Social Tech and Me

CES 2012 is Live

2012-01-09T12:34:00.002-05:00

CES, is the largest trade show in America dedicated to the best and latest technologies that companies will be coming out with this year. The event is held in Las Vegas, Nevada and the biggest tech and electronic companies will be there. Great things will be happening this week, including new smartphones, bigger more advanced TVs and even more connected home appliances. Honestly the possibilities are endless.

All tech and media news/blog sites will covering this event throughout the week. For the latest and best news, live blogs, and photos, check out Mashable.com. Later today we will have three more live blogs and a few more throughout the rest of the week. So stayed tuned for some mind blowing tech and gadget info.

Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter @Krazykaplan14

Keith Kaplan Gets to Test out a Samsung Galaxy Nexus

2011-12-11T15:40:00.001-05:00

Hello Readers,

So the other day I was given a Galaxy Nexus phone from one of my co-workers at Mashable. And guess what...I get to test it out! Stay tuned for a review to be posted in the next few weeks.

Eric Schmidt Says Some Bold Words at LeWeb 2011

2011-12-08T03:50:00.001-05:00

Eric Scmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, said a bold statement while on a panel with Loic Le Meur.
While discussing the topic of social identity, Eric Scmidt said, "there is the opportunity to build the next Facebook or the next Google." He supported this statement by mentioning how there is and will be even more a race to own identity, social services, commerce, and even mobile electronic platforms.

This idea breaks into the overarching idea of competition, which was a common point Eric described in the interview. That being said, another question brought up was Google+ wanting to beat Facebook? It was surprising to hear Eric's answer because it was not a direct yes. His explanation was that Facebook is not necessarily beatable. Google+ was created in attempt to find something new, not only to be a social network, but a way that will help personalized search and ranking (more can be heard in the video below).

I just wanted to share with you some of the key items that stood out to me while I watched this video earlier today.

This is Really What Happened on Black Friday in NYC

2011-11-30T01:26:00.001-05:00

One in Five Teachers Witness Cyberbaiting [STUDY]

2011-11-22T12:36:00.001-05:00

This is an article being re blogged from Mashable which can be found at this link: http://mashable.com/2011/11/22/teachers-cyberbaiting/

Twenty percent of teachers have personally experienced or knows another teacher who has experienced cyberbaiting, a new study reveals.

Cyberbaiting — a form of cyberbullying of teachers conducted by students — occurs when students taunt their teachers, capture their reactions on a mobile recorder and threaten to upload the footage to the Internet.

The cyberbaiting stats were among the findings of the Norton Online Family Report, which examined the effects of growing up in the digital age on youth.

Probably due to the widespread prevalence of cyberbaiting, 67% of teachers say being friends with students on social networks exposes them to risks. Despite the apparent risks, 34% of teachers continue to friend students.

Roughly half of respondents (51%) report that their schools have social media codes of conduct dictating how teachers and students can interact online.

Not surprisingly, 80% of teachers think there should be more education about online safety in schools. Seventy percent of parents agree.

StrategyOne polled 19,636 people — including 12,704 adults, 4,553 children and 2,379 teachers — online between Feb. 6 and Mar. 14 in 24 countries. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 0.87% at a 95% level of confidence.

Do you think schools should have rules in place dictating how teachers and students interact in cyberspace?

5 Ways Higher Education is Leveraging Mobile Tech

2011-11-17T13:46:00.001-05:00

Mashable just released a new article about Higher Ed and Mobile Tech (click the photo for the link)

Google Music Competitors with iTunes and Amazon

2011-11-16T18:24:00.001-05:00

Just earlier tonight Google held an invite only event in LA announcing their Google Music Store. Previously Google's music service, "Google Music" was in a beta mode and tonight Google announced they would be dropping the beta and officially make it live.

For those that do not know what Google Music, it is a cloud based music service that allows users to store up to 20,000 songs for free. Once you've uploaded your music library you're able to listen to that music virtually anywhere that has Internet, even on your mobile phone using the Google Music app.

Tonight's even mostly focused on the Google Music Store feature, which is the iTunes of Google. Some of the coolest features highlighted included:

The ability to preview a song for 90 sec.
Share songs you've purchased via Google+ which allows your friends to listen to the song one time free before they buy it
All songs on the Google Music Store are MP3, 320 kbps format
The variety of free music available in the music store
Customized independent artist profile pages

There are a few concerns in regards to the current partnerships Google has with big music labels. Right now, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal are the only big labels.

With a new Google Music Android app released today and the announcement of the Google Music Store, there will sure be some talk in the next few days about where things are headed in the cloud based music industry.

* Once a newer video is released I will update it above.

Social Platforms in Schools Cause a Distraction

2011-11-13T23:03:00.001-05:00

A question I want to ask this week is should students in school belimited to the technology and social software they have available to them inthe school environment?

This is asking youshould students be able to access social platforms, such as Facebook, Google+,Twitter, Tumblr, Blogs, etc. during school hours. Some say it will distractstudents from their main goal of learning. Others say it will enhance theirlearning by discovering new content and experiencing new interactions.

As mentioned inthe Jennifer'sblog, her fifth grade cousin said she was blogging asa requirement for class. Does the fact that classes are encouragingstudents to use social platforms such as a blog, change the way students shouldlook at social in general. In one way, social platforms can be a distractionfor students and truly take away what is learned in class. On theother hand, the use of social platforms can encourage new discussion and newideas to be created.

I fall to the sideof allowing social platforms to be used in schools (K-12). That is only ifstudents are using it in a way that is benefiting their education and socialdevelopment and not hurting others. I even believe today thatwith smartphone's becoming more prevalent, there are social platformsused in schools already. The question raised is how do you go about regulatingsocial is used in a beneficial way? The answer to that lies in innovation andtechnology itself. I would like to see a new technical development that allowsstudents to be regulated in schools that allows beneficial usage.

Recap of the Mashable Media Summit

2011-11-07T00:30:00.002-05:00

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend Mashable's MediaSummit at the TimesCenter in NYC. The event was a one-day conference dedicatedto the topic of how digital media and innovative technologies are changing thenews, advertising and marketing industries. One of my favorite panels was thediscussion between Emily Chang (Anchor of Bloomberg West) and Evan Cohen(General Manager of Foursquare). There was some great discussion of whereFoursquare is headed and what the competition in the market looks like forthem.

Overall the eventwas awesome and since the biggest sponsor of the Media Summit was AT&T, Iwas able to connect with some of the AT&T reps. I even was able to do ahands on video of some of the phones that weren't even out on the market yet.One of those was the Galaxy S II Skyrocket. Take a look at my video:

Google+ and the Ripple Test

2011-11-03T17:05:00.002-04:00

Going off our discussion from today about studying the publicly available connections in network as opposed to the actual content, I highly suggest taking a look at the Google+ Ripple Test.

Google+ Ripple Test

Have you seen the movie Catfish?

2011-11-03T13:48:00.000-04:00

This is a post re-blogged from the World of K. It is relevant to this weeks readings on connections on how social networks can be presented as fake or without reliability.

