That would be capitol.

Sydney And New Zealand In A Nutshell

2010-03-10T00:08:00.004-02:00

Its taken longer than I hoped to get around to posting about the Sydney/New Zealand trip Jen and I just got back from. I've posted most of the pics up on Picasa instead of Flickr this time to see how the two services compare. Sydney pics are here and New Zealand pics are here but the better ones are all below along with some details of what we did.

We had the good fortune of some Delta Dollars for not taking some oversold flights when we went to Louisiana. The offer was so good we skipped flying, took the Delta Dollars, rented a car, and drove home. We had three places in mind when we were thinking about where to go: Iceland, Argentina, and (later) New Zealand. I wanted to go as far away as possible while we had the opportunity to go on the cheap and everybody loves New Zealand. Steve and Anna said it was their favorite country on their round-the-world trip and Casey and Nicole (who had spent some time in Sydney) spoke highly of both Australia and New Zealand. Once we decided on New Zealand we had to consider what we'd do in the limited time we had there. I could only get away with two weeks vacation from work. We decided not to attempt both islands (there are technically 3 islands) and instead go just to the South Island where there are fewer people, beautiful beaches, and fairly big mountains.

To get there we booked a flight to Sydney as there were no Delta flights to Christchurch. The plan was to relax a few days in Sydney and then catch one of the low-fare airlines to Christchurch. And so the trip begins in Sydney...

Sydney's famous for its opera house and harbor bridge. This is maybe an untraditional view of the opera house. Normally you see it from the side, like this:

But almost never like this:

I didn't know it had tiles like that. It looks shiny and smooth from a distance.

Before we left Casey put together an itinerary based on her and Nicole's time in Sydney and New Zealand. We based our 3 days in Sydney on their excellent plan. The first full day in Sydney we took the bus to Coogee Beach and walked a coastal path from there to Bondi Beach...

Some boats and people along the way.

Me safely standing behind the guardrail.

Jen falling off a cliff.

The cemetery where they bury all the people who have fallen off the cliff.

Arriving at Bondi Beach. The building on the left is the home of the Icebergs Swimming Club/Team/Bar/Restaurant.

Also home of ginger beer. Its like sangria with a hairy chest.

The beach viewed from Icebergs.

We stayed in the Sheraton right near the harbor so just outside our door were some pretty cool sights. Across the street in the park was the cathedral:

And around the corner was this spire:

The first day we were there this cruise ship was docked:

And of course in the harbor there are tons of sailboats:

Its amazing how quickly memories of the trip become muddled and overlapping. I don't remember which day was which but while we were in Sydney we also went through the botanical gardens and took the ferry out to Taronga Zoo and Manly Beach.

Australia's famous for two things: Crocodile Dundee and tree goats like this one. Amazingly we went to a zoo in Australia and saw goats climbing trees but no kangaroos.

Australia is home to many deadly poisonous snakes. This is not one of them. Maybe its a cultural thing but in Australia its completely ok to hold another man's python in public.

I just thought I'd throw this one in at this point. Moving on...

Pelicans.

Elephants, including a baby one that we watched throw a plastic container around for a long time.

Sea lions. We ended up seeing a lot of these in New Zealand too.

The zoo is up a slight hill from the water and has water access via docks below. If you have a boat you can sail right up.

After the zoo we went to Manly Beach. I don't think we took any pictures there. Mainly because I was out fighting the rip tide as huge waves came in, ground me into the sand and drug me out to sea where I defiantly fought my way back towards shore again and again until the life guards started yelling at everybody that it was too dangerous and that they were going home. I didn't care for Manly Beach as much as the other beaches we visited. I thought Bondi was the best.

I guess it was the next day we caught a flight to New Zealand...

I'll save that for the next post(s).

In Sydney, Leaving For NZ Tomorrow

2010-02-22T08:30:00.004-02:00

Tried to post a pic but I'm on a public PC that can't save anything. So far we've done a lot of walking, saw the Opera House, Botanical Gardens, went to Manly and Bondi beaches by ferry. We've had great weather but its really hot here. Hoping South Island, NZ is cooler. Tomorrow we'll find out. We land in Christchurch around 2pm, pick up the car and head for Kaikoura. The day after we have an early morning whale watching trip then head further north toward Nelson. Everyone here says South Island is great. Australia seems great too though the food is very expensive and we've only been around in Sydney.

