The Okuda Family Blog

We've Moved

2006-05-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally done it. I have moved the blog to my own domain.

We have moved to http://okuda.ca.

Update your favourites or RSS feeds. This site will remain intact, but no more posts will be made here.

Kiyo's Birthday

2006-04-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I went to Galiano for my brother Kiyo's birthday. Jocelyn was in Las Vegas and missed the party. It seemed like half of the island was there celebrating... the fun half.

I'm sure they have parties like that ever weekend, but to us city folk it was wild. A bit of rain, a lot of mud, a lot of music, and a lot of drinking.

Kiyo naturally pulled out the Xaphoon (rhymes with Baboon ;-) to join in with the music making.

My cousin Dale and (my half brother's half sister would naturally be my...) "quarter" sister Karima came to the island to celebrate. My parents came for the party too. I can't speak for everyone else, but we all had a great time.

After the first night the weather cleared up and was great all weekend.

Dale brought a potato gun as a gift for Kiyo and couldn't wait to show it off. Combine a potato, some PVC, foot spray, and a spark . Mix in a bit of testosterone and you have hours of fun. I'm not sure about local regulations so let's just say that we couldn't get it to work and it does not shoot potatoes hundreds of meters in the air.

Do not get in the way of a spud gun. This is what might have happened if we ever got it to work.

Each evening was a new party - or perhaps it was just a continuation from the night before. Even King Kiyo of Tequila-Ville graced us with his presence in the pump house.

On Saturday, Tika, Matthew and I took an old crab trap down to the dock to try our luck. I had no luck a week earlier in North Van but I wasn't going to let my fishing license go to waste.

We caught not one, but two rock crab for dinner that night.
Note to Annie: We put the fish head back in the freezer - do not use for soup.

Kiyo started construction of a tarp roof to be erected for the party. There were some technical difficulties and it was a few days late (Oh yes, there were endless jokes about his lack of erection). The tarp roof was almost up when Matthew and I went home and is hopefully still there when we go back.

Matthew didn't want to leave the island. That was the longest we had ever been on Galiano in one stretch and it was a quite excellent weekend.

Vancouver Island

2006-04-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

For spring break we took a slightly different kind of vacation. Rather than sunning in Mexico we chose to stay close to home and visit Tofino and Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Tofino is on the west side of Vancouver Island, and it is a few hours drive from Nanaimo. The drive took us through Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park. This is a stand of old growth trees right along the highway to Port Alberni. You can see Matthew here with one of the smaller trees.

We stayed at the Long Beach Lodge in Tofino. It reminds me of the Wickaninnish Inn but (slightly) cheaper.

The most obvious thing to do in Tofino in March is to go whale watching (some outside the hotel thought it was to go surfing, but we don't count the insane). Thousands of grey whales, migrating north, pass Tofino each spring. Unfortunately, the weather was rough and our boat did not go out into exposed water long enough to see any whales. We did see other wildlife on our trip though, including this Sea Otter.

Right in Tofino's harbour is a small Island that is home to a pair of bald eagles. The eagles are cool and all, but it was a very expensive way to not see whales.

Between Ucluelet and Tofino is the Pacific Rim National Park. We took a walk down the beach, and boy was it long. Technically, I think this photo was taken at Combers Beach, but it is connected to Long Beach so I guess that makes it "Longer Beach".

There are a lot of walks and trails in the park but one of our favourites is the bog. A boardwalk has been built over the sphagnum that would otherwise be difficult to navigate given that the moss can be over a metre deep. They call it the broccoli forest since the trees growth is stunted due to the poor soil conditions. Some of the trees are over 300 years old but only a few metres high.

Our second day in Tofino was our last and meant to be spent travelling to Victoria. On our way out of town we called the whale watching tour company from the previous day to see if, A. they were seeing whales, and B. they would give us some sort of discount on a second trip. They were and they did so we stayed. This time we were able to go out into open water which was a mixed blessing. The water was still quite rough and the 10 other people on the boat didn't handle it well. Jocelyn and Matthew handled it very well, and it is tough with 10 other people barfing around you. Due to the poor boater conditions, as soon as we caught our first glimpse of a whale, our boat headed back to port.

On the way back in we passed these sea lions trying to figure out what everyone on our boat had for lunch.

In Victoria we stayed at Abigail's Hotel, a short walk from the inner harbour. There was some confusion on check-in but it was quickly sorted out. It is quite nice and includes an excellent breakfast. In Victoria we did Victoria type things. Matthew was excited about the Victoria Bug Zoo so when we passed by we couldn't pass it by. It was actually pretty neat. The guided tour made it worth the admission as well as being educational, otherwise it would have just been a room full of insects. As the tours work their way around the room they teach facts about each insect and bring some out for display. Above is Matthew with a Praying Mantis.

This is Matthew with a millipede at the Bug Zoo. Notice how Jocelyn isn't in any of these photos? She did go into the Bug Zoo but wouldn't go anywhere near the actual arthropods.

We also visited the Pacific Undersea Gardens and the Royal BC Museum. The Undersea Gardens is on what looks like a barge in the inner harbour. It is an underwater aquarium of local marine life. It is one of those aquariums where you really wonder who is on display. Unlike the Vancouver Aquarium, the Undersea Gardens has an octopus everyone can see. The Royal BC Museum is less boring than I thought it would be. It is quite well done and kept Matthew's and my attention long enough for us to stay until closing. I think we were there longer than anywhere else that day.

Here is the BC Legislature building across the inner harbour behind Matthew and Jocelyn. We didn't have much interest in the legislature or the building, but it is well lit. We had only the one day in Victoria and left for the ferry back home the next morning.

Skiing with Matthew

2006-04-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

The ski season started for us this year in January, when Matthew started his lessons on Mount Seymour. This is his third year of lessons and he has improved a lot. The weather during his lessons was less than optimal with some very wet snow. We were fortunate that it never rained, but snowing when the temperature is above freezing isn't much better.