My Reflection on the Movie Catfish

The Official Catfish Trailer

I just recently finished watching the move Catfish – “The other facebook movie”. Several months ago I remember seeing the trailer for this movie and I was interested in seeing it, but when it actually hit theaters, it was only available for viewing in a few locations. Luckily my buddy Nick rented it (on Bluray) so I was finally able to watch it. As my followers know, I like to give a short background of my relationship with the people I mention –so Nick here is yours.

Nick and I first met in May of 2010 – he was one of the people interviewing me for the position that I currently have. Although we met in May we did not really become friends (both on facebook and in real life) until August when we had training together, but ever since then I like to think we are pretty close. Although it is hard to describe someone in a short paragraph like this, if I had to, I would say that Nick is a sincere, intelligent and musically talented individual who loves gaming and iproducts.

Now back to the movie review… The film is shot in a documentary style which I personally enjoyed. I felt that it was more realistic and allowed me to connect with the characters better. The main character, Nev, is a photographer who one day receives a painting of one of his photographs. He is told that it came from an 8 year old girl named Abbey. For the next 30 minutes of the movie, Nev develops relationships with the rest of this girl’s family via facebook, sms, and mobile. Nev even starts to have feelings for Abbey’s older sister.

I do not want to spoil the movie for you, but after Nev discovers “something”, he then sets off with his older brother and friend, who are documenting the whole movie, to surprise Abbey’s family with a visit. This is where everything really comes together. This film is something everyone should see. I feel that it shows a side to social media that is not often talked about. At the end of the movie I felt somewhat sad for Abbey’s mother.

This film reminded me that everyone should live life to the fullest and actually go out and do what you are interested in doing. Don’t pretend to be something you are not. I am luckily enough to have had tremendous opportunities in my life that have given me exposure to a variety of different thing in numerous areas. So if any of you are reading this and feel you are bored with your life, I would encourage you to try something new. Don’t settle because you are comfortable –what do you have to lose?

Additional Comments: The trailer made the movie seem like it would be somewhat scary when in reality I would describe it as simple and meaning full. I will not tell you the ending, but I will say that no one is killed, beaten, captured or anything else you might expect to see happen in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I thought that the use of google earth and google maps was awesome! I also liked how they used a Subaru Outback on their trip (it was the same year as mine except it was automatic and did not have a turbo).

Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts?

--K

Check out my first post on Mashable!

2011-10-29T16:08:00.002-04:00

So if you don't know already I am currently working at Mashable.com. If you're are unfamiliar with this site, you need to check them out! Mashable is one of the top social media and tech new sites. So if you like to read about new technologies and anything to do with social media, this is the place to be.

Today my first Mashable article was posted up. And as a community intern I'm proud of it. Take a look and see what you think (it would be great if you could leave a comment)

Link to my article

Mobile Phone Usage of Social Location-Based Services

2011-10-20T23:02:00.003-04:00

I critiqued the article, "28% of American adults use mobile and social location-based services" found on the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The article looked at the usage of mobile phones in relation to social location based services. Social location based services meaning goesocial services like Foursquare and Gowalla and location based directions and recommendations.

Feel free to comment.

Search is more social with Bing and Google? Which do you choose?

2011-10-13T02:21:00.000-04:00

If you haven't noticed search has become more social, especially on Bing and Google search engines. This means instead Google searching for a place to eat dinner, users are finding where to eat dinner through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Think about it, are you more inclined to shopping at a brand or even seeing a movie because you're friend recommended or liked it. I don't know about you, but I know I sure am. The credibility of friends that comes on social networks is more moving than a random ad message form some company.

Earlier this year Bing rolled out a partnership with Facebook that allowed you to see what your Facebook friends liked while searching on Bing.com. A post on Facebook's blog summarizes the details about the partnership and what it means for search.

With the spirit of social search there always has to be another contender, so Google decided to jump on the band wagon. Earlier this year Google rolled out the "+1 button" which is pretty much a Facebook like, but only for Google. So instead of "liking" a website you "+1" a website. Once Google+ rolled around the +1 were implemented in Google searches. This allowed you to view what your friends have +1 while you are Google searching.

I decided to do a search myself on both Bing and Google with the same search phrase, "Mashable". Take a look at my results.

Bing search for Mashable showing likes by my Facebook friends

Google search for Mashable showing +1 by my friends in my Google+ circles

If you want to believe it or not, search is becoming more social. Many websites are seeing their highest traffic sources from Twitter, Facebook, and even StumbleUpon as opposed to a search engine. Do you notice yourself clicking on links, liking pages, +1 page more because you know your friend has done the same thing?

Is this real life or virtual life?

2011-10-05T23:43:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd throw some humor into this weeks post

According to Sherry Turkle you can have real life and avirtual life. In this week’s readings, Sherry described implications of MUD’s,Multi-User Domains. Dungeons and Dragons and Second Life are examples of a MUD’s.In simple terms, an MUD is a virtual world where you create an avatar that liveslife in a virtual world. Here’s a quick video of what a MUD looks like:

My opinion on virtual worlds: COOL! I think the virtualworlds are unique and a way for people to express themselves and fulfillfantasies or desires. I did not know the sex life in Second Lifewas so popular. I’ve read about people paying for school because they’ve made moneyof sex in Second Life, how crazy is that. It’s a great business model if youcan get away with it.

My only concern for partaking in a MUD is the timecommitment. I’m so busy doing other things that I don’t think I would have timeto create a virtual life for myself. Even if I did have time, I still wouldn’t createone because it would require me to sit in front of my computer. I already sitin front of computer enough; I’d rather go out and actually have a drink withsomeone in real life as opposed to buying a virtual drink on the computer.

Now that I got that out, what do you think of virtualworlds?

What! No iPhone 5?

2011-10-05T11:35:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Apple announced their new iPhone product andinstead of it being, the new iPhone 5 it was coined as the iPhone 4S. What doesthis mean you ask? It means a whole lot of disappointed and maybepissed off Apple fans.

Image taken from Apple.com

The new iPhone 4S looks exactly like the iPhone 4 that manypeople have, but the inner guts of the phone are totally upgraded. Here is aquick rundown of the main features the iPhone 4S has:

New A5 processor:This new A5 chip is the same chip in the iPad 2, it allows for a fast userexperience on the iPhone.
Upgraded camera:An upgraded 8 megapixel camera w/ allows for more crisp photos. It will alsoallow video recording in 1080p (for the non-tech people that means very goodquality video).
Faster connection:The iPhone 4S has a connection download speed of 14.4 mbps; an upgrade from the7.2 mbps from the iPhone 4. This means less time for loading videos or anythinginternet related.
Sprint gets theiPhone: Sprint will officially get the iPhone, which is interesting becauseSprint is the only phone company that still has unlimited data?
New iOS: Appleannounced the iPhone 4S will have the new Apple operating system, iOS 5. Checkout thisarticle for some new features you’ll be able to see.
New voice recognitionfeature: Siri allows you to take total control over your iPhone 4S withjust talking to it. You’ll be able to send emails and texts as well as findrestaurants in your nearby area with just speaking to your phone.

Apple also announced a few other products they’d bereleasing including the iCloudand the new iPod Nano. The new iPhone 4S will be available for pre-order onOctober 7 (this Friday) and will be available in Apple stores on October 14.The new iOS will be available for download on October 12. Who’s going to campout on the street for the new iPhone 4S next week?

