anywhere in the world - you get people who don't give a toss about their environment.
So I'm off to the south island in July - mid-winter and it'll be quite bracing - especially when I'm camping, but it'll also be quite stunning sometimes I'm sure.
I'll try and get some good photos to brighten up my blog - it needs it. Hopefully then I'll also have a better idea of what the future holds.
The other day I flew to Auckland for another Ceroc event (sorry if I seem to go on!) Here's me looking uncharacteristically dapper and the spectacular Auckland Sky Tower.
Four months in the wilderness...
Well, what can I say? But I apologise for my lack of stimulating content over the last few months. If you've been signing in to look at my blog from time to time and have got sick of seeing my previous posting - I am sorry and know how you feel.
After I got back from England I found it difficult to settle and feel at home. To be honest though - I've felt that way for quite a long time). But anyway, that's no excuse.Enough of the grovelling. On with the action.After a long, damp and chilly winter here (I had to buy some longjohns to wear at work because it was brass monkeys in the room where I work during the winter) it eventually started to warm up as I left for my trip back to Britain. When I got back to NZ the long awaited spring had finally come at last.
Wellington is known as 'Windy Wellington' but as so often with many of these tags there may be some origin of truth but it's actually a bit misleading. The sun shines sometimes, it rains, the wind blows, yeah, but it's not as if you need to bungee your toupee on or wear your hat on the side of your head. (I have heard that there is a marked reduction in the profits of ladies' hairdressers in Wellington because women don't bother so much with fancy hairdos due to the assumption that within four minutes of getting back outside they'll look like Billy Connolly after a crazy night at the Duck and Sparrow. 200 dollars blown away along with the hard work of your hairdresser and most of your dignity. Actually it might explain one of the distinctive characteristics of New Zealand's coiffeuse' identity. I mean look at this guy for example...
...and he's not unique! It may seem uncharitable to photograph poor a gentlemen in the street with the purpose of uploading their image to my blog to prove a point, but if you look in the mirror in the morning and think - 'oh, YEAH, baby - I'm looking Hot, Hot, Hot today...' while wearing a string wig like that, then you probably aren't too concerned about what other people think anyway. (I know, I know - the next obvious question is - 'Colin, how the heck can you comment on other people when you usually look like a cross between Frank Spencer, George Formby and Mr Bean? The answer is - I can comment on other people because I know I look like a cross between Frank Spencer, George Formby and Mr Bean). But I digress...
l happened to be in town one Sunday and in the centre of Wellington it was busy and humming with the annual Christmas parade. It was just the same as last year - it was a bright and warm day that seemed to coincide with the start of summer. One day it was grotty, the next - 'boing', a cosmic cog had clicked over in God's great brass meteorologiconomicon and suddenly the White Witch's spell was broken and eternal winter in Narnia was over. Hurrah.
The Christmas parade was a colourful and lively affair as you can see here.
I'm still not completely reconfigured to accepting a summer Christmas though. It just feels wrong! And hearing carols pipping out lines like 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter' and 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' without any hint of irony is bazaar!
I actually like a cold winter because it's dark and fresh, but in Europe when you go indoors it's warm, homely and toasty. Wintertime here is not quite as cold outside, but inside many of the houses it's chilly and damp!
A bit of a depressing thing as I made the radical step recently of inquiring about mortgages and house-buying options. I've been feeling quite mixed about the possibility of buying somewhere as on one hand I'm very much used to my own space and the fact that living in a shared house with 5 or 6 other people does make me feel like I'd quite like more of my own space sometime soon. But on the other hand - circumstances are very unhelpful to that option. House prices here have doubled in the last couple of years, interest rates are double those of the UK and as I mentioned before, the quality of housing can be pretty poor. Who wants to buy a home that's in an earthquake zone, that's perched on the side of a steep valley, made out of wood, has a corrugate iron roof, no insulation, no double glazing, no heating, interest rates of 10% and a price of 8 times your salary? Mmm, not much going for it eh? :(
Think on, Col, think on. Mmm, a house-bus sounds quite attractive again.
Craig and Shell.