Jocelyn came with us a few times. I think she is glad that Matthew is old enough to ski with me and she doesn't have to go anymore. Her loss.

Matthew is almost fearless on skis but now that I have taken him all over the mountain he has a pretty good idea of his limits (and so do I). This is Unicorn - which he is quite proud about skiing down. Notice the black diamond shape on the sign on the tree. His lesson group went down Unicorn on his last day and he couldn't stop telling me how he was the only one who had been down it before.

We arranged to go to Whistler in February and stay at Jocelyn's Uncle's condo with some of her family. There were going to be about seven of us in total until they began to cancel. We were the first to get there and figured out the next morning that no one else was coming. We still had a good time anyway - maybe better ;-).

Matthew and I skied two days, one on Whistler and one on Blackcomb, and Jocelyn joined us the first day on Blackcomb. The photo above is from the top of Seventh Heaven on Blackcomb - you can see Whistler behind Matthew and way off in the distance is Black Tusk.

According to the signs it was -22c at the top of the mountain - which is part of the reason that everyone cancelled, but we dressed warmly and the cold didn't bother us at all. It was a beautiful day.

The second day Matthew and I went up Whistler. The mountain hasn't changed much since the last time I was up there - but what is up with Whistler Creek? They have underground parking! The weather wasn't as cold the second day and you can see that it was generally overcast. This is Matthew on Harmony Ridge.

Matthew and I went all over the mountain and he is a solid "blue" skier. As he put it, "Some of the runs are a darker blue", but he skied them all without problems - almost. Our last run was down Peak-To-Creek which, as you can guess, runs from the top of Whistler Peak down to Whistler Creek. That is a long run - 1.5km of veritcal on an intermediate run. Let's just say it took a while to get down. Matthew did great until we got near the bottom where the snow turned to ice. Here we are taking a break two thirds of the way down. The bench is adjustable for really tall people - or for varying snow depth.

Matthew and I have gone up Seymour quite a few times this year. Now that he has all his equipment and a pass we can be up there within 45 minutes of deciding to go. Here is Matthew on Seymour with Kiyo and Tika.

This is part of the view from the top looking down over the parking lot and off to Burnaby, Richmond, Delta, and even the USA. That peninsula in the top left is Point Roberts, just on the other side of the border.

Taking a break in the sun on Seymour.

I don't know when the local mountains are going to close this year, but it is probably soon. Hopefully we have a few more days left.

Soccer Gallery

2006-04-01T02:29:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to my last post I have posted the best photos from the Swamp Dragon's 2005/2006 season in a photo gallery for browsing. This includes photos already posted to this blog and many new photos.

Check it out http://okuda.ca/gallery/index.php?list=7

More Soccer

2006-03-29T01:26:00.000-08:00

The soccer season is over for Matthew. Here are some photos of games since the last post.

At the beginning of January, Matthew's team was in an indoor tournament at Park Gate. They didn't win, but played well. Inside was much more comfortable than outside and convenient for the grandparents to come and watch.

The weather with winter games is not always very good. Some games have been really cold and others rather wet.

This is one of the Swamp Dragon's few goals of the season. It is the only one I have ever photographed.

The team rotates players on the field a few times each half. Matthew doesn't mind sitting out part of the game and seems to enjoy the break.

A few weeks ago there was an unexpected player on the field. A dog decided to join in the fun. The kids were no match.

With my new camera lens I have been able to capture a lot more of the action at the games.

The longer reach of the new lens makes the shoe laces just jump out at you.

Now that the weather is warming up it is time to stop playing soccer (?). The season is over for now and hopefully most of the team will be back next year.

Christmas 2005

2006-03-24T00:43:00.000-08:00

I'm getting way behind with these posts, so I am going to try and catch up - starting with the end of last year.

It was another great Christmas with the family. Both of my Dad's sisters came up from the US, and my sister too, as well as my cousin and his kids. Naturally, my brother and family from Galiano came over and we all descended on my parent's house. Many of us went on our annual shopping trip on Boxing Day and some even bought stuff. We also returned to the laser tag arena for a second year to make it an official tradition.

It is always fun having everyone together in one place, too bad it only happens once a year.

Matthew's Seventh Birthday

2006-03-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

Matthew had yet another birthday last year. Depending on how you calculate it he's had six or seven. This time his party was a the H.R. MacMillan Space Center or, as it is better know, the Planetarium. They offer birthday parties where they supply a party room and give each kid admission to the shows. I'm not a big fan of the laser show. I remember when the planetarium had shows about space, stars, and planets - not pop music with flashing lights. The kids seemed to like it, though I'm not sure how appropriate all the music was for seven year olds. Kids aren't particularly impressionable at that age anyway.

There was also a simulator ride that I missed and a presentation on the science of bodily functions in space. The kids loved that one. This is Matthew taking part in a demonstration showing that the ears have a lot to do with how we sense our movement. Oh, and how they make astronauts puke.

His Space Centre party was not on his actual birthday since it fell during the week so we had family over on his real birtyday for dinner and cake. That week is pretty slow for family gatherings anyway, so this helped to fill the void until Christmas... three days later.

Swamp Dragons

2006-02-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

Matthew joined a local soccer team this year coached by his friend's dad. It is the first year playing soccer for many of them and they are still learning about the strategies... and rules... of the game.

His team tries hard and has yet to win a game, but it has been close. They have even scored a couple of goals.

Matthew's first injury in a game. It almost ended his career in soccer. Fortunately the pain only lasted about 30 seconds.

It is hard to get a shot like this with only one or two players near the ball. Six year olds playing soccer tend to all chase the ball in swarms. They are getting better at maintaining their positions, but that backfires unless everyone is doing it well. I think they actually play better with the swarm strategy.