All things aside, I want to point out the number of peoplewho are disappointed with this iPhone release. For the past few months, therehas been major hype about the iPhone 5 release. The reality of this was thatApple never confirmed there would be an iPhone 5; the media and anticipationfor new technology created this hype. This poll taken by Mashable.com asked, "Are you disappointed with Apple's announcement?" The results show just how influential new mediacan be these days.

Poll taken from Mashable.com

All facts and information is from Mashable.com

Express yourself...even more...with Facebook

2011-09-26T00:52:00.002-04:00

Since this week’s post is supposed to be on “Social”, Ithought I’d share some of my thoughts on a current issue that is arising in theworld of “Social”. When I say “Social” I mean anything involving inter/intrapersonalelectronic communication. (I will also probably post later this week about the class readings)

If you didn’t know, last week Facebook held the annual F8 developersconference in San Francisco. At this year’s F8 event, Facebook announced some phenomenalideas that will be changing the way Social happens on the internet. Instead ofboring you with some filler info, I’m gonna get straight to the point.

All Facebook users say good-bye to your profile page. Why…becauseit is being replaced by “Timeline”. Timeline is a new way to document the story ofyour life. It will allow you to do everything your profile page allowed you todo, plus more. Check out this articleto see all the specifics about Timeline. The two biggest advantages I see withthe addition of Timeline is the ability to look back on your important storiesin life much easier and the integration of all the new Facebook apps.

Apps on Facebook arebecoming more social and its all part of the “Open Graph”. For those thatdon’t know what the Open Graph is…it’s those blue Facebook connect buttons thatyou see on website that allow you to sign in with Facebook as opposed to creatingan account. The new Open Graph is going to be even more open and with thesenews apps, it will allow the Open Graph to be frictionless. This means you won’tneed to post on Facebook every time you listen to a new song on Spotify. This willbe done automatically. Take a look.

I’ve been using this for the past few days and I love it!What’s also better is that there are a dozen other music, video, and lifestyle servicesthat have created apps with the new Open Graph on Facebook (e.g. Hulu, Netflix,MOG). I know I’m going to be the next social music fanatic.

The question I am getting to lies in area of sociality. Eventhough I love these new innovative ideas and new apps and know that I am a verysocial person, is there a line that needs to be drawn for things that are toosocial? Facebook is already so prevalent in our lives, but do you think thesenew changes will make our lives too social? I mean do I really want my friendsto know that I am listening to “I WannaGo” by Britney Spears?

I’ve only touched on a few of the new features that arebeing brought to the new Facebook. Take a look at Mark Zuckerbeg’s keynote presentationto learn more.

https://f8.facebook.com/

From Farm Land to Information Land

2011-09-22T10:50:00.001-04:00

Have you ever thoughtabout what it is to change from an agricultural economy to anindustrial economy? How about changing from a services economy to aninformation economy? In this week’s reading, The Origin and Developmentof a Concept: The Information Society by Susan Crawford spoke about how theUS economy has changed from a services economy to a current informationeconomy.

What is an informationeconomy, you ask? This is a hard concept to grasp because it honestlycomes down to how you go about measuring the information part of the economy.Two definitions of "Information Economy" were given:

1. Basic units areorganizations and individuals that produce information goods and services(Machlup, 1962).

2. Basic units areinformation activities and for every information related activity there is acost ascribed (Porat, 1977).

Both definitions aremeasured in terms of GNP (Gross National Product). So thequestion raised is do you think there is a shift from services economyto an information economy or do you think there isa relabeling/remeasuring of how information is presented? This issomewhat difficult to answer because transitioning from the services economy toinformation economy is not as defined as agriculture economy to industrialeconomy.

This article alsobrought up another idea from the Cyberspace and the American Dream article.There was mention of how society has gone through different wave economies. Thefirst wave focused on land farm labor, the second wave focused on laborbecoming massified around machines and large industries, and finally the thirdwave, focusing on encompassing data and information.

What I enjoyed aboutthis view of economy was how there was certain overlap with the InformationSociety article. Granted this article was wrote in 1994, while theInformation Society article was wrote in 1983, I felt like the shift tothe third wave and the shift to the information economy were talking about thesimilar ideas. I found it intriguing how the article mentioned the governmentnot only needs to believe they're on board for this change in cyberspace, butalso they need to change how the government operates...

"Going beyond cyberspace policy per se,government must remake itself and redefine its relationship to the society atlarge"

Something like thiswould require a radical change, in not only policy, but also the whole cultureand view of government. Considering the third wave is unique, this change won'thappen overnight. That is, the third wave consists of many individuals withdifferent ideas, as opposed to the first or second wave where there were morecentralized views.

In relation to last weeks post about technology determinism, Technology Determinism Leads the Way, the content discussed this week leans more on the view of hard determinism, that is technology is independent of society's social change. In The Origin and Development of a Concept article there was little mention how society caused these different economies. There was more of a focus on how these technologies changed the way society operated. Also, in Cyberspace and the American Dream, there was a heavy focus on the the third wave changing the way government operates, involving policies and programs.

Google+ Update: Take a Look

2011-09-17T13:24:00.001-04:00

So I was stumbling around on the web the other day (and no I wasn't on StumbleUpon) and came across an article in my RSS feeds. This article talked about the usage of Google+ since the launch. What was most interested was how the public posts for Google+ have decreased by 41% in the past two months. All the graphs show how the metrics have an initial spike in usage, but then decrease gradually as time goes on. Take a look for yourself and see what you think? What will it take for Google to bring the numbers back up...making it public?

http://bit.ly/ozzw3t

Technology Determinism Leads the Way!

2011-09-15T12:43:00.000-04:00

Technologydeterminism – the word that comes to mind when discussing the emergence of societiesdue to technological advancements. This is seen throughout history whether itwas when Gutenburg developed the printing press and the religious revolutionbegan. It also was seen when the website, Facebook, originally named “The Facebook”emerged into a revolutionizing part of the human culture, which is still beingdone today.

I’m sure you have seen this video, but watch it again, itmight surprise you!

The video gives a great representation of how machines in a Web2.0 viewpoint change how we go about speaking, reading, and interacting. I feellike the machine is not using us, it is more like, we are using the machine. Atleast some of us are. There are those still out there that choose not to beinvolved in Web 2.0, which is using social platforms, engaging in email,blogging, video chatting, etc. I’m asking the question, does this group of people choose not to engage in thisactivity because of a certain reason? If so, why don’t they engage and is it abad thing they don't?

Throughout these past few years there has been a rise indigital media and with this rise I’ve noticed older generations are resistantto even try this form of digital media. Some people of my generation choose noteven to be on Facebook. If there is a common explanation for this we can thenaddress it and better approach these people with technology.

Additionally, In the essay, Do Machines Make History?, R. L. Heilbroner mentioned technologyneeds to be compatible with existing social conditions. Meaning, advancementsin technologies must be attuned with the surrounding technologies and the economicstatus of society. When I read this, Isaid to myself, “Well, what about the Facebook vs. Google+ battle” Overthe past few weeks Google+’s site activity has decreased since theinitial launch back in June of this year...why is this? Is the Google+ technology not compatiblewith existing social conditions? Can the reason be tied into Heilbroner’sidea of technology compatibility? Or is it since Google+ is invite onlythere is still room for the development of this idea?