Just before Christmas I was the lucky recipient of a couple of visitors from the UK.
When I was a student eight hundred years ago I lodged with a wonderful person called Margaret in Cornwall who made me feel completely at home. It wasn't long before I affectionately would refer to her as 'Gran'. Likewise, she has a nickname for me - she affectionately refers to me as 'Beast'. (I kind of think this is just a jovial bit of fun - said with a sort of cheeky glint in the eye and not because I'm grotesquely ugly and completely obnoxious).
Anyway, her grandaughters were good to me too and taught me to ride their 'willfully independent' (impossibly stubborn) pony (mule); Bo.
I would politely request he move forward by asking him kindly to 'walk on... in your own time... when you're ready, Bo'. Then once he'd finished eating/having a scratch/farting he would get excited and careen around the field with me - white knuckles, bulging, terror-filled eyes and pitifully pleading for him to stop so I could get off as I clung on for what seemed would be the very last moments of my life. Shelly was one of the grandaughters who very much enjoyed 'teaching me to ride' Bo. But all I can remember is them doubled over with laughter as I tried to call out for instructions as I made horrendous circuits of the field on that crazed lunatic of a horse. I did not find it funny.
Well, Shell had got engaged to a great chap called Craig and they decided they'd like to get married in New Zealand so they organised their trip over here and luckily passed through Wellington on their way to the South Island where they got married just after Christmas. Cheers to Shell and Craig! Congratulations. (Great to see you:)
Christmas came round and I was invite along with my boss and her visiting family from Brisbane to Perry's place up in the hills about 30k's from the city. Perry has done most of the building work on our work premises and everyone had a jolly time. His girlfriend had gone skiing with her kids to Switzerland so he invited everyone over.
The Kiwi thing to do at Christmas is go to the beach on Christmas Day but we all stayed at his place and had a traditional roast. Roast turkey as well as some roasted goat - shot locally by a local chap called Max. Perry is, by training, an ex-RNZAF engineer and he treated us to a tour of his personal hangar, I mean garage, where he's building his own plane, dune buggy and has a couple of motorbikes, a couple of quads and a couple of cars. I think that's about it. There was probably a jet-pack project and a three-person submarine being manufactured in there too though. Indoors, after dinner and a blast round the woods on the quads we played with helicopters!
Christmas Dinner, 2007
Me on Christmas day with Jack.
Autumn and Spring [#24]
A local Wellington character -
Harmonica man with his pet rat (fast asleep), Courtney Place, Wellington.
There's quite a few. Characters I mean, not rats, well there's probably quite a few rats too, come to think of it. I'll try and photograph them for my blog.
Anyway, after a recent trip to Australia (see earlier posting), I found myself back on a plane as I headed back to Britain for my brother's wedding and my first trip back there after I emigrated to New Zealand in April 2006. I had the usual frantic last few weeks at work trying to finish my projects as best I could, but all you can do is do your best. I'd booked my flights 5 months previously because my trip coincided with the Rugby World Cup in France and obviously flights were almost filled with excited Kiwi fans looking to travel across to the world to witness the All Blacks' certain victory at the World Cup. But maybe their confidence was infact misplaced complacency (losing at such an early stage has been taken very badly here - I don't wear my England rugby shirt out in town because I feel like I'm going to get beaten up!)So I flew via Sydney to Seoul for a one night stopover which was included in the cost of the flight. Bonus. I'd have liked to stretch it a couple of days but time was limited. Seoul was sticky, incredibly hazy and a bit of a technophiles paradise. The Koreans obviously love their gadgets. The roads were peppered with all sorts of flashing lights - roadworks were signalled with red flashing lights from what seemed like 10 km in advance, buses and lorries had every edge lined with safety lights and vehicles would drive with their hazard lamps on if they were driving at more than 10kmh below the speed limit! This seemed a massive contrast to other southeast Asian countries where the 'largest vehicle takes right of way' rule prevails. But the most surprising gadget was the toilet in my room.
Generally I don't tend to photograph toilets, but this is quite a special one!
