tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87706552011-04-21T23:30:36.446+01:00This is an account of my time traveling the world! Whilst all are welcome to look at it it's primarily for the benefit of my friends and family so that if they ever want to know how my travels are going they can look here.Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.comBlogger871100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-55638929870740174392008-02-09T02:02:00.000Z2009-01-19T02:35:02.786Z

Much the same as last year and, I imagine, the years gone by before it the traditional Waitangi Day Pub Crawl around the Cirle Line on the London Underground was a huge amount of fun for all!This year my university friend Shariar (aka Glenn) was over in the UK and joined us for the festivities. The photo below is of Glenn and my flatmate Gwen who was an honorary Kiwi for the day.For those of you

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-21921733899367231672008-02-02T19:23:00.000Z2008-02-02T19:48:29.917Z

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-28911384227277100662007-12-13T14:47:00.006Z2008-06-18T16:08:06.689+01:00

A good friend of mine, Viktoria, who I met in Galway, Ireland, is from Germany and we'd been planning to meet up again for some time. Finally, with us both getting our A's into G we arranged for me to come and visit her in Köln (aka Cologne) to visit the famous Christmas Markets. I'd already been, briefly, to the Christmas Markets in Frankfurt (on the way to England when I was younger) and

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-41669960467096691972007-10-23T13:54:00.012+01:002008-06-19T10:08:06.109+01:00

This was the first time I'd planned a sightseeing holiday for more than one person since I left NZ and trying to ensure that Tansy and I were both going to be able to see the things we were each most interested in meant more work than I was used to but all the more rewarding to have someone to share the discoveries with.The plan was to get the train to Scotland and then hire a car for a week then

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-45832976503608793282007-09-19T17:19:00.000+01:002008-01-20T16:20:01.613Z

Boston is like a little bit of England that has been taken over by Americans. It's a beautiful city in a pleasant English way rather than an over the top American way. It's full of history and distinction, housing 28 Colleges (Universities) in the metropolitan area alone including Harvard, MIT and Berkley. From its colonial origins to its role in the American War of Independence there's

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-14998323152150647542007-09-14T12:23:00.000+01:002008-02-02T20:37:07.655Z

New York, New York. It's easy to see why so much is made of this city in media all over the world. This city is just amazing and in a very different way to Washington. Where Washington is sedate and majestic New York is vibrant and colourful. In D.C. a sense of planned grandeur is present whereas in NY you get a melting pot of ideas where the 'can do' attitude and competitive one-up-manship has

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-51047813426505913202007-09-09T01:05:00.000+01:002007-09-28T23:11:23.022+01:00

Washington D.C. is typical of the patrotic United States of America that is portrayed in Hollywood movies. The 'bigger is better' atitude, the wide open boulevards packed with gas guzzling cars, the 'throw away' society, the extravagance, the shear size of everything and the near worshipful reverance of fallen patriot Americans. Frightening at times? Certainly. But, boy, is it impressive!I had

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-3344125075857120302007-08-25T13:32:00.000+01:002007-09-07T13:33:03.514+01:00

This is a work in progress

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-16239742500956859772007-08-18T13:13:00.000+01:002007-09-07T13:31:18.941+01:00

Just a quick post to say that I WENT TO A MONSTER TRUCK RALLY!!! It was awesome! The noise that those things make, the smell of burning fuel and the shear stompyness of it all was so cool!!!It was all Tansy's idea and she gets massive kudos for this one! I wasn't told where we were going, just given a matchbox truck and told it was a hint =) They initially had races around a course with jumps

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-62732180451114189942007-08-09T12:58:00.000+01:002007-09-10T01:25:59.667+01:00

What can I say? If you're even vaguely interested in the arts and do not make it to this festival at least once in your lifetime then you have not lived!The Fringe Festival is an offshoot from the more prestigous traditional International Edinburgh Festival which is commonly associated with opera, classical music and, of course, the Edinburgh MilitaryTattoo. It starting in 1948 when a bunch of

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-11252952735130106842007-06-15T16:07:00.000+01:002007-06-26T22:27:40.629+01:00

