Well, good week so far.. knee feeling a little better, though wussed out on squash.. Played Pool with Glynn instead. Can’t believe it, I get to play pool every day in work and he somehow sneaked a 7:5 victory. Not to be repeated ;)

Weather has turned quite a lot colder. Still, snow is mighty purty

Also, some exciting news.. will be heading to Auckland with work next week – for the TUANZ Innovation awards (more to follow). Basically it’s a black tie award ceremony, and an excuse for a few free cocktails.

On the negative side, my digital cameras LCD display has decided to become quite tempermental… and I so do not want to get a new camera.

Dear oh dear, knee a little sore after the snowcraft, probably should get to the phisio seeing as it’d be free under ACC anyway. Squash on Monday was probably a bad idea too ;)

Had a great night out on Tuesday though, caving friends – Andy and Kirsty were out as it was Kirsty’s Bday.. good times.

Went out to look at the perseids meteor shower, but only saw one shooting star.. wondering if they’re visible from this hemisphere..

Finally, a friend from Openet, Niamh was in town last night – great to see her, she’s just finished up a year in Australia and is on her way home.. She left today on the trans alpine railway – will be lovely.. then a bus tour for 2 weeks.

Might head and watch a snow boarding competition tomorrow over at Mount Hutt.. could be good.. and I’ve bought a computer too.. getting ADSL. Really settling in. Do wonder about residency sometimes.

Great weekend, though the weather could have been a little (lot) kinder. Went away on a snowcraft course. So we learned how to do ice-axe arrests (no, not apprehending thieves with an ice-axe ;) – learning how to stop your fall with an ice-axe. Also how to move with crampons, how the snow packs work (and therefore where to expect avalanches etc) How Bergschrunds form, cornices, wind loading etc. etc. Really interesting stuff.

And crazily cheap. For $50, we got transport, accommodation, food, gear use (helmet, crampons and ice-axe) and instruction. Doubt you’d get better than that anywhere really.

Saturday we went off and practiced the skills, went up to a ski-field and practiced off to the side of one of the slopes. (yes, we had permission). The slope we were to use had too much avalanche danger. That was the real problem with the weekend, there was WAY too much powder, so we couldn’t really practice too well, crampons are useless in thick powder..

Did have a nice sunset though :) Infact the place we were staying was great, it’s a field station for Canterbury University where they do research into biology, zoology, botany, geology etc. And it’s a very comfortable place to stay in too! Huge log fire. Great.

Then on Sunday we went on a hike to put the skills to use. Unfortunately, while the views were great (and there’s a movie here)..

..again, the snow was just too deep to really practice anything. Would have been better off getting boarding or something.. We did make an igloo though. Which was great fun. Very strong structure really, I stood on the roof and it supported my weight with no problem at all.

Finally, for those of you who’ve seen the film Vertical Limit, you might find this funny. I did :)

WooHoo.. an absolutely great day. Headed to immigration, and they granted me my Work Permit. It was an incredibly painless process, took just 15 mins before my passport was stamped. Reckoned it was going to go well, when after less than a minutes conversation with the officer we were chatting about her trip last year to Ireland :) hehehe. So yes, now I can stay until July, but if I want to get it extended it’s not a biggie. Though I’m kinda tempted by residency too.. will have to look into that one. Takes just 2 years (well 180 days for 2 consecutive years) before you get permanent residency..

Finally, the culmination of months of hard work here in the Ministry of Economic Development.

Today, I cleared the table at pool, while my friend David hadn’t managed to pot a single ball.