Photo created by clasesdeperiodismo

Why is this important you ask? If you look at the biggerpicture, besides Facebook and Google+, you can ask, what are the factors thatmotivate users to engage in new technologies? Is it the exclusivity that thistechnology is something brand new to the market? Is it because your social networkof friends do not make the change, so you won’t make the change?

Join the conversation and let's see what you think!

Welcome Back

2011-09-11T15:02:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've been back here...No joke. A little less than two years to be precise. During that time I took a stab at creating a blog on a WordPress account hosted by Albion College (take a look). I switched back over because I didn't like the restrictions I had on blogging in the campus.albion.edu domain.

So now that I'm back, I'll be using this blog primarily to express my views and opinions on topics discussed in some of my grad school classes. Oh and I forgot to mention, I'm a grad student at Teachers College, Columbia University studying Instructional Technology and Media.

This semester I'm taking three classes:

Instructional Design of Educational Technology
Social Communicative Aspects of the Internet
Object Oriented Theory & Programming

I will try my best to post weekly. Don't hate me if I don't. So check back in next week.

Post Thirty: One Week Later

2009-12-22T19:54:00.001-05:00

It has been just over a week since I have landed back in the United States. But to be honest it seems like it’s been a month. When I’m at home time seems to go a lot slower, that is partially because I find myself bored most of the time. Last week when I landed in O’Hare Kasey, Danielle, and Andrew were nice enough to come an pick me up, they even made a sign for me. It said, “Oi mate, Welcome Home”, which I thought was a very nice thought. My first feeling when I got back home, “This is weird.” I was not used being back in my normal place of living, yet alone the snow/coldness. I wore shorts and a t-shirt home, which was not the best idea, but I enjoyed it. I really just wanted to prove a point though. It was nice to see all the rest of the family and animals. I did not get to see Dad until last Friday because he was on a business trip in Florida. It was also nice to have a drink of some real chocolate milk. The stuff they have in New Zealand and Australia is shit compared to here.

This past week I have not been doing too much. I started swimming with my high school team last Tuesday, so I am still getting back into shape. I originally thought I was in bad shape, but it turns out that I’m not too bad. Some of the high schoolers are faster than me, but I just need to build up my endurance. If I keep swimming once a day I should be in good shape for Florida, which is on January 2. I have also been getting some last minute Christmas gifts for everyone. I did most of my shopping in New Zealand and Australia, so I am set, oh except for Kasey that is (lol).

In the next coming weeks I have a lot to think about, this includes my classes I am taking next semester and my internship search. I have been looking around on the internet for possible internship opportunities, I found some, but I do not know if it is something, I want to do. I might change my attitude and apply for an internship even if I am not too interested in the field. Really, I do not know what will happen.

I got an email a while ago from the yearbook about study abroad students and having them write a description of their experience abroad. I thought I do it and throw some pictures in there. I’ll upload that when I finish it. For everyone else that is ready this, I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you since I got back. I’ll try to make a goal to talk and see many people in the next coming weeks.

See ya

Keefers

Video Log #5

2009-12-20T16:01:00.002-05:00

Video Log #4

2009-12-20T15:38:00.003-05:00

Video Log #3

2009-12-20T15:23:00.002-05:00

Video Log #2

2009-12-20T14:58:00.002-05:00

Video Log #1

2009-12-20T13:57:00.002-05:00

This is the first video log of our New Zealand Journey. I thought of doing this because I know it is sometimes boring to read a blog post, especially mine. I thought i switch it up a bit and have fun with it. Sorry if any of these are poor video quality or lag a lot. Enjoy!

Post Twenty Nine: Depression Strikes

2009-12-18T01:12:00.002-05:00

I am sad to say this, but my traveling is finished. Today I’m stting in LAX waiting for my flight to St. Louis and eventually Chicago. Since landing back in the states, I feel the depression coming on, especially when I heard there is snow on the ground back at home. The last few days on the North Island of New Zealand were unforgettable. I will always remember my trip to New Zealand and how the Kramer’s were more than nice.

Day 19: The day after running the Kaituna, Kramer, Hannah and I ran the Wairo river. This was a class three river deep down in a tight narrow gorge. The water was so clean you could drink it straight out of the river. The river was quite bony at first, but got bigger as we went down. One of the best parts of the river was the class four waterfall at the end of the run. I was a little skeptical at first about running it, but I got over it and conquered the falls. It was also nice to paddle with Hannah, who is a real adventurous when it comes to the outdoors. She participates in adventure races and paddles K1. After we got back from the river, Kramer and I did more Yo-Yo’s in the green house.

Day 20: On Friday, Kramer and I went to the beach to do some kayak surfing. I have never done anything like that before and I have to say, it is one fun way of paddling. I learned that it is a lot harder to surf in a mini mystic that a smoothie. The hull shape of the play boat makes a better surf kayak. We also ran a few errands that day just around town. I even got a chance to talk up a kiwi girl at the Surf Shop (I was buying a new pair of jandle).

Day 21: On Saturday, the final day, I got to go out on a fishing boat (about 22 foot) and go coastal fishing. Kramer and Kevin went diving and caught scallops, crayfish (like a lobster), and sea fish which consisted of snapper, teriki, and a few others. We were out on the boat for about six or seven hours. I even caught a barracuda, which was sweet as. In the afternoon, Kramer and I hung around the house and relaxed after a long day. Finally, after having a delicious dinner of all the seafood we caught that day, we went to the glow worms at Lake McClaren. This was something that was beautiful. We went at about 9 or 10 at night and paddled in the dark until we got to this gorge what had green glowing worms on each side. We headed back to the house and crashed once we got back. I would wait for the next day where my travels home begins.

Day 22: Kevin and Kramer drove me to the airport in Auckland on Sunday morning. The flight from Auckland to LA was not bad at all. I even got lucky because I was sitting next to a very interesting and successful person; his name was Rocky. He was a man of many trades. He owns two nightclubs in the Catscale Mountains in New York State. He owned a few stores while he lived in Hollywood for about 13 years. He has a few beach houses in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. His main occupation is in Real Estate, more specifically Commercial and Medical Development. Rocky gave me his business card and told me to contact him when I’m down in Fort Lauderdale for our swim training trip at the beginning of January. I am definitely going to try to contact him when we are down there because he is someone good to know. Oh did I mention his younger brother is going to be the CFO for the Whitehouse!

Anyways I am on my way back and to be honest I do feel weird. I feel like I do not belong here and I should be back in New Zealand. I know that cannot happen, so all I can do is just hope one day I can go back.

Ka Kite (well I guess I should say SEE YA b/c we’re not in NZ anymore)

Keefers

Post Twenty-Eight: “It’s called pencil sharpener… that could sharpen my pencil”

2009-12-18T01:10:00.002-05:00

It has been about four and a half days since I have arrived on the north island of New Zealand. So far I’m having an even better time than I did on the road trip. This is partially because we are staying at Kramer’s house. It has been so nice to have a nice home cooked meal every night and a hot breakfast. Kramer’s parents have been so kind and open; I really appreciate them. The last couple of days have been busy; we have been doing something almost every day. I’ll start with when we got here on Saturday.

