New things.

I am on my first official business trip, whoa ho! Working with Automobile Association of New Zealand’s 80+ websites and trying to figure out how to integrate them all and leverage them better towards their business goals. (That’s the spiel at least)

A bit daunting though, when I flew in Friday morning and upon arriving at their office I realize I’m pulling up to a 20 story building that is one (granted the headquarters) of 140 odd locations. A building topped with the two letters I’ve been writing about in my proposals of late “AA”. I won a bit more business at last minute, so I’ll stay in Auckland through Tuesday to build an infrastructure strategy for the Human Rights Commission of NZ… hold onto your seats; I know how you must all be dying to do something so riveting! Really though, I must admit this is the best job I’ve ever had and I’m having a ball.

So over the weekend I decided to check back into the City Garden Lodge, one of my favorite hostels I’ve stayed in. I can’t tell you how much some time on my own has been awesome. Spent Saturday dragging a camera around Auckland and enjoying not having any conversations. I forget how good a solid few days without conversations is for me. Not to say I haven’t yet again met wonderful people in the hostel. This reinforces the whole “don’t forget to travel theme” for me. The travelers are the most relaxed, happy, and glowing people I’ve ever been around – and it’s contagious. I love that when my room was waking up at 8:30 on Saturday and I was wondering why so early, I remembered that days don’t have any meaning while traveling. Things to not forget.

I jumped into taking more pictures of plants and flowers; I’m a bit enchanted by their form as of late. Spring is in the air and I love shooting the perfection that only nature can create. I’m reminded of my desire to shoot body as landscape nudes. Not sure how I could make that happen, don’t want to use women I’m dating (dodgy to say the least). So I could always try to hire models, but what would the classified look like? WANTED: Nude female models, flawless skin, immaculate muscle tone, horse-faces no problem. I would have to kick my own ass if I could honestly seek someone in that way. Of coarse, I relish the form nature creates – including that in the body, which is the epitome of objectifying someone. Hum… do I deserver a self-delivered can of whoop ass?

So I more pictures on the way, ignore them if you are already bored of my “flower” phase.

Picture Time!

This is when you should cringe. Like when an uncle wants to do a slideshow of his trip to the Grand Canyon - it'll only take a couple hours. What else do you have to do?

Had a great time this weekend and here are some photos. First, at long last I took some photos of where I live. So here is my flat (We are the top floor of the building):



And My Street:



Saturday we hoped in the car by 9AM and drove north letting a coin flip be our guide. As it turned out heads took us to the west coast.



And holy hell, yes that is four of us in a Mini Cooper!

We ended up in small town and back roads via our coin destiny, and took advantage of empty roads for a group photo.



Driving through NZ countryside I was amazed at how pretty it is so I have to throw in at least one blurry from the car shot:



We even ended up going through some town that was is the "Gum Boot Capital of New Zealand". I still have issues with the accent, so I asked the 'what' boot. To which they responded, you know Wellingtons. I then proceeded to become more confused. Finally I realized we were talking about rain boots. The 'ol gumboot capital will never be the same.



(By the way we're jumping off a giant corrugated iron gum boot, gotta love small towns)

We finally ended up in Taupo for the night where we checked in to the last beds in town. Ran down to the hot tub and enjoyed a night of hot tubing, playing pool, pizza, and finally out to the bars.

Next day we were up slowly and had just enough energy to get breakfast and then lie down in the grass along lake Taupo and soak up the sun. Eventually we decided to get picnic foods and start back south along the east coast.

The weather was incredible and view was even more stunning. We stopped at a hill, jumped a fence, and ran up the hill for a picnic - only to be blown away by the view. (or at least as a foreigner I was)

The Car:



The Walk:



The View (You should click on this one to see it big):



And the gratuitous group shot:



Finally a picnic later in a sunny field (the sheep hill had too many remnants of it's inhabitants)

And then we arrived in Napier for a winery tour. Beautiful place, gorgeous day, and as we strolled around some vintage Rolls Royce’s showed up with a wedding party. It was idyllic.



