Christchurch New Zealand

I have a had a fantastic week in Christchurch NZ. It has  been tremendously interesting to travel here and find out how technology development and commercialization is done in a different part of the world. On a personal level it has been very interesting to go intercontinental again and discover what travel is like now that I have a growing family of my own.

First off, the city of Christchurch was hit extremely hard by the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and there are still many visible signs and daily reminders of this destruction for New Zelander’s. I was staying in the central business district (CBD) which was hit very hard and where the majority of the deaths occurred. Walking around at night was spooky, in a very other-worldly and post-war sense. The people here are friendly and I certainly didn’t feel unsafe, rather the spookiness comes from the dark buildings, the empty streets and the rubble of buildings all around. I did have the good fortune to spend time with some friends from Denver that have moved to Chch as a change of pace. Kea and Jason, with their son Porter showed me around the city and we took a short drive out into the country as well. it was fun to re-connect with people from my past and to hear a familiar accent upon arriving here in NZ.

On the second day here I rented a car and drove out to Mt. Cook. This wasn’t my first time driving on the left, but it’s been a few years since I was in Scotland so the skills were a little rusty. The roads here are great in the narrow and windy sense of the word. I was able to cruise along and the enjoy the scenery while still maintaining enough concentration to keep the car on the correct, eg left, side of the road. Particularly impressive are the hedges, they grow they massively tall to act as wind-breaks I suppose. Many a prairie farmer would be envious of these hedges, some of which were solid walls of green towering 20 feet high or more!

After a few wrong turns (that’s just how I navigate) I stopped at Lake Tepako for lunch, leg stretching, and great photo opportunities. Lake Tepako is an enormous and beautiful lake with a glacial aqua-marine colour that would rival Lake Louise. In fact, picture Lake Louise and Moraine Lake crammed together and you’ll get a good image of the colour. Now imagine 108.75 Lake Louises all squished together and you’d have the 87 sq km Lake Tepako. Simply gorgeous. From Lake Tepako I continued on to Lake Pukaki and took the road that winds up along the west side. This road leads to the Hermitage and ultimately to Mt Cook.

Mt Cook is an inspiring place set into a verdant and familiar feeling valley. When I was there the summit was wreathed in clouds and all-but inaccessible to mere mortals. We did have a great view of some sub-peaks and the large gaping crevasses that have opened up in the Kiwi spring. I took a short walk up the Hooker Valley trail, across swinging bridges, and decided to climb up Hooker Bluff. My goal was to get as high up the bluff as possible and to change my view of the towering Mt Cook, even so slightly. On the way up the bluff I passed a group of Japanese tourists that had pulled of for tea and I smiled when their leader told me “this is not the trail” – that’s precisely the point! My grin turned to a grimace before long as the bluff became a frustrating mix of loose scree and tight thorny vegetation. Finally, I reached a suitable and respectable stopping place and sat down to enjoy the view. I peeled an orange, saved from breakfast, and looked out over the Hooker Valley trail. The well groomed and graveled path led a steady stream of tourists through the scraggly valley bush to the cool blue Hooker Lake and above it all stood the giant of Mt. Cook. Finishing the orange and taking some water I put my camera away and headed back down the bluff and thence back along the path to my rental car.

The drive back to Chch was largely uneventful and my stomach started to rumble right around the local dinner time. It was then I also discovered some small amount of big-city snobbery that I seem to have developed. Despite being quite hungry I passed up many grungy looking small-town restaurants in hops that I would find one more suitable. I suppose flexibility and openness are skills that need to be practised. Finally, I asked a girl working at the local gas station if they “had any restaurants that were any good”, yes, those were my exact words. I cringed inwardly when I heard them but she didn’t seem offended and after paying for my fuel ($2.12/litre!) directed me to a local pub/restaurant. It had all the signs of a small town place, furnished in the 70’s and only a handful of clearly regular customers inside. However, i was immediately struck by how warm and friendly the owner was, she struck up a conversation with me and I felt myself smiling and changing my attitude. The roast lamb dish was excellent with flavourful gravy and a heaping side of potatoes, squash, and fresh vegetables. The dinner included a huge helping of a banana caramel cream pie on a biscuit (cookie) crust, which was also amazing. The rest of the drive back was uneventful and I enjoyed the short walk from the rental car place to my hotel.