We Have Reservations In New Zealand

2010-02-18T16:51:00.000-02:00

A Cold Ride To Suches

2010-02-07T18:05:00.002-02:00

Halfway up.

At the top.

A Live Ride Report From NZ's South Island

2010-01-29T02:46:00.002-02:00

Here.

Happy Carefree 100,000 miles, Jetta

2010-01-25T02:41:00.001-02:00

Had 8 on it when I bought it. Just last 100,000 more, please.

2010-01-24T20:52:00.001-02:00

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/23/greene.haiti.american.aid/index.html?hpt=C1

Could This Be The 2011 BMW R1200GS?

2010-01-17T22:40:00.003-02:00

Jalopnik rarely has motorcycles on the site. This is about as close as they've gotten in awhile.

Be Dangerous Kids

2010-01-14T21:18:00.004-02:00

SF Gate has an article on "Dangerous things (parents should let their kids do)".

I'd like to point out that #3 on the list is "Deconstruct appliances" which I take to include non-functioning game consoles. And "Reconstruct appliances" is NOT on the list.

I'd also like to mention the fact that the world lost a great chemist when my chemistry set was taken away (never to be seen again) because of unsupervised use.

Meanwhile we rode bicycles without helmets, swung from vines in the woods near the house, played with knives, and survived all of it.

(And just to be clear, I found that site on a meta-news site. I'm not an avid reader of "The Mommy Files" nor the SF Gate.)

Exploring The Silver Comet Trail

2010-01-14T20:26:00.002-02:00

I was so excited to discover the Silver Comet last night that I decided to go ride a portion of it today. Work had graciously given me some time off after a recent project and the weather today and tomorrow is supposed to be great so everything fell into place. The trail is about 15 miles from my house so around 10am I loaded up the bike and set off.

First stop IHOP for some fuel. Then over to Publix for water and granola.

When I unloaded the bike, I found out what that popping noise was that I heard when loading it. Its hard to see in the pic because its out of focus but I somehow managed to bend the thing that holds the front brake line. Still works fine.

There are fair number of bridges and tunnels early on. Here's one of the first I crossed.

And one of the tunnels.

I stopped at Silver Comet Depot to see their selection of Specialized and Bianchi bikes and to pick up a second bike lock since I'd left mine at home. They're friendly and have a small but good selection.

I'm really pleased with the MTX bag. It holds more than you would think even without the panniers pulled out.

There's still a lot of ice on and along the trail. Most of the surface ice has been crushed by so many feet and wheels that its not a problem. I did fish-tail it once which was fun.

While riding on the trail you feel like you're somewhere remote but the whole time there are streets large and small all around, at least on this initial portion of the trail. Mostly you just see trees and the backs of nice neighborbood houses but there are some less than ideal sites along the way too... like this junkyard.

My plan was to ride 15 miles in and 15 miles back for a total of 30 miles. This would be about the distance required for each day along The Otago Rail Trail. It's something I'm trying to convince Jen to do for 2 (3, or 4) days on the south island of New Zealand. Unfortunately the trail is closed at 14.69 miles from the start.

They do offer a detour by road but I didn't follow it. At this point I turned around to head back.

At the 14.69 mile marker there's an old caboose that is now used by the police who patrol the trail.

By the time I rode back to the trail head and up the trail head connector I was hungry. A Rueben Cubano from La Fonda hit the spot.

How Did I Not Know About This?!

2010-01-14T00:32:00.003-02:00

"The Silver Comet Trail is located 13 miles northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. It's free of charge, and travels west through Cobb, Paulding, and Polk counties. This quiet, non-motorized trail is for walkers, hikers, bicyclists, rollerbladers, horses, dog walkers, and is wheelchair accessible."

