Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Update is here!
OK, I'm sick as a dog, but will try and catch up on this blog - it's been a while. So what has happened since the last post? here is a run down: the 3000km road trip with my parents (Montreal, Quebec City, Lake Placid, NYC, Niagara Falls, and Toronto); our trip to Greece (Parga and Athens) for a wedding; my trip to DC; the Fall colours; Oasis concert; Thanksgiving; awards; snowboarding; snow; bus strike; samba; hockey finals; elections; Halloween, potluck; and heaps more.
A couple of months back, my parents came over for a visit for about 10 days (they were actually away from home for well over a month - on the Rockies train trip from Vancouver to Calgary; visiting Anna in the UK; and taking a tour through parts of Europe). Once their Rockies train trip was over out West, they flew across Canada to us in the East. We had a full schedule for them.
It was great seeing my parents again, as it had been a while (and will be a while till I see them again). They spent the first couple of days in Ottawa, having a look around downtown and across the river in Gatineau, Quebec. Sorry we didn't see a bear Mum and Dad.
On the Saturday we started the 3000km road trip. Montreal was the first stop. It was a great time to be in Old Montreal as they had the traditional summer markets - it was like going back in time as everyone was in period costume, some busking with ancient instruments etc.
The next day it was off to Quebec City 3 hours down the road. We somehow managed to book accommodation inside the wall , as the city was humming because of the 400th Anniversary of the city. That night we watched an amazing show about the history of Quebec by Robert Lepage - on the world's biggest projection screen - 600 metres by 30 metres - displayed on the silos in the port - read and view pictures here .
After a day of getting amongst the Quebec celebrations, fireworks, buskers, silo film, and really good food, we headed further out east of Quebec City to Le Massif , and Baie-Saint-Paul
, then the 6.5 hour drive back to Montreal - where we spent 1 night at the alternative backpackers , breakfast in a traditional French restaurant, and started the road trip to Lake Placid in the US of A.
At the border we had little issues - actually went through very quick and didn't need to wait in any queues - they must have liked New Zealanders (but maybe the real reason were the dipo passports). So from signs of 100kmh to 65mph, we were in the US. The drive to Lake Placid took only a couple of hours. Lake Placid - home of the Winter Olympics in 1932, and 1980 - ended up being only a lunch stop, as we found out (when there) that you needed to spend a good week in to explore the area. Checked out the old ski jump from the road (cost about $15 to go in, the view wasn't too bad from the road, and it was free), before heading back onto State Highway I-87 towards New York city.
We stopped at a rest stop on the way for a fill up and some food before stopping at an outlet clothes mall (one of the biggest clothes outlets in North America) - what seemed like 2 hours later we left the mall for the Big Apple.
Early evening we drove into New York city, parked the car (at a 24hr parking place), and headed to our home for 5 days - the Broadway Hostel and Hotel on 101st, just of Broadway. We had an awesome room, with en suite, and flat screen tv (not that we used it much), for about $60 each per night (at least I think it was about that much).
New York City, what can I say - I covered a lot in a previous post - but it was Mum and Dad's first time here, and they loved it. We did all the touristy stuff (some days Miriam and I did stuff we didn't do last time, while Mum and Dad experienced the Empire State, ground zero, Times Square etc). One of the days as we were walking down near 5th, I heard someone shout out 'Kiwi'. I turned around and right behind us were two guys that cam on the boys camping trip back in August (August 6 post below) in Canada. How about that eh - small world.
the night of my parents 40th, we had dinner in Little Italy NY. After dinner, while we were looking for the bar that was the 'hang out' on the Sopranos, we bumped into a limo driver. He said to me $40 and I'll take all 4 of you to Times Square in the stretched limo. 5 minutes later we were in the back of the limo on the way to Times Square. Check the short clip here of Mum and Miriam getting out of the limo at Times Square.
After a full, eventful, and great 5 days in New york city, it was time to pick up the car and drive to Niagara Falls - a 7 (or so) hour drive. We stayed one night in Niagara, checked out the Falls, the mini Las Vegas neon, and headed to Niagara on the Lake, before Toronto.
In Toronto, Mum and Dad caught up with an old friend from NZ, and later we took them to an Irish pub for dinner - just down the road from our accommodation on Church Street. The Church Street area is the gay area of Toronto, and that night we experienced our first gay Irish Pub!
The next morning we woke up to the sound of water. The hot water cylinder exploded during the night (well leaked more than exploded) at the B&B we stayed at - water was all over the place. The owners, a young couple who had only been in the B&B business a few months, were called (they, I guess, didn't live there - or it was a busy period and they gave up their bed for clients?!) and told about the water leakage. They were very distraught, as they had a full house again that night and no water! We left them - took Mum and Dad to the CN Tower (we didn't end up getting charged for the accommodation, which was good).
So we dropped Mum and Dad off near the CN Tower, and said our good-byes - that was the end of the road (except for our drive back to Ottawa) - it was a great trip - we managed to get in quite a bit in the 10 or so days - sad to see them go. Check out the photos here.
The next big trip was to Greece for a friend's wedding. I'll write about this in a new post soon. Photos are here.
Okay some quick notes on other happenings:
Work - Miriam went on a trip to the UK and elsewhere for a few days - that is all I can say! I went on work trip to Washington DC in October - had a tour of some of the State Department, met with some colleagues who work in the same area as me, had a tour through the Canadian Embassy (impressive), visited the Smithsonian, and stayed in a nice area - Georgetown (bloody expensive for dinner - at least work was paying I guess!). Also I was given an award from my boss - the Ambassador - for some good work (and $500) - cheers mate!