Finally we hopped back in the Mini, tuned into "Mini FM" (My iPod) and enjoyed the rest of our 20 odd hours of music we heard throughout the weekend.

Slept like a rock only to wake up to a Monday off! I love Labour Day in any country!

It was rainy but pleasant, saw the movie "The World's Fastest Indian". Did this get shown much back in the states? If so you should see it, the accent is dead on and the character is very "Kiwi".

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends! Cheers from down under.

Norah nights

It's midnight, just finished reading a chunk of Microserfs by Douglas Coupland - which is shaping up to be very entertaining. I feel like a real geek for getting virtually every reference to technology, but I love how this story told of startup software engineers is about relationships. Timely as well, as I begin to become aware of my own relationships while working in a software company. (creepy coincidence)

Disconcertingly, I've fallen back into needing to do things with people. This may sound weird, but there was a huge liberation in the 6 months of travel to learn how happy one can be just doing their own thing. Now I'm having a blast and making great friends, yet other people feel almost like a crutch as I spend so little time on my own. I wonder how much of my unease is due to the knowledge of near certain ends of all the relationships I'm building when I leave. (Yet another life lesson for me - all relationships certainly end) I guess this is one of those, "It's the journey, not the destination" things. Funny that being with people has made me lonely.

A goal of mine when I got to Wellington, and I think I need to do this soon, is to do a multiple day hike on my own. This scares me. Not the being by myself in the wilderness, but not having someone to talk to. I have to wonder about people (me) who need continuous external stimulation, what are we afraid of hearing from ourselves?

On the social butterfly front, things are fantastic. Our flat warming party (held in the bar downstairs) was a smashing success. About 200 people, 5 bartenders, DJ, and even folks walking around with appetizers - how flash! More to the point, it was a freaking awesome time. I was surprised that I had 50 friends to invite after only living here for ~4 months. (nearly missed trouble by inviting 5 women) I love how friendly people are here! Saw the sky lighten up when I finally hit the sack at half 5, only to wake up a couple hours later for yacht racing on Sunday. (Bring our the violin)

Next Monday is Labour Day and we have a three-day weekend. So in Craig Nehrkorn style, I'm hoping in a car with Kelly, Julie, and Simon and we are driving wherever a coin flip leads us. (First flip for North or South) Just have to be back Monday night. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city for a couple days and seeing the stars again.

I'm knackered from sprint training today (getting into an exercise regime with coworkers) and I've got rugby tomorrow so I'll say good night.

Happy Thursday, from the bottom of the world!

Eastbourne Photos

flowers1
Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

I've got photos from Eastbourne up finally... Only took me a 3 weeks, a month? But who's counting?

Malleable Plans

Wednesday evening around 6 PM at the office I realized the Black Eyed Peas were playing that night, so I had to go. Being the social bunny I am, I talked a work colleague into joining. Americans are pushy; add to that my "Guinn-ness" and you have an unstoppable force - naturally, Kristie couldn't say no.

A freaking amazing concert! A great part of living on the edge of the world is that you can see a huge act like the Peas with only about 3000 other people and buy your ticket at the door. A door, which I have to add, is maybe 400 yards from my front door. Follow that with a great night on the town and I think I enjoyed no less than 5 hours of solid dancing before collapsing at half 2. (Work was a blast the next day)

Weekend rolled around and the race was moved to Sunday due to a massive front on Saturday that would have cancelled the race (For some reason they can't start races in gale force winds, go figure?). Yet this was the killer for my race plans as Sunday I was set to volunteer with Foster kids. I was gutted to miss the race, but I had an awesome time with the kids. Something about the fact that I act like a 12 year old helps me get along quite well with 12 year olds.