These photos are from the start of the season to November. The team has improved a great deal since they started and some days are better than others. The weather has a lot to do with their spirits, though they are usually good. Expect more photos to follow of more recent games in less than ideal weather.

Stone Soup

2006-02-24T23:09:00.000-08:00

Matthew's class performed a play in December called Stone Soup. Matthew lost his part in the play because of our trip to Cabo, but he still had a small speaking role.

There was singing and dancing and something about a magic soup of stones.

The play had a rather short run in the theatre. It was shown three or four times, all on the same day, with just enough time between for recess and lunch. They got a lot of school work done that day. I guess they must be all caught up from the strike in October.

Grouse Mountain

2006-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00

We went up Grouse in December with some of Matthew's friends. The sleigh rides were not running that day, but it was a nice day and the kids had a great time playing in the snow.

They have two reindeer out in the snow. It must have seemed like summer compared to the north pole.

The kids would have stayed all night playing in the snow if we hadn't left.

The view from the top of the gondola just after the sun set while we were waiting for our ride down. You can see from West Vancouver all the way to Vancouver Island.

Cabo San Lucas Part 3

2006-02-03T00:06:00.000-08:00

I went diving a couple of times in Cabo - once on my birthday. The water wasn't quite as clear as Cozumel, but it was a lot better than I expected. I dove near the southern tip of the Baja they call Land's End (near the arch).

Some inhabitants of the area are the sea lions. They smell bad and look rather awkward on the rocks, but they fly in the water. I saw a couple in the water on my second dive but they were too fast to take any pictures. I have some low quality video of them but have not had time to edit it. Once I do I will post an update.

There was a lot to take in under the surface. I took many more photos underwater and some of them even turned out. There are too many to post here so I put them in a photo gallery here. One highlight was the huge, and I use that in the largest sense possible, school of fish right off the point. I can't even guess at how many there were, but the school was thick enough to block out the sun when we swam under. It was impossible to see the entire thing and the photos don't do it justice. I have video, but again, that needs editing and will be posted later.
Click here to see a photo gallery of the dives

Cabo San Lucas Part 2

2006-01-11T22:03:00.000-08:00

One thing that we like to do in warm climates is go snorkeling. The water in front of the hotel was too rough and deep and sandy. There are, however, other excellent beaches in the area for swimming and snorkeling. We went to Santa Maria Bay, Chileno Bay, and Lover's Beach. The photo above is at Santa Maria Bay where you can see the water is relatively calm and it has a nice empty beach. What you can't see is the collection of snorkeling tour boats that fill the right side of the bay. Fortunately, we paid $20 for a taxi to take all of us there and got to stay as long as we wanted. The people on those boats paid $40-$60 dollars each to spend and hour and a half in the bay. We win.

This is the view from Chileno Bay, one bay east of Santa Maria. It is a bit more open but it has protective reefs and more reef=more fish.

This is the closest we come to a family portrait.

Another snorkeler (one from the boats no doubt) gave Matthew a piece of bread before Jocelyn could say "Too many fish!". He quickly became very popular with the fish. But alas, fame never lasts, and neither does soggy bread underwater. You'd be lucky to get fifteen seconds out of it.

I finally got an almost decent photo of a parrot fish. We have seen them in the Caribbean and didn't expect to see any in Cabo. Partly because it is a long commute, and partly because people kept saying that there was no coral in the area. Well, parrot fish eat coral and they weren't going hungry. Whoever says there is no coral around Cabo San Lucas hasn't been in the water.

There were a lot of different fish in the water, some that we see in the Caribbean and some new ones. These are Yellowtail Surgeonfish. Named for the barb(s?) on the side of their tail that resembles a scalpel ;-) They seemed friendly enough though I doubt Jocelyn will ever go in the water with them now.

We also saw an octopus in Chileno Bay swimming over the rocks. It eventually hid in the rocks under the... coral. It was really cool to see it swimming and change colours as it spread over the rocks. I found another one the next time we went to Chileno Bay (or it might have been the same one) and almost filled up a memory card trying to take photos and video of it before it hid away. Naturally, the second photo I took of it on the first day was the best - go figure.

There were also a few small moray eels in Chileno Bay swimming around the rocks. They really like their photo taken. Each time I dove down to snap a photo it stopped and posed for me. What a nice smile ;-)

Cabo San Lucas Part 1

2006-01-11T02:22:00.000-08:00

We recently returned from a trip to Mexico. This year we went to Cabo San Lucas. Our trip to Cozumel was cancelled due to hurricane Wilma - as was everyone else's. The RIU Palace was almost fully booked during a normally slow time before the big December crowds

There were at least four buses from the airport to that hotel, and that was just from our plane. The RUI Palace is freakin' huge! I will admit though that we rarely had any trouble finding a spot to sit and the buffet restaurant was never full.

We spent the first couple of days just hanging around the hotel in the pool and on the beach. The water was quite rough and the boats and waverunners constantly being beached make swimming a bit dangerous. Fortunately, unlike in Cancun and Cozumel, the pool was heated and almost as warm as the ocean.

Cabo is obviously a major cruise ship stop and there was almost always a cruise ship anchored outside the harbour. We even saw the same ship a couple of times.

We were not far from town and walked down the beach one afternoon toward town looking for a safe place to swim. We almost got to Cabo before we did find a spot where the surf was calm enough to easily get in and out of the water, but the boats racing by still made me nervous. There are water taxis everywhere and always someone trying to give you a ride. They pull up to the beach, you jump in, and you go. This saved us from walking back to the hotel.

By the fourth day we got out of the hotel on a local tour of San Jose Del Cabo, Cabo San Lucas, and all the golf courses in between (there are many). The highlight for Matthew was going to the glass blowing factory where he got to blow some glass. Just a few weeks before this he had decided that he wanted to be a glass blower when he grew up. He has a future in large paper thin glass blobs.