This space age article had a comprehensive control panel with multiple controls such as seat temperature (surely no-one should have to suffer the indignity of sitting down on an unheated seat - haha, the very idea is preposterous!), there were settings for b-day control, an economy mode - whatever that may be, a directional jet of warm water which was a bit of a sensation, and a hot air dryer! All from the comfort of the seat. Another couple of thoughtful features were the telephone next to the throne - I don't know about you, but when I'm having a good strain the last thing I want to do is dial up one of my mates to have a good chat about it. Oh, and next to the phone was an 'Emergency' button; obviously a catastrophic systems failure on one of these babies would necessitate a crack team of highly skilled toilet engineers and recovery operatives to extract you from such a nasty situation. Anyway, I managed to drag myself away from the toilet long enough to explore a bit of Seoul with a couple of other stopoverers - Juliet and Laurence who I got chatting with. We had a nice time.
Juiliet, Laurence and me.
The following day we got back on the plane and flew non-stop to England. It was obviously great to be back in Britain and I flew straight to Edinburgh with my parents for my brother's wedding. This was a highly enjoyable affair and since most of my family was there, it proved a great reunion.
My brother, Steve and Heather did all of the organisation for their wedding. It took place at Edinburgh Zoo which turned out to be an excellent location. I'd love to say that the wedding resembled a scene from the Jungle Book with chimps playing the trombone etc but infact that didn't happen. However, I did take a few photos and if you look very carefully in the background of this one you might be able to see a couple of the animals.
More of my photos from my exciting trip can be seen on my Picasa web album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/colossusnz/
My wedding present was a piece of driftwood! It took ages to find the right piece - when you know what you want, nothing else will do. So, yeah, I wanted to paint a couple of geckos just finding each other. (I just don't do conventional wedding presents).
After my brother's wedding I flew back down south then my parents kindly gave me a lift over to an old potato barn in the Cotswolds. This was where my friends Rob and Sue were to be married. There weren't actually any potatoes in the barn at the time, and I don't want to mislead you; it was in actual fact a classy and very salubrious affair. It was a great chance to catch up with some great people from Exmouth in Devon and friends from Perth, Western Australia who I've had the pleasure to share some crazy capers with in the past.
Rob and Sue - congratulations.
Being back in Britain was very enjoyable for me because I indulged in my usual Autumn past-time of grazing the hedgerows for free edibles. Blackberries, apples, elderberries, hazelnuts - all were plentiful as late September in England is a bountiful time for all kinds of fruit and nuts. This is the time of year I would usually make wine, cider or jam.
Wild hazlenuts growing in England. I enjoyed some
hedgerow grazing while doing a watercolour painting.
I also had the great pleasure of joining my old hedge-laying group in Berkshire. I always would love those times we spent together either coppicing or hedge-laying so I was careful to arrange in advance a session with them. My friends Cathy and Carl very kindly let me stay for a few days in Wokingham and so I had the chance to meet up with dozens of friends (literally - I think I saw 25) in a short space of time.
But soon my three weeks was up and I flew back to New Zealand. I didn't have a stopover in Seoul on the way back unfortunately. I left on Tuesday night and arrived in Wellington on Friday morning though! I did have about 11 hours in Sydney waiting for my connection so I went into the city and had a happy but blearily jet-lagged wander round. I went to the fish market and ate some delicious sashimi. I got chatting to a couple of friendly students who kindly ignored my appearance which was less than agreeable considering I had been sitting on a plane or at airports for the last 30 hours. They told me their names but I'm sorry, I forgot. I was a bit of a mess.
I don't have many photos of myself on my blog for the simple reason that it's so difficult to find competent people to take one! Surely it should be something of a basic skill that everyone in a developed world (where cameras aren't exactly mysterious new inventions) should be able to actually take a picture. Let's face it, you don't need to be an expert - all you need to do is 1/ Point the camera in the right direction 2/ hold it still for a few moments and 3/ press the shutter. In my experience, asking a total stranger to undertake such a phenomenally complex procedure usually ends in abject, pitiful, embarrassing failure. Hence - most of the photos of me - are taken by me!
But maybe it's a blessing that I don't have many photos of myself. It certainly is for my readers anyway.