Halloween - We dressed up in costume and went to Halloween Party. Miriam went as a vampire - covered in white paint and red dye as blood tears. I went as Fred Dagg (it was bloody cold in the stubbies and singlet - -5c that night - but the winter boots did the trick!). Photos are here (with the Oasis pics).
Thanksgiving - We had a huge Turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving at the beginning of November - thanks Martin.
Oasis - We went to an Oasis concert here in Ottawa - it was good, but they are past their prime. Check out this video of them in concert in Toronto a few days later - someone jumps on stage and attacks Noel! Other photos here.
Fall Colours - Check out some of these pics of Fall colours in Gatineau Park, Quebec - September
Winter Colours - Check out some of these pics of Winter colours in Gatineau Park - November.
Potluck - We had a potluck at ours - good food and music. Like any potluck, you end up with a lot of left overs - wine, beer, and food! - photos .
Samba - We have been learning samba - although I missed the first 5 weeks, so I'm a bit behind (can't do the knee thing after the bounce, ball, heel, heel - the knee thing is meant happen after the second heel). Our teacher is a friend of ours here in Ottawa - we will be able to practice at his birthday party this Sunday.
Snow and Bus Strike, Canada Post Strike - The perfect storm! A few days ago we had our first big snow storm - over 35cm in a day or so. Also, the day of the storm OC Transport (Ottawa's public transport network) went on strike - read about it here , video here. Many people stayed at home that day, but the strike is still on. It is chaos out there - traffic jams everywhere - police on every major intersection trying to control the traffic with little success - there were reports of people waiting over 2 hours just to get out of parking buildings! To make matters worse, Canada Post have been on strike here in Ottawa for a few weeks. Picketers are blocking the entrance to car parks near Miriam's work - and the picketers are getting abusive. Miriam wasn't allowed through until she showed her ID, explained she didn't work at Canada Post, and said that she was a New Zealander!
Elections - I have a new boss, as of January 09 - good to see Obama win; Helen Clark had a good run, hope John Keys doesn't f**k things up too much; Oh Canada, what a mess - read here.
Hockey Finals - Yep, our (social) team made the hockey finals - the Final is next Tuesday - Dec 16th - Go the Warriors!!
Christmas parties - It is that time of year, Christmas parties coming out our ears - although I have been sick the last few days so I missed the big cocktail party at the Ambassador's residence - would have been good to see inside (was outside it for July 4). Here is a video of the Ambassador on the Rick Mercer Report (it shows the residence).
Well that is about it - I might go and have a hot lemon drink.
Quebec City for Christmas, and a cottage near a lake (where you have to cross country ski to get to it) with friends for New Years.
If I don't write again before then - Happy Christmas and have a great New Years.
A couple of months back, my parents came over for a visit for about 10 days (they were actually away from home for well over a month - on the Rockies train trip from Vancouver to Calgary; visiting Anna in the UK; and taking a tour through parts of Europe). Once their Rockies train trip was over out West, they flew across Canada to us in the East. We had a full schedule for them.
It was great seeing my parents again, as it had been a while (and will be a while till I see them again). They spent the first couple of days in Ottawa, having a look around downtown and across the river in Gatineau, Quebec. Sorry we didn't see a bear Mum and Dad.
On the Saturday we started the 3000km road trip. Montreal was the first stop. It was a great time to be in Old Montreal as they had the traditional summer markets - it was like going back in time as everyone was in period costume, some busking with ancient instruments etc.
The next day it was off to Quebec City 3 hours down the road. We somehow managed to book accommodation inside the wall , as the city was humming because of the 400th Anniversary of the city. That night we watched an amazing show about the history of Quebec by Robert Lepage - on the world's biggest projection screen - 600 metres by 30 metres - displayed on the silos in the port - read and view pictures here .
After a day of getting amongst the Quebec celebrations, fireworks, buskers, silo film, and really good food, we headed further out east of Quebec City to Le Massif , and Baie-Saint-Paul
, then the 6.5 hour drive back to Montreal - where we spent 1 night at the alternative backpackers , breakfast in a traditional French restaurant, and started the road trip to Lake Placid in the US of A.
At the border we had little issues - actually went through very quick and didn't need to wait in any queues - they must have liked New Zealanders (but maybe the real reason were the dipo passports). So from signs of 100kmh to 65mph, we were in the US. The drive to Lake Placid took only a couple of hours. Lake Placid - home of the Winter Olympics in 1932, and 1980 - ended up being only a lunch stop, as we found out (when there) that you needed to spend a good week in to explore the area. Checked out the old ski jump from the road (cost about $15 to go in, the view wasn't too bad from the road, and it was free), before heading back onto State Highway I-87 towards New York city.
We stopped at a rest stop on the way for a fill up and some food before stopping at an outlet clothes mall (one of the biggest clothes outlets in North America) - what seemed like 2 hours later we left the mall for the Big Apple.
Early evening we drove into New York city, parked the car (at a 24hr parking place), and headed to our home for 5 days - the Broadway Hostel and Hotel on 101st, just of Broadway. We had an awesome room, with en suite, and flat screen tv (not that we used it much), for about $60 each per night (at least I think it was about that much).
