Monday, February 28, 2011

Post 56 The weather in Perth is hot, hot, hot,

Thunderstorms east of Perth








OK so I came back from San Francisco after a week of temperatures of around 10C and Perth is like 35-38C constantly and it is certainly upsetting people here.
Storm Building

I think 35C is nice at holiday resorts and when all you care about is having a good time, but when you need to work and do normal type activity like get a house ready to rent out it becomes a bit hot.

Speaking of getting the house ready, it looks like we may find ourselves over in the US somewhere in the Bay Area with a target date ranging May June.

Nice lightning display
So the honey do list is getting longer daily and I have not started on the items yet, so I better start soon as I am sure the list will not stop growing.

Employment contract negotiation and immigration documentation will be another part of what needs to happen this month.

Today's photos are the thunderstorms which affected areas in country east of Perth but certainly helped to cool things down a bit.



Have a great day, and stay cool :)

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Post 55 Back to Perth from San Francisco

Singapore Airlines A380 taking off from Sydney

It felt like a long trip back from San Francisco today but no complaints about the flights on Qantas which were all on time.


Getting Ready Qantas B767 and others
After a long stay at SFO I took a Qantas 747 across the Pacific for 13 hours before an airport transfer of nearly 2 hours followed by a Qantas A330 flight of 4 hours to Perth.

Today's photos are from the Sydney Qantas Lounge and show the view out the window looking down on the apron and the other shot was a snap of the Singapore Airlines A 380 just after take off,


A longer post tomorrow, goodnight.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Post 54 San Francisco International Airport

It is just after 6:15pm in the evening and I am at SFO waiting for the checkin counter to open for my 11pm Qantas flight to Sydney.

So one 14 hour flight then another 4 hour flight and about 4and a bit hours here and then I will be home.

A Classic Aircraft
I love Skype it so awesome at times like these where you can video call your kids from the other end of the world at no cost.

Earlier I went and had a look through the SFO Aviation Museum which heavily features the flying boat services into the Pacific which were flown from here.

I feel like it has been a short week in terms of the activity I have had here in the Bay Area and the people I have spent time with have all been fantastic, on the other hand it has been a long time away from home and the people I love.

Looking forward to being back there soon, all the best.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Post 53 Launch Conference

Launch Conference
Today I attended the Launch conference which has been organised by Jason Calacanis, and who brought 1300 people together made up of 50+ startup companies, 50+ journalists, and 20+ panel members consisting of CEO's, Venture Capitalists, and Angel investors.

I was totally impressed by the first day of the conference having watched 26 presentations and meeting the people behind some of the startups and a few of the investors.

I came over at the invitation of Jason and I am very happy I made the effort and thanked him for the invite.

Later in the day at the VIP party former Vise President Al Gore visited and mingled with most people there after having a lengthy discussion with Jason.

Sorry for the poor quality photo I only had my iPhone to take it with.

I look forward to tomorrow for more of the same, all the best.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Post 52 Oakland for dinner

BART San Francisco
Today is probably going to be the shortest post if you exclude a non post.

In the photo a car of the BART or Bay Area Rapid Transit, and so far I have found it to be very effective and cheap.

At the time I took the photo we are somewhere under San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland.

Tomorrow I will be spending most of the day at the Launch Conference, thanks for visiting and have a great day.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Post 51 Presidents Day - San Francisco

Union Square with the Hotel Julia
and I first stayed in back in 2000
Transamerican
Pyramid
My first day in San Francisco was spent partly by taking a couple of walks, shopping and typing up a few concepts on the PC at the hotel room.

It was between 10-12 c here which is a big change from the 36 c back in Perth in the lead up to my departure so I am feeling the cold a bit here.

Whilst it was Presidents day holiday today it would seem that all retail outlets were open with mainly large office buildings being closed.

Transamerican Pyramid a local icon
260m or 850ft 48 floors
Tomorrow I have a meeting with immigration lawyers and catching up with a few people before I attend the Launch conference the following two days.


