mysterious

Hey Everybody.

Jeff here. Um. What have I been doing? well. dunno. Harje. Fenj. Whoa. Enough of that.

Had a weekend up the snow (as matt aluded to). It was pretty cool actually. We got reasonable weather on the friday (annual leave day) and awful weather on saturday. Me and Kate being the hardy souls we are braved it out though and battled through a full day on teh snow. We discovered the jumbo t bar up the top of turoa which had awesome snow and "popped that like it was hot." The technique is slowly improving and once i get my skis a tad closer together we'll be sorted. Kate though is a picture of perfection.

Um, we are in constant flux flatting wise. It seems 90% likely we are out of this place around the 23rd of november. This is convenient for me in that kate is finishing in hamilton that week. I guess we'll find a place? stay tuned. Oh yeah, fyi, kate is working in hamilton o'n'g for the next 10 weeks. SHe is quite enjoying herself and playing indoor soccer with some mates of mine. all good.

Wedding plans are coming along fine. Mum is heading over this weekend for a dose of wedding planner courtesy of kate's mum. That should be good i hope. I like hats.

Work is going well. I am into modelling at the moment. Unfortunately there isn;t much catwalk action. It's more "network optimisation" which is dry sounding but kind of interesting. I hope my projects gain approval in the short term so i can develop a bit of a reputation in teh longer term.

What else? honeymoon planning is underway although we haven't confirmed anything. We are on a savings drive with this in mind (maybe starting next month?)

take care. dave is soft and in bed already otherwise i would get a comment from him.

toodles.

jeff

September Shut etc

Hi everyone.

Aweosme photos Ash! Looks like a pretty cool trip. My post is no where near as cool as Ash's was!

Well, got through the September shut and have finally left a decent tag on the site (see photo below) It was a very full on week or so working 12 hour days everyday for 8 days in a row and then continuing on the rest of the working week as normal. Have been looking forward to a weekend/day off for a while now and enjoying it. Was hoping to get up skiing this weekend, but weather isn't too flash and I had no one to go with (although I do believe Jeff is up there for a work trip). So I decided to give my newly painted bike a blast on the local mountain biking tracks. I don't know why I didn't try it earlier...it was awesome! It starts off seeming like hard work, but all it takes is one moment where you think you're off and then get through it and you get a rush and that's it. You catch the bug. Not a relaxing thing to do by any stretch, but a good way to get you motivated for the day.

Well, that's all for now. I hope everyone is well. It would be great to hear what's going on, especially when I have little contact with most of you.

Take care, Matt

San Antonio

Hi Everyone.

The top photo is The Alamo in downtown San Antonio. This is were the battle of the Alamo was fought in the 1840's where the Texans were seeking independence from Mexico---most unsuccessfully--David Crockett and 177 co-defenders were defeated and all killed here---now they are heroes.

The second photo is the San Antonio River walk in the downtown area. The "River" side has been progressively developed to create a total dining opportunity/experience for locals and visitors alike. The dining ambience was great, and there is also a measure of flood control included in the design.

As you can see I have returned from a week away visiting San Antonio, Texas. I attended the American Public Works Association Congress in the HUGE convention centre. There were 5000 registrations, with 10 concurrent streams of education sessions as well as an amazing exhibition in the main hall. There were also 3 ballrooms which could seat 1000 for dinner.

I found the whole experience quite educational and informative and next time would like to spend a bit more time on the ground,....after 24 hours of travel getting there.

Barbara has held the household together very well while I was away, and it is hard to believe how much the daffodils, tulips, and camelias have all burst into flower in the last 8 days. The lawn needs another cut---it is also in excellent shape.

Barbara is going to Sydney via Auckland in about 10 days time---to catch up on Wedding Plans and to have a break away after a long exhausting Term 3. She is currently very busy marking exams and writing reports.

When I went through Auckland I caught up with Jeff and Kate, who went to great efforts to get out to the Airport to share a coffee/coke.

We have now booked our flights to Sydney for next March. Everything seems on track at this stage---I have even got myself a new suit already hanging in the wardrobe.

Take care everyone, and Kind Regards, Ashley and Barbara.

Kinleith CARnage

Hi all,

Well, survived the Undie 500 with a total of zero arrests. Hmmm, looking like it may not be an official event for much longer after the riots. You may all be pleased to know that I had nothing to do with that behaviour! Unfortunately my camera got run over in Oamaru, so my photos are history, however I managed to get one off a mate to show you what our car looked like:

We got a lot of support from people on the way down and particularly in Dunedin. Managed to anger a couple.....but why would you be trying to sleep on the Saturday night of the Undie 500 anyway? You should expect yelling and tinny MIDI music blasting out the top of a packed Honda City!

Had wicked weather and got to a couple of beaches (really annoyed that I couldn't take any photos!)

We have the September shut beginning at work on Monday, so it's going to be very busy for the week and a half or so, but looking forward to putting some projects into action and also looking forward to the summer that will be prominent afterwards!

I'll be taking some photos again (with my new camera) so hopefully will post some more up again soon.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the snow season before it packs its bags! I have been twice so far, hope to get up tomorrow and plan to get another 3 or 4 days in after the shut.

Take care

Matt

Timmers

Hi all, A few spare moments for the blog update.

We have had a wonderful weekend---Chch yesterday looking in the shops and then caught up with Chris and Steve. Got home just in time to see Canterbury completely waste Waikato to win the Ranfurly Shield.

Today I caught up with the garden---weeds and lawns got a work over. The weather has been great and the camelias are starting to flower---as are some of the fruit trees.

Off to San Antonio on Friday night--going to the American Public Works Congress for 5 days. Returning on Sat 15th.

Jeff---did you see any of the APEC security while you were in Sydney??

Cheers, Ashley and Barbara.