New York City, what can I say - I covered a lot in a previous post - but it was Mum and Dad's first time here, and they loved it. We did all the touristy stuff (some days Miriam and I did stuff we didn't do last time, while Mum and Dad experienced the Empire State, ground zero, Times Square etc). One of the days as we were walking down near 5th, I heard someone shout out 'Kiwi'. I turned around and right behind us were two guys that cam on the boys camping trip back in August (August 6 post below) in Canada. How about that eh - small world.
the night of my parents 40th, we had dinner in Little Italy NY. After dinner, while we were looking for the bar that was the 'hang out' on the Sopranos, we bumped into a limo driver. He said to me $40 and I'll take all 4 of you to Times Square in the stretched limo. 5 minutes later we were in the back of the limo on the way to Times Square. Check the short clip here of Mum and Miriam getting out of the limo at Times Square.
After a full, eventful, and great 5 days in New york city, it was time to pick up the car and drive to Niagara Falls - a 7 (or so) hour drive. We stayed one night in Niagara, checked out the Falls, the mini Las Vegas neon, and headed to Niagara on the Lake, before Toronto.
In Toronto, Mum and Dad caught up with an old friend from NZ, and later we took them to an Irish pub for dinner - just down the road from our accommodation on Church Street. The Church Street area is the gay area of Toronto, and that night we experienced our first gay Irish Pub!
The next morning we woke up to the sound of water. The hot water cylinder exploded during the night (well leaked more than exploded) at the B&B we stayed at - water was all over the place. The owners, a young couple who had only been in the B&B business a few months, were called (they, I guess, didn't live there - or it was a busy period and they gave up their bed for clients?!) and told about the water leakage. They were very distraught, as they had a full house again that night and no water! We left them - took Mum and Dad to the CN Tower (we didn't end up getting charged for the accommodation, which was good).
So we dropped Mum and Dad off near the CN Tower, and said our good-byes - that was the end of the road (except for our drive back to Ottawa) - it was a great trip - we managed to get in quite a bit in the 10 or so days - sad to see them go. Check out the photos here.
The next big trip was to Greece for a friend's wedding. I'll write about this in a new post soon. Photos are here.
Okay some quick notes on other happenings:
Work - Miriam went on a trip to the UK and elsewhere for a few days - that is all I can say! I went on work trip to Washington DC in October - had a tour of some of the State Department, met with some colleagues who work in the same area as me, had a tour through the Canadian Embassy (impressive), visited the Smithsonian, and stayed in a nice area - Georgetown (bloody expensive for dinner - at least work was paying I guess!). Also I was given an award from my boss - the Ambassador - for some good work (and $500) - cheers mate!
Halloween - We dressed up in costume and went to Halloween Party. Miriam went as a vampire - covered in white paint and red dye as blood tears. I went as Fred Dagg (it was bloody cold in the stubbies and singlet - -5c that night - but the winter boots did the trick!). Photos are here (with the Oasis pics).
Thanksgiving - We had a huge Turkey for Canadian Thanksgiving at the beginning of November - thanks Martin.
Oasis - We went to an Oasis concert here in Ottawa - it was good, but they are past their prime. Check out this video of them in concert in Toronto a few days later - someone jumps on stage and attacks Noel! Other photos here.
Fall Colours - Check out some of these pics of Fall colours in Gatineau Park, Quebec - September
Winter Colours - Check out some of these pics of Winter colours in Gatineau Park - November.
Potluck - We had a potluck at ours - good food and music. Like any potluck, you end up with a lot of left overs - wine, beer, and food! - photos .
Samba - We have been learning samba - although I missed the first 5 weeks, so I'm a bit behind (can't do the knee thing after the bounce, ball, heel, heel - the knee thing is meant happen after the second heel). Our teacher is a friend of ours here in Ottawa - we will be able to practice at his birthday party this Sunday.
Snow and Bus Strike, Canada Post Strike - The perfect storm! A few days ago we had our first big snow storm - over 35cm in a day or so. Also, the day of the storm OC Transport (Ottawa's public transport network) went on strike - read about it here , video here. Many people stayed at home that day, but the strike is still on. It is chaos out there - traffic jams everywhere - police on every major intersection trying to control the traffic with little success - there were reports of people waiting over 2 hours just to get out of parking buildings! To make matters worse, Canada Post have been on strike here in Ottawa for a few weeks. Picketers are blocking the entrance to car parks near Miriam's work - and the picketers are getting abusive. Miriam wasn't allowed through until she showed her ID, explained she didn't work at Canada Post, and said that she was a New Zealander!
Elections - I have a new boss, as of January 09 - good to see Obama win; Helen Clark had a good run, hope John Keys doesn't f**k things up too much; Oh Canada, what a mess - read here.
Hockey Finals - Yep, our (social) team made the hockey finals - the Final is next Tuesday - Dec 16th - Go the Warriors!!
Christmas parties - It is that time of year, Christmas parties coming out our ears - although I have been sick the last few days so I missed the big cocktail party at the Ambassador's residence - would have been good to see inside (was outside it for July 4). Here is a video of the Ambassador on the Rick Mercer Report (it shows the residence).
Well that is about it - I might go and have a hot lemon drink.
Quebec City for Christmas, and a cottage near a lake (where you have to cross country ski to get to it) with friends for New Years.
If I don't write again before then - Happy Christmas and have a great New Years.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Update is a coming
I promise I will update this blog soon - we are in the middle of (what is called) an Indian Summer at the moment, where temps are in the 20s, but in about a week or so they will drop below 0 - that is when I will update this blog (over here you have to enjoy the weather while you can)
There is a lot to talk about - the 3000km road trip with my parents (Montreal, Quebec City, Lake Placid, NYC, Niagara Falls, and Toronto); our trip to Greece (Parga and Athens) for a wedding; my trip to DC; the Fall colours; Oasis concert; thanksgiving etc
In the mean time check out some photos below and more at FlickR - http://www.flickr.com/photos/7606692@N07/
Mike
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Thousand Islands 2 weekends in a row, and no double u's and full stops!
