I can't believe it's here already. I actually thought I would be spending Christmas in South America as my itinerary had stated, that was until you start traveling and realise you never really have an itinerary!!! So here I am, currently in the very centre of New Zealand's North Island. I spent the few days before Xmas, reuniting with old friends from Taupo (and Darren of course), drinking with old friends from Taupo (and Darren of course) and collapsing unconcious on the hostel floor with old friends from Taupo (oh and Darren of course). There has also been a lot of playing footy in the park (with my new Spurs shirt - recently purchased off a man in the street in Auckland), and resting the very weary bones - it's a hard life.
Christmas Day was a similar affair. Pete (once a chef) cooked us up the most outrageous Xmas breakfast and dinner. We eat and drunk all day as is expected and watched the Christmas films that are shown every year around this time and it doesn't matter what country in the world you are in. It was probably the hottest day I have spent in New Zealand and so I shouldn't have been shocked when I almost collapsed from the heat but mostly from being completely unfit, when a game of 5-a-side football in the park started. Luckily we had the paddling pool out on stand-by.
For many travelers, at least that I spoke to - Christmas was quite a sad time of year this time round and I do see what they mean. Xmas is about family and none of us had that. Many thought about what they would be doing at home, all the food, the people, the traditions - that you just can't quite recreate out on the road. I mean, for example - it was hot and sunny - at Christmas. Thats when you know something's not quite right - when your trying not to get heat stroke in December. Still, we had a blast and it was soon back to normality. For me, I was lucky enough to have a small part of Christmas at home - even if it was via a webcam. It was incredible seeing all the family and friends from home of which I had not seen for ten and a half months. Miss you all.
In the days that followed, we got to watch all the Premiership football, eat a whole heap of left-over's, go out and party, play poker, go to the weekly quiz night and sometimes just watch the sunset's that emerged over Lake Taupo and which are by far the best I have seen since my days in Thailand.
We also prepared ourselves for one big night of partying. We knew it was going to be epic, I mean we were saying goodbye to a year that was never to return again. 2008 was over and we had to say fairwell in style. New Year was upon us - bring on 2009.............
Tuesday 30 December 2008
Merry Christmas
Life In Auckland
So the parties were over for a few weeks and it was back to work. I'm starting to settle down in Auckland now. I work Monday to Friday, play 5-a-side football every Thursday (just like at home) and have a real good time at the weekends. And with it being ridiculously hot in November and December (huh) and some stunning beaches at hand - life is good at the moment.
Weekend's are fun. I generally go out and drink my money away, but while I'm out here I still try and do as much as I can, especially if it's something I can't do at home. Recently I went to see a Mr David Beckham play in a promotional game. He was in town with his L.A. Galaxy team mates from the USA. They were playing against an Oceana all-stars team that had been put together. Well they claimed it to be an Oceana team - and so I was somewhat suprised to see Dutch superstar and ex-Spurs hero Edgar Davids playing. They also had a few other recognisable old-timers who had just come out of retirement but still wanted to travel the world showing their footy skills to willing fans. Actually, in a game that was far more 'kick around in the park' than a competitive game of football, it was nice to see Davids (with shades on of course) going in full studs like a madman possessed and at one point almost getting sent off. Nevertheless - the New Zealanders out there only really came to see one man - and that was Beckham. To be fair - the man was spreading the ball around like Glen Hoddle even if he wasn't prepared to actually make any sort of run throughout the entire game. He also seemed to have full control of the referee who gave him every decision and I'm sure I even saw him blow for half time upon Beck's request!!! A good day out nontheless.
I had actually booked a few weeks off work over the Christmas and New Year period, which was soon upon us. I was to heading back to Taupo for the last time. Darren was still down there working, but was leaving in January and moving on to Queenstown with his girlfriend Jacqui. I would be returning to Auckland (and anywhere else that work was to take me) and we both knew that we would likely not return to Taupo after this final festive occassion. It would be a good send off to the place though, as we had so many friends down there and even more joining us from elsewhere.