The next day, Tuesday, was the official start of the conference I was here to attend; however it was primarily focused towards students. I decided to walk from the hotel to the university, a delightful 6km walk that took me through the Botanic Gardens, Riccarton Bush, and a number of residential areas. The Botanic Gardens are amazing. With the mild climate and reputation as “The Garden City” they have the ability and desire to grow fantastic gardens. There were flowers of the like I’d never seen, towering trees from the 1870s, and rose blossoms larger than my hand! In the residential areas it was refreshing to see something that hadn’t been impacted by the earthquake and to know that life was somewhat normal for most people. The campus of the University of Canterbury is well established and  buildings coincide with gardens in a very natural way. Like most of the CBD the campus was under some level of reconstruction and the site was swarming with men and women in bright orange vests blazoned with “Earthquake Reconstruction Team” and then in a smaller font below “Safety is no accident”. I didn’t spend much time at the student-focused conference, I did introduce my to the organizers and get the lay of the land though which helps for the following days.

The rest of the day was spent walking and wandering and generally touristing, albeit in a low key kind of way.

The conference was enjoyable, I met many new and interesting people including a large number of Canadians over here for work or school. It was interesting to hear their stories, fill them in on local news, and get a real perspective on what life in AUSNZ is like. Mostly they agreed that life is slower paced in Aus, and slower yet again in NZ; there was no consensus on whether this was good or not and I suppose is up to personal taste. Given that it’s winter at home right now I was envious of their ability to live outdoors most of the year and the ease with which they can blur the lines between inside and outside. I was staggered  to learn that Aussie houses of a certain vintage do not have central heating/cooling or proper insulation, in fact one fellow mentioned wearing a down coat in the house because the winter was so cool and the house so drafty. It’s always good to hear things that change the default point of view.

At the start of the conference they had a Maori invocation and good wishes to open the conference. I’ve noticed that Maori is very integrated in the life of NZ even coming first on many official signs and structures. A few times during the conference they referred to New Zealand as “bi-cultural” which I found to be very interesting given that Canada is purportedly “multi-cultural”. So I assume then that the two cultures are Maori and “New Zelander” (my term, I don’t know of a proper one to use) and I would be curious to find out more about how immigrants from other cultures are integrated into NZ society. Does they need to fully adapt and integrate? Does the definition of “New Zelander”  change over time to reflect a changing demographic? Does it retain a traditional anglo-Caucasian definition leaving cultural immigrants to exist in a shadow-culture? I don’t know, but I’d be interested to find out.

The first night we had a dinner in the Cardboard Cathedral, a transitional structure designed by a Japanese architect after the local Cathedral and traditional city icon was nearly destroyed in the 2011 earthquake. It was a fun and social time with a great group of industry and domain level peers. The food, drinks, and setting really set a positive and fun mood.

All in all I have very much enjoyed this short trip and the opportunity to see a new part of the world. I often find myself reflecting on the adventures and travels contained in this blog and sometimes lamenting how little travel or “adventure” we have these days. However, being away has highlighted so many of the good things that I have in this life, my family, kids, friends and colleagues. Sometimes it is hard to accept that one phase of life is over and that we are entering a new lifetime. Sometimes we need a reminder that the old phase like an old jacket, no longer fits in the way that it used to. I am thankful for all of my previous adventures, travels, and experiences. I am excited to be in this phase where I can watch our children grow and marvel at the world. And finally, I look forward to a day when Logan and Riley are of an age that we can travel with them, show them the world, and experience it through their eyes as well.

(I’m in an airport so can’t upload photos… for now check them out on Facebook link)

One Year

This past weekend marks my One Year Anniversary living and working here in ‘merica and overall it has been a very positive experience. There have definitely been times when it was tough, or lonely, or when homesickness got a good hold on me but they have been fleeting periods. Since I have been here I have had a great chance to see many new things, climb new mountains (both physical and metaphorical) and have met many people that I am proud to call friends.