OK, just a quick entry. BTw, my double u's and periods on my keyboard are not working, so anytime you see a w or period, it has been copied from elsewhere and pasted in!
The last two weekends were sweet - one was a boys camping trip in Ivy Lea Provincial Park, the other a houseboat trip in the Thousand Islands region.
The boys' weekend was to cheer up a friend of our friend in Ottawa, who just got divorced. Let's just say that many alcoholic beverages were consumed, and many-a-story was told. It was a great weekend away in a beautiful region.
There are more photos on our FlickR page here!
So 6 of us continued that theme the next (long) weekend - ie in the beautiful region of Thousand Islands, not a boys' drunken 'cheering up the divorced guy' camp - this time taking a houseboat (it is basically a caravan with pontoons, an outboard motor and steering) up and down the St Lawrence River. It was an awesome time, relaxing, fishing, swimming, eating, and playing the harmonica and guitar (I'm getting sick of pasting periods and w's, so will end each sentence with an exclamation mark - I will just paste the w's)! One of our friends (Pam a school teacher), made some awesome food during the week to bring on the trip, and we ere all given a printed menu that included every meal - which I will upload to this blog once I take a picture of it (UPDATE: some of the menu pages are below - click on them for a larger image)! The R&R was good, but reality hit on the Tuesday, as we were back at work - not quite the same ;( Also everyone was still swaying on dry land the next day - I guess it takes time to get your sea legs eh! Oh yeah, we think we spotted Michael Campbell, when we filled up the boat at a water gas station - he was on a nice looking cruiser with his wife!
The pics below show how beautiful and relaxing the time on the boat was:
There are more on our FlickR page here!
I'm getting sick of pasting double u's, so you ill just have to ork it out (or spellcheck ill correct it)!
Mum, Dad, the car is ready for the long journey coming up! Just had it serviced, and had 4 tires replaced (costly, but needed to be done - as putting it off until one of the tires ble, but Miriam advised against it ;))!
The last two weekends were sweet - one was a boys camping trip in Ivy Lea Provincial Park, the other a houseboat trip in the Thousand Islands region.
The boys' weekend was to cheer up a friend of our friend in Ottawa, who just got divorced. Let's just say that many alcoholic beverages were consumed, and many-a-story was told. It was a great weekend away in a beautiful region.
There are more photos on our FlickR page here!
So 6 of us continued that theme the next (long) weekend - ie in the beautiful region of Thousand Islands, not a boys' drunken 'cheering up the divorced guy' camp - this time taking a houseboat (it is basically a caravan with pontoons, an outboard motor and steering) up and down the St Lawrence River. It was an awesome time, relaxing, fishing, swimming, eating, and playing the harmonica and guitar (I'm getting sick of pasting periods and w's, so will end each sentence with an exclamation mark - I will just paste the w's)! One of our friends (Pam a school teacher), made some awesome food during the week to bring on the trip, and we ere all given a printed menu that included every meal - which I will upload to this blog once I take a picture of it (UPDATE: some of the menu pages are below - click on them for a larger image)! The R&R was good, but reality hit on the Tuesday, as we were back at work - not quite the same ;( Also everyone was still swaying on dry land the next day - I guess it takes time to get your sea legs eh! Oh yeah, we think we spotted Michael Campbell, when we filled up the boat at a water gas station - he was on a nice looking cruiser with his wife!
The pics below show how beautiful and relaxing the time on the boat was:
There are more on our FlickR page here!
I'm getting sick of pasting double u's, so you ill just have to ork it out (or spellcheck ill correct it)!
Mum, Dad, the car is ready for the long journey coming up! Just had it serviced, and had 4 tires replaced (costly, but needed to be done - as putting it off until one of the tires ble, but Miriam advised against it ;))!
Friday, July 18, 2008
2:12, 1:43, skunks, ultimate, Canada and Independence Day
Blog time. Photos to come soon.
It's been a while but I will try and cover what I can and will add photos later.
I will start with a story about a skunk. A few months back we started smelling a strange odour coming from the air conditioning unit of the car while driving back from Montreal. This smell would only appear after long trips. I thought it may have been out of refrigerant, but the air was still cool. So we took it to the mechanics the next week, they looked over it and couldn’t find the problem, ‘but we’ll take $120 please for the labour, thanks’. Yeah thank-you. The smell went away, so we didn’t think much of it after that – however the smell returned on our next long journey to Quebec City. 'What is up with this car', we thought. Then one day when we were driving back from ultimate frisbee with friends, one of them said ‘smell that skunk, someone has run over a skunk around here’. Ahhhh, it all of a sudden it dawned on me – I remember when we were coming home from Montreal (it was late evening), a black and white animal ran out across the front of the car – we missed it by a few feet, but it must have been shitting itself and let the musky perfume shoot from its behind – and the perfume must have sprayed on the radiator of the car. That skunk cost us $120!
OK, so in the previous post I said we were going to do the Ottawa half marathon. Well Miriam and I did it, and we were quite happy with our results. It was a scorcher of a day, and we joined over 9,000 others at the start line. The race took us over to Quebec, and then back into Ontario, along the canal to the finish line. Miriam did an awesome time – 2:11, I ran it with another kiwi and had a time of 1:43 – a good effort for both of us, considering the heat and considering it was our first half marathon. Toronto half is next – October 19. Then another friend and I may attempt the Ottawa Full next year – which means training in Winter – (running in –20C highs).