An exhausting weekend of fun and now back at work, yet more importantly getting ready for the flat party this weekend. Quite concerned that we can't have more than 150 in the bar and we have about 150 RSVPs from people planning to bring a friend. It should pretty damn good time. I'll have to be on the pictures - speaking of, I've got to get some up from the other weekend. Will do soon.

And oh yeah, Happy Columbus Day!

Um… Anyone still checking this stale ol’ thing?

Sorry for the long silence, I’ve been busy – but this is the worst excuse. A lesson I learned while traveling and having nothing really to do for weeks and months at a time, ‘I always have time – having too much to do is because I am trying to do too much.’

So for a catch up as I apparently haven’t made a terribly large amount of time for this neglected blog:

To pick up where I left off, I went snowboarding for the first time… 4 weekends ago. It was freaking awesome! I’m buying a season pass next season – that’s all there is to it. By the end of the first day I was on top of the mountain taking on blacks. Second day on a high performance board I was discovering the power of edges and crushed my cell phone’s LCD during a face plant. (Fixed in an hour on Monday – I love having a nice, cheap, and basic phone) By the end of the second day I experienced an exhaustion I’m not sure I have ever felt before. It was literally a challenge to stand for about 36 hours – now that’s what I call a good time!

Then I went to work for a week… yeah work.

Then a weekend out on the town and sailing. Saturday Sailing this time with the spring season opener. These guys are amazing sailors and very serious. The boats and sails are covered with sponsors and we even had a helicopter watching the race! We sailed in 25-30 knot winds and hit 12 knots surfing the kite downwind! (We are only on a 33 foot boat) I hope to get out and shoot a race when I’m not sailing because it is beautiful. Saturday night we had a big awards banquet for our office. A lot of fun, I DJ’ed the dancing later in the night as I watched my ~100 coworkers have no problem getting completely trolleyed (kiwi-ism for drunk). Was supposed to join folks out but fell asleep fully dressed and sitting up on couch when I went to drop off my laptop at 2 AM. Awoke the next morning and had text messages from Kristie, Kelly, and Julie between 3 and 4 am asking where I was – there is definitely some fun to be had here. Sunday for recovery with a visit to the museum and some Jazz at a local café with my friend Elisabet (German girl who speaks German (go figure), English, French, and Thai – freaking Thai!) that turned into a late night with following drinks at Matterhorn (a favorite local haunt). Being the geek that I am, a high point of the weekend was when I had to go fill up my scooter. Why you ask? Because I realized I have used 1 gallon of petrol in 10 weeks – now that’s a lifestyle I dig. (Granted 1 gallon of petrol is $7)


Another week of work… (and a great reggae concert with a guy that was actually Bob Marley’s producer, Lee “Scratch” Perry)


Then I went snowboarding again!! Whoo hoo! This time I took Friday off and hit three days straight. (I love that after 3 months of work I already have 5 days of vacation time) Went up with a great guy I met at work named Scotty. A huge traveler, along with apparently every other Kiwi I’ve met. This guy even managed to get kidnapped in Morocco – now that’s a story that will be hard to top. Started landing jumps Friday, Saturday landed a jump from a frozen waterfall (second try). And Sunday I climbed to the summit (9,200 feet) of the active volcano we were snowboarding on to feel the 60 MPH winds trying to blow us in the massive crater lake hundreds of feet below. The snow, ice, and wind were blinding and deafening – so what better thing to do but snowboard down through it?