Following my recent camping trip with some work colleagues I've been asked to write an account of the trip for the office mag. This is it:London Geotechnics Outdoors Camping in the Peak District15-17th June 2007A foreboding weather forecast with severe weather warnings did not immediately suggest that camping in the Peak District would be an ideal way to spend a weekend. However, in the true

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-55510146093743809512007-04-23T09:54:00.000+01:002007-04-26T10:17:45.637+01:00

I have now achieved a small life goal - being involved in setting a pointless world record!Pointless, stupid, to some this may be the case? But for me it was fantastic, hilarious and incredibly silly! It was all to promote the West End production of the Monty Python musical, Spamalot. Based loosely on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot (which I will be seeing on May 2nd) promoters

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-12491562208342622722007-03-02T19:13:00.000Z2007-03-09T19:39:45.204Z

Thanks to an enthusiastic bunch at work a trip to Snowdonia in Wales was organised. This was great as it not only gave me a chance to see Wales again (I had visited once before as a child) but also to actually get out and about hiking around a national park – something that I’ve not done as much of as I’d like in Europe.So, after the hire car turned up 2 hours late I was off on Friday afternoon

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-33234928791079545902007-02-02T16:10:00.000Z2007-02-19T16:33:46.745Z

The following was written by my sister and it's an account of the Waitangi Day celebrations in London which we were both part of.The Waitangi Day pub crawl round the Circle Line of London’s Underground is not a time to be sexy. It is not a time to be cool, or smartly dressed. Or sober. No, the Waitangi London pub crawl is a time to be loud and proud to be Kiwi, and not afraid to flaunt an

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-31840583158588490772007-01-18T12:01:00.000Z2007-03-25T14:08:58.882+01:00

On of my best friends from high school came by London to visit since he was in Europe at the time visiting his girlfriend's home in Germany. It was really awesome showing someone round my new "home away from home" (I think NZ will always be home, for me). As well as that it gave me an opportunity to finally do a bit of London sight seeing which, despite living here for 5 months now, I'd not yet

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1169673459463938962006-12-24T20:46:00.000Z2007-01-24T21:21:57.953Z

This year it was decided to celebrate Christmas in France with my Mum's side of the family. I'm not entirely sure why but I'm not complaining! So a farmhouse/cottage/gite thing was hired and 15 of us flew to southern France near the Spanish border.I flew down with my sister, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend, Tim. We arrived to a beautiful sunset that was a sign of the weather to come.Our

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1164375403130557282006-11-24T13:05:00.000Z2006-11-24T13:46:20.123Z

Well, after travelling the world for four months I've finally decided to settle down a little. This was mostly due to having run out of money, but also because living in England for a while was always part of the master plan.So, I now live in Fulham, London and catch the tube into the heart of the city each day. I have a job with a large international engineering firm called Arup working as a

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1163262594703214352006-09-21T17:37:00.000+01:002006-11-11T16:33:46.636Z

Whilst I was disappointed with the city of Rome Italy has it's redeeming features. My next furor was a three day bus trip around southern Italy. I was a magnificent trip through beautiful surrounds with great company.As when in Rome I made many new friends (see photos of Rome) and this trip was no exception. The entire tour was full of Kiwis and Aussies with one or two others as it's

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1163194371303707642006-09-18T22:51:00.000+01:002006-11-10T21:34:41.396Z

Whilst I had expected Rome to be the highlight of my touristic ventures it actually fell second fiddle to southern Italy which I visited after Rome. The City of Rome has magnificence in quantities unimaginable. But it doesn't seem to care. As around every corner there is another Roman or baroque piece of brilliance that, it seems, Italians are apathetic to the true scale of their historic

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1162676285386358172006-09-12T23:01:00.000+01:002006-11-04T21:59:25.886Z

My trip to München (Munich) was a combination of beer and tourism....mostly beer. The main purpose of my trip was, of course Oktoberfest. The first difficulty to overcome was the realisation that Oktoberfest is, in fact, held mostly in September. So in order to get there in time for the opening on 16th September I actually flew in on the 13th as flights into Munich increased by £40 each day

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1162333172233111672006-08-25T23:51:00.000+01:002006-10-31T23:14:58.926Z