The climate over here is different. We had record snowfalls last winter (over 4m), and it disappeared within the first 2 weeks of Spring. Summer’s here, and we are getting the hot humid, thunder storm weather. Extremes at its best/worst - I guess that's what you get in a continental climate.
It has been busy over here – we haven’t had a free weekend since the June, and won’t have another until October. But it is all good, as we are getting out and about. In a few weeks both of us, and 4 others, are taking a house boat around the Thousand Islands (on the St Lawerence river, right on the US Canada border) during that long weekend. So, we'll be bbqing, swimming, guitaring and hitting golf balls from the top deck into the river. Then at the end of August, my folks are coming over, so we'll be driving them to Montreal, Quebec City, Lake Placid, New York City, Niagara Falls and then Toronto (where they will fly out from). Then 2 weeks later, we are off to Greece for a wedding! My annual leave will be used up in the space of 4 weeks.
Work wise we are doing well – Miriam is getting good reports, and I may be off to Vienna for a conference (or at least DC for a tour of the State Department). We have had a few diplomatic duties to do - I had the chance to meet the NZ Governor General a few weeks back (filled in for Miriam, as she was over seas for work).
Went on a rave boat cruise along the Ottawa river a few weeks back. It was organised by a friend of a friend and it was a huge night (the theme was ‘naughty-cal' - so there were some nice costumes – I didn’t wear anything naughty, but did have some googles and arm floaties). Some guy jumped off and went surfing behind another boat (he wasn't allowed back on the rave boat though). There are some pics here – we are about 7-8 photos in, and I’ll add some soon (which will show below this paragraph).
I picked up some golf clubs at the 'Glebe garage sale' (an annual event where everone in the rich suburb of Ottawa (the Glebe), sell there old stuff). So I've been out on the course a few times with the some friends. Also playing ultimate frisbee, beach volleyball and hockey. The biking is going well, I try to get over to Gatineau Park, just across the river in Quebec, as often as I can - haven't seen a bear yet this year, but have seen plenty of deer, groundhogs, and beavers.
Summer in Ottawa is about festivals – because really it the only time people can get out and enjoy the weather and get some much needed vitamin D in them. OK, so we have had Italian week, Canada dance Festival, WESTFEST, festival franco-ontarien, Ottawa Fringe Festival, Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Canada Day, Ottawa Air Show, Bluesfest, HOPE Volleyball Summerfest, and there are still another 22 festivals to go (some bigger than others). Check out http://www.ottawafestivals.ca/e/festivals.html for festivals. And that’s just Ottawa. Montreal down the road also has a lot of festivals too.
I’ll talk about a few of the ones mentioned above and the Independence Day party.
July 1 was Canada Day. Like last year , Canada Day was huge. All the inner city streets were blocked off, people from all over the country (and the States) came to Ottawa to join in the celebrations. The canals were choc-a-block full of boats – many from the US. You could hardly move in places – it was huge. We started the day at a friends house for brunch and some beers, went to some other friends place for a swim and some beers, and ended in downtown Ottawa to watch the fireworks. Long day – and it was a Tuesday, so we all had to go back to work the next day. But I get the American stat holidays as well, so Friday – July 4 – was also a holiday for me - Miriam took the day off - (although I volunteered to work for 1 hr at the Ambassador’s party – the party of the year, according to a few).
Yep, Independence Day, July 4, Friday, was a great day. The Ambassador invited close to 4500 people to his house for the July 4 celebrations. The invites went out to politicians, business leaders, diplomats, celebrities, media, and of course the staff. Now you have to see the Ambassador’s residence to believe it. For a start it has 32 rooms. It also has a landscaped front yard the size of about 3 rugby fields. He even hosts his own Winterlude – with ice skating rinks in the Winter. Anyway back to the party. There were 8 food tents with the finest food, 3 beer and wine tents, a huge marquee with tables and chairs, and a band tent with a dance floor. After the speeches and National Anthems, there was a flyover of two Canadian and two US fighter jets. As you would imagine, the security of the event was high. Someone from Macleans magazine (Canada’s equvilent of TIME), did a minute by minute blog of the party – check it out. Also video here, photos here.
July 3 – 11 was Bluesfest – the 7th biggest music festival in the world (hundreds of bands, thousands of people). There were names like Snoop Dogg, The Wailers (with a guy that sounded exactly like Bob), The Tragically Hip, Tal Mahal, Blind Boys of Alabama, Feist, Steely Dan, Primus, James Taylor, Tokyo Police Club, That 1 Guy, Michael Franti, Beach Boys, The Black Crowes, Great Big Sea, Akon, Wyclef Jean, Donna Summer, Sean Paul, David Maxwell band….the whole list is here . Some stand outs were, The Wailers (very cool – with Bob Marley – well he sounded like him), Great Big Sea (check the videos – Dad you would like them – from Newfoundland – very Irish, they have a massive following over here), That 1 Guy (amazing – one guy playing a homemade instrument – awesome – check him out), and Hamell on Trial (comedy/political singer from New York). It was a great couple of weeks – we were kind of Bluefested out by the end of it (even though it is called Bluesfest, it aint all the blues).
So that makes us up-to-date now I think. I’m sure I have missed out a lot – so in the future I’ll try and post stuff as they happen (or weekly), so that all is remembered.
I’ll leave you with some great well known blogs:
http://lifehacker.com/
http://gizmodo.com/ - check out this amazing vid of the moon passing in front of earth: http://gizmodo.com/5026633/video-of-the-moon-passing-in-front-of-the-earth-taken-from-31-million-miles-away
See ya!
It's been a while but I will try and cover what I can and will add photos later.