So I'd left the autumn of England and arrived back in the spring of New Zealand. Which in my mind seemed kind of fitting. Within a few days of my brother's wedding was my parents' own anniversary. Their ruby wedding anniversary! Imagine that? - Forty years! They may be in the autumn of their married life together but they deserve at least another 40 years together! and it was then fitting to celebrate the wedding of my brother who obviously is just enjoying the spring of his married life with Heather. Congratulations to you all.
Rugby, rugby, rugby rug.. [#23]
This will be my last posting until I travel to Britain for my brother's wedding next month. It's going to be a weird feeling. I'll be going home after a year and a half of trying to make my life here in New Zealand and it looks set to be a busy three week holiday (I am planning on coming back to NZ afterwards though - my boss would be a bit surprised if I chose to stay!). But, yes, in some ways I'm not looking forward to going home to Britain - (I guess even saying 'home' makes me wonder where that actually is). I know it will be quite emotional for me and maybe even for the odd friend or family member too. Well - maybe.
One good thing about leaving NZ for a bit is that hopefully I'll be spared some of the wall-to-wall coverage of rugby related tedium. I'm not a huge fan, don't mind the game actually but when every programme/advert/label/third word is affected by the question of how well the All Blacks will do in the World Cup I'm starting to go slightly mad. I made the mistake of wearing my England rugby shirt through town the other day and for someone like me who hates being the centre of attention, it was as foolish as pole-vaulting a prickly hedge using just a stick of rhubarb while wearing a pair of speedos. Suddenly I was either Captain Popular or Public Enemy Number One.
Please God, let the All Blacks win - just to shut everyone up!
I'm currently into painting on driftwood. - This is Dead Fish.
(ie - washed up on the beach).
Anyway, what have I been up to? Not much really. It's winter and that's that.I did some house-sitting last week. (There's now 7 of us living in our house so it was great to get away and have some of my own space for a bit). I looked after Shadow, a two year old Labradoodle (Labrador / Poodle cross - yes, I thought the same thing too!). He's a good lad and it was enjoyable living there - not least because in my cosy bedroom was an upright piano and a lovely old violin. It was missing an E string so I replaced it and every day I enjoyed downloading PDF sheet music and catching up with some long-overdue practice.
But at the weekend I popped home because Ella - one of my house-mates was having a birthday party. And a party's a party.
A friend of Ella is a DJ so he brought along his kit and set up in the kitchen worktop.
The house was throbbing!
Left to right: Some bloke, Shaun (housemate), Ella (housemate and birthday girl),
Sarah (friend of Ella - and any red-blooded bloke on the planet).
I'm busy on Wednesdays as I've just started Ceroc dancing. I'd finished cricket at the end of the summer and was looking for some other activity to be involved in so when I heard about it I gave it a go and now I've been a few times and despite never having even seen it before I started, I'm now becoming less and less incompetent. The tricky thing for blokes is that we have to lead. I recommend it actually. I must say it is a bit strange though - the normal procedure in my experience in night clubs or wherever is to ask a girl to dance and she says 'no'. At Ceroc however, they actually say 'yes' - how extraordinary is that?
I've even booked myself into the huge Ceroc event in October - workshops, displays from people who can actually dance and the highlight of the weekend - the grand Masquerade Ball! I shall report back on this exciting event in my life.
This last couple of weeks has been quite busy at work. Well, since there's only two of us who work full time it's always busy, but we've had some interesting projects through recently and we've had some mass media exposure. One of our authors was on the front page of the Dominion Post newspaper a couple of weeks ago for her book, next week another one of our authors is on TV1's 'Close Up' programme (prime time evening viewing) and a book I illustrated was the feature on Breakfast TV last week! (Click the link if you'd like to view the clip).
(I don't get royalties on the book sales though!)This evening I've been interrupted from writing my blog by a cosmic event happening even as I type. No, the confluence of Mars with Alpha Centuri hasn't caused a disruptive plasma surge that interrupted my viewing of The Simpsons this evening. There was infact a Lunar Eclipse.