After an uneventful but slow bus trip across The Emerald Isle I arrived in Galway to find the hostel reception staffed by an Aussie and the place full of Germans. That was fine though, I spent the evening with Germans at an Irish pub and made friends with (from left to right, see below) Annabell and Viktoria who were just about to start their term at Galway University.The next day I went on a

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1157715997657499822006-08-23T12:29:00.000+01:002006-09-08T13:55:56.610+01:00

I arrived in Ireland in the evening to meet up with Rebecca (Bex) Mills and her boyfriend, Johnny. Bex is my Mum's friend's daughter whom I've vaguely known since childhood but probably haven't seen for about 10 years. However, this was no barrier and we met again like old friends as I was treated to fantastic hospitality! Thanks guys =)Johnny and Bex live in central Dublin so eveything was

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1157112976587724942006-07-13T12:47:00.000+01:002006-09-08T12:27:02.576+01:00

I met up with my Mum, Grandma, sister and my sister's boyfriend (Tim) in Copenhagen as we had arranged. So Mum and Grandma were staying at a nice B&B, Elizabeth and Tim were at a cheaper B&B and I was slumming it in hostels! It eventuated that the B&Bs were, in fact, only Bs as neither place provided breakfast.There were heaps of interesting things we did but some of the highlights were:

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1157111173617040142006-07-10T12:34:00.000+01:002006-09-01T12:47:37.830+01:00

Amsterdam is a beautiful city and I was only there for one and a half days because of all the time spent travelling there by train and then flying out to Copenhagen afterwards.As already mentioned in my last post I was there with four Americans that I met in Berlin - Mitch, Rafael, Eva and Emma. They were great company and we spent heaps of time just hanging out in coffee shops and things as

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1155138935109961172006-07-08T16:42:00.000+01:002006-08-11T12:00:11.270+01:00

Upon my return to Berlin I stayed at the best youth hostel ever! It's called 'The Circus' and has breakfast until 1pm, a bar with a big screen for the World Cup, genuine English speakers at the 24 hour reception, free wireless internet and swipe card access to all rooms! Oh, and, no, I wasn't paid to say that =)I met up with Anna Jackson (first photo), an old school friend of my sister's, and

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1155136132642253922006-07-07T15:56:00.000+01:002006-08-09T16:11:51.236+01:00

I awoke in the morning to find that the weather had got worse and now instead of just cloud there was rain as well. By the time I'd finished breakfast the rain had stopped and I decided to wander around Salzburg for a couple of hours before I had to catch my 8 hour train to Berlin.So, although I was not there long enough to get a decent impression of the place I can say this. Salzburg is very

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1155059563473984542006-07-06T18:14:00.000+01:002006-08-09T16:11:18.763+01:00

After Füssen I went to Berchtesgaden in the far southeastern corner of Germany and then took the evening train to Salzburg where I stayed the night.Berchtesgaden is the sight of The Eagle's Nest - Hitler's mountain top teahouse that you might know from Band of Brothers. It's located about just below the summit of a mountain and is accessed by a long road, then you walk 124m along a tunnel before

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1154787818757805032006-07-05T14:55:00.000+01:002006-08-06T20:09:04.110+01:00

After spending two nights in Friedrichshafen I moved east to Füssen to take in the Bavarian Alps (Bavaria as you may know is name of the southeastern region of Germany) and Schloss Neuschwanstein (the Fairy Tale Castle).One the day I arrived I traveled up Mount Tegelberg on a cable car as I'm afraid I'm not that fit and active. The views from the top were absolutely stunning and the camera just

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1154785036872458052006-07-03T14:14:00.000+01:002006-08-05T14:46:25.936+01:00

Friedrichshafen is on the Germany shores of Lake Constance which borders Switzerland and Austria as well. It's one of the German people's favourite summer holiday spots because of its beautiful beaches. The main reason I went was to see the place was because the alps rise up from the southern shores which creates rather beautiful scenery. I was not disappointed but the whole place was a fairly

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1154785975399927812006-07-02T14:48:00.000+01:002006-08-05T14:54:25.603+01:00

I may well have peaked, achieved my greatest ever acomplishment, well, until I visit five countries in one day!Seriously though, I had planned to mearly visit Liechtenstein which is wedged between Switzerland and Austria just south of Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leichtenstein As it turned out the usually impecable European rail services let me down resulting in very long stopovers in