Then back to work for a week…

Friday night out with the work crew, but must admit it’s hard to keep up with these kiwis – they do like to party. Then Saturday with a ferry ride to Eastbourne (suburb across bay) for hiking with Simon (English pal) and Marie (Swedish gal) and finally pulled my camera out again. It had sat dormant too long – will upload some photos at work tomorrow. Beautiful hike on a great day. On the ferry ride back we sat on the top deck, had red wine, and watched the sunset, magnificent. Met another German, Ilka, sitting next to us and the four of us managed to leave the ferry at 7:30 pm and not get home until 3 am. Sunday was more racing on “Flying Boat” and an invite to race on the “Brothers Race”. I’m thrilled as this is an offshore race across the Cook Strait and back. The Cook Strait, I’m told, is one of the more vicious in the world. We are in the Roaring Forties to start, and then it is sandwiched between two seas of different temperature, and lastly between two mountainous islands with world famous currents. I’m heard stories of previous years with 11 knot currents, 20 foot breaking swells crashing over the boat, and flying spinnakers in 40 knots of wind! The race can last anywhere from 9 to 36 hours depending on wind and currents, but this year the forecast is for large fronts to blowing through during the race. To register with the crew manager for the race I had to give my next of kin – now this is some real fun. Because everyone knows you can’t have real fun unless your life is danger…right?

I have managed to sleep well following these weekends. I really missed ACL Fest, but at the time I was climbing a volcano and snowboarding down – so I guess I’ll live.

I’ve started another week of work, which despite my previous descriptions on this entry is really fun. The people are great, the work is challenging and fun and I’m getting to start doing some really big projects. I’m currently implementing the hosting platform (that I designed it a few weeks ago) for the NZ government’s most busy website. I’m being flown to Auckland for a week to give my opinion to AA (NZ’s version of AAA) on how to do their ecommerce and integrate their website and intranet securely. And the best for last – today I was accepted by the NZ postal service to design their first centralized network directory. (~10,000 users and multiple business units, only one of which is NZ’s 3rd largest bank) So, work is great – challenging as hell, but a blast.

All the wonderful things in the world won’t change the fact that I miss family and friends back home. Yet, I also miss people I’ve met around the world. This is the worst characteristic of traveling on to new and exciting things, good-byes. Yet, without them, I wouldn’t have all the new hellos.

A Birthday Weekend to Remember

Well half the office left at noon for the ferry terminal and proceeded to drink coffee in the sun and wait for the ferry to board. I was astounded to find that the ferry was large enough that it carried trains, and once boarded upon the top deck, 8 stories above the water, I was thrilled by the view.



The party pretty much started at the bar aboard amongst strolls onto a sun-drenched deck as we watched the north island slip away and the snow capped peaks of the south island approach. It was a gorgeous trip and I realize how seduced I am by ship travel, falling in the company of train travel as some of my favorites.

Arrived in Picton, New Zealand, a seaside town tucked into the Marlboro Sounds, just in time to turn it upside down. Checked into fabulous apartments with plasma TVs and gorgeous views (did I mention my office is paying for the trip?) only to move rapidly to dinner and then our private party in the apartment next door.

Gluttony ensued.



It was an absolute blast as the drinks flowed and the dancing commenced (thank you iPod for DJ’ing the event). By 2 AM I retired to the “Girl’s Apartment” that I just had my arm twisted to stay in.

Half 7 came very, very early as I arose for kayaking: a gorgeous day of kayaking along the narrow sounds surrounded by towering mountains. 20 Kilometers of kayaking in calm water to see seals and starfish and by the end I was reasonably knackered.



Retired to the porch of my apartment for jazz over tea and I was in heaven as I watched the sun drop between the cloud capped mountains of the sounds. Fell asleep after dinner and watching ruby – I’m still not a really a sports fan (Oh well).

Then half 6 really came atrociously early as I crawled to breakfast and then to the dive shop. And hour of half airborne boat riding and 14 millimeters of wetsuit later I was diving 90 feet deep on a 300 foot Russian cruise ship. Spooky and excellent in the 40 degree water.



On the way back the scale of the sounds astounds me. My eyes fixed on a bird, as I focused out I notice that it is a microscopic spec amongst the massive green mountain that was the shore. Then I see that this green giant of a mountain is moving relative to and being dwarfed by the more distant mountain as we speed along in the dive boat. Calm, deep ocean is woven among all of this and I’m in heaven.

By Sunday night the ferry ride home is all the excitement my body has left to handle. I sleep like the dead… and it goes in the books as one hell of a weekend.