I will start with a story about a skunk. A few months back we started smelling a strange odour coming from the air conditioning unit of the car while driving back from Montreal. This smell would only appear after long trips. I thought it may have been out of refrigerant, but the air was still cool. So we took it to the mechanics the next week, they looked over it and couldn’t find the problem, ‘but we’ll take $120 please for the labour, thanks’. Yeah thank-you. The smell went away, so we didn’t think much of it after that – however the smell returned on our next long journey to Quebec City. 'What is up with this car', we thought. Then one day when we were driving back from ultimate frisbee with friends, one of them said ‘smell that skunk, someone has run over a skunk around here’. Ahhhh, it all of a sudden it dawned on me – I remember when we were coming home from Montreal (it was late evening), a black and white animal ran out across the front of the car – we missed it by a few feet, but it must have been shitting itself and let the musky perfume shoot from its behind – and the perfume must have sprayed on the radiator of the car. That skunk cost us $120!
OK, so in the previous post I said we were going to do the Ottawa half marathon. Well Miriam and I did it, and we were quite happy with our results. It was a scorcher of a day, and we joined over 9,000 others at the start line. The race took us over to Quebec, and then back into Ontario, along the canal to the finish line. Miriam did an awesome time – 2:11, I ran it with another kiwi and had a time of 1:43 – a good effort for both of us, considering the heat and considering it was our first half marathon. Toronto half is next – October 19. Then another friend and I may attempt the Ottawa Full next year – which means training in Winter – (running in –20C highs).
The climate over here is different. We had record snowfalls last winter (over 4m), and it disappeared within the first 2 weeks of Spring. Summer’s here, and we are getting the hot humid, thunder storm weather. Extremes at its best/worst - I guess that's what you get in a continental climate.
It has been busy over here – we haven’t had a free weekend since the June, and won’t have another until October. But it is all good, as we are getting out and about. In a few weeks both of us, and 4 others, are taking a house boat around the Thousand Islands (on the St Lawerence river, right on the US Canada border) during that long weekend. So, we'll be bbqing, swimming, guitaring and hitting golf balls from the top deck into the river. Then at the end of August, my folks are coming over, so we'll be driving them to Montreal, Quebec City, Lake Placid, New York City, Niagara Falls and then Toronto (where they will fly out from). Then 2 weeks later, we are off to Greece for a wedding! My annual leave will be used up in the space of 4 weeks.
Work wise we are doing well – Miriam is getting good reports, and I may be off to Vienna for a conference (or at least DC for a tour of the State Department). We have had a few diplomatic duties to do - I had the chance to meet the NZ Governor General a few weeks back (filled in for Miriam, as she was over seas for work).
Went on a rave boat cruise along the Ottawa river a few weeks back. It was organised by a friend of a friend and it was a huge night (the theme was ‘naughty-cal' - so there were some nice costumes – I didn’t wear anything naughty, but did have some googles and arm floaties). Some guy jumped off and went surfing behind another boat (he wasn't allowed back on the rave boat though). There are some pics here – we are about 7-8 photos in, and I’ll add some soon (which will show below this paragraph).
I picked up some golf clubs at the 'Glebe garage sale' (an annual event where everone in the rich suburb of Ottawa (the Glebe), sell there old stuff). So I've been out on the course a few times with the some friends. Also playing ultimate frisbee, beach volleyball and hockey. The biking is going well, I try to get over to Gatineau Park, just across the river in Quebec, as often as I can - haven't seen a bear yet this year, but have seen plenty of deer, groundhogs, and beavers.
Summer in Ottawa is about festivals – because really it the only time people can get out and enjoy the weather and get some much needed vitamin D in them. OK, so we have had Italian week, Canada dance Festival, WESTFEST, festival franco-ontarien, Ottawa Fringe Festival, Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Canada Day, Ottawa Air Show, Bluesfest, HOPE Volleyball Summerfest, and there are still another 22 festivals to go (some bigger than others). Check out http://www.ottawafestivals.ca/e/festivals.html for festivals. And that’s just Ottawa. Montreal down the road also has a lot of festivals too.
I’ll talk about a few of the ones mentioned above and the Independence Day party.
July 1 was Canada Day. Like last year , Canada Day was huge. All the inner city streets were blocked off, people from all over the country (and the States) came to Ottawa to join in the celebrations. The canals were choc-a-block full of boats – many from the US. You could hardly move in places – it was huge. We started the day at a friends house for brunch and some beers, went to some other friends place for a swim and some beers, and ended in downtown Ottawa to watch the fireworks. Long day – and it was a Tuesday, so we all had to go back to work the next day. But I get the American stat holidays as well, so Friday – July 4 – was also a holiday for me - Miriam took the day off - (although I volunteered to work for 1 hr at the Ambassador’s party – the party of the year, according to a few).
Yep, Independence Day, July 4, Friday, was a great day. The Ambassador invited close to 4500 people to his house for the July 4 celebrations. The invites went out to politicians, business leaders, diplomats, celebrities, media, and of course the staff. Now you have to see the Ambassador’s residence to believe it. For a start it has 32 rooms. It also has a landscaped front yard the size of about 3 rugby fields. He even hosts his own Winterlude – with ice skating rinks in the Winter. Anyway back to the party. There were 8 food tents with the finest food, 3 beer and wine tents, a huge marquee with tables and chairs, and a band tent with a dance floor. After the speeches and National Anthems, there was a flyover of two Canadian and two US fighter jets. As you would imagine, the security of the event was high. Someone from Macleans magazine (Canada’s equvilent of TIME), did a minute by minute blog of the party – check it out. Also video here, photos here.