Here's my Photoshop visual of my observations:
Other stuff:
Music I'm listening to at the moment includes:
The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side by The Magnetic Fields
All My Little Words by The Magnetic Fields
Hurt by Johnny Cash
Miserere mei by Allegri Gregorio
Last Train to Lhasa by Banco de Gaia
All of it excellent - download it and see what you think. Maybe I'll add recommendations next time if you like them :)
Endeavour [#22]
Being over this side of the world you get a different perspective on life. Rugby is the national religeon, erm, I mean sport, Europe seems a distant but vaguely curious novelty structure, I am a bit of an alien here (not that I'm made unwelcome!) and history lasts barely more than a century (as opposed to the last few thousand years). But living in a 'new' country you find that what history there is, is cherished proudly and gladly shown off. This is true for New Zealand, Australia and although I've never been there, I believe the USA. I have been working at First Edition publishing for nearly a year now and recently I was very pleased to have a couple of weeks of holiday. My brother, Steve, had a conference in Cairns, Queensland at the International Stem Cell Research thingy because he's a research scientist in the stem cell field. The conference would last only 4 days and there was no way he was going to fly from Edinburgh to Cairns just for 4 days without making the most of it so he brought his bike over and had been planning to cycle up into Cape York by himself afterwards.
That was until I heard about it! No, no, no, no - I wasn't going to miss the chance to head off into the Aussie outback and do some more serious exploring of that great land. In 2001 I'd invited myself along on his trip to the Himalayas so, again, I wasn't worried about volunteering myself as an essential member of the crew and making plans to arrive in Australia in time for the ride. Normally I'd be polite and wait to be asked, but this was my bro' and there was the tasty prospect of an adventure.
It was also a part of the world that I had some personal connections with. Back in 1998 I hitched hiked up into Cape York over dirt roads and camped by myself in the middle of nowhere until I got to Cooktown - a small, coastal pioneer town named after the famous Captain Cook.
Modern replica of 'Endeavour' - Captain Cook's vessel at Cooktown.
It was through staying there that by a series of random connections I managed to hitch on a private yacht and sail to New Zealand and I stayed there for 6 months in 1999. It was a thrilling voyage and I will never forget the powerful feelings I had 4 weeks later when I stuck my head through the hatch early one morning as we sailed gently into the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. This is where Captain Cook also made land back in 1769.
So anyway, I boxed up my bike, flew to Cairns and met up with my brother. We rode north intending to travel over the next 11 days right up to the tip of Cape York but after a few days it became evident that this was almost impossible. The conditions were at times gruelling with the rough and sometimes extremely hilly route making progress slower than we'd hoped. Even though it was the middle of winter, on some days we were dripping with sweat as we rode and soon became nicely dusted with the signature red Australian dust.
We were self-sufficient, each having a bush-camping hammock which we rigged up between a couple of gum trees. They have sewn-in mosquito nets and a separate fly sheet incase of rain so we were reasonably comfy.
Packing up the hammocks at one of our bush camps.
The weather in Australia however had been rather hostile and we found on several nights the temperature was really cold. We cooked on campfires, washed and drank from the pristine creeks wherever possible and used the great alfresco dunny as our toilet! We saw some wonderful wildlife. We didn't spot any crocodiles, but we had to do many river crossings and one day we camped next to a lake populated by esturine crocodiles. We were covered in dried sweat and encrusted with grime and sand so neither of us felt like bedding down without some kind of a wash so we took it in turns to have a quick, nervy bath while the other one stood guard with a sheath knife and improvised club! I doubt that this would have deterred a peckish crocodile in the least. It just seemed that 'Scrawny-Pom' wasn't on the menu for that night, thank-goodness! I did feel a bit of a pillock - I don't think I exactly have the 'Crocodile Dundee' profile!
We saw some impressive spiders and a magnificent snake though. We were riding through a dense section of tropical rainforest near the Daintree National Park and I was scouring the jungle for a cassowary (a very rare primaeval-looking bird - about as big as an ostrich and bright blue in colour) when I cycled right next to a rather large black snake who was sunning himself in a pool of warm sunlight. Steve was right behind and nearly rode over the poor guy but to everyone's relief we just had a pleasant close-encounter with no harm done on either side.