Professionally I know that I have taken on many new things and have achieved some huge goals that I didn’t think were possible a year ago; or more accurately, couldn’t have even conceived of a year ago. I don’t tend to talk about work on this site, and I’ll generally keep it that way but since it was the whole reason I came down here it definitely deserves a few column inches. I am pleased with the professional relationships I have forged, and the lessons I have learned along the way. I am really curious to see what the next year brings!

After a year I don’t have any earth-shattering profundities or soul changing revelations, just a sense that my time here has been worth the cost so far. Even today, as the novelty has completely worn off of the “new city” and the “new job” and the “new place to explore” I still find things that are interesting and challenging and keep me on my toes. My experience so far with Search And Rescue has been a true lifeline for me. The training was intense and real-world, and the close-knit feeling of the group was by far the best part of my week for a long time. I do want to extend a sincere and significant Thank You to everyone that I’ve met here that has become a new friend, to all my friends in Calgary who have stuck with me, and especially to my family who I know is always there for me.

Ok, ok, they’re bringing up the orchestra so I should get off the stage 😉 but let me wrap up by quoting myself, a “myself” from a year ago:

This opportunity has taught me something else about myself though, I like challenges and I like being out of my comfort zone, I like confronting the unknown (and I like triumphing as well!) I believe life is about adventure and with the right frame of mind adventure can be found in many different places: the back yard, the mountains, the wider world, and in this case, a new job in a new city. The difficult thing with adventure is that it’s so often synonymous with adversity and how often do you roll out of bed in the morning and say “oh boy! A chance to face more adversity!”… yeah. I guess this is my way of acknowledging that this change, this adventure, will come with it’s dark moments and it’s downtimes.

So I say, bring on the adventure! Bring on the good times and the bad times and everything in between! (source)

And what kind of “mussings” post would it be without a little insight from my good friend, my poetic Rock, Mr. Robert Service:

Have you gazed on naked grandeur
where there’s nothing else to gaze on,
Set pieces and drop-curtain scenes galore,
Big mountains heaved to heaven, which the blinding sunsets blazon,
Black canyons where the rapids rip and roar?
Have you swept the visioned valley
with the green stream streaking through it,
Searched the Vastness for a something you have lost?
Have you strung your soul to silence?
Then for God’s sake go and do it;
Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

I heard a great story on the radio (link) a few days ago about the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa OK which I visited way back in March of 2007. It seems that they’re getting hit with budget cuts just the same as everyone else and one of their formal gardens was going to be bereft of flowers this year.

Rather than leave it empty they have decided to install a vegetable garden and donate all of the produce to the local Food Bank. Good work Philbrook!

World Accessibility

I came across an interesting article today that featured a “Global Map of Accessibility”

The researchers used 12 different data-sets to evaluate the travel time between cities of 50,000 or greater and determined that only 10% of the land is more than 48hrs away from a major city. (study here)

New Year

My vacation in Calgary was excellent, two weeks of time with friends and family and all the things I could hope for. It was fantastic to see everyone again and get caught up. Getting on the plane back to Denver was a little difficult, it felt a lot more… real than the last time I left Calgary. Still, I’m glad to be back in Denver and back to work. Also, I know everyone in Calgary thinks it’s dry there… but 12hrs after I got back to Denver I had chapped lips and felt like I was stranded in a desert!

On Sunday I had my interview with the Alpine Rescue Team out of Evergeen CO. They look like a hardcore team of dedicated “unpaid professionals” with an amazing track record over the years. From my end the interview went pretty well and I should find out tomorrow if I’m on or not… here’s hoping!

Last night I went to an orientation for the Basic Mountaineering School (BMS) with the CMC since I figured it would be another great way to meet people with simiar interests and to get some amazing training too. Turns out though that the dates for BMS are identical to the dates for Prospective Member training with Alpine which basically rules it out.