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1154010836723447242006-06-27T15:12:00.000+01:002006-08-02T12:35:00.520+01:00

As already mentioned I stayed with Julian and Serina Clark in Stuttgart. Julian is an old school friend of my Dad's and he and his wife are both involved with Eurythmy. If you don't know what that is (I was ignorant before staying with Julian) look it up. It's a form of modern dance......sort of.Anyway, Julian and Serina continued my huge list of fantastic hosts that I've had so far on my travels

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1154007683057281322006-06-26T14:12:00.000+01:002006-08-02T12:33:52.893+01:00

After attending my last game in Hanover I headed South to Stuttgart to stay with my Dad's friend Julian Clark and his wife, Serina - but more about that later. The next day I went on a day trip down the Southwest border of Germany to visit Freiburg and then back via Strasbourg which is in France, just the other side of the border.Freiburg was a nice old town with cobbled streets, old buildings

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1152017968830537442006-06-25T13:41:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:51:17.610+01:00

After Berlin my next and last game was in Hannover. However, my Uncle Nigel's friend (Maria) whose brother in law we stayed with in Berlin lives in the country nearby and so I gratefully accepted the offer of lodgings with Maria and her family. Maria is a Magician and very lively and bubbly person and so staying with them for one night was great fun. The nearest railway station is Uelzen

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1153314874284453162006-06-23T14:13:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:50:27.843+01:00

I visited Dresden on my way between Berlin and my next game in Hannover because the guide book encouraged me to "Explore the treasures and gran buildings of this baroque beauty beauty bisected by the majestic Elbe River". So, after quickly looking up the word 'baroque' http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/baroque I was on my way.Well, Dresden did not disappoint! Up there with Luxembourg this

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1151748642260548142006-06-22T10:47:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:49:49.003+01:00

Berlin is spectacular. The magestic buildings in the city are truely amazing and all the promenant ones are located at the ends of vast, wide avenues which make for a very grand and impressive approach. I was only there for two days, about half that time was spent either at the football or watching football. I will be back here later for the World Cup final and should be able to find time to see

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1151490236358256082006-06-18T10:47:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:48:42.946+01:00

I had another fantastic time in Köln thanks largely to the welcome of Mechtild, Reimund, Miriam and Miriams boyfriend Amir. Mechtild is the sister of Michaela who I stayed with in Frankfurt. Miriam spent 4 months in New Zealand staying with my Mum's friend and so was keen to show me around, which was great. Here's a photo of, from left to right, Reimund, Mechtild, Miriam and Amir.Köln is famous

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1150561187956368282006-06-15T16:49:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:46:37.506+01:00

Luxembourg City was absolutely fabulous (although not in the manner of the tv show). The modern city is what has become of the medieval fortress founded in 900 and something A.D. It is nestled (excuse the cliche) amougst the forests of central Europe with a deep ravine on one side where two rivers meet and rolling hills on the other. It is both a beautiful and remarkable place as it must of been

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1150289644551629512006-06-12T13:43:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:44:59.936+01:00

South Korea vs Togo was a really fantastic game! The seat I had claimed to be 'Restricted view', but as you can see from the photo this was not at all the case. I was sitting very close to where the cameras film the game and had perhaps one of the best seats in the house!! The atmosphere was amazing! The Korean fans are the loudest I have ever encountered and I left the game with my ears ringing

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1151243878574096752006-06-11T14:35:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:47:46.533+01:00

Oddly enough, I almost met more people from Afganistan in my first couple of days than Germans. I was staying with my Mum's friend's friend (Michaela) and her family. They were wonderfully kind and friendly and my hearties thanks go out to them. The reason for all the Afgans is that Mechaela is married to Tahir who is an Afgan. So I went out a couple of times with him to a restaurant in Weisbaden

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1150042658528313142006-06-08T16:55:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:43:51.516+01:00

Well, I would like to relate to your here a tale of the wonders of Dubai. Unfortunately, I would either have to say only a very little or outright lie to you. I have not really had a fantastic time here and my overall impression is that Dubai is not a very nice place at all, I'm afraid. Now, my opinion is somewhat bias by the fact that I lost my wallet here so the whole experience has been rather