Before Jacqui (who is currently working in Auckland) and I departed for Taupo, we decided to climb a volcano. Jacqui wanted to do it before she left as she wasn't returning to Auckland and of course I was up for the challenge. The volcano in question was Rangitoto. It is the youngest volcano in the Auckland Volcanic Field (erupting approximately 600 years ago) and also happens to be the largest in the field by quite some way. This is certainly worrying volcanologists, that subsequent eruptions may be even larger and going off in a city like Auckland can only mean disaster. Still I currently don't have time to worry about such an event so off we went.
The eruption was offshore and the volcano is thus a large island now, covered in parts in lush vegetation. We took the ferry over and spent the day climbing. It's not a large volcano and therfore not a tough climb. You can walk to the summit and clamber around the crater in an hour, where the views of Auckland are pretty amazing. The volcano is actually a bit like a desert island, you can walk around some parts and not see a sole. Black / grey lava dominates large parts of landscape, at least where vegetation has failed to grow and with a simple map - you can easily track down the lava caves. Formed as moltern rock crusts over it's outer surface, cutting deeper into the underlying rocks and digging down to form an underground river. Eventually the lava drains away and you are left with a tube or lava cave. We strolled around in the dark caves, generally falling over and cutting ourselves. With the sun glowing throughout, it was a perfect day to spend on a volcano!!!
Holiday period had crept upon me and it was time to leave Auckland again. Jacqui and I took the 6 hour bus ride south, where we reunited with many old friends. The party in Taupo was to commence once more.....
Friday 5 December 2008
More Chaos In Auckland
So the Taupo party was over but the following weekend, Darren, Pete, Steve and Tom came up to Auckland to continue the festivities. It was an insane weekend. We covered so much ground. We had two very drunken nights out, with even more people out than the previous week.
To recover, we went to Mission Bay. It's a short drive from town and is considered one of the most scenic beach spots in Auckland. It is stunning and we stayed on a grassy spot where we all played football and soaked up the sun. I still can't get over that it's sunny and hot in November but I can't complain about it. Christmas in Summer is definately going to be weird too.
On the Sunday, the Auckland Christmas Parade was on, in which it appeared the whole of NZ was crammed into one street. It was a fun event and we watched for a while before Darren and I headed off to do our 5th bungy jump - together. We had done a tandem bungy for my birthday so we had to do one for his. The jump is off the Auckland Harbour Bridge. They tied us together, we had our party hats on, and because we were both so hungover - we sort of flopped off the edge. The photos and video are hilarious. This time it was Darren's turn to depart as he headed back to Taupo. I would see him again for Christmas and New Year's though.
So my life has continued here in Auckland. I continue to see Harriet, Rob and Kate plus some others who we have all made good friends with. On the way back from Harriet's flat one evening (it's a 30 minute walk to my hostel) I am walking past the edge of a park when I see a man run out - it looked suspicious but thought nothing of it. Then a few seconds later I hear a scream and I think - oh no - why me. A woman runs out crying and a few seconds further on, I'm chasing a criminal down the street. She's had her bag stolen and so I'm trying to ring 999 even though I know that isn't the emergency services here. Eventually I remember and dial 111. We lost the criminal, so I waited around until two Police cars turned up and we gave descriptions.
Apart from that my life in New Zealand has been perfectly normal. I play football with Rob and the old boys on a Thursday morning before work. It's just like home except I can't play with my Father, so Steele and Steele partnership is somewhat lacking. Auckland is a cool city, perhaps not the most exciting but will keep me entertained for now. I may eventually go mad at their traffic lights though, where I joke you not - you have to wait for what seems like an Ice Age before it allows you to cross the road. On one occasion I actually grew a full beard waiting to cross!!!
Nevertheless, life goes on. I'm hoping to get a free ticket to see LA Galaxy and David Beckham play in a football match as they are all here in Auckland for some promotional game. Work continues, and Christmas away from home is around the corner. It's been 10 months so far and counting, and while it now looks like it could be at least that time again before I make it back - I think it's a good a time as any to say - I Love you all and always will........