Today I had the 2nd pre-op appointment for my upcoming laser eye surgery and I gotta say I was a little squeemish about it! They’ll basically build a flap that is 100 microns thick, pick it up with a tool of some sort, zap 50 microns off my cornea and flap it back down. Done! Yeah… it made my stomach turn a little thinking about it. I’m still really excited and with only 9 days to go I can’t wait! Apparently I have worse than 20:400 vision which means that what a normal person can see at 400m I can’t see at 20! After the flap-and-zap I’ll hopefully be at 20:15 (c: I go in on the 15th and 1:30pm so I’ll be sure to let you know on the 16th how I’m doin’. (As an aside I’m watching Superman Returns on TV right now… now that’s the kind of laser vision I want to have!)

Otherwise, life continues here in Denver. There isn’t much to report in the way of spectacular-ness like there was in the heady days of travel. I’m planning a backpacking trip to Yellowstone for next summer for the August/September timeframe, I know I mentioned it to a few people while I was home so if you’re interested let me know. I’m going to send out an email about that “soon” as well. I’m also planning a larger trip for the summer after and I’m really looking forward to that too.

On my last few days in Calgary I had a really great feeling about this new year and I think that 2009 will come with many wonderful things; I hope that your 2009 is wonderful as well.

big changes

Tonight I’m sitting here in Denver looking forward and looking back. the drive down was good, my sister Juli came with me which made it a much easier trip. With the truck and trailer loaded our main problem was overestimating our progress and top speed; with each passing km it was pretty clear that the estimates weren’t matching reality. No matter, before long we hit the border and progress was truly halted while I applied for a visa. I can tell you that the Sweetgrass border isn’t a thrilling place to hang out and our only source of entertainment during the 2hr wait was other peoples woes. There was a girl sitting beside us, probably 21 yrs old or so who was absolutely panicking. Her friend was behind a locked glass door and had been clearly crying for hours. Over the course of our wait we found out that they had been living in Banff and were heading back to Onterio when they were busted with marijuana in the car. The girl inside the cell was being charged with possession and the girl outside the cell was flip-flopping between panicking and lobbying on behalf of her friend. When we left they were both getting fingerprinted and I’m not sure what they were in for next.

All I can say about Montana is that it is big and empty, with poorly spaced gas stations! Wyoming, doubly so! Saskatchewan is a pretty good analogue to Wyoming, except that there are over 1million people in SK and less than 500,000 in WY!

Juli flew home this morning and I spent the day running around doing some errands to get ready for tomorrow and the duration of my stay here. I talked with Tom, the guy I’m renting from here, and he didn’t have much good news for me. There are still people living in the place that I’m supposed to be in, but the eviction process, while slow and painful, is proceeding; hopefully within the week I’ll be able to unpack.

Tomorrow is the first day of work, back to 9-5 after almost 2 yrs of field time and it is going to be an odd transition for me. In the end though I’m looking forward to it and am excited about the new challenges. If I survive tomorrow, I’ll give ya another update!

The Nature of Adventure

If you’re a regular reader here you’ve probably noticed that there are two things I generally avoid talking about: work, and my personal feelings/issues. My philosophy has always been that I wouldn’t post anything here that I wouldn’t put up a on a bulletin board in a public place but for this posting I’m going to change that a little because in the last week or so some fairly major changes have come about that are a collision of work and personal issues. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go all emo on you though.

First, the good news: I was offered a promotion and a chance to work in the Denver headquarters of my company. The bad news? I took the promotion and it means moving to Denver. (If reading this here is the first time you’ve heard about it then I’m sorry I didn’t get to tell you in person)

Let me say that I am unequivocally excited about the new position, it is a huge step up in responsibility and involves leading a core group with tremendous influence on the other segments of the company. I am excited and scared in equal measures about the prospect of moving to a strange new city and this has been the largest stumbling block of the whole process. I am excited because it is a new challenge and a new city and an opportunity to explore and push my own personal boundaries. I am scared for all the same reasons which usually manifest as the “what if” reasons: what if I can’t cut it? what if I don’t meet anyone? what if I hate it?…

This opportunity has taught me something else about myself though, I like challenges and I like being out of my comfort zone, I like confronting the unknown (and I like triumphing as well!) I believe life is about adventure and with the right frame of mine adventure can be found in many different places: the back yard, the mountains, the wider world, and in this case, a new job in a new city. The difficult thing with adventure is that it’s so often synonymous with adversity and how often do you roll out of bed in the morning and say “oh boy! A chance to face more adversity!”… yeah. I guess this is my way of acknowledging that this change, this adventure, will come with it’s dark moments and it’s downtimes.