You can ride a bike from Cobb to Alabama (and then some more along the Chief Ladiga Trail)! I had heard of the Silver Comet Trail but I assumed it was like one of those trails that runs along the river for a short distance.

A writeup on the trail at Lonely Planet.

Urban Practicality

2010-01-13T00:46:00.002-02:00

Roadies and weight weenies may scoff at the uncoolness of a kickstand on a bike but my latest upgrade is more practical than stylish. Tired of risking a scratch from leaning the bike on things.

Blizzard '10

2010-01-08T00:42:00.000-02:00

Terror Will Be Introduced To The Office

2010-01-05T22:49:00.001-02:00

My last Christmas present arrived!

2010-01-02T20:07:00.001-02:00

Small Scale Home Improvement

2010-01-01T20:15:00.001-02:00

Securing the backyard so Stella can't escape again.

Cleaning out behind the shed. Easier than cleaning out what's in the shed.

Paris On Ponce

2009-12-19T21:06:00.002-02:00

A little bit Alice in Wonderland, a little big Donnie Darko.

Zucc Fritters

2009-12-15T01:26:00.002-02:00

Made these awesome zucchini fritters last night. One zucchini. One small onion. 1/4 cup of flour. 1/4 cup Parmesan. Some fresh mint. Some fresh parsley. A little cinnamon. 1/4 cup breadcrumbs. An egg and some olive oil. Mix it all up and fry it.

Upgrades

2009-12-02T00:30:00.003-02:00

Betz told me buying a house was a good investment. So far its just costing a lot of money. This week we've been painting and doing minor upgrades. Originally the whole house was urine yellow.

Like this.

So I picked out a palette. Painted 3 walls of the living room a coffee colored brown which goes good with the blue and gray tile in the kitchen.

Painted the master bath the same color.

It used to look like this.

Then painted the 4th wall in the living room Moroccan Red.

The guest bathroom was all white, now its blue.

The master bedroom is now green.

Still working on the guest bedroom. It's a darker blue than the bathroom.

Busy Couple Of Weeks

2009-11-24T02:25:00.002-02:00

First I bought this house.

And started cleaning out the apartment.

Then this weekend Jen and I and a bunch of friends went up near Dahlonega to celebrate Anna's **th birthday.

At this gigantic house.

With its own lake, swimming pool, and hot tub.

It even had goats that live under the stairs.

We visited the Montaluce Winery.

And took the tour.

Choose Your Own Adventure

2009-11-13T01:39:00.002-02:00

Here's a fantastic article on the structure of Choose Your Own Adventure books, how the books are organized, speculation on how they were made, and how they can be analyzed using concepts from computer science.

25

2009-11-11T22:19:00.003-02:00

Yesterday was my birthday and Jen presented me with this mysterious polka dot box.

Inside was an essential tool for my foray into urban homesteading and green lawn care: a Scotts 20" Classic Push Reel Mower with adjustable height blade!

Then she took me to Pura Vida, a tapas restaurant owned by Hector Santiago of Top Chef fame. What I didn't know was that she had invited Elizabeth and Adam, Michael and Wanda, and Steve to dinner! We had mussels, mini cuban sandwiches, hanger steak, a goat and green plantain tapa (shown above) and some others. Then we had flan and churros for dessert. It was awesome! We even had our picture taken with Hector! But Steve has the camera with those pics so I'll have to post them later.

Great Road Signs

2009-11-11T22:07:00.002-02:00

From the Great Road Signs thread on ADV.

JJ Abrams On Mystery And Inspiration

2009-10-26T23:56:00.002-02:00

Fifteen dollars buys you fifty dollars worth of magic.

"As more cyclists hit the road, more cyclists hit the road"

2009-10-18T21:31:00.001-02:00

"On a local and national level, people need to be aware of the fact that a push for bike transportation for the sake of health, the environment, and lower transportation costs has real potential to raise medical costs because our infrastructure may not be ready for it," Kashuk added. "Look at all the safety factors that have been incorporated in automobiles and streets and highways. If even a percentage of that kind of investment went into safety vis-a-vis bike, paths and community infrastructure, we would protect people from major injury."

Headline stolen from Fark.