My week continues with more work that I’m thoroughly enjoying (but wouldn’t bore you with), finally starting to call magazines and producers to drum up photography business and joining the office rugby team. It’s touch rugby, but a blast nonetheless. Not to mention, who wouldn’t enjoy leaving work for hour and a half to play sports!?

Have I mentioned I like working here yet?

I’m off to snowboarding tomorrow afternoon for my first time. (It’s winter here) And by the end of the weekend I’m sure I’ll be thoroughly bruised and very happy. Some friends and I are renting a chalet for the weekend and I can’t wait to wake up amoungst snow-capped mountains!

Next weekend is a big office party that they play up like the Oscars: awards, speeches, and then plenty of dinner, drinks and dancing.

And, I’ve got to get on the invitations for our flat warming party! 150 people between our flat and the bar downstairs - In a few weeks I’ll be sure to have my sleep interrupted by more fun again. Of coarse this will probably happen most days between now and then anyways.

To living life to it’s fullest! I’m sending my love to all you guys at home and around the world. -Trey

PS A huge thanks to the wonderful birthday cards via mail and email - you guys made my freakin' month!

Katrina

My thoughts are consumed by all involved with Hurricane Katrina. It dominates the news here and I've even seen the Salvation Army collecting here.

It's crazy to be somewhere that people talk about Katrina as some far off thing affecting people somewhere else in the world. Just an excellent reminder that anytime we see something awful on the news - it's always someone's home.

This time it's mine.

Sending my hope and concern from the Southern Hemisphere.

Ironing with a spring in my step.

“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day… it’s a new life for me. And I’m feeling good.” Oh sing it Nina! I’m ironing some shirts for the coming week of work. Fallen into a Sunday routine of taking turns making dinner with Dougal, doing our ironing, and watching a movie.

Today the flat reverberates with Ms. Simon’s fabulous lyrics and they resonate all through me.

Thank you Jane & Dad for the clothes, all 100 lbs! I wore my boots out last night and I must say they work here, seventy-four hundred and forty miles from Texas. Like a magnetic force, we travelers managed to congregate in the midst of a packed bars as I met more brits last night - planning a ski trip with them weekend after this coming one down on the south island.

Amazingly the scent of Rockport came through the shirts as I ironed and I felt a pang of reminiscence. Hanging photos of my adventure thus far and hearing Etta James chime through, I am reminded of how good it feels surrunded by amazing memories, hear music I love, and live the life I thirst for.

Life is adventure!

Sunday night in a windowsill

Great weekend of parties, yoga, and hiking in the surrounding mountains: now finishing up with a night of takeout and movies with my fabulous flatmate Dougal.

Dougal’s hit the sack while I relax in the living room. Peering out of the windows on the street, I see a city asleep. A bus confirms I’m not just looking at a photo. Norah Jones’ sultry voice sings, “I don’t miss you at all”. The contradiction reminds me a bit of my own.

I’m still amazed with how lucky I am to land here and fall into the company of great people in a lovely city. Yet, I do miss you folks back home. Alas, without the challenge of doing this on my own, this adventure would lose a lot of its rewards.

I can’t believe it, but on Thursday I’ve been working a month already. I can tell I’m back in the rat race as time disappears and a month has passed in the blink of an eye. At least I have the memories of great times at work and plenty of laughter with folks I’ve met here.

Took maybe 10 photos in 3 weeks, but that’s part of settling. Building a home, with its forthcoming foundation comes the comfort to stretch back out into the things one does for fun instead of those we do for survival.

Long Friday and Saturday nights with friends, buying sheets and a towel hook for the bathroom, and a nice hike with Simon up a local mountain in the fog – I do love this city. A week of work and then possibly some sailing in the Marlborough sounds in the South Island. The next weekend will bring a weekend party with people from work in a hired Yacht Club, kayaking the sounds, and diving a wreck – that will all be fantastic. Next weekend also brings my birthday, my first family event without family around. This is though… the adventure.