I am certainly looking forward to skype-ing everyone at home today missing them all after nearly three days away.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheese Cake and Coffee North Beach area 


Saturday, February 19, 2011

Post 50 The trip to San Francisco

iPhone Photo - As I said in the tweet with this photo - hope
the guys in the cockpit are more awake than me 
A 4am start this morning to catch a domestic flight from Perth to Sydney in preparation for the next leg to Los Angeles, and then the final leg to San Francisco.

Thanks Julia for the lift I know getting up at 4am was not fun especially after Ivy being up and wanting to be awake at midnight.

Other than the feeling like I got up too early the first leg Perth to Sydney went well and I am in Sydney typing this up whilst waiting for the next flight which has now been delayed by 2 hours.

On a wing in my Qantas Boeing 767

The delay is not hard to take as I am not flying with kids and I am spending the time in the Qantas Club so there is plenty of food and drink and power.

At this stage I am unsure as to whether I will make my connection in LA in fact it is unlikely, but as I am arriving by midday it shouldn't be a problem to jump on another flight.

iPhone Photo - Sydney Qantas Club 
 Next post should be from San Francisco, have a great day.

Post 49 Scitech

I 'd like to be, under the sea


Today we went to Scitech, a place we visit with the kids about once every two years and always enjoy it.

I am sure that they would have stayed the whole day if it was possible. The place is full of learning activities based around a do and learn approach to science.

It is just as much fun for adults as it is for children. Since I was there last there has been a lot of change with new displays and we didn't have time to play with all of them, also we picked a very busy day for it with a special toddler day happening.

Declan, Reuben and I took the chance to see the Planetarium show on our solar system, and "Journey to the Stars".


Julia levitates a ?
Beach balls float

So a few photos today and all were taken with very high ISO's as the place doesn't have much available light.

Now it is 10:30pm and I am catching flights to San Francisco tomorrow at 5:45am so time to go pack the rest of my gear.

All the best, I will try to post whilst travelling tomorrow.
Faster than the speed of light

The light and sound wall

Friday, February 18, 2011

Post 48 Cobh (Queenstown) The Ireland Series

An extra photo from Blarney - Julia and her dad Peter
Today
Spent some time on documentation in preparation to for departure to San Francisco in just over a days time and subsequent immigration lawyer meetings and the Launch conference and catching up with a few people.




Cobh
Cobh was named Queenstown back in 1912when the Titanic was at anchore near the mouth of Cobh harbour.
The original pier for boarding
 tenders to the Titanic

It was an interesting sea port town when we visited and I am sure looks even better with a blue sky.

I was able to take some photos of the original jetty or pier that passengers used to board the tenders which took them out to the Titanic.

Another shot of the original pier for boarding
 tenders to the Titanic

On a side note I also recently heard on a science podcast that the remains of the Titanic are being eaten away by a newly discovered steal eating microbe.

Have a wonderful day, see you tomorrow.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Post 47 Blarney Castle - Ireland Series

Ivy with her loot
Today
In today's photo Ivy shows her looted bling from her mum's jewellery box, and I must say it didn't end well when she was forced to hand it back.

I have from today started to call these Posts in the headings instead of days just to be more accurate.
Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle
We went to Blarney Castle on a day which didn't see many visitors 30 December 2008, it was cold and it was overcast, but we enjoyed the castle and grounds.

Julia was not too happy with the little guys being up the top of the castle with many potential areas for them to climb onto and be exposed to a multi storey fall risk, but everyone survived thankfully.

James after kissing the Blarney Stone
Julia and James got to kiss the Blarney Stone, and we spent a while walking around the gardens of the 1446 built castle.

I have put up two versions of the same photo, one which is as of a corner in the castle and then the other version is the same photo but with the colours over saturated.  When I was playing with the saturation I was amazed how the colour came out of such a drab stone wall.

Have a great day, thanks for visiting.


As shot

Playing with colour saturation

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Day 46 Slieve League Co Donegal - Ireland Series

Today's Sky
Today
Not an eventful day today, so only one photo from today before moving onto more on Ireland.

Looking over the edge 
The photo from today is a sky shot whilst I watched the kids play out the front. I was able to get a business meeting at the Wild Fig Cafe this morning which was great, and two meetings tomorrow if all goes well, then that leaves me with two days before flying out to San Francisco.


