Tag: new zealand

OTN APAC Tour 2016 : It’s Nearly Here!

otnapac16dIn a little over a week I’ll be starting the OTN Asia Pacific (APAC) Tour 2016, or to be more accurate I’ll be starting the first half of it.

I’ll be attending the following events.

  • Wellington, New Zealand: October 26th (Event)
  • Auckland, New Zealand: October 27th (Event)
  • Sydney, Australia: October 31st (Event)
  • Gold Coast, Australia: November 2nd (Event)

The tour carries on without me (I had already committed to another event in Europe) to the following locations.

  • Beijing, China: November 4th and 5th (Event)
  • Shanghai, China: November 6th (Event)
  • Bangalore, India: November 11 and 12 (Event)

I’m feeling pretty nervous about the travelling. The Dubai to Auckland flight alone is 16+ hours. It’s a long way to go for such a short visit, but I’m sure I will enjoy it when I’m there.

apac16-flights

I did try to upgrade the flights to business class, but there were no seats left. I’ll keep trying. It will cost me a lot of money, but it will make the whole traveling process a lot more pleasant if I can sort it out.

Hopefully I’ll get to see you there. I’ll be the guy asleep on the floor with his tongue hanging out… 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

OTN APAC 2014 : Auckland Day Off

The first day of the Auckland conference was made up of hands-on labs and workshops. I wasn’t presenting, so I arranged to meet up with some friends and have a play day. 🙂

On my way out of the hotel I saw Osama Mustafa, who is still looking buff like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. On the way to the station I met Anton Els, which was a pleasant surprise. We chatted for a bit and he gave me a lift around the corner and dropped me off at the station. After stuffing my face at Subway, I got on the train to Papakura, where I met my buddy Stan and we went to his place in Pukekohe.

The great thing about meeting up with good friends is you don’t have to say or do a lot. Just hanging out together is fun. It’s been about 8 years since he moved to NZ and about 3 years since I last saw him in person, but you just kick back into gear. It was a really cool low pressure day with him and his family. They have a 12 acre lifestyle block with some cows on it, as well as some cows grazing the neighbouring blocks. It’s funny watching the stages of development in cows. The young ones gallop and skip around like chunky gazelles. At about one year old they are more sedate, but occasionally revert back into the child like state and jump and run around, which is very impressive considering their size. Once they are adults, they are like tanks made of flesh…

In the evening I was planning on getting the train back to Auckland, but I was reading the wrong timetable and missed the last train. I could have stayed the night, but I wanted to get back so I took a taxi. It was a little sad to say goodbye, because you never really know when you will see each other in person again…

For me, the NZOUG conference starts tomorrow. Like the Perth event, I’ve got four presentations in total. Two on each day. It’s amazing to think the tour is nearly over…

Cheers

Tim…

Homeward bound…

My brief stay in New Zealand is coming to an end. Later today I will be getting on a plane to start my journey home to the UK. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the flights, but it has to be done…

Due to some bad planning on my part, I didn’t get to hook up with everyone I wanted to, but such is life.

The next NZOUG is about 18 months away. As I said before, I hope I get to come back again, but it’s a long way from home and you never know what life will through at you.

See you later…

Cheers

Tim…

Lazy Days…

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…