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1149850528914575662006-06-07T11:38:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:42:49.006+01:00

The first three photos are of the Bangkok Imperial Palace. It's amazing! So much shinyness squashed into a small space. These photos hardly do it justice and only show some parts of the entire complex.The last three are of Hong Kong. The first is the 'Big Buddha' which sits on a mountain top which was enshrouded in cloud that day (very atmospheric). The second is the view, at night, from the

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1149434656673810782006-06-04T15:53:00.000+01:002006-06-04T16:28:23.676+01:00

This is the Honda ASIMO robot that I saw. It is the robot I mentioned the moves almost human like. It's truly amazing. Although I was not at the Museum at the right time to see it in action I did see video images. The next photo is me playing with the heat vision camera!The third image is the view from the 51st floor of the Sumotomo building (I think that's the correct name) in Tokyo. The fourth

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1149333526317866762006-06-03T12:09:00.000+01:002006-06-03T12:18:46.326+01:00

Yesterday I browsed Tokyo and now I'm sitting in the super cheap Madras Hostel in Bangkok. It's NZ$44 for three nights in my own room with air con, a TV (not that I'm likely to use it) and free 30mins of internet per day. Sweeeeet!Tokyo was really cool! It's like one of those futuristic cities you see in the movies where everything is multi level. A typical bit of downtown Tokyo would consist of

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1149581310342457522006-06-03T08:56:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:36:11.300+01:00

No pictures this time I'm afraid, but as soon as I have the chance I post some more. I'm sitting at Bangkok Airport where my plane is delayed nearly 2.5 hours and thought I'd spend some time on the old internet.Bangkok is amazing, the contrast between the extravagance of the touristy areas, malls, subway, temples and the palace contrast so sharply with the extreme poverty of the people, and

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1149206698658545832006-06-01T00:52:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:40:43.946+01:00

Again, just a super quick post to let you all know that I have now been to visit the worlds biggest bridge! It has the longest contiuously unsupported span of 1992m. Although there are longer bridges they are actually causeways and don't have huge unsupported like this one. Anyway, here's a few quick pics. Isn't it cool?!!!

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1149077220890296962006-05-31T12:49:00.000+01:002006-05-31T13:07:00.903+01:00

Today I spent the day with an all day bus pass and a map intent on seeing as many of the wonders of Kyoto as possible. So, without further adu, I give you: Kiyomizu Temple (first and seconf picture), Kyoto Imperial Palace (third and forth picture) and Kinkakuji Temple (sixth picture). There's heaps of other stuff that I don't have time to write about now and even more that I didn't get to see.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1148988640807359452006-05-30T12:09:00.000+01:002006-05-30T12:30:40.866+01:00

Greetings All,I have finally found a place that will let me download my pictures and I can now post a couple on my blog! However, as time continues to run short on when I can use the internet this will be another brief post. Hopefully I will have time to sit down a write something decent when I am staying with friends who will let me use their computers - hint, hint, Rachel and/or Glen =PAnyway,

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1148906241488287242006-05-28T13:36:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:39:09.596+01:00

Yay the 300kmph bullet trains! Internet time minimal, will write more later.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1148770298655068582006-05-24T23:37:00.000+01:002006-07-19T15:37:34.766+01:00

Ok, first up, I have only 20 minutes, so this will be brief. Basically Tahiti has been a series of unfortunate and wonderful events which I list here. Choose for yourself which are the unfortunate ones and which are the fantastic ones.1) Almost took the wrong bag off the carousel and out into Tahiti2) Missed my pick up at the airport and had to buy an expensive phone card to contact Taaroa

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1145783223177870792006-04-23T09:42:00.000+01:002006-04-23T10:07:03.236+01:00

Ok, in case anyone ever wonders where I am or which country I'm in when I am including now all the travel that I have so far booked. Note that all the dates and times are local times, so they'll mostly be different to the time in New Zealand (or whichever country you are reading this from).Friday 26 May1.05pm Depart Auckland for TahitiFlight TN 0102 Air TahitiThursday 25 May7.55pm Arrive Tahiti

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1145605890452810182006-04-21T08:46:00.000+01:002006-04-21T08:51:33.950+01:00