Slieve League Co Donegal Ireland
James after the climb - Slieve League
Located on the coast and at 601 metres or 1970 feet, this place has Ireland's highest sea cliffs, and coming from a place like Western Australia where things are relatively flat, it is an amazing sight.

On our trip in 2008 James and I climbed up to the top of the nearest mountain and I was expecting to find rocky hard ground, but instead it was rocky and very boggy and wet.

Kirsty at the lower viewing area -  Slieve League
A large amount of thin cloud kept the visibility low but James and I couldn't help ourselves with photo taking resulting in a hundred images.

I took a couple of panoramas which I will need to get around to stitching one day.

Here is a link to the google maps location for the place.

Have a great day today, see you tomorrow.



Slieve League

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Day 44 and 45 Giants Causeway The Ireland Series

James - Giants Causeway 2008
Cold Morning Giants Causeway
December 2008

















Today
I yet again fell behind on posting daily yesterday, so I thought I would make up for it today and extend the number of photos being posted and a new section/format.

Photo by James
Julia 2008
Julia made a great point in relation to the blog and that was that whilst she loved the Ireland Series, it has prevented me updating on daily activity.

Taking this on-board I have decided to head up any post with a today section for all those times I am posting older photos, such as I have today.

Giants Causeway 2008
Giants Causeway 2008
So what is happening, well the usual in relation to the kids with mainly school and day care now coming on line to fill out the no school days for Reuben and a few days for Ivy.

At this stage Julia and I each have a full day with the kids and the rest of the time it is either school or daycare for Ivy and Reuben.

Julia is working three days at the Office of Energy and doing her Honours project at www.juliaandrys.com the free days. Anyway I want to continue the Ireland Series with photos of the Giants Causeway.

July 2005
Dec 2008








Giants Causeway Northern Ireland Co Antrim 2005 and 2008
The Causeway coast is a fantastic part of Ireland an well worth visiting and I stand by that with having done so twice and would love to go back again.

In July 2005 we visited with Julia's parents Peter and Mary, and her sister Claire with her husband Steve. Then in December 2008 we went back with Julia's parents again but this time with the five kids, James, Kirsty, Declan, Reuben and Ivy.

Giants Causeway 2005
The area has great scenery with cliffs castles, spectacular coast lines and some quaint towns and pubs.

As to the Giants Causeway itself here are a number of images from the two visits to the Basalt columns created from volcanic activity sixty million years ago.
Giants Causeway 2005

I have also include the rope bridge which is located close by and is a lot of fun unless that sort of thing makes you feel a little unwell.

The bridge is only open for the summer months so take that in mind if you go to cross the bridge, but if you do cross you can obtain a certificate just like Declan did.

Have a great day and I will try to catch up on my posts, it is still my intention to have posted 365 times this year.


On the shoulders of giants
Declan and Peter 2005

Rope Bridge 2005

 More Ireland posts coming up but this will change as on Sunday I am heading to San Francisco.


Basalt Columns Giants Causeway

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Day 43 Ardmore St Declan's Town Part 2 - Ireland series continues

St Declan's Holly Well - Julia and Declan
St Declan's Hermitage Church Wall















Something did get in the way of this post and that is why it is a day late, but here it is the second part of our visit to Ardmore.

Remains of the 13-14th Century Church



As mentioned previously Ardmore is St Declan's town in a way and having given our son Declan his name it was a great reason to visit the place.

St Declan's Hermitage Church









As we continued up the hill towards St Declan's Hermitage we came to the Holy Well and the remains of the Church which is estimated to be 13th and 14th century for the standing wall.
Ardmore

The Well had water and I took the opportunity to drink from it after moving aside the insects and other items on the surface.

Ardmore marina 




We had time to look around and it was a lovely day back on the 26th July 2005, Declan ended up investigating parts of the old church by crawling around and touching as much as he could anything he came across.

 It was a good day trip although the drive in those days from Athlone was long for a day trip. I know that a large part of Ireland has seen improved highways across the country over the past 10 years and it may be a faster trip now.


More on Ireland in the next post, I hope to have two posts for tomorrow so I can catch up, have a great day.