The tour took us to all the popular shopping locations, including a large tourist market in Cabo that is frequented by the cruise ship passengers. Apparently they raise their prices just before the cruise ships arrive. Fortunately we were there on a slow day and got a few items that we haggled down to slightly less over priced.

Stay tuned for more updates from out trip.

Halloween 2005

2005-10-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween is one of Matthew's favourite times of year. He likes the candy, but he really loves the decorations and getting dressed up. This year EA's Halloween party was done in the new underground parking lot and had a lot of new activities for the kids. It was darker and spookier but very crowded and they had some logistical issues with the food. If you don't mind crowds it was a cool party.

This is the spin art that Matthew made at the EA Halloween party.

We also went to the annual Stanley Park Ghost Train. This year was similar to others. The biggest difference being my new camera so that I could take some decent pictures in the dark.

Matthew had another spectacular Halloween party. It is the party of the season and anyone who is anyone is invited. We really decorate our house for Halloween. So much so that many children are afraid to come to our door (more candy for me).

Matthew had a couple of costumes this year. He wore his vampire costume for his Halloween party but went out trick-or-treating as Darth Vader. He would be much more threatening without the jack-o-lantern bucket.

We made some pretty cool pumpkins this year. We download patterns and make some of our own. Guess which ones we made ourselves.

Sky Diving

2005-08-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

My brother and his family decided it would be fun to go sky diving one weekend. Apparently you can just drive out to Abbotsford, get five minutes of instruction, and jump out of a plane (tandem, of course). Unfortunately, there was a significant delay due to the clouds so we all went shopping for a few hours and weren't even sure they would be able to jump that day. The weather finally improved enough that a few plane loads were able to jump, but I think it limited their altitude and freefall time.

Don't they look cool in their jumpsuits? Hey... jumpsuit... I get it.

The plane doesn't immediately make you think of skydiving, but something about it suggests wearing a parachute and getting out as quickly as possible.

The plane is actually very suited for this use. It has a very short takeoff and landing distance and can climb quite quickly. The site is on what I'm sure is an old farm. They paved a strip and call that the runway.

Finally they got to jump. Well, not finally, of course, that would be bad, the landings are below, but this is all of them jumping. I say all of them because it could be any of them so they are each equally right in claiming it is them jumping out of a plane. Actually it is none of them jumping out of a place because, as it was described to me, it is more like hanging out of the plane while you wait for your instructor to jump.

Tika, Ria, Kadek, and Kiyo in flight.

Kiyo Landing.

Ria Landing.

Tika Landing.

Kadek Landing.

After all the waiting (and cost) all they get to show for it is the certificates and these photos. Oh, and possibly the important skills, should they need them in an emergency, of jumping out of a plane with nothing but a skydiving instructor strapped to their back.

Abbotsford Air Show

2005-08-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I went to the Abbotsford Air Show. Neither of us had been before. Jocelyn had, and once was enough for her.

We missed the Snowbirds but were in time to see a couple of shows, including the USAF Thunderbirds.

It was a very hot day to be standing around on a runway. Fortunately, the big planes bring their own shade. We were sitting in the shadow of the tail section when I took this picture of people under this wing. There were even people under the body of the planes. Anything to stay out of the sun.

Jets go fast. They would fly off in one direction and come back from another. It was hard to tell where they were coming from, but very easy to see where they had been.

After using the C5-Galaxy as shade we took a tour around inside and upstairs to the cockpit. That plane is freakin' huge!

Kenji's Birthday

2005-08-08T02:39:00.000-07:00

It was my Dad's 83rd birthday today. My Aunt Nao arrived with friends on their way north to Alaska and everyone came in from Galiano. Unfortunately, Jocelyn and Matthew were out of town visiting Mel so they missed the party.

Putu, Ria, Tika and Kadek put on a show for "Grampy" singing an old Betty Boop song (available here).

BC Day Weekend on Galiano

2005-07-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Back to Galiano for the annual Lions' Fiesta. We go to this just about every year. Things have quieted down from the Jamboree almost a month earlier and it is time for another party. Craft booths, island exibits, a parade, barbeque and lots of games for the kids.

Freddy Fuddpucker and his Rolling Clones are always playing in the Fiesta parade.

If you look closely you can see Matthew in the reflection of Kiyo's sunglasses yanking on his arm. It is sort of like Kiyo cam.

Matthew played lots of games at the fiesta and collected enough prize tickets to get face paints and proceeded to paint everyone's faces...

...and got is face painted too, though he wasn't to sure about letting a girl do it.

Matthew also participated in some of the races, like this sack race.

He was a bit concerned that he was given a first place ribbon when he was clearly last. I told him that it was because he tried so hard.

Some of the wildlife and plants around Annie's amazing garden.

It seems frogs don't like getting kisses from boys. I'm not sure what Matthew was expecting it to turn in to.

"Juvenile Mutant Tae Kwon Do Turtle" or a new form os skin care? You be the judge.

We all went to lunch down at the Galiano Inn. The highlight was that the entire Galiano family made it, oh, and the Ostrich burgers.

Fraser Fest

2005-07-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

We went down to Fraser Fest at the wharf in New Westminster (next to the Quay). People setup stands along the boardwalk selling stuff they made, hoping that it is, in fact, what people who walk along boardwalks want to buy. There were actually a lot of public service announcement type things there (Power Smart, Recycle). Here is Matthew at the BC Ferries booth making a pirate ferry.

The highlight of the day is the tugboat parade. It was delayed because some of the tugs were busy turning this ship around. You would think they could just back out.

They had tugs of all shapes and sizes in the parade. This one went by sideways. I guess that is an important ability for a tug, just like horses.

These two tugs were fighting by pushing against each other. This is what they call a tug-of-war.