So we never managed to ride the full length of Cape York, but we modified our route and did a big loop back to Cairns. Total distance was something like 750km.
We did have unexpected issues as well. My rear tyre blew out (not just the inner tube but the actual tyre). I was lucky to get a hitch with the bike on a Ute to the nearest small town. A local police man drove up and parked a couple of minutes later and when he heard about my tyre he said - 'Oh, mate - I've got one of them you can have!' Now that's what I call a Police Service!
We also had to make a diversion at one point because they were burning of scrub as a bushfire counter-measure.
Roadside find - battered old number plate.
Now a trophy on my wall.
The change of plan gave us a couple of days relaxation at the end of the trip before our flights out of Australia. We were able to take the spectacular Skyrail cable car up through the rainforest and then we went out snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. I'd dived here before but I love snorkelling too and we had a most enjoyable end to our great trip. More photos are uploaded to my Picasa album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/colossusnz/CapeYorkJune07
Steve and me.
So now I'm back at work, though only for a short while as I'm heading back to the UK in September for my brother's wedding so if anyone's around please let me know and I'll try and visit as many people as I can.
Marmalade
Yes, I am still alive. I have to apologise as usual for the late arrival of my blog posting. I am still here, my arms and legs are still attached (my left arm has regrown after I was savaged by a wild predator - see previous posting) and my computer is still functioning so there is little excuse for my inactivity. Apart from my state of mind, but that can't be helped.Anyway, team, back to the point of this posting - news.
Summer events were plentiful in Wellington and I had to keep alert for the latest news of interesting and enjoyable activities to do because soon they were over. I completely missed the 'Fringe' and a comedy festival apparently.
I have been working since early August last year and apart from the odd Stat Day off (Bank Holiday) I hadn't taken any time off partly because I like to save my holiday for significant stuff instead of just shopping or regrouting the bathroom tiles or whatever it is that people do on their days off. The other reason I haven't had time off is because in NZ you don't actually get time off in the first year of a job (well, officially anyway). It's seen that during your first year you're earning your time off, so after that year you are then entitled to take it. But my boss is a very nice lady and I'm sure she would probably let me take some time if I whinged enough!
So it was a very pleasant break when we went to the annual Womad festival in New Plymouth. Unfortunately Marguerite's husband, Alan couldn't come because he was starting a new job on the Monday morning so wouldn't have been back intime so I drove up with Marguerite and we stayed at her parent's home. I love music festivals. It gave me the chance to break out my tie-dyed green trousers I'd carefully brought over with me and stowed in a safe place. If I wore them in Wellington I'd probably get beaten up but if I didn't wear them or a sarong or a kaftan or something similar at Womad I'd have felt left out.
'If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...' - come on everyone, sing along...It was just a shame my digeridoo is still back in England.
I enjoy taking candid shots of people absorbed in something-or-other. Here's a sweet one of a couple who were completely absorbed in - eachother!
But I'm not sure about the lady in the background looking at me, observing from behind 'covert surveillance' glasses. I'm sure I've see her before, always watching, waiting for me to slip up. She might not even be human at all.
I suspect she's one of ... 'them'.
After a slightly dodgy start to the cricket season (scoring only one run in about a dozen games!), I finished the season feeling a completely different man. I had never really played before so it was a lot to learn for someone who is by nature quite clumsy, uncoordinated and not the most aggressively or competetively minded. By anyone's standards I was quite poor back in September but now I am ever-so slightly less poor now due to the incredible patience and careful tutoring of my team-mates. And so it was with great surprise and to my utter delight that at the end of season prize giving dinner I was given our team prize for Most Improved Player for team 2C(B)! I was very excited - it may be just a small plastic award, but it means the World to me! (OK, a cynical person might say that for a cricketer as incompetent as I was, improving was the only possible direction I could go!) 
I don't know why he's playing cricket while riding on a scateboard though.
The other weekend I went out with the club on my first proper tramp in NZ since I was a hard-core outback adventurer back in 1999. We went to the Tararuas range and the photos can be seen at my new Picasa album site - http://picasaweb.google.com/colossusnz/
The chaps on the walk : Andrew, Paul, me, Alain, Craig.
