Rally Car Driving

Amazing Rainbow

Hightly Embarrasing

So when I logged on to my blog account i must say that i am a little embarrased to how long it has been since i last posted.

Ah well it sucks but hey what can you do. I will update it now.


At the minute i am still in New Zealand. As usual i have had a few problems with immigration (i will explain later) but now have a proper visa that means i can stay here legally until the start of January 08. Camp does know that i am finishing just after xmas but i have not decided what i am doing when i finish here. I am throwing around a few ideas in my head.

I will try and upload heaps of pics below so you can just look and not be bored by my writings.

PK

Paragliding

You may be thinking from the tile that i did Paragliding.. Heck no! i am a wimp and don't like heights but i do like other people that like heights.

One beautifully sunny afternoon i took a walk up the Mount and sat at the top and watched the Paragliding guys get geared up and run and jump off the edge of a mountain hoping that canopy catches them.

These guys were amazing. The way the Mount is there is a natural thermal that comes up from the sea. The guys that I watched just flew back and forth over the top of the Mount for ages then turned around and headed down to the beach for landing. It was really cool to watch and funny to see them try and take off.

I was talking to one guy who is the NZ precision champion. Apparently (according to him) he landed on the front of a speed boat out in the water. He only had to land within a certain distance of the boat but apparently he didn't want to get wet.

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View of the beach from half way up the Mount

View of Mt Maunganui from the top

The Ostrich

We used to have this Ostrich on camp but we killed him and ate him. Only joking we didn't eat him. And we didn't kill him. He was a lonely big bird and wanted a lot of loving. Every time you would go to the edge of the fence he would either try to peck your face off or do the mating dance. The dance was funny (although it kinda made you feel a little uncomfortable)

We were gettting rid of it but first we had to get it in a trailer. I went to watch the guy trying to catch it and man did i laugh. They had to get it to the fence and then put a sock over its head so it can't see. That way you have more control. He has really weird feet and and very strong legs that are connected to those feet and if there is a connection between the Ostrich and you he will generally win.

He used to have a friend that lived with him but rumor has it that he ran into a fence and broke his neck. I think he was pushed.

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Shark

So Muckle was fishing and caught a shark. It was funny cause we needed to put is somewhere so we put it on the floor of the fridge. Didn't realise that one of the staff would get a mid night hunger attack, walk down to the kitchens and waslk into the fridge. He got quite the shock. Fun times.

We chopped it up and ate it.. Yummmmm

2 month review

It has definately been too long since I last updated my site. I have realised it has been too long cause Tim Jebb reminds me every time he is on msn that i haven't done it. Well Tim this is for you.

Cirque Du Soleil

I was able to strike something off my 11 things i want to do before i die list a few weeks ago, and that was to go and see a Cirque Du Soleil. Ok that was a lie cause i don't have a list of things i want to do before i die but i should probably do one.... anyway Myself and a few others headed up to Auckland to see Varekai, which means "wherever" in the Romany language of the gypsies. From the very start the show completley captivates your attention and before you realise it the interval is starting. During that time you sit in awe of what you just saw and look forward to the next part of the show. Thinking about these guys and what they do can only be summed up in one word 'stupid'. These guys are nuts..crazy.. I can't believe that they put themselves in the positions / heights that they do all to please some idiot from Ireland sitting there trying to hide his camera from the people that will take it off you. (you were not allowed cameras... he he I WON!) ok so the pics i have are pretty crap but that is because these folks move so fast, and i wasn't putting my flash on. The whole show was thoroughly entertaining and I will definately try and go and see another show when it is back on.

Fishing (Guys Only)

Went up to Pahanui for a guys fishing trip. It was very fun and not a lot of fish of any good size were caught. Yet it was fun all the same. Jerry Johnson and a few mates came over one day and we headed out. Funny story: once again I was fishing with Jerry beside me. I had one leg over the edge of the boat relaxing, enjoying the weather, taking heaps of abuse for the amount of small fish I was catching and jerry says in an excited tone: oh there’s a shark. Muckle thinks that it was a Hammer Head Shark and it was about 7ft long. One of the other guys thought it was a different type of shark but I didn’t care as I took my leg out of the water quicker than Michael Flatly flaps his legs in Riverdance. The shark stole our bait and swam off. A few weeks before Muckle caught a shark and brought it back to camp. It was funny because we put it in the camp fridge on the floor. One of the guys who works here got hungry in the middle of the night and headed down to the kitchen opens up the fridge turns on the light and gets a fright when the shark is looking up at him.