My life as a tax paying Wellingtonian...

It’s official, I pay taxes, have a job, business cards, telephone number, and now even an address. To make it better, my address is without a street number. For all you parents out there:

Apartment B
Stonehams Building, Cable Car Lane
Wellington, New Zealand

Home: 64 4 472 5636 / Mobile: 64 21 313 446 / Work: 64 4 472 2021


Whitney’s visit finished up with the grand finale of my mom visiting. (I do believe I’ve received more visits in New Zealand that I ever did in Austin) I wasn’t able to provide Whitney with any excitement on par with climbing waterfalls in southern Thailand, but I really enjoyed her company and help looking for a flat. I had grown quite accustomed to having family around so there was less shock on my Mom’s visit. (She was here as a stop off on the way to some work in Sydney from Monday to Thursday) The three of us had a grand ol’ time while I had the special privilege of showing my mom my new “life”.

More appropriately, the current one. I am though, just as scared if not more, transitioning into another lifestyle here as I was when I started my trip. Yet, just like my travels, scary tends to be rewarding. I’ve managed to land in job I like with people that I like, in a city that is beautiful and welcoming. (Although bloody cold now that it’s winter) After a fair bit of hunting, I now flatting with Dougal (pronounced doo-gul, I know – but that’s apparently not uncommon here) in a hundred year old building in the middle of downtown Wellington (pictures coming soon). Our flat is the top floor of an old three-story building surrounded by skyscrapers. The second floor is a bar that I have already come to love. My work is about a four and half minute walk away, and my moped is parked on the sidewalk when I’m feeling lazy as I can get nearly anywhere by walking in this city.

This weekend made me realize how damn lucky I am for landing on my proverbial feet. After work Friday, and went out with some guys for happy hour at the bar below my bedroom and listened to jazz (love it!) – then upstairs for a bit of an impromptu party (living above a bar may be dangerous). Saturday it was off to a fantastic yoga class followed by furniture shopping. This is funny because I’m having to balance my picky, spoiled taste with the fact that no, I won’t use this piece of furniture for the next ten years. I thought that in May of last year when I was furnishing my apartment in Austin, now all that stuff is at other people’s homes and I’m creating a home in a place I would never have imaged myself in - in May of last year. A crisp blue Saturday afternoon with a friend from work and her little girl at the park which presented an opportunity to teach Abby to always ask to swing higher and try to jump off things. Abby and I had a blast as her mother grew grey hairs. Out to dinner with friends, a little bar hoping and I found my favorite bar already. Somehow ended up at the wrap party for King Kong with freakin’ movie stars and then finally to bed. This morning I walked to a local bakery for fresh scones and chai before sailing on one of Wellington’s most competitive yachts all afternoon. Holy, freaking cow - this place is a blast!

I can’t believe how lucky I am. I’ve got to be sure to pump good karma back into the ether because I’m sucking it up at the moment. I guess it just goes to show you how easy it is to just have an adventure. Or more importantly, how good it feels to do what you want with life. Every breath I take reminds me that I’m living a finite lifetime, so I better be taking that breath while grabbing life by the horns and living it instead of watching it slip away.

I do miss you guys back home. I miss Austin and I miss Texas. I will return someday, just have to wait for when the time is right. After all, I’ve got my whole life to play – I just want play off in the corners of the playground for a while.

Go Lance!

Whoo hoo! Go Lance, numero uno for the seventh time.

One last shot

Seal at Red Rocks
Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

Here's a seal pup we saw Saturday walking on Wellinton's south coast. Also, here are my pics from this weekend as a set.

South Coast of Wellington

South Coast of Wellington
Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

This is what the south coast looks like. You can just see the snow capped mountains of the South Island in the background.

Where I live now

Wellington
Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

This is Wellington on a sunny day. (Yesterday) Don't you just wanna visit?