Taupo - Just For The Weekend
Darren's Birthday was looming and I knew I had to and wanted to take a road trip to Taupo for his birthday weekend. I kept it completely secret that I was going down to see him and I still can't believe (he's a clueless man sometimes) that he thought I wasn't going down to Taupo to celebrate with him. The reason was because he had been given time off work the following weekend and so he was going to come up to Auckland with a few people from the hostel and celebrate with us then. We were always going down though.
Myself, Harriet and Jacqueline (a lovely American girl who lives just north of Auckland and who is now going out with Darren, all departed together on the Friday night. Jacqueline has a car, so drove us all down and we arrived to a very shocked Darren.
The whole weekend was great. There were loads of us out on his birthday night, including everyone from the Go Global Hostel (it was weird being back there and seeing everyone again), a group of Canadians that we dragged along and some people who I had met in Auckland and told them to meet us in the hostel if they happened to be in Taupo that weekend - they were.
I bought Darren a football for his birthday to keep him amused and after a messy two days and nights, we left him back in Taupo and headed on home. However - I would see him in a week - he was still coming to Auckland the following weekend and the party would surely continue there......
Geology Rocks - Living The Life Of A Volcanologist!!!
One of the main reasons that I am back up here in the big city was because I was starting more volcano work, this time with the University of Auckland. I'm working on a newly launched project called DEVORA (DEtermining VOlcanic Risk in Auckland) which is partly run by the University and partly by the company I was working for before - GNS. DEVORA is a 7 year project aimed at understanding better the Auckland Volcanic Field for future risk situations should another volcano pop up somewhere in the city. You wouldn't think it if you had never been here but Auckland has about 50 volcanoes. Most small bumps within the relatively flat land here are volcanic center's. How it works is that every now and again a small blob of magma rises to the surface and creates a new volcano, then it becomes extinct. The problem is - the next volcano won't be where it has been before - it will just pop up - most likely in someone's backyard. Although the volcanoes are geologically small - when you have a populated city like Auckland - damage and death are still likely to be high. Thats why DEVORA was set up.
In my first week, I did very little. DEVORA was being launched so I got to go to fancy presentations, drink champagne and eat nibbles. The big event was held in the Auckland Museum where they have a volcano exhibition and even a volcano simulator which everyone had a go on of course. Then I started. My main project is to collect borehole data from all sorts of different sources and then use this information to create wonderful 3D maps of essentially - what is beneath our feet, under the city. It hasn't been done before and is like one big detective investigation which will keep me happy for quite a while.
Actually my job has somewhat taken a huge twist. Initially I was just going to work on this project for a month and then that was it - volcano work over. But after spending a day out in the field with a volcanologist from GNS called Graham Leonard and also through talking to my boss of the DEVORA project - Jan Lindsay, I have now been offered permanent on-going work with a contract up to September 2009. I've excepted the job partly because of the money (I currently don't have any) but mostly because this is the exact reason I wanted to come to NZ. I can't refuse it - I'm now a volacnologist!!! The job is ideal. Most of the time I will be working on the DEVORA project but every now and again - Graham will call me and say that this job needs doing here. Essentially I am a volcano handy-man. There are already plans for me to work in the lab down in Wellington, and then they are going to fly me off to Dunedin in the South Island to do some sampling work for a few weeks. Then when thats all done - they will fly me back to Auckland to continue on DEVORA. It's perfect because I get many fingers into many pies and it all looks good for the CV.