Demo Derby

One thing that Ireland doesn’t have is a demolition derby (at least I don’t think they have one) Once all the main races are done they bring out a water truck, soak the track and then a couple of hundred crap cars come out. Pretty much a demo derby is last man standing, or last car moving. It was fun. Unfortunately there were no cars rolled this time but there was a few on fire. Wow fire….

Stock Car

Super Saloon Series

Super Saloon Series

I arrived at the Demo Derby a little early so i took a walk around the pit area. I bumped into Steve Williams. NZ people should know who this guy is. He is NZ's highest paid sports star who doesnt' even play a sport. He is the caddy for Tiger Woods. It was cool talking to him, he had heard of Totara Springs and then showed me round his cars and explained the difference between Saloon cars and Super Saloon cars. I nodded my head a few times to let him think I was understanding what he was telling me. I am glad he didn't make me do a quiz.

Snow Patrol

What a night. My sister was able to hook me up with some tickets for the Snow Patrol concert in Auckland in Feb. It was amazing. WHen we arrived we went to the gate and when I had given my name at the door I was handed an envelope. In the envelope was 5 free tickets and the Guest Pass (below). The only place that we were not allowed with this pass was the Dressing Room. It was cool after the show to go back stage and have a drink with them and also meet Evermore who were supporting Snow Patrol. I would definately have to say that Snow Patrol are one of my favourite bands. They put on such a good show.

All in all it was a good night. Props to Ruth and Sarah (for scoring the tickets)

Hamilton Zoo

So it was Waitangi Day and i was off so i decided to go over to the Hamilton Zoo. To be honest it isn't anything special. I was disappointed to find that they didn't have a Kiwi at the Zoo. Apparantly they need a specific environment to live in and the Hamilton Zoo hasn't built one yet. They told me to go to Auckland or another Zoo that I can't pronounce cause there is too many letters in it.

It was a fun day apart from when i was at the furthest end of the Zoo from the reception there was a call on the speaker for the owner of a Blue Nissan Bluebird parked in the far carpark to come to reception. I had already been waiting for 10 mins for the tigers to come out for feeding and i wasn't going to miss it. It was definately worth waiting for. Anyway... i decided to make my way back to the reception and i finally got there tired, exhausted and a little sweaty. I arrived and said i was the driver of the Bule Nissan Bluebird (i said i was the driver because i am not the owner) she then looked confused. I repeated myself 'i am the driver of the Blue Nissan Bluebird' the light blub flashed abover her head and she rememberd about the call. It turned out that there was another Blue Nissan Bluebird in the far carpark because the guy had already turned up as he had left the key in the boot. I knew it definately wan't me because i was holding the key. I asked if she could arrange a lift for me back round to the tiger area because she had made me walk the whole way around for nothing. She didn't hesistate to say No! So i walked.

Hamilton Zoo

White Rhinoceros

This is the biggest Rhinoceros they have weighing in a small 2.2 tonne


Interesting fact: White Rhinoceros and Black Rhinoceros are exactly the same. The name chance comes from the shape of the mouth. A white Rhinoceros has a flat bottom lip for picking up food off the ground (grass / hay) where a black Rhinoceros has more of a pointed lip so that it can rip off leaves etc from trees / bushes.

Rhinoceros poo is huge. One lump was probably the size of a soccer / football.

Feeding time for the Tiger

They hid the food around the water as it is the natural area for tigers to go to for food. In the wild they will generally chase their prey towards the water.

Hamilton Zoo: Black-Handed Spider Monkey

This is a Black-Handed Spider Monkey. These guys are funny. The Zoo Keeper was in talking about the Monkeys while i was there. The monkey above ran behind her and stole her radio. She chased it for easily 5 mins. It was really cheeky and teased her by holding it out to her then running away. I laughed out loud.



Again with the radio