Here is a view looking up the river toward the Pattullo Bridge, the Riverboat Casino, a Paddlewheeler docked off the far left of the frame, a Paddlewheeler in the center for river tours, and a police boat keeping an eye open just in case the paddlewheelers get out of control. That many paddlewheelers in one location and things are bound to heat up. They get really steamed. I wonder what the fascination is with taking trips on vehicles that are so difficult to steer? Is that only limited to paddlewheelers and trains? Think how much more popular planes would be with one less rudder.

Traboulay PoCo Trail

2005-07-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures of Matthew's first bicycle ride outside of Blakeburn park. We rode down part of the Poco Trail, a trail that circumnavigates most of Port Coquitlam.

We followed a stretch along the Pitt River, between Dominion Avenue and Shaughnessy.

We turned around at Citadel Landing, a small park and viewpoint near where the Pitt River and the Fraser River meet.

On the way back we were surprised to see an eagle flying low over the river and cross the trail in front of us. We were even more surprised to see it land in a tree above the trail, and more surprised yet to find another eagle was already there.

~~One day I will finally get my Google Map GPS/Photo page working well enough that I can post a link here to an interactive map of this trip with photos.~~ Check out the Map of this trip, complete with our path and the location of each photo. Click on an icon to see the photo. If you are interested I have explained how I made it here http://notions.okuda.ca/2006/03/10/google-maps-gpx-viewer/

Buntzen Lake

2005-07-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

Matthew and Jocelyn spent most of the summer at Buntzen Lake with their friends. They are there so much they have their own spot on the beach.

There is a small dock down the beach where people jump, swim and fish (you wouldn't think those things mixed).

Buntzen Lake is a BC Hydro resevoir used to generate hydro electric power. Water is piped through a tunnel from Coquitlam Lake into Buntzen Lake and then down to the power plants on Indian Arm. Fortunately the water is piped out at the north end and the beach is at the south end. Two of the power generators built in 1914 are still in operation.

A trip to the beach is no small matter. They take coolers, chairs, food, and toys. One day it's temporary tattoos, then bubble mix...

The next day it's jumping off the dock

Is that a whirlpool in the distance?

Canada Day on Galiano

2005-07-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

We went to Galiano for the annual Canada Day Jamboree at the North End Hall. I think we go just about every year. They have a parade, food, games, contests, and pony rides.

Matthew's team had a strong start in this race but once things went wrong there was no chance of recovery.

We didn't stay long at the Jamboree, but I think Matthew wore himself out.

Here is a regular visitor at Kiyo and Annie's place. The deer are a bit of a pest, eating the plants in Annie's garden, but still cool to watch for us city folk.

This slightly dim owl finally got the hint. We surprised him once on the path down to the beach. He flew further down the path only to be startled by us again... and again. Eventually he caught on and flew off into the trees away from the path.

Kiyo got a call from the Salt Spring Island Wildlife Care Centre about a baby seal pup needing a ride from Galiano. Someone found it on the beach without a mother and having trouble swimming. We tagged along for the ride.

The day was finally completed with a marshmallow roast. Matthew, being relatively new to the hot flaming marshmallow, was taught some of the finest secrets in roasting technique.

And, of course, there was the ferry ride home just in time to catch the sunset.

Oceans, Lakes, and Waterslides

2005-06-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

The geese were out as usual at my parent's place. A bit bigger since May, but still cute and fuzzy.

And some not so cute or fuzzy, but aggressive. This is the "Don't mess with me or I will nibble your toes" look. If you look carefully you can see my reflection in his eye.

Jocelyn accompanied Matthew's class on a field trip to Belcarra. They were given some lessons on the local wildlife and you can see him here investigating the native "vehiculim canthus" so well known in those parts.

Oh, and they also spotted the rare starfish species "Asteroidea Alienus Aquaticus".

A week later was "Let's have another day off for the teachers day". Matthew and Jocelyn went to the Cultus lake water slides with his friends so their teachers could have that well deserved rest before summer break. Well, nothing gets done on the last day of school anyway... (That's right, they took off the last day of school)

It seems the ground sprung a leak and, from the looks of it, Matthew was trying to protect everyone around him. "Mommy, put the camera down and get the car started, once I get up we don't have much time."

Day 4 in Disneyland

2005-06-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, we got to the parks before 8:00am so we could stretch out that short disney day. We didn't even take full advantage of the time and left the park before midnight. Only 15 hours in the parks. Shame :-(. Given the tight schedule we packed in a lot of stuff. Here is Goofy's son Max posing with cardboard cutouts we had made to look like us. Very realistic. We even had time for a fireworks show Oh, and I can't forget the hula hoop contest that Tika entered with Mickey and Minnie.

Day 3 in Disneyland

2005-06-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

More Disney action. This is the first photo of the morning - taken at 11:59am. Only 10 hours left in the park - where does the time go?

On the phone in Toontown. I didn't have the heart to tell Tika that that Donald wasn't home.

"There's that lost safari we've been looking for. Obviously mixed up in some kind of native uprising. That rhino seems to be getting his point across, and I'm sure that guy on the bottom will get the point in the end! Hey I know that guy on the bottom, his names Juan. Ya, and it looks like that rhino is going to get a hole in Juan. Well, bottoms up, fellows!"

With our Disneyland passes we each got 10 dollars to spend in the ESPN zone in Downtown Disney. It has arcade games and a rock climbing wall among other things. 10 dollars was enough for one climb up the wall and a couple of games. Tika was by far the best climber among us.

Matthew had a rough time and didn't get much guidance from the attendant. He tried really hard though.

My attempt went less smoothly. If it wasn't for the ropes I would be typing this by blowing puffs of air into a tube.

Day 2 in Disneyland

2005-06-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

We went to visit my Aunt Nao in Riverside in the afternoon (The morning was lost catching up on sleep we missed the night before). She made us an awesome lunch on fairly short notice.