I have already done one job for Graham. For two weeks I was out collecting cores from an extinct volcano - the Pukaki Crater. I got my own vehicle (a big off-road beast) which I had to drive (hadn't driven for 9 months) through Auckland to the site. It was so much fun driving again. When we got to the site - the drillers were out. We had basically hired drillers to core down into the crater and bring up whatever was down there. I was the boss on-site and had to make sure the sediment cores came out OK, especially as the drillers were getting paid 30,000 NZ dollars a day to do it. It was great fun, very muddy and I learnt a lot. I did however get the worst hay-fever ever, sun burnt to a cinder (NZ sun is strong - no Ozone) and on my first day I got electrocuted. The crater was once a farm and a cow fence runs around it - but it's not a farm anymore so I assumed resting my arm on the fence wouldn't be such an issue - wrong. It felt like someone had shot me in the foot as I could physically feel the jolt go through my body and then down my left leg to my foot and onwards to the Earth. I didn't do that again. When the drilling was done - I was back in the lab to help cut and prepare the cores that came out. The cores were fantastic. We drilled to about 75m which brought up sediment dated to about 140,000 years. There were some great volcanic ash layers in the cores too. Job well done.
So I'm now back on DEVORA and my career has finally taken off. I'm going to learn a lot this year. It's just a shame it's so far away from home. My life for now - is in Auckland, although - when the occasion calls - there's always time for a road trip. Oh, is that Darren's Birthday I hear calling.......
Auckland - Back In The Big City!!!
So it's been a while since I updated - far too long in fact, so I apologise for that but my events during that time won't disappoint! So let me begin.....
I arrived back in Auckland about 6 weeks ago and have been here pretty much all of that duration. Yet while I have settled (for now), my life continues to race past me. In brief, life is far from normal. For example - in the past month and a bit I have nearly been killed in a quad bike incident, I've chased a criminal down the road, I've been to a World Cup Final and oh yeah - I got electrocuted. Coupled with some nights out that can only be summed up with the word "chaos" and throw in a 5th bungy jump to all that - and thats where I'm up to these days.
My first night in Auckland was the start of all the mayhem that has preceded recently. The day I arrived - I took a trip to Waiheke Island. It's a stunning place, full of quiet beaches and vineyards. I met up with two friends who I had met and gone out with in what became a crazy night in Taupo. By the time I had arrived Rob, Harriet and Harriet's cousin Kate (all from England originally) were already a little merry and had picked up three Kiwi guys who were also relatively merry. One of them had a house out on the Island so we all went back. Well, I say a house - what it turned out to be was a secluded 70's style mansion, set up in the hillside and looking over a particularly nice stretch of sand known as Palm Beach. Aparently his neighbour was the richest man in New Zealand - I believed it. We Spent the night drinking, playing cards and getting lost trying to get to the beach.
From that moment on, I had found my new best friends in Auckland. With Darren left back in Taupo, Harriet, Rob and Kate became my new best pals. We would meet during the weekday's after work and at weekends and chill out. Harriet and Kate have an Aunt and Uncle living north of Auckland (they own a farm) and we have all been up to visit. On one occasion - they were throwing a BBQ party and so we all headed over. Harriet, in no fit state to drive decided that she would take me on her Aunt's quad bike and show me the farm. It was pitch dark but she knew the farm and there would be no cars out there - so off we went. With blurred vision, Harriet lost control on the side of a hill and the quad began to roll. Luckily for me I was thrown off one side to safety but as I stand up I see the quad completely roll over, perhaps three times and Harriet is somewhere under it. Now this is what you think during a situation like this - I have no idea where I am, it's pitch dark with no idea how to get back, I can't call anyone because I have no reception and I have a dead girl lying under a quad bike. Fortunately for me I hear a scream as the quad has only landed (somehow) only on Harriet's foot - and the word's "Alex, get this quad bike off me". I then had to lift this vehicle off her and get it back the right way. In the end we all survived but Harriet's foot (over a month later) is still in agony and she is now going for an MRI scan to finally figure out what the hell she has done to it.
In other recent events - we all went to a World Cup Final. The first ever U17's Womens World Cup was being held in New Zealand and the final was being played in Auckland - so we all got tickets and went to see USA take on Korea. It was held in a small but impressive stadium and 16,000 people turned up to see the game. I can't say that the football on display was of the highest quality but it was a friendly atmosphere and a good day out. The great Franz Beckenbauer was there too, to hand the trophy out to Korea who deservedly won.
Many more events have accumulated during my time in Auckland, but first - I had a job to start.......