Day 14: When we settled in at the house and got a nice grilled Panini lunch, we headed out on our first activity. Vidar needed to buy an mp3 player for his trip back home because his previous one broke. We went to “Dick Smith’s” and bought a new one. Later we headed to Mount Moungatui out at the coast. Vidar, Kramer and I walked around the base of the mountain and eventually summated it. The view was amazing, we could see for many miles. Coming down the mountain we even saw some Para Gliders and a bunch of sheep/lamb (I tried to make friends with them, but they didn’t want to). We later went to the beach to do some body surfing and relaxing. Later that night we went back home had a roast lamb dinner and a Pavlova dessert (so good).

Day 15: On Sunday, we went rafting and then kayaking. I guess I should say Vidar and I went rafting and then Kramer and I went kayaking. We went on the Wairoa River, which was the biggest river I’ve ever been on. The upper section of the river was crazy good with a bunch of drops and nice technical moves. The lower section was a good place for me to build up my kayaking skill. I got a better at surfing on waves and ferry gliding across rapids. We spent the whole afternoon kayaking the river while Vidar and Mom went to the Shier, aka the hobbit holes. After we got off the river in the afternoon, we went to Canoe Polo practice where Kramer and I played for a bit. It was a fun time, just mocking around in the pool.

Day 16: On Monday, the trio went to Rotorua to experience some Maori culture and geo thermal energy. We went to Te Puia, which is a Maori culture experience/museum. It was interesting to learn about their history and weaponry, as the Maori people are known for being intimidating. If fact I was chosen to be the chief during the cultural dancing ceremony. I even got to go up on stage and greet the Maori warriors. After the tour, we walked around and checked out the Geo Thermal areas, which consisted of hot steam coming from the grounds. Some of the geo thermals areas were mud pools, which I thought was interesting. We went to get some lunch at the fat dog café, where Kramer and I had the Dog’s Bollox Burger. It is a massive burger, but also tasty as. We then went to check out a hot pool, which we thought was free, but it turned out to cost a good amount of money, that was not worth it.

Day 17: On Tuesday, we mostly hung around the house. We helped move some plants to the truck for shipment (If you did not know the Kramer’s own orchard green houses, which is something that is beautiful). I also helped take down the plastic Yo Yo’s in the green houses. Oh, I almost forgot, we dropped Vidar at the bus station for him to take a bus to Auckland and eventually fly back to Australia. We later went into the pool next door and practiced my rolling techniques.

Day 18: On Wednesday (that is today); I had my first run of the Kaituna River. To be perfectly honest with you, it was bigger than I thought it would be. I can say though I did not swim, I just saw many fishes (aka, I rolled a lot). The coolest part was when I did the 7-meter waterfall. It was such adrenaline rush when I was doing it. After running the river, we went down to Huka Falls and Aratiatia. These were massive rapids. I was scared just thinking of someone running it. If your wondering about the title of the post reference, well here it is. When I was at Huka Falls, I asked what the rapid name was leading up to the falls. The name of the rapid was Pencil Sharpener and once I heard that I said, “Well that could sharpen my pencil.” Later we came back to the house and went to swimming lessons, aka a swim club night where Kramer, Katalla, Taryn, and I helped. For dinner we went out to an authentic Fish and Chips place, where we had, guess what…Fish and Chips.

I cannot tell you what the next few days bring. I’m going to try and write another post before I leave New Zealand, my flight out of Auckland is on Sunday afternoon. I think we might run one or two more rivers before I head home. That is all for now.

Ka Kite

Keefers

2009-12-10T17:54:00.001-05:00

Keith just went surf kayaking at the beach.

Post Twenty-Seven: I Wish I was in Nelson

2009-12-07T02:58:00.003-05:00

So our South Island journey is coming to an end. I know people say this too much, but the trip has gone by extremely fast. I guess I have to live more in the moment for now on. Our next journey will begin soon, which you may know consists of some white water paddling and such up at Kramer’s house in Te Puki. The last couple of days has been amazing, probably one of my favourite parts during the trip. For the past two and a half days we’ve been staying at my mate, James’s, house in Nelson. His family was extremely nice to us and cooked us great food. Like usual I’ll do a quick recap of the past few days.

Day 8: The other night Kramer and I found a sweet room they had in the backpackers we were staying at. It included Leather couches and outlet plugs to charge our electronics. While we were in the room, Kramer and I watched a New Zealand movie called, “Once Were Warriors.” It was about some of the struggles a Maori family went through in the Auckland area during the 90’s. It was a very deep movie and I thought was quite interesting. On Day 8 the Trio made their way up to Fox. The drive wasn’t too bad, since we stopped a few times. We stopped at Knight’s Point and walked a few trails. We even went out to the beach and go to see some Dolphins hunting. Once we made it to Fox we decided to sign up for a half day Glacier walk on Fox Glacier. Before we actually headed out for the hike, Kramer and I just walked for an hour on a trail around Lake Matheson. Apparently you are able to see the reflections of the Glacier mountain in the water, but it was quite windy and cloudy that day, so we didn’t get a chance to see it. The hike to the Glacier was pretty cool. We first had to hike through the jungle up and down about 868 stairs. Kramer and I kept count of the stairs while climbing. Once we made it to the actual Glacier we put on our “Cramp Ons” (spikes meant for walking in the snow) on and headed out on the ice. Being on the ice was a little cold, but the Crevice and Moulon’s the flowing water made was amazing. We spent about an hour on the ice, but it went by a lot faster. We took a good amount of images on the ice. Our Guide, Nadine, was also a super cool guide. Kramer and I were chatting to her and she seemed real friendly. That night we stayed at a Backpackers in Fox and had a $10 burger dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Day 9: The next morning we headed out of town in hope to make our way up to Westport. If you look on a map from Fox to Westport you will notice it is quite a long drive. We tried to break it up a bit, but it still seemed a bit too long. This was also the morning when we almost lost the keys to the car. We were about to leave, but we couldn’t find the keys to the car, so we were held up for a bit. Kramer finally found them buried in his bag. On the way to Westport we stopped at Hokatika to visit a Jade Factory. Kramer was nice enough to get me a Jade necklace and in return I bough Kramer a necklace, which looks pretty cool. I haven’t been wearing mine yet because i don’t want to get it dirty. Don’t worry I’ll put a picture up soon. The Trio also headed to Shanty Town, which is comparable to a Western World back ome. They had gold panning and pioneer shops that were put on. We went Gold Panning and cost$5 for a one pan. It was interesting to learn how to gold pan, so in the future I am able to do it. That day we also stopped at Pancake Rocks, which was in Punakaiki. I wish the tide was higher so we could’ve of seen some waves crashing up against the rocks. Even though it wasn’t high tide, the scenery was beautiful. We were not able to take too many pictures because of the rain, but the ones we did get were great. We eventually arrived in Westport and stayed at one of the nicest backpackers, in my opinion. It also had the most outlets in the room, so I know Vidar was happy (he spent a lot of time on the internet and computer).
Oh also if you’re wondering what we’ve been eating while on the road, it includes Weet-Bix, fruit salad, honey, and milk for breakfast. For lunch we usually had some cheese, slalami, bread, tomato, cucumber, some fruit, and juice. For tea we had a rice, risotto, or spaghetti, with tuna, pasta sauce, green beans or peas.