July 3 – 11 was Bluesfest – the 7th biggest music festival in the world (hundreds of bands, thousands of people). There were names like Snoop Dogg, The Wailers (with a guy that sounded exactly like Bob), The Tragically Hip, Tal Mahal, Blind Boys of Alabama, Feist, Steely Dan, Primus, James Taylor, Tokyo Police Club, That 1 Guy, Michael Franti, Beach Boys, The Black Crowes, Great Big Sea, Akon, Wyclef Jean, Donna Summer, Sean Paul, David Maxwell band….the whole list is here . Some stand outs were, The Wailers (very cool – with Bob Marley – well he sounded like him), Great Big Sea (check the videos – Dad you would like them – from Newfoundland – very Irish, they have a massive following over here), That 1 Guy (amazing – one guy playing a homemade instrument – awesome – check him out), and Hamell on Trial (comedy/political singer from New York). It was a great couple of weeks – we were kind of Bluefested out by the end of it (even though it is called Bluesfest, it aint all the blues).
So that makes us up-to-date now I think. I’m sure I have missed out a lot – so in the future I’ll try and post stuff as they happen (or weekly), so that all is remembered.
I’ll leave you with some great well known blogs:
http://lifehacker.com/
http://gizmodo.com/ - check out this amazing vid of the moon passing in front of earth: http://gizmodo.com/5026633/video-of-the-moon-passing-in-front-of-the-earth-taken-from-31-million-miles-away
See ya!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
We are doing the half; snow has gone; the G.G.; out West; and Triple Whoppers with the Gulper please!
May 4, early evening and I'm recovering - 1. from running 21km yesterday, and 2. from going out with a few to watch the HABS lose and get eliminated from the NHL playoffs (recovering not because they lost, but because of 'Keith's')!
Yes, Miriam and I are going to run the Ottawa half marathon on the weekend of May 25th. We started training a few weeks back, and even invested in some running shoes - as you do I guess. Miriam left for Europe/UK a few days back (for work), and when I spoke to her last night (UK time) she was about to go for a run while looking at the sights of London - kind of like a bus tour, but without the bus and the annoying (not so) funny tourist from you know where sitting behind you cracking jokes at the guided commentary.
I managed to get the 'runners high' yesterday and ended up running just over 21km (so technically I have finished my first unofficial half marathon). My legs a little sore today!
There are two seasons here in Ottawa - Winter and Summer (except for a few weeks of Fall and a couple of Spring). It is as if someone has just flicked the switch from cold to hot. A couple of weeks back we had highs of 26, a few days before the highs were in the negative figures. The (almost) record snowfall, disappeared within a week and now the tulips are out for the Worlds Largest Tulip Festival - this also means that we have been in Ottawa for just over 1 year (2 days before ANZAC day to be exact).
Yes, we went along to the ANZAC service (this year hosted by the Australian High Commission) - it was a good service that finished with a hot breakfast - nice one Aussies.
I had the honour of meeting New Zealand's Governor General, Anand Satyanand, and his wife Susan at a reception hosted by the NZ H.C. Miriam was a little gutted to miss the opportunity as she was (and still is) in the overseas for work.
The last few months of Winter (well all of Winter) was a blast. We managed to get up snowboarding/skiing a lot and our skills improved 10 fold. I can now go goofy down diamond runs, do 180s, and jump at speed. Loved it and missing it already. However, we are getting into the Spring/Summer sports now - we are both running (as I mentioned earlier) also we are playing ultimate Frisbee , I'm playing beach volleyball and hockey, and have been out on the bike a few times (80 clicks last Sunday).
Yes, Miriam and I are going to run the Ottawa half marathon on the weekend of May 25th. We started training a few weeks back, and even invested in some running shoes - as you do I guess. Miriam left for Europe/UK a few days back (for work), and when I spoke to her last night (UK time) she was about to go for a run while looking at the sights of London - kind of like a bus tour, but without the bus and the annoying (not so) funny tourist from you know where sitting behind you cracking jokes at the guided commentary.
I managed to get the 'runners high' yesterday and ended up running just over 21km (so technically I have finished my first unofficial half marathon). My legs a little sore today!
There are two seasons here in Ottawa - Winter and Summer (except for a few weeks of Fall and a couple of Spring). It is as if someone has just flicked the switch from cold to hot. A couple of weeks back we had highs of 26, a few days before the highs were in the negative figures. The (almost) record snowfall, disappeared within a week and now the tulips are out for the Worlds Largest Tulip Festival - this also means that we have been in Ottawa for just over 1 year (2 days before ANZAC day to be exact).
Yes, we went along to the ANZAC service (this year hosted by the Australian High Commission) - it was a good service that finished with a hot breakfast - nice one Aussies.
I had the honour of meeting New Zealand's Governor General, Anand Satyanand, and his wife Susan at a reception hosted by the NZ H.C. Miriam was a little gutted to miss the opportunity as she was (and still is) in the overseas for work.
The last few months of Winter (well all of Winter) was a blast. We managed to get up snowboarding/skiing a lot and our skills improved 10 fold. I can now go goofy down diamond runs, do 180s, and jump at speed. Loved it and missing it already. However, we are getting into the Spring/Summer sports now - we are both running (as I mentioned earlier) also we are playing ultimate Frisbee , I'm playing beach volleyball and hockey, and have been out on the bike a few times (80 clicks last Sunday).