Matthew and Tika took advantage of Nao's pool. It wasn't heated but they didn't seem to mind, those two would swim anywhere.

The humming birds were all around and some babies were still in their nests. I think I scared this one as shortly after this picture was taken it flew away. At least I hope it flew away. It jumped out and I didn't see it again. This is the same nest that I photographed a year before from directly above (See it here). Maybe this is the chick of one of those chicks.

After we left Riverside we still had time to hit the park for the evening (only about 4 or 5 hours ;-). We spent the rest of the day in California Adventure.

We found a spot on the "street" a bit early for the parade so I had time to play with the camera. Good luck guessing what this is.

We had to watch the Electrical Parade at least once while we were there. Tika had never seen it before. It now runs through California Adventure so they have removed the Main Street designation from it, but it hasn't changed much since the first time I remember it.

More pictures from the parade. It is hard to take pictures of a parade at night. Fortunately it is well lit.

Day 1 in Disneyland

2005-06-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

It had been so long since our last trip in February that we decided we needed to go away again. This time we took a much shorter trip to Disneyland. Tika was still living with us so we brought her along too.

It was busy, but not too busy to get photos with the characters.

Tika with Cruella DeVil. Looking at her coat, I think Cruella has moved on from Dalmation to Holstein.

Anyone that has been to Disneyland will remember these guys. They would have more luck with a Nintendog.

Matthew was finally tall enough to ride California Screamin'. We were in car number 1.

These were my favourite characters in California Adventure.

Super Student

2005-06-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

More bike riding at Blakeburn. Matthew challenged Tika to a race - biking vs. running. I think he ended up winning, but it was close ;-).

Matthew really likes the psychedelic dancin' room at Science World. It is a room where they play music and project an image of anyone in it against the wall with some effects. He is not usually a very shy kid, but when he gets in that room he becomes a spectacle. People actually stand around and watch. He could dance in that room all day but he would end up a sweaty puddle on the floor.

Tika won some awards during her semester at Terry Fox High School. She was on the honour role (with distinction even) and some other stuff. They give awards for everything in that school. We stayed for a while but gave up when they got to "Outstanding Achievement in PE with extra special super duper honours". I think everyone in the school gets an award - it sort of dilutes the real awards and makes the whole thing hard to take seriously, not that I ever take anything seriously, but someone might.

"OMG I waited for three hours in a hot gym for a lousy hand shake?"

I'll bet he got an award for hand shaking.

Playing Catch-up

2005-05-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've been getting behind in my posts and have been trying to get caught-up. This post represents the entire month of May.

The geese were as fruitful as ever this year with some families numbering 20 or more. I guess that's why they didn't mind me getting right in among them for some pictures.

We had a few days of some very colourful sunsets. This picture was taken in our back yard. Living among the postage stamp lots we don't get much of a horizon.

Tika was still living with us which meant a lot more trips to the park. Here she is helping take care of Carmen. Carmen likes Tika. For a while she refered to Tika's sisters as, well, "Tika sister".

Tika volunteered at some walk for something at Swangard Stadium in Central Park, Burnaby. We met her there and took a walk around Central Park. I have never seen a turtle in B.C. outside of an aquarium. I don't know if it was wild or an escapee, but it was neat. Matthew wasn't very impressed - he swam with some ten times its size just a couple of months earlier in Australia and before that in Mexico - no, he's not spoiled.

Matthew is getting really good at riding his bike. Look for upcoming photos from his first ride outside of Blakeburn park on the Poco Trail (and actual streets).

Avoiding the Camera

2005-04-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew wanted to photograph his Lego for a contest. He setup the scene with and finally got a shot with everything just right. He was concerned that we shouldn't crop the photo since the contest specifically stated that no digital manipulation could be done. It's not like we added any special effects.

Matthew is getting tired of me always pointing the camera at him - in his underwear. I brought it out and chased him around the house for some neat blur effects.

Tae Kwon Do

2005-04-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Matthew had a belt promotion ceremony for his Tae Kwon Do class. The kids were all tested ahead of time but to make it official he had to break a board with a kick. This gave me another reason to play with my new camera, but I'm still getting used to it and the lighting was poor. Let's just say that it is a bit blurry because matthew was moving so fast.

Success! He is now a yellow-with-green-stripe belt. I think that is about half way between yellow and green. Sounds like a way to get more money for promotion ceremonies to me. At least he got to keep the board he broke. It's too bad our fireplace is gas.

To celebrate his new belt we decided to take the training wheels off of his bicycle.

I thought it was going to be a rough day but after just a few hand-held launches he was off. I think he even surprised himself. I was helping him start going and running along side holding the bike when I just let go and stopped. He got about 20 feet away and yelled "Don't let go!". I yelled back "Okay!".

It wasn't all perfect. He did fall off a few times, but always got right back on. There is no stopping him now.

Fair at Coquitlam Centre

2005-04-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

There was a fair in the parking lot at the local shopping mall. They had bumper cars...

Hang gliding rides...

Spinning twirling rides...

And strange people making funny faces.

My New Camera

2005-04-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

I splurged and upgraded from the 4MP Canon Digital Elph s400 to the 8MP DSLR Canon Rebel XT. These are some of the first pictures I took with my new camera. Even with the relatively inexpensive lens I bought with the camera I can already tell the difference in quality in low light situations. Unfortunately the learning curve is steep, but I'm working on it. I gave myself a crash course in photography (the internet is great) leaning words like aperture, f/stop, depth of field, shutter speed, and focal length. Now I just have to figure out how to apply them all correctly.

Carmen and Sierra's Birthday

2005-03-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

Matthew went to a party celebrating the birthday of his friend Sierra and her little sister Carmen. It was held at a local gymnastics center where they got to play on beams, bars, trampolines, and swing on ropes.

