Oracle related rants (and lots of off-topic stuff)…
I’m currently at the Rotorua conference, so this will be a quick post. I had a quick look round yesterday.
Lake Rotorua. Mud Pool at Waiotapu. Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake). Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake). Lake Tarawera…
Are you spotting a pattern? Lots of water and lots of green. 🙂
I’ve done almost nothing since arriving in New Zealand. I’m staying with friends and I’ve managed to busy myself chatting and playing with their 7 month old baby. She has a cold so I’ve been used as a human tissue and yesterday I got covered in projectile vomit. My arm, shirt and foot got a liberal coating of partially digested milk. 🙂
I leave for the conference tomorrow, then I guess I better start organizing my sightseeing or I’ll end up doing nothing…
Cheers
Tim…
I was part way through watching The Incredible Hulk on the flight to New Zealand when my “Individual On-Demand System” crashed and restarted. I watched with geeky pleasure as Linux booted up. I couldn’t tell the exact version, it went too quick, but I saw “Red Hat” in the text and there was a picture of Tux… 🙂
I’m in New Zealand now, chilling out at a mates house for a few days before starting the New Zealand Oracle User Group conference.
Cheers
Tim…
My last post might have left people with a negative view of the Gold Coast, so I hope this post goes some what to change that. Pretty awesome… 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
I arrived yesterday afternoon in the Gold Coast and got a bus to my hotel, the Conrad Jupiters Casino. My first impression of the Gold Coast was not too good. It is essentially a big holiday resort. The fact I was staying in a casino gave me a bit of a flashback to Vegas.
On arriving at the hotel I noticed there was a pool, so I went straight out and had a swim. This made me feel a little more positive. Then I noticed there was a gym with a room where they teach fitness classes. The room was empty so I went back to my room, got my Yoga mat and did an Ashtanga practice. It was cool not having to practice in my hotel room. Too many distractions. After this I was feeling up for a wander around.
After leaving the hotel I walked through a shopping center and a restaurant area, then out on to the beach. This is when I realized I was going to like the Gold Coast. The beaches are long and wide with white sand. It is the perfect place to bring kids on holiday, hence the holiday resort developments. I’ve got 2 days before the conference starts so I’m going to spend my time between the beach, the gym and the pool. I’m going to try and blank out the casinos and holiday resort feel as they will only spoil it for me.
I would post photos only the hotel internet charges are extortionate, so I’m using a public terminal. Unless I get internet access at the conference, I probably won’t be online much until I reach New Zealand.
Cheers
Tim…
Today I started with a visit to Darling Harbour.
I’m a sucker for aquariums, so I ended up at the aquarium. It’s a bit bigger than AQWA in Perth, but the main difference was that the seals were swimming. 🙂
Next I walked across the bridge, just on the normal footpath. 🙂
Next I headed off to Bondi Beach to show the surfer types how we roll in the UK. This involved me walking round fully clothed trying desperately to keep out of the sun. I went a bit mad with the sun screen this morning leaving be with a silvery glow. I must have looked like an overdressed alien. Needless to say I didn’t get sunburn.
Later I was back in Sydney center, walking through the gardens when I noticed people checking out the trees. At first I thought these were some freaky sort of bird nests. It wasn’t until I zoomed in I noticed they were bats. Fun, fun, fun…
Cheers
Tim…
Lewis Cunningham just pointed out there’s a quote from my blog in a Computer World article (page 3). Bang goes my ACE Director status… 🙂
I think it’s kinda funny that people may click on the link, check out my blog and see a bunch of movie reviews and pictures of Australia.
Cheers
Tim…
I got to Perth airport about 2 hours early, attempted to check in and was told I couldn’t until I paid the outstanding balance on my ticket. [Insert flashback to Frankfurt here] I called Oracle Travel and a couple of minutes later it was sorted and I got on the plane and survived the flight. Did you hear about that Qantas flight? That was on the taxi radio and the TV at the airport before I flew. 🙁
I had booked the cheapest hotel in Sydney (CBD) I could find on wotif.com. I got off the plane and became increasingly worried that I had booked into a crack-house, but it turned out really cool. It’s a pretty small place above a pub in the center of town, but the room is really cool. I wonder if they will give me an extra discount because I’m unemployed? 🙂
I went down to check out the harbour and took a ride on the Manly ferry. I know it’s a bit stupid, but the opera house is so iconic, I really feel like I’m in Australia now.
It was getting dark by the time the ferry came back from Manly.
I walked home through a park and saw a bloody big rat. I was going to photograph it and make some joke about Quokkas, but I was too slow. A little further on I heard a noise in a tree and saw something a little cuter than a rat.
Tomorrow is my only full day in Sydney before I go on to Gold Coast, so I’ve got to figure out what to do to make the most of my limited time.
Cheers
Tim…
The AUSOUG Perth conference finished a few hours ago. It’s a really good size event, about 400 people, which is big enough to feel busy, but small enough to feel personal. I met a bunch of familiar faces and many new ones.
The best speaker prize went to Connor McDonald. If you get the chance, check out his presentation style. It’s not the normal thing you see on the Oracle conference circuit.
I did two talks, which must have gone down OK with the audience as I got the second prize behind Connor. It was very nice surprise.
So tomorrow morning I leave Perth and head to Sydney for a couple of days on my way to Gold Coast…
Cheers
Tim…
Doug: I’ve already had the Number Two’s joke, so I’ll head you off at the pass on that one… 🙂
I took a trip out to Rottnest Island a couple of days ago. The beaches look tropical, but the center of the island is a mix of scrub land and unusual salty lakes. It’s pretty cool.
 |
| From 2008_Perth |
Here’s another shot…
 |
| From 2008_Perth |
The island was named Rottnest (Rat’s Nest) because William de Vlaming thought the native Quokkas were big (cat sized) rats. Here’s one of the little fellas.
 |
| From 2008_Perth |
They are really tame. They walk right up to you without a care.
After taking a bike ride round the island I spent some time on the beach. Sorry to anyone present who was subjected to my incredibly white body. 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