Work is going fine. Work is still going on with the new premises and I sometimes find myself being asked to stop designing books and to go out to unload piles of wood from the ute, hold plaster board onto a ceiling for Perry to power-screw it in place or even more exciting things. Last bank holiday I painted the outside of the building then put up fencing round the back of the building. Last week I worked 80 hours.
Here's me deconstructing a brick wall with the kango hammer. I also used it to cut through the tarmac so we could erect the fence posts. There was a slight incident when I discovered a drain pipe. However, I would like to state that there was no way of knowing that there was an 8inch storm drain where I was digging, the hole I bored through it was not all that large anyway, and the repair I made was, I'm sure, completely water tight, so there is no need for anyone to be concerned at all. :/ Especially the local council.
End of.
My boss, Marguerite and Alan have adopted a greyhound. He's called Jack and is an impressive athlete. Most days I take him for a walk when we go out for a pee. Occasionally he does one too! It has been a bit funny, a couple of times when a delivery man or someone has come in and left the door open Jack has sneaked out and bounded down the street. No matter what deadlines are on, we stop everything and head off desperately searching the streets of Maungaraki trying to chase down a greyhound that's gone awol. Naturally it's a bit of a chase! Jack is a lovable dog. Really good natured and friendly. He gets excited when I take him for walks because I run with him. And he was born to run. This animal, I'm convinced was designed in a wind tunnel. He is a supremely sculpted creature, even down to his little ears, I'm sure the designer selected them above the other prototypes for their small size and swept back shape to minimise turbulence.
Autumn is now here and I'm pleased I bought a heater back in the height of the summer.
I do have some big news for this posting. My brother, Steve has just got engaged (congratulations Steve and Heather) and they are to be hitched this coming September. Therefore, I am currently planning a trip back home for an exciting holiday and reunion, so if anyone would like to see me, book early because I'll be having a very busy tour. (Well I like to think I would, it could be very quet if no-one's interested).
Recently I finished the last of the seville orange marmalade I'd brought from England. I was in a desperate state because I just can't bear supermarket marmalade because it's just sweet and tasteless - it just doesn't cut the mustard - so to speak! Anyway, I couldn't get seville oranges so I made a big vat of lime marmalade and even by my ludicrous marmalade standards it tastes extremely good - I gave a jar to my boss, but literally two days later she said her husband Alan had finished it and he'd asked if I had another jar! - He really likes it aparently!
Another event I went to this summer was to watch England play the Black Caps at cricket. It seems a compulsion in NZ to invent some contrived alternate name for any national sports team. The original is obviously the All Blacks (rugby), other examples are Tall Blacks (NZ basketball team), Silver Ferns (NZ ladies netball), Black Sticks (hockey), Kiwis (rugby league), All Whites (football though they mistakenly call this game 'soccer'), Black Socks (Softball), and it goes on - and on.The most amusing one I've heard is that the national badminton team are called the Black Cocks! I jest not. Anyway - I went to watch the cricket with an old flatmate who lived in the UK for 5 years and who was torn with his loyalty despite being a local! We found ourselves sitting with the legendary Barmy Army and the whole day was a very funny and entertaining experience. The repertoire and humour in the singing was very impressive. Attractive young women who walked past were warmly applauded, a lot of beer was consumed but it was just a lubricant for even more witty comments and jollity. The cricket was really good too, and we won! 
I am now a dedicated fan of Ceroc dancing. I take myself off every week to my classes and 'freestyle' that follows and judging from quite a few comments I've received, I'm no longer entirely incompetent. I am now an Intermediate Plus dancer. Intermediate Plus dancers are so much more skilled and experienced than mere Intermediate dancers. If I wasn't so noble and dignified I'd scoff at those lowly Intermediate dancers ;)
I met up with Shaun and Michelle recently. They're old flatmates of mine and we went to a 'jungle' themed party. I wore my ex-US army Vietnam era helmet and they came as soft toys.
Some of my ex-flatmates - Sara, Jo and Nik.