Jocelyn took these pictures and I wasn't there, but I am assuming that this is some sort of torture room where they threw the children and gave them 60 seconds to get out before they released the snakes. From the smile on his face I guess this was matthew's first time.

This is the cake that Jocelyn baked for the party. Looks like Dora knows all about the foam block snake pit.

Minnekhada

2005-03-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn, Matthew, Tika, and I went hiking around Minnekhada Park in Port Coquitlam for a couple of hours. We had a couple of surprises along the way including this owl (originally standing on the side of the trail). We didn't notice him until he flew away into the tree. Jocelyn quickly put her hood on so it didn't get any ideas.

We also caught a glimps of an eagle. You can just make him our at the top of that tree in the center. We often see one when we go to Minnekahada and I'm guessing it's the same one each time. This was about as close as we got to him this time, but he once flew right over our heads as we crossed the marsh.

Another surprise was this new obstacle along the path. I wonder if anybody heard it fall?

We took a vote and decided to go for it. If the tree didn't collapse the bridge then a few extra people wasn't going to make it any worse. I wonder how many people are hit by falling trees when walking in the woods.

If a tree falls in the forest and the only one who heard it was crushed under it, can anyone hear them call for help?

Day 14 in New Zealand

2005-02-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well, this was our last day in New Zealand before heading home. It had been a long trip. Matthew and I decided to go back to Muriwai Beach one last time (you may remember this from our first day in New Zealand) and build a sand castle. We even took some real tools. We decided to build next to the stream running down the beach rather than near the ocean. The advantage is that you can channel the water anywhere you want and make a moat. The disadvantage is that running water is rather destructive.

This was our end result. The water had already started to do some damage but you can see the extent of the water channels we built. The sand was so fine that the walls didn't really collapse, they sort of dissolved. If nothing else you have to be impressed at how clean Matthew is after building all this out of black sand.

It was finally time to leave New Zealand and go home after three weeks away. We had a great trip but it was time to return. I can't believe I finally got through posting the entire trip to this blog. It only took three and a half months. I don't really remember much about the last day, which is why this post is so short, but we made it home without any problems in just enough time to get a few hours sleep before work the next day.

Day 13 in New Zealand

2005-02-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

It was finally time to head back to Auckland to get ready for our long trip home. We took the long way back through Waitomo so we could check out the glowworm caves we had seen in all the tourist brochures. I guess it worked. The caves are naturally carved through limestone by flowing water. These are a lot like the caves we visited in Mexico only with glowworms... and these were paved... and they had railings... and we didn't have to wear hard hats because the walls were probably padded.

Oh ya, and were not allowed to take pictures! So, unfortunately, I don't have any good ;-) pictures from inside the caves. It is all a scam to sell pictures in the gift shop - well it didn't work on me.

There is a river that runs through at the bottom of the caves. This is where the glowworms are found. After we followed our guide through the well lit paved path down into the cave we got into a boat which is hand guided out the mouth of the cave you see here. Just inside the cave and around the corner the cave ceiling is covered in glowworms. They look like stars. You will just have to trust me on this, or go to New Zealand and buy a picture of it.

I showed them - I took a picture of their tree! Once this gets out they will have no choice but to let everyone take pictures.

Day 12 in New Zealand

2005-02-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

We couldn't pass up the chance to eat in the Taupo McDonald's DC-3 so we went there for breakfast. It's no A380. I wonder how many DC-3s you could get into an A380?

After breakfast we headed back to Huka falls but this time we went by land and walked around it. It isn't a particularly high falls but it is quite narrow and deep so there is a lot of water going through there very fast.

There is a trail that goes from Huka falls all the way down to the Aratiatia dam so we started walking it. It turned out longer than we expected so we turned back to the car and drove down. We were trying to get to the dam for the "opening" and almost made it but were just a bit too late.

They open the dam a few times each day for half an hour rather than let the water out slowly all day. It makes for a violent rapids. We walked down to a lookout over the river and waited for the dam to close. The picture above was taken while the river was running at full strength and below is after the water was shut off.

It takes a long time for the water to drain. Those pictures were taken 30 minutes apart.

After leaving the dam we eventually found the Craters of the Moon Scenic Reserve. It is another geothermally active area like Wai-O-Tapu, but it is better - cuz' it's free.

Craters of the Moon also feels a bit more dangerous. The boardwalk had steam rising between the boards in places and some of the craters are only a couple of years old, like the one above.

The whole area has expanded since they put in the nearby geothermal power station (I like saying geothermal) in the 50s. Something to do with the underground water level being lowered causing more activity. Apparently it is safe enough to walk around though - or so they would have us believe.

Day 11 in New Zealand

2005-02-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

Before we left Rotorua in the morning we had one last stop we had to make... at the Zorb hill. Zorbing is where they put you into a soft plastic ball and roll you down a hill. It has been compared to a hamster ball. Matthew and I really wanted to try it. We chose to Hydro Zorb - where there is no harness and they put a bit of water in the sphere for lubrication.

There is the straight track where you are allowed to Hydro Zorb together and Zig Zag track shown above where Matthew and I each went alone. They give prizes for those who can stand all the way down - I didn't even try.

I think Matthew had a good time and got a bit wet.

After we left Rotorua we headed to Lake Taupo where we spent the next two nights. We stopped just outside Taupo for lunch at the prawn farm and took a spin on the Huka Jet.

The Huka Jet is a jet boat ride between Huka falls and the Aratiatia Dam. They go fast and don't need much clearance under the boat (or from the trees). You can see just how fast, and close, we were going in the picture above. That wooden post was in the river and traveling past us at 80km/h.

It is also a good way to see the Huka Falls.

We eventually got to Taupo and found the coolest McDonald's with a DC-3 taking advantage of the Drive-Thru. Actually the DC-3 is part of the restaurant with seating at tables inside the plane.