Day 10: On this day we went out to Murchison in attempt to Raft the Buller Gorge. Vidar didn’t come rafting with us because he said he wanted to save money and I’m sure he wasn’t into rafting. Anyways in the morning we drove over to Murchison and signed up for the rafting trip. The river was solid class three and four rapids. This river was a lot like the Pigeon River back home in Tennessee, meaning it was more high volume rather than technical paddling. The first few rapids weren’t that bad, but once we got towards the middle and end, the standing waves and holes were deadly big, the biggest I have ever seen. After we got off the river, there was a little sausage sizzle going on. Over I would describe the rafting company as a smaller business going the old school way. Our Raft guides were old and seemed like they had a good amount of experience. After rafting we picked up Vidar in town and headed to Maruia Falls for a bit. Mauria Falls is a waterfall about 15 mintues outside of town. It is definitely a run able water fall even when it was at flood stage. If we had kayaks, I’m sure Kramer and I would’ve done it. After taking multiple pictures and checking out the falls, we headed up to nelson to stay with James and his family. When we got there James introduced us to his family and gave a little tour of Nelson. He took us to Tahunanui and we walked on the beach for a bit. We also caught up on some of the camp stories from last year during camp. For dinner Jame’s mom, Pam, cooked us a bacon and egg casserole, which is pretty big down in New Zealand. I’ll tell you this it finally felt good to have a home cooked. It also felt good to actually have meat for dinner for a change. After dinner James brought us over to Sophi’s house (I might have spelt that wrong) to watch a movie. We watched Pineapple Express. I thought that movie was pretty funny, but some people like, Kramer, don’t like comedies to much.

Day 11: Since James had to work every day we were in Nelson, we had to find our own things to do. We made a trip out to Motueka, Upper Takaka, and Kaiteriteri. We went in to Ngarua Cave and saw many stalagmites and stalactites. WE also searched for a Lord of Rings scene shot site. It so happened tobe that wer were standing directly where the filing crew was filing during the movie. It was near Takaka Hill. We walked around the forest for a bit and then had a nice and tasty lunch. We then headed to Kaiteriteri to go to a look out and checked out the beach. It was a descent looking beach and I’m sure it would’ve been nice to swim in. I also took a nasty fall into the mud flats when we were walking back to the car. On the way back to Nelson we stopped at a cherry vineyard to pick up some fresh cherries and then we also stopped at a micro brewery to see if they had they had the beer that was used in Lord of the Rings movie (the wave Vidar’s idea). That night we met Lucy and went o Flossy’s house. Her parents were real nice to Kramer and I. They even conviced us to stay an extra in Nelson. We were originally planning on leaving Nelson on Thursday and staying a night over at Kaikora and then heading Christchurch.

Day 12: Yet another day in the beautiful city of Nelson. In the morning we went kayaking in the harbor area of Nelson. Miranda and Ben, Flossy’s parents, are part of a boat house and let us use the boats down there. It was a little windy and cold when we were paddling the kayak, aka the “Bath Tub”. We took the row boat out to the Boulder Bank and walked to the light house. After we finished paddling we went back to the house and had a nice lunch. In the afternoon we went to the wearable arts museum, which was really out there but fun. It was a museum that had many of the winning outfits from the annual wearable arts competition. After the museum we went to find a vineyard and attempt to try a wine tasting. This was my favourite part about the day because I wanted to learn more about wines and when what factors go into serving different wines. I guess you can say I got a little more cultured. After the wine tasting Miranda and Ben invited us the previous night to a Nelson Sea swim. It was held at the NelsonYacht Club. The swim was about 1000 meters, so it wasn’t too bad. Kramer and I were pretty much the only ones that did not have wet suits on, it seemed like Blue Seventy was the choice of use. After the swim we went back to Miranda’s house and went in their hot tub for a bit. Later that night we went to James’s friend’s house to have a little barbeque. It was nice to meet his friends and see all his friends from back in high school. We eventually headed back to James’s house and crashed. We would eventually leave Nelson in the morning and head to Christchurch for the night.

Day 13: It is the last day of our journey on the South Island and then a new one begins tomorrow. My time on the South Island has been one that is unimaginable. The Geographical landscape of the land in the South is one of a kind. This is honestly the most beautiful place on earth that I’ve been to, no joke. The snow capped mountains in the south are awe inspiring and the coasts are filled with awesome beaches and sweet surf, minus the cold weather most of the time. The only bad thing I can think of is the sand flies on the west coast, they can bite you pretty bad if you don’t cover up. Nelson is also one of the nicest places I’ve seen in a while. It would be a great place to live, especially since there are many vineyards around the region. We are currently on our way to Christchurch to catch our flight tomorrow morning and return the car. Tonight we are going to be staying with one of Lucy’s mates on her flat back at uni in Christchurch. We also have a big feast we have to finish tonight because we have a lot of pasta, 1kg of pasta to be exact. :Well we are going to be going to a hot springs pretty soon, so I’ll ttyl.

I’ll try to write another post once we get up to the north island.

Ka Kite

Keefers

Post Twenty-Six: Are we There Yet?

2009-12-07T02:50:00.003-05:00

This trip has been much more than I asked for so far. The Trio has done numerous excursions, both on and off the trail. Every day we have something planned and it has treated us very well. The scenery has been getting better every day. I keep on seeing something new including pristine lakes, snow capped mountains, mile high waterfalls, and even mini glaciers.

Day 4 (Cont): This was the day of Doubtful Sound. Like I said before, I honestly had no idea what to expect. I didn’t realize this trip would take nearly the whole day. Once we booked our accommodation in the morning at a backpackers in Manapouri, we headed to the dock to depart for our trip. To get to Doubtful Sound we had to take an hour ferry and a forty five minute bus ride. Once we got to the Sound we took a three hour boat ride going up and back down the Sound. Even though it took a while to get to the actual sound, I enjoyed the scenery. On the boat ride over I saw many mountain ranges covered in green foliage and waterfalls from the snow melt on top of the mountains. To add to the trip once we got on the west part of Lake Manapouri, there began a torrential down pour. This lasted the whole day even when we got back to the backpackers. The day on Doubtful Sound was amazing though. Miles and miles of waterfalls/long and tall rivers filled the sides of the mountains. The trip was also great because on every boat we were on, there was complimentary hot chocolate, tea, and coffee. I guess you can say I took advantage of that. Another memorable part of this trip was the fact that I got to use my Arcteryx rain jacket, it came in handy so much. I would have to say when I went to Doubtful Sound; it has been the wettest I have ever been. The rain was really something, but I didn’t mind it too much.

When Kramer, Vidar, and I came back to town I had this crazy idea that we should do a polar bear swim. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is pretty much when you go swimming in real cold water. The lake we swam in was pretty cold, but not as cold as I thought it would be. Vidar bailed on us, so Kramer and I just did it. We took a real funny video of us doing this; I’ll try to post it online sometime.