I mentioned above that there are two seasons in Ottawa (Summer and Winter). Well the locals also say that the two seasons are Winter and Road work season. And I believe it! Because Ottawa gets so much snow, ice, and freezing temperatures over Winter, road crews, building contractors etc cannot work outside. And because of the freeze/thaw of the road surface over the latter part of Winter (also because of the snowploughs and graders), huge pot holes appear all over the place. The roads are unbelievable in places - with huge potholes that can completely ruin your car wheels. The Ottawa council pay out 5% of all law suits against them because of the 'holey' roads that damage cars.
Miriam went out West a few weeks back to see her good friends Penny (in Kicking Horse ), and Jocasta in Calgary. She took her skis with her and had a blast in the fresh powder - she also managed to score free lift tickets, as Penny worked and lived at the Kicking Horse resort. I will add the pics a little later (as they are still on the camera, and the camera is in the UK at the mo. - so I can't upload them).
Work has been v. busy lately and I've launched 3 new websites for the embassy. I'm now involved in recording various speakers and Ambassador speeches and then creating podcasts for the sites - of which will be online soon. It is also an interesting time working in Public Affairs during these times with what is coming up in November (and the yearly lead up to it).
So we have been here for a year - it has gone very quick. He both miss home, but have made the most of being here - met some awesome people, seen some wicked places, and done some pretty cool things. In short we are enjoying it over here!
I will leave you with some pics that I pulled off the phone (a few pics of some food from a truck stop in the States, on our way down to NYC - the Coca-Cola 'Gulpers' held about 6 litres of coke, and you could get this with your triple (yes triple) whopper and extra large fries - these pics help us stay motivated for the half marathon).
Also a couple of short snowboarding vids.
I will try and write a post every week - as every month is a bit poor really, eh!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Part of Part 2 of Part 2 (read Part 1 and Part 1 of Part 2 below)
It's Easter! And it's finally Spring - but you wouldn't know it from the surroundings - ice, tonnes of snow (although I managed to see some (1 foot of) grass when I was out on a run around the canal. Miriam and I plan to run the 10km run on Ottawa Marathon weekend (I may even do the half m., but at this stage it is just a dream).
So where was I up to - February, March?
We (and a few friends) went to the Montreal la nuit blanche (all night party) on March 1. This was a crazy night with over 100 hundred free (or near free) activities that went for 24 hrs, ending with a 4:30am breakfast. The list of activities are here (from page 6). The activities ranged from 3am museum spotlight tours, ice slides, dj art parties, gospel singing and snow frizbee, and 24hr film sessions, to Hilton roof top pool parties.
The thing was, we were hoping to get to a few of these activities, but only managed to get to 5 - because the crowds were huge. We went to line up for breakfast at 4:30am, but the queue had thousands of people in it. So after a good night out (and a long night of queuing), we made it back to the alternative hostel (run by an Aussie) and had a few hours sleep before the drive back to Ottawa (2 hrs). We were all feeling a little tired at work on the Monday.
St Patty's was - as always because of my Irish roots - a big (Monday) night. I asked my boss if I could finish work at 4pm because I needed to line up outside the pub - D'arcy McGees (at least I was honest). Twas a big night.
Sorry gotta run again! In the mean time check out the latest pics: FlickR. BTW, you should really download Piclens to view images online - unreal experience - all in 3D:
This year sometime I will start posting podcasts and other RSS feeds so that you can (you, meaning family back home) instantly have the blog updates on your desktop to your RSS aggregator (list here).
Parting limbo shots of us:
So where was I up to - February, March?
We (and a few friends) went to the Montreal la nuit blanche (all night party) on March 1. This was a crazy night with over 100 hundred free (or near free) activities that went for 24 hrs, ending with a 4:30am breakfast. The list of activities are here (from page 6). The activities ranged from 3am museum spotlight tours, ice slides, dj art parties, gospel singing and snow frizbee, and 24hr film sessions, to Hilton roof top pool parties.
The thing was, we were hoping to get to a few of these activities, but only managed to get to 5 - because the crowds were huge. We went to line up for breakfast at 4:30am, but the queue had thousands of people in it. So after a good night out (and a long night of queuing), we made it back to the alternative hostel (run by an Aussie) and had a few hours sleep before the drive back to Ottawa (2 hrs). We were all feeling a little tired at work on the Monday.
St Patty's was - as always because of my Irish roots - a big (Monday) night. I asked my boss if I could finish work at 4pm because I needed to line up outside the pub - D'arcy McGees (at least I was honest). Twas a big night.
Sorry gotta run again! In the mean time check out the latest pics: FlickR. BTW, you should really download Piclens to view images online - unreal experience - all in 3D:
This year sometime I will start posting podcasts and other RSS feeds so that you can (you, meaning family back home) instantly have the blog updates on your desktop to your RSS aggregator (list here).
Parting limbo shots of us:
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Part of part 2 and we drink tastes like homo
The `tastes like homo is the milk we drink`(see above).February was a busy month (as was every other month). Miriam and I went on out to Quebec City for the first long weekend in February (Family Day). We managed to catch the last weekend of the Winter Carnivale (and this year is the 400th Anniversary). It was freezing. We waited in the crowds of people for the carnivale parade - it was so cold that we had to run into the nearest building as soon as the parade finished (Miriam`s toes and fingers later on (3hrs later), were still purple).
The next day we went skiingéboarding at Le Massif (30mins East of Quebec City). This field would have to be the second best (behind Fernie BC), that I`ve boarded on. Huge long runs, some massive jumps, and amazing views of the St Lawrence River.
Yeah, so back to 12 below, BBQ. It was the night before the big storm of 08 (well we actually got close to 20cm that night as well). The BBQ was already dug out (from under the metre or so of snow), and it did not take long to crank it up.
Sorry, I`m off snowboarding - I will finish Part 2 later.
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