Let me also say that my long term plan (adventure?) is still hazy and ill defined. Calgary will always be home to me, a home which I will be glad to see again in a few days! (June 5th actually)

So I say, bring on the adventure! Bring on the good times and the bad times and everything in between!

Have you gazed on naked grandeur
where there’s nothing else to gaze on,
Set pieces and drop-curtain scenes galore,
Big mountains heaved to heaven, which the blinding sunsets blazon,
Black canyons where the rapids rip and roar?
Have you swept the visioned valley
with the green stream streaking through it,
Searched the Vastness for a something you have lost?
Have you strung your soul to silence?
Then for God’s sake go and do it;
Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

Spain Continued

Life and work continue unabated here in Spain and the last week has seen some excellent weather both for working and for lounging.

It’s been fantastic having two crews and some support people all in one place, it makes for a really fun time and helps to keep the stresses down for sure. There haven’t been many adventures lately, just a lot of work so I have nothing fascinating to report I’m afraid (I’ll take the leap of faith there that anything I report is fascinating…)

There is this great tea place up the road though, its in a little cove between some whitewashed buildings and the evenings here are just the right shade of chilly to make sitting outside drinking tea a pleasant and relaxing experience.

Our rental car nearly got towed the other day! It was in-fact up on the tow truck and inching its way down the street and only the slow moving traffic allowed us to discover its absence. This discovery was followed by a very ungraceful chasing of the slow-moving tow truck followed by a lot of half-Spanish half-English conversation with the cop to get it off the truck. In the end we got the fine down from 92 Euro to only 64 Euro.. definitely an improvement!

I’ve read a lot of books lately, but none that were really worth posting a “review” for.. .just brain filler and distraction mostly.

I’m definitely babbling… I think I’ll go to bed instead!

Rotation

“Tell me”, the great twentieth-century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once asked a friend, “why do people always say it was natural for man to assume that the sun went round the Earth rather than that the Earth was rotating?”

His friend replied “Well, obviously because it looks as though the Sun is going round the Earth.”

Wittgenstein responded “Well, what would it have looked like if it had looked as though the Earth were rotating?”

I like Europe…

I’m slowly coming the realization that I like Europe. I know everyone likes Europe but I think that it falls more into the category of short term infatuation, it’s the equivalent of pulling pig tails and chasing Europe around the playground at recess. I find I really like it here, I enjoy the public transport system, I like the mix of history and modernism, I like the attitude towards food and alcohol, I like the old cities designed around walking rather than driving, I like the different languages and I really like the multiculturalism.

My rotation is due to end on January 28th or so and my original plan was to stay over here and go to Norway to do some ice climbing. The partner that I had lined up has had to cancel (not his fault, life just works that way) and so I’m exploring my options. I don’t want to go back to north america but I don’t want to wander without purpose or goal. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, and I’m sure I’d enjoy the hell out of it, but I’d like to be doing something and involved in something on my next time off.

Here are the options as they stand:
– Going up to Norway and meeting up with another climber I found on a message board. This is the front runner and if all goes through I’m really looking forward to that!
– Going to Norway anyway and seeing what sort of fun/skiing/climbing/etc I can scare up
– Going to France and doing a French course
– Going to Germany/Switzerland/Austria and doing a German course
– Going to Spain and doing a Spanish course
– Going home and pouting

Clearly, I’m also really enjoying stretching my fledgling linguistic skills. In the last week I’ve had full conversations in both French and German, admittedly they were very basic conversations but it shows me that I can get along and more importantly I find it fun! There is something about language that I find engaging and interesting and I think it is something I should pursue while I am immersed in that culture.