Wohoo! I have more tickets to the world cup! I will now also be going to see a 'round of 16' game between the winners of Group G and the runners-up in Group H on Tuesday 27th June in Hanover! Yay!!I've got two ticket's, one each for my Uncle and myself, and the game will probably be between Span and Switzerland, buit it depends a lot on who qualifies from each group. My Uncle usually works on

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1144832929946054862006-04-12T10:04:00.000+01:002006-04-12T10:13:50.230+01:00

Check out this we fulla I snapped in my room just now!He's the biggest spider I've ever seen in New Zealand in the wild. This spider was about 50mm from toe to toe. I looked him up on goggle (you can find ANYTHING online, I love the internet) and it's a Sheetweb spider. To find out more just search goggle, I found this dude's stats at: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1143181421753194942006-03-24T06:17:00.000Z2006-03-24T06:23:41.763Z

My tickets arrived at STA Travel Hamilton today for me to pick up. I spent 3/4 of my lunch break getting to and from with expectations of a fairly monumentous occasion and high excitement from actually having the tickets actually in my hand. Unfortunately 'twas not to be. No special sparkly feeling, not even a small butterfly or two - I was rather disappointed. But hey, what cha gonna do?I

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1142062722536469252006-03-11T07:33:00.000Z2006-03-11T07:41:06.206Z

I took this photo a few weeks ago but I've only just realised its excellent potential as a background. Oh, and I'm stoked that it's the view from my bedroom window! As always, if you click on it, it should link to a higher res picture.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1140760529779538162006-02-24T05:39:00.000Z2006-02-24T05:55:29.790Z

Okey dokey, since I can't currently decide what to have for dinner I've decided to post something on my blog in terms of a general update about stuff and things.1) I'm going to The World Cup in Germany! I have tickets! Well, a ticket, two to be accurate. Tickets, in fact, for my Uncle (Nigel) and I to go and see Tunisia battle Ukraine in Berlin on June 23rd! Huzzah! It may not be a clash of

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1128238526728305552005-10-02T08:29:00.000+01:002005-10-02T08:35:29.270+01:00

Well, today was the last day. It was another day of flawless weather and sadly our last day on Beachcomber or anywhere else in Fiji. In keeping with the local way of doing things we didn’t hurry at any point. We went down to the office and checked out, had a final pineapple juice and sat around talking to an old guy from Queensland, Australia who was leaving that day as well.The boat picked us up

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1127724289755978592005-09-26T09:36:00.000+01:002005-09-28T21:17:31.086+01:00

Today was the first day of really fabulous weather. Previous days have been wonderfully warm with a bit of cloud or maybe a bit of wind. But today, the weather was a nearly flawless sky with a slight breeze to stop it from getting oppressively hot – fantastic!After relaxing the day before today was another active day exploring the other fantastic opportunities available at Beachcomber. To start

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1127621346903207142005-09-25T04:58:00.000+01:002005-09-25T05:24:32.656+01:00

After a busy couple of days completing our dive course and discovering the underwater world Friday was a much quieter day. We lay about on the beach, played a bit more mini-golf and, despite having a having a severe lack of talent, I still had a great fun playing beach volleyball.In the evening they had another display of Fijian culture, this time a little different and with fire dancing which

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1127120768147917372005-09-19T09:59:00.000+01:002005-09-19T10:16:14.296+01:00

This time we had a properly early start and were on the boat by 8:30am heading out to our dive site , Jimmy’s Reef. This dive site is part of the reef surrounding Beachcomber Island and was another fantastic experience! Yet again, fish in abundance and magnificent colours all around us. We spent a lot of the dive completing exercises required as part of the training, but still had plenty of time

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126693064181912742005-09-14T11:09:00.000+01:002005-09-14T11:21:42.660+01:00

We woke up early and headed down to catch the start of breakfast for our first open water dive at 8.30am, however it turned out that the boat we were going to take out had mechanical problems and it was back to the classroom for the morning. So we finished our theory modules other than the final exam in the morning as well as completing our final confined water dives in the pool. We had some

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126607966138061322005-09-13T11:27:00.000+01:002005-09-13T11:51:04.286+01:00