Day 5: Day Five consisted of yet another memorable experience. This day we headed out to Milford Sound. It was about a two and a half hour drive from Te Anau (the town we were staying at this night). The drive to Milford Sound was unreal. We stopped many times to take photos and just experience the perfect nature of the surrounding area. I think it was this day when we had an interesting encounter with the Kea (a very intelligent native NZ bird). As I can recall the drive at one point had many switch backs with in the valley of two snow capped mountain ranges. Milford was also an amazing experience. In comparison to Doubtful Sound, it was not as large and not as rainy. The weather was beautiful with a shining sun and a nice powerful wind (I liked it because I had my rain jacket with me, which is also windproof if you were wondering). It was real nice to see the top of Mitre Peak, which is one of the most known peaks in Milford Sound. It was covered in snow and had a thick cloud partially covering it. The boat we booked had a buffet lunch with the ticket. So knowing me I got my money’s worth and had almost my body weight in food. I was a little upset when they ran out of bread rolls though, but I made up for it when I snagged some complimentary tea, salt and pepper (for cooking purposes of course). We also got the chance to see Seals and Fiordland Crested Penguins in the Sound. The boat ride was also cool because they took you right up under some of the great waterfalls in the Sound. We eventually headed back to Te Anau where we spent the night in a backpackers. On the way back we got a chance to check outs some gnarly white-water rapids. All I can say is I can’t wait till I get some paddling in up North.

Day 6: Day 6 was more of a relaxing day for us. On Friday we started heading to Wanaka, where we would relax for a day and catch up on some sleep. We also took a pit stop at a Lord of the Rings site and Puzzle World in Wanaka (Wa-na-ka). Puzzle world was interesting and mind boggling. It was an illusion/brain teaser attraction. They had a bunch of mind puzzles, mazes, slanted rooms, and holograms. We spent about 2.5 hours there walking around the building and eventually heading through the maze. The rest of the night was pretty chill for the most part.

Day 7: Today was when we headed to the West Coast. We also planned on making some stops along the way in hope to do some short day hikes. We also got the chance to see the “Gates of Haast” rapid. No joke, this was the biggest rapid I have ever seen. It is probably one of the most dangerous rapids I’ve ever seen in person. Kramer and I did get some nice pictures of the rapid along with a few waterfalls; I’ll have to display them sometime. We eventually made it to Haast Beach, which is where we are staying tonight. That brings me to now. Right now I am writing this journal/blog entry in a room at our backpackers. It is really in the motel section of the building, which is where I’m not supposed to be, but I sneaked in anyway. Tomorrow we might get the chance to go up to Fox Glacier and doing a half day glacier hike. We’ll see what happens when we get there. We also did some grocery shopping this morning before we left Wanaka. I also made this sweet stir fry dinner tonight, which hit the sport very nicely.
I’m not exactly sure what we’ll be doing these next fews days, but I’m sure it will be eventful. I can’t believe it has already been a full week in New Zealand, it feels like it’s been so short, but we’ve done so much stuff.

I guess all I can say now is....

Ka Kite

Keefers

2009-12-05T00:22:00.003-05:00

ganui. Have a good one and i'll try to update the blog soon.

2009-12-05T00:22:00.001-05:00

I'm currently on the north island of new zealand. So far it is pretty good. We went to the coast and swam in the ocean today. We also climbed mount maun

Post Twenty-Five: The Trio begins their Journey

2009-11-26T23:32:00.003-05:00

So far this journey has been incredible. New Zealand is a place where virtually anything in nature is possible. We’ve seen rolling grass hills, snow capped mountains 12,000 feet high, lak

e the color os a turquoise stone, and so many sheep I stopped counting. Pretty much everywhere you drive in on the South Island down here is amazing. You pretty much will always see mountains no matter where you look. Today is our fourth day of the fourteen day journey and already we’ve done so much. I’ll give a somewhat summary of what we’ve done so far.

Day 1: Once we left Christchurch the trio began to head down to Lake Tekapo for our first night stay. The drive was about three hours and it was the beginning of the new world. When we were in Christchurch we didn’t see many mountains, if anything some grass hills in the dis

tance. Once we started to head away from the city nature began to evolve. We soon saw steep hills filled with sheep and a few cows. Faintly in the distance I saw the silhouettes of a few mountain ranges. We stopped at a few side attractions to take a break and take some funny pictures. One of these places was called Cookie Time. It was a factory outlet store that made their own cookies and let me tell you they were good. I bought a kilo of cookies for about seven dollars (that is New Zealand dollars, which is cheaper in US dollars). Once we arrived in lake Tekapo, I know I was awe, I’m pretty sure everyone else was also. The colours of the water and the snow capped mountains in the background were beautiful. To be honest it was one of the nicest places I’ve ever seen. We took many photos to the area in hope to capture the memory. It also helped having a polarized filter on my camera. Once we got settled into

our one room cabin we took a trek up the Mount John trail. At the top of Mount John there was an observatory for visitors. We decided to hike up the trail, which took about 45 minutes to reach the summit, and watch the sun set. It was a beautiful image. The colours that were created provided a magnificent view of the distance land. We eventually hiked down the trail back to camp, made dinner, and crashed for the night.

Day 2: On Monday we woke up around 7 ish and eventually headed out at around 8:30 am. Today we were going to Cook Village and then eventually to Cromwell for the night. The drive to cook village was a spectacular one, even greater than that of Lake Tekapo. We drove alongside Lake Pukaki all the way to Cook Village. Cook Village is a small down that

house one road the leads into it and one road that leads out of it. It is also the head quarters for many of the mountaineering mountains around the area. It also happens that Mount Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand standing at about 3754 meters or 12316 feet. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best to see the summit, but we still had a great time. We chose to do a quick walking track for about an hour. While we were on the Kea Point walking track, we decided to be a little more adventurous and do some bouldering up a mountain. Not exactly sure what mountain range it was, but we got high enough to touch some snow. There was also a mighty white-water river flowing down from the mountain top. Almost all the rivers where we were are from glacier melt, making the water cold and fresh. We eventually climbed back down and mountain and headed to the Kea Point Lookout, which is a view of a moraine

and mountain slopes leading to a lake. I have to say one of the best parts about this was the fact that is was windy and raining pretty hard. I stayed warm because I had my Arcteryx jacket to keep me dry (I love that jacket). After leaving Cook Village we made our way down to Cromwell, where we stayed Monday night at a descent hostel.

Day 3: On Tuesday we finally made our way down to the “Adventure Capital of the World”...Queenstown, New Zealand. Tuesday was when we spent most of our money. Not only did we Kramer and I go bungy jumping from 138 meters, but we also went

on the Shot Over Jet on the Shot Over River. The actual town of Queenstown is surrounded by snow capped mountains on all sides giving it a beautiful setting. To make it even better, there is a large lake the spans the whole town and beyond called Lake Wakatipu. The first thing we did was go sign up for the Nevis Wire Bungy Jump. We were all eager to jump that day, but when it came down to it, Vidar backed out at the last second. He was literally at the edge of the platform, but then bailed and said he couldn’t do it. I can understand if someone is afraid, but I just can’t understand how someone can bail from doing this if they’ve payed 200 something dollars for it. Anyways, the bungy jump was awesome; I wasn’t too scared before it did it. For some reason I don’t get the extreme nervous feeling I used to get when I do something intense like that. The jump was right over a gorge, which had some nice white-water down at the

bottom of it. After we got back from the jump, we signed up for the Shot Over Jet, which was also awesome. It was like riding two really high powered jet ski’s on a very narrow white-water river. After getting back to town, we settled in at our accommodation and got some dinner at Fergburger. This place is known to have monstrous burgers. We all got the Big Al burger, the biggest on the menu, which was splendiferous (a word created by Fergburger. After finishing dinner we went to a few Lord of the Rings filming sites. My favourite one was when we drove 13 km up a mountain to The Remarkables. We got high enough to touch snow and see the beautiful sunset (I would say about 2000 to 3000 meters tall). We headed back to town and headed to bed once we finished with the viewing on the mountain.

