45: Til We Meet Again....On The Dance Floor!

Happy times but sad times. My beloved friend and esteemed salsa partner Jessica has finished her work contract here in Wellington and is on her way back to Canada. Yes, who'd have ever thought that the Canadians and Yanks would ever get along in such perfect harmony?! The salsa gang met up at a Restaurant 88, a little Vietnamese place on the corner of Tory and Ebor. As you can see, plenty of smiles all of which belie the fact that we will be losing one from the Wellington salsa family before long. But the good thing is, most of us are from all over the world and have traveled quite extensively, so are confident we'll cross paths yet again in the not so distant future!

<----See salsa video off to the left on the side bar. Click on photos for larger view.

36: A Glorious Winter Day

Greetings all,What can I say? After a few cold, windy, wet days, the clouds parted and we were left with this beautiful day. It was the clearest I've ever seen the South Island. Just impeccable. I ran up to the top of Colonial Knob and here were the photos I took. Simply incredible. The sunset photo was taken several days ago, but spectacular nevertheless. Click on each photo to see the large image. Enjoy.

30: Titahi Bay Panorama

Greetings all,
Well, I have since moved on to another level of progression here in New Zealand. I was living in town for most of 2007 due to my work and school obligations being on campus. However, with the recent ethics committee approval of my PhD project, the study will now be focused up the road in Porirua. I will be running subjects through the City Fitness health club in Porirua so I decided to move about 5 minutes away to the panoramic beach community of Titahi Bay. Take one look at the photos and it's not hard to see why I made the jump. I am also working out of City Fitness, so it's a two for one. My life is now effectively centralised in one location, which will cut down tremendously on petrol costs. By the way, by comparison, it's still cheap in the US, even at $3.50 a gallon

For information on each photo, simply place your cursor on top of the photo. Click on each photo for a larger size

26: The Island: Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand

Sunday, 24 June 2007: Woke up this morning to a beautiful, warm, sunny day (after a week of cold wind and rain) and a rising south swell off of the roaring 40th parallel. Took a drive along the coast, running the usual circuit. Came upon "The Island" just off of Island Bay with only a few guys out and the odd right-hander screaming down the line. Somewhat inconsistent, strong offshores, and exposed rocks on the inside, but still worth the long paddle across the channel. It was rather frigid with the wind whipping across our backs (and my head without a cap). The following photos capture the essence of the day. Fun surf, few people in the water, idyllic scenery. NZ: when it's on, it's really on!

Island Bay peeler screaming down the line. Taken just before I paddled out.


Scenery off my right shoulder. View of the South Island with snow-covered peaks.


Island Bay community. Houses nestled up in the hills overlooking the break.


Island Bay community backdrop. Idyllic setting with boats moored in a calm bay, people walking their dogs, cyclists riding by, runners coming by just having run a marathon in town this morning.

24: Wellington Photos

Some shots from around Wellington city.
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23: Gisborne and Mahia Peninsula April/May 2007

I know, I know, I've been lax on posting photos and comments. I've been busy and haven't really spent much time on this sort of thing. But I figured I'd take a few precious minutes out to at least post a few shots for your viewing pleasure. The following photos were taken some time between 23 April and 4 May around the Gisborne and Mahia Peninsula area of NZ.