At 8.45am we started our dive course. We met our instructor, Keli, a white Fijian and a hilarious guy, lots of fun and an excellent instructor. We went through the theory parts of the first three modules and other than a couple of silly mistakes, both passed with flying colours. Just before lunch we then both had to swim 400m to prove that we were competent swimmers. I have to say that my

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126512415146814152005-09-12T08:57:00.000+01:002005-09-12T09:12:15.426+01:00

We got up and checked out in time to catch our bus transfer to Port Denerau where the boat departs for Beachcomber. The bus picked us up at 8am and dropped us of at 9am after taking a circuit around the hotels to pick up others. Once we were all on board the half hour boat journey took us out past other islands to arrive at Beachcomber at approximately 10.00am.Beachcomber, what a place! It’s

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126414523907872202005-09-11T05:47:00.000+01:002005-09-19T10:26:20.730+01:00

As with all my trips I did, as always, forget something. This time, however, it turned out to be rather more crucial than my toothbrush. I had driven from Hamilton to Auckland the day before on Saturday 27th and awoke on Sunday morning in Auckland with the sudden realization that my passport was not, in fact, in my possession.With panic beginning to creep in, I called my flat and discovered, to

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126413977436816592005-09-11T05:37:00.000+01:002005-09-11T06:04:36.826+01:00

Alrighty, now that I have my blog back up and running I'm going to use it to publish the exploits and adventures encountered on my recent holiday to Beachcomber Island Resort in Fiji!!That's right, we stayed here:Needless to say it was afantastic holiday and I'll publish what I did one day at a time. That's one day's worth of holiday at a time, hopefully I'll be able to publish a post every day,

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126167228068583932005-09-08T09:00:00.000+01:002005-09-08T09:13:48.073+01:00

Today's job was a few intestigations in Maketu (in the Bay of Plenty somewhere between Tauranga and Whakatane). I had to dig through a gravel road with a pick axe that was broken. Fabulous weather, nice bit of exercise and, best of all, Maketu Pies!I had lunch by the ocean (see pic) munching on a chicken pie from the Maketu Pies Factory Shop and it was honestly the best chicken pie I've ever had

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126164726466110292005-09-08T08:28:00.000+01:002005-09-08T08:36:07.333+01:00

Trying to remember how to post stuffCan you see the pretty picture?http://img397.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn03813tq.jpgAnd now.....Thanks to ImageShack for [URL=http://imageshack.us]Free Image Hosting[/URL]

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1126167470127313152005-09-08T08:16:00.000+01:002005-09-08T09:18:05.700+01:00

How did I do it? Yeah, turns out you can back date this stuff, not quite so exciting, huh?

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1102805699812939972004-12-11T22:47:00.000Z2004-12-11T23:11:25.986Z

Right, I've not posted anything for ages so a quick update all round would probably be a good idea. Major events so far have been: General debarcle with my freight, Flat hunting in Hams, Natasha's 21st, a weekend on the Coramandal and getting my results back from Uni. The Frieght Debarcle I shipped 10 boxes of my stuff up to Auckland from Christchurch. It was supposed to arrive the Wednesday

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1099359136950649712004-11-02T01:16:00.000Z2004-11-02T01:32:16.950Z

Mood: Relaxed Music: Shihad - Coming Down Ahhh, the lack of stress, the lack of assignments, the lack of exams and the knowledge that I've almost certainally (based on how the exams went) got myself a degree. I doubt that there are many more effective ways of relieving stress than finishing your last ever exam. That, followed up by a half bottle of champagne (popped open immediately after the

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1099312377444370682004-11-01T12:31:00.000Z2004-11-01T12:32:57.443Z

Three words: Last Exam Ever ....and now to bed.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098922029001215482004-10-28T01:07:00.000+01:002004-10-28T01:23:55.686+01:00

Mood: Happy Music: Billy Idol - White Wedding I've now completed three exams, one each morning Tuesday - Thursday. My second exam was a lot better than expected, instead of having the entire event being held in the middle of a black man ghetto gangster rapist conference as expected it was actually pretty good. There was only one question that had a big scary black man and I could choose five out

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098782225444378512004-10-26T10:11:00.000+01:002004-10-26T10:21:43.986+01:00

