Sitting in Nate’s in the Ottawa airport waiting for flight.
Last Canadian meal before beef time!
Dreary weather is looking in on us from the outside world. Overcast and the like.
I’m peering out at a robin’s-egg blue Air Canada plane at gate 17. Ours is next to it.
C-GJWO is our equipment. Airbus 319. Looks air-worthy. We’ve got about 1:15 till lift-off 0:45 till we board.
Update: there was a gate change, we were actually at Gate 15. Don’t know what the tail ID was. Sorry kev.
Well, I thought I’d better write out a couple paragraphs about the rest of the trip before I forget it all. Jody and I got back safe and sound yesterday from Peru. All told, it took us just over 24 hours to get from the depths of the Jungle back to the good ole Capital City. The day started with several hours on the river in a motorized canoe, followed by hours waiting for a delayed flight in the jungle, capped off by the red-eye from Lima to Toronto, and a narrowly-caught flight back to Ottawa where bright-eyed Alix was waiting to take us home. Unfortunately, that didn’t end the journey, as we then had to drive directly out to get Jonah and back again, an extra 2+ hour trip! Needless to say, we’re a bit road-tired today, but tonight I might start checking out the 1600+ pictures we took!
28/02/08
Hey dudes and dudettes! How are you all doing? For ActiveSteve, the fun just never stops. I spent an extra day in Curio Bay, because there are a number of worthwhile things to see and do here, so why rush on, right? I think I already mentioned that there are Hector’s Dolphins, Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Sea Lions, Petrified Forest, etc. etc. Also, in the surrounding areas, you can go to Slope Point, the Southernmost point on the South Island, as well as some other choice viewing spots of the rugged Southland coast and the ocean. Of course, to get to those, it’s via gravel roads, and can take a while on a bike. As you can see from my little map, I did 70km, but my speed is very high. Why is that? Well, I must confess that I toured the area in a car, not on my saddle! I also finally took a surfing lesson and tried my hand at riding the waves on a longboard. For the full details on how I did all this, read on my friends.
A well known saying goes something like this. Never put anything smaller than your elbow in you ears. Well, I’m never one to listen to sayings, and I guess I paid the price this past weekend in New York City. On the upshot, I got to experience private health care. On the downshot, it ain’t any better than public health care. But I digress. It all started on the [long] bus ride to New York. It was an all-nighter, and to pass the time, I brought my MP3 player to listen to old BBC radio broadcasts of the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy. To do this, I was using my Shure E3 headphones, which are in-ear headphones to block out noise, which I also use on stage when playing music. Well, wouldn’t you know it, at one point, I tried pulling out the earphone to hear someone talking, and the damn bud stayed in my ear!! I’m talking waaay deep in my ear.
05/01/08
Greetings from a well-rested and soaked PassiveSteve. Yes, today has certainly been one of my most inactive days of this trip thus far. However, it has been far from a boring day, and I’m definitely glad to finally take a ‘personal day’ to recharge mind, body and spirit! So just what makes this day so passive? Well, for starters, I only biked 30km, and I only left Rotorua around 10:30am. The late start was not only due to my short riding distance, but also my late night listening to live music. I’ve only headed a bit south of Rotorua to an area known as Waikite, where the Te Manaroa Spring is located. This is the largest single source of boiling water, which puts out about 40-50L of 98 degree water per second. Even though it was a short day, I’ve still put together a little map for you to look over, with some pictures of the thermal pools at my campground. Read on for more on this quiet day.