Finally, we are brought to Day 4. Currently we are in Manapouri, which is the ship out place for the Doubtful Sound Trip we booked. I’m looking real forward for this trip and don’t really know what to expect. I’ll keep you up to date when we get back. Have a good one.

Ka Kite

Keefers

Post Twenty-Four: Brizzy is the Hizzy

2009-11-23T03:25:00.002-05:00

A lot has happened this week in Brisbane. I enjoyed spending a week or so with Jon and his family. I even had the chance to go down to Gold Coast for about three days. I also met many of Jon’s mates during my trip.

One of the most interesting things I did this week was sleep in a hotel room for three out of the six nights I was down in Brisbane, well maybe not the most interesting. It all started Sunday when Jon took me into the downtown area near south bank. This is pretty much the lagoon/park area near the Brisbane river. It was a nice area, but many things were not open because it was late Sunday afternoon. During the night Jon and I went to the Casino and gambled. That night I was introduced the addicting concept of gambling. To make it easy I won $30 the whole night playing Roulette. I know to another gambler, this isn’t that much, but it is certainly a lot for me. Jon got really lucky and won a lot of money and was then kind enough to buy me a lobster dinner with a milkshake. Let me tell you, it was real tasty. I also met Zhi that night, who is Jon’s friend from back in high school. She was kind enough to let me and Jon stay in her hotel room.

We were planning on heading down to the Gold Coast and going to Dream World on Monday, but since we went to bed at 4 am we didn’t get much sleep. I’m not going to say any names, but some people went to the casino again when they woke up. So after a long day and night of gambling, Jon and I finally made it back to his house. The rest of the day Jon and I had some R and R. It was not until after eating dinner Jon and I decided to head down to the Gold Coast for a few days. The first night we were there, I had the great opportunity to sleep in a five-star hotel, only it did not seem five stars when I was sleeping because I slept on the ground. Besides that fact, it was free. That night we went to an arcade near surfer’s paradise and played a bunch of arcade games, so fun. It has been a while since I’ve done that. Jon and Zhi didn’t come back to 5 am in the morning because they were yet again at the casino. I was in the room with Zhi’s boyfriend, John (this is a different Jon).

On Tuesday, Zhi dropped us off at Jon’s Uncle’s house. His name is Henry and is about our age, 20 years or so. We went Dream World that day, which was more like that afternoon. It cost about $70 to get into the park. For those people who do not know what that is, think of something like Six Flags or Disney World, only not as big. To be honest I was a little disappointed with what the park had to offer, I thought it would be a lot bigger for how much I had to pay. Besides that, I had a great time in the park even if Henry did not go on most of the roller coasters. One interesting thing Jon and I did was attempt to demonstrate the effects of gravity. When we went on the Giant Drop ride, we spit out water in our mouths as soon as we started dropping. I thought we would drop faster than the water because we had more mass than the water. It turned out I was right, but it was not because we had more mass, but because of the air resistance, (that is what we think). On Tuesday night Jon, Henry, and myself decided to go out to the clubs and experience the night life. It was a pretty descent night considering the amount of people that were out. We also got into “The Bedroom” free, which has a pretty nice set up. Afternoon Tuesday night I have discovered a new strategy for my social skills. I with my somewhat fine dance skills/moves am able to attract the female to the dance. Thereby bringing her and her friends around me because they may feel I am desirable. I know this because at the club on Tuesday night I had the most girls dancing around me I have ever had. Now I did not really pursue any of these females because of certain reason. If you would like to discuss those, you may contact me. Now what I need is someone that is smooth at talking to girls and knows how to pursue the female. In essence, it is a typical wingman strategy, but only each wingman has a different skill. (let me know your thoughts on this idea, good or bad, I can take it).

On Wednesday, Henry, Jon and I went to Broad Beach in the Gold Coast. At the beach, we went swimming, body surfing, and bogey boarding. The surf that day was amazing for me. Since I do not live around surf and haven’t seen it for a while I took advantage of water. The lifeguard said the waves were only about two feet high, but I can assure you there were some waves I rode that were much taller than that. I would have to say some waves were 5 or 6 feet high. They were the biggest I have been in as long as I can remember. There were was another bloke bogey boarding who was doing some gnarly tricks, including barrel rolls, 360’s and carving up the wave. We wound up catching the train back to Brisbane and chilling out for the rest of the night. One thing we did do was go to Mount Coolah(I think I spelt it wrong). It is pretty much a look out point overlooking the whole city of Brisbane. I got some descent pictures of it, but not the best because it was dark and did not have a tripod.

When Jon left Thursday morning I spent the day in the city with David, Jon’s younger brother, I payed for everything we did that day, which included the train ticket into town, tickets to the new moon movie, and slushy drinks during the movies. The least he could do was say thank you, but anyway I’m not going to stress about it too much. Maybe one day he will learn something new, no offense. The best part of the day was the fact that I know I saw the movie before everyone in the states did. Some people were jealous as I recall. On Friday I spent the day with John and Zhi because the Truong family had to go on vacation to the Sunshine coast this weekend. I also spent the night with them in another hotel. On Friday night we were going to go out to “The Valley” but someone wasn’t feeling so great. It’s OK John; if I had a blunt force trauma to my ankle I wouldn’t be interested in going clubbing. They were also kind enough to drive me to airport on Saturday, thanks guys. I also had the chance to listen to one of the most intense/serious arguments about a relationship on Friday. All and all Zhi and John were very nice people and you guys are more than welcome to stay at my house if you ever come to the states.

Throughout this whole past week I had some struggles and some memorable moments. One of the hardest things this weekend was the dialect/verbal attribute into communication with John’s mom. She spoke very little English and had a hard time understanding. One of the best things about the week was the food I ate. John’s family, which is Vietnamese, had some great Asian food cooking for their meals. Also, it was mostly healthy food also, so that was a plus.

So after my week long excursion to Brisbane and the Gold Coast I am in currently in New Zealand at the beginning of our three week journey (when I say we that is Me, Kramer, and Vidar). We flew in last night and picked up our rental car. By the time we finished that it was 1 am, so we just parked the car on some side street and slept until the morning. We spent the whole morning shopping for food and getting some last minute gear for the trip. So this brings me to right now. I am currently sitting in the back seat of our Toyota Camry finishing up this blog. I’m not too sure when I am going to have internet connection, so every time I do have internet I am going to try and keep you up to date. For the next couple of days we are going to be heading south west on the south island all the way down to the Sounds, oh and we started in Christchurch. Have a good one, ; ).

G'Day

Keefers