Mood: Positive Music: The Beatles - Hard Days Night First exam today, construction management. It went pretty well, I thought it was a fair exam (of course I would think that as it went well) and most other people agreed with me on that one. Studied like a madman this afternoon and evening before tommorrows exam. I fear there may be many black men forth coming there, I do, however have a set of

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098610151727622372004-10-24T10:20:00.000+01:002004-10-24T10:29:11.726+01:00

Mood: Tranquil Music: Smashing Pumpkins - Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness I'm a wee bit ahead of schedule so I'm going to bed now so that I can get up in time to go and watch Manchester United vs. Arsenal. Exams don't seem so threatening now, I've been working through the revision. In saying that, I can gaurantee that I'll feel like I'd not done enough coming out of one or two of them.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098440428828476192004-10-22T11:20:00.000+01:002004-10-22T11:38:14.286+01:00

Scooter is his name (go the internet search engines), and the show was Terrible Thunder Lizards

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098439675584273032004-10-22T11:07:00.000+01:002004-10-22T11:12:07.746+01:00

Mood: Spaced Out (from to much work, not drugs) Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge A famous line from that thing about the cartoon cavemen living in the technological dinosaur age from Eek The Cat on Saturday mornings. I'm refering to the pain of forcing ones self to study. But, unlike the caveman dude, I know it will soon be over - 230 hours away...... Tried to find a Hamvegas

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098333966876992432004-10-21T05:35:00.000+01:002004-10-21T05:48:44.590+01:00

Mood: Lethargic Music: Metallica - Until It Sleeps Oh the carnage, someone has (I can't decide whether to hate them or thank them) has decided to install a multiplayer first person shooter computer game on all the Civil Engineering Suite computers. We now have, not only the beautiful weather outside, anything that could be construed as insufficiently clean, the internet and this blog, the tv,

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098138940535595062004-10-18T23:35:00.000+01:002004-10-19T00:03:47.970+01:00

I've kinda got the hang of using this thing now and thought that I would start by making an "official" statement about what I'm doing next year. Next year I will be in Hamilton aka Hamiltron (City of the Future) aka H-town aka Hamvegas aka The Piggery aka Hamtown aka Hamulon (feel free to suggest any other interesting nicknames). My job will be earning me an infinite amount more money than I am

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098097375888557132004-10-18T12:02:00.000+01:002004-10-18T12:02:55.890+01:00

Hey, look, my picture is in the side bar.  How did that happen?  Oh well, it's all good now.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098097085532471252004-10-18T11:58:00.000+01:002004-10-18T12:01:12.120+01:00

Aha! Words above the picture, whatever will they think of next? Sliced bread? The wheel? I guess it may have to be done the long way, huh? PS This is a picture of McLeans Island Test Track (the actual track is indoors).....just in case you were wondering.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098096435363542782004-10-18T11:47:00.000+01:002004-10-18T11:50:37.246+01:00

So, will this method of posting pictures work? And, more importantly perhaps, can I give it a title?

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098095909391183172004-10-18T11:37:00.000+01:002004-10-18T11:38:29.390+01:00

Which post will get there first? The one from my email account, which I've already sent, or this one?

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098095069215019832004-10-18T11:23:00.000+01:002004-10-18T11:24:29.216+01:00

Still trying stuff out, this is just another test.

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098094769713825772004-10-18T11:19:00.000+01:002004-10-18T11:19:29.713+01:00

Test

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098093561447394512004-10-18T10:59:00.000+01:002004-10-18T10:59:21.446+01:00

How do I get this into my profile? 

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098092992233945222004-10-18T10:49:00.000+01:002004-10-18T10:49:52.233+01:00

HMNZS Aquada Mark1 (our Undie 500 car) 

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098091436396279492004-10-18T10:22:00.000+01:002004-10-18T10:23:56.396+01:00

How on earth does one edit ones profile? I need to know!!! TELL ME!!!!!

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770655.post-1098091104668972692004-10-18T10:17:00.000+01:002004-10-18T10:18:24.666+01:00

This is by way of a test run, just to figure out how on earth I do stuff to make things happen to the whatchamacallits. Clear?

Ricardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760104769577342913noreply@blogger.com0