Day 10 in New Zealand

2005-02-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

Rotorua is in the middle of an active geothermal area on a fault line that cuts right through New Zealand's North Island. For a place without a lot of obvious pulp mills it sure smells like one. It is not uncommon to see clouds of steam on the side of the road as there seem to be steam vents everywhere. This one in the picture above was coming right out of Matthew's head.

There are a few places around that have a concentration of geothermal activity so they naturally charge admission. We visited the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland where there are large craters formed where the ground rock is erroded by the steam and water. At the bottom of each one we could hear, and sometimes see, boiling water and mud.

This is the Champagne Pool where it is said that the water at the bottom is 230 degrees celcius. The water at the top is a chilly 74 celcius.

A distant view of part of Wai-O-Tapu. You can see the Champagne pool in the distance as the large cloud of steam.

Right outside of Wai-O-Tapu there is a sign labeled "mud pits" so we followed it. As it turns out there were mud pits down that road. Not just any mud pits... boiling mud pits.

Blurp!

In the town of Rotorua there is a park like you see in many towns. It has playing fields, a pond with a bridge across it, a playground, and boiling mud pits. Here we are soaking our feet in the pool of geothermally heated sulphur water from the pond. It is supposed to be good for your feet. I guess that makes up for the smell.

Day 1 and 2 back in New Zealand

2005-02-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

We arrived back in Auckland early in the morning and tired. We did nothing on the first day back other than pick up our rental car in the city and plan the rest of our trip. We didn't even take any pictures that day. The day after our re-arrival we headed south to Rotorua. Here is a picture taken at the top of the Skyline Skyride looking down on Lake Rotorua and the luge track. In the foreground is the chairlift used to return lugers (and luges) back to top of the hill. This isn't like the street luge you see on TV, this is a three wheeled cart with handlebars and brakes. Jocelyn, Mary, Matthew and I did it. Matthew really liked it and wanted to go faster. In classic New Zealand way Matthew met all the requirements to go by himself except the parental consent. He and I rode down together.

This gives you a good idea what the luge and track are like. Notice how there aren't any barriers on the side of the track unless you count the grass.

After our first round of luging we went to check out the SkySwing. This is an amusement ride like you might see at Playland. It's like a swing on steroids. The "seat" is suspended between the two towers and is pulled back by a wire connected to a third tower behind them.

Matthew really wanted to go on it and, again, he easily met all of the requirements to ride - so we did. The swing "seat" was pulled back and up 34m at which point I had to pull a rope to release us. They have positioned the swing so that it swings down and out over the edge of the hill at about 140km/h. Quite a rush.

Day 7 in Australia

2005-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately we had to leave Moreton Island first thing in the morning. We had a flight to catch in the afternoon and the ferry schedule isn't very frequent. Though it is flexible if you miss it - you can see in the GPS track log from the day before that after we left the island we turned around to return for a couple that missed the boat.

Fortunately, we had enough time in Brisbane to visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary before our flight back to New Zealand. As you can imagine they have a lot of Koalas and one of the main reasons we went is that you can hold a Koala (Not before they charge you to take your picture).

Matthew didn't get to hold a Koala (he is still bitter) but he did get to check it out. Here he is feeling its claws.

It's not all about Koalas at the Koala Sanctuary. There are various displays of animals, birds, and reptiles.

And of course the day wouldn't be complete without feeding Kangaroos and Wallabies.

err, well, uh, hmmm...

After we left the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary we headed to the Brisbane international airport, dropped off the car, and sat around for a few more hours in the airport waiting for a plane back to Auckland. Over the course of this vacation we spent almost a full day just sitting around airports. I think airport wait time is inversely proportional to flight speed. Perhaps this is proof that teleportation could never happen - it would be impossible to arrive at the departure port early enough.

Day 6 in Australia

2005-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

In the morning we headed down to the docks to board for our trip on the "Tangaloom Jet" to the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton Island.

Moreton Island is right across Moreton Bay from Brisbane. It's the third largest sand island in the world with the larger Fraser and North Stradbroke Islands also near Brisbane. The Tangalooma resort is located on the west side of the island and they operate day trips to the resort for visitors as well as overnight stays. Unfortunately (or, as it turned out, fortunately) almost all the day trips from the resort were booked up by the time we got there. They seem to arrange every activity to take place at overlapping times so we didn't have much choice.

We decided to take the "Desert Safari" trip. This was a bus trip through a narrow sand road (of course) through the forest at incredible speeds to a sand dune in the middle of the island. Our first stop was to look at the different colours of sand on the dune. The colour comes from the decayed trees that once grew here.

We also found some natural glass that is formed during storms when the lightning strikes the sand.

The highlight of the trip was tobogganing down the sand dune. They gave us smooth waxed flexible boards and told us to be careful. Apparently people get hurt doing this.

It was a long hike to the top of the sand dune. The record in one trip (about 45 minutes) was 16 times up and down the hill.

Matthew climbed the hill and slid down with me on my back three times. Not a record, but he is 6 and the most trips that day for anyone was four.

Above are a few frames from a movie that Jocelyn took of Matthew and I sliding down the hill. As you can see it is a long way down. I only got the GPS to work for one slide and it seemed to think that our top speed was about 30km/h but I don't know how much I trust it. It seemed much faster :-)

Another view of the sand toboggan hill and our bus. It was very hot in the sun that day.

One of the trips that was fully booked when we arrived was a snorkelling tour of Tangalooma Wrecks. It is an artificial reef made of sunken ships used as a breakwater for mooring boats. When we got back from the sand tobogganing we decided to walk down the beach toward the wrecks. We were told it was about a half hour walk and we could see them from the resort. When we got there we realized just how close they were to the beach and were kicking ourselves for not bringing a life jacket for Matthew. That was all that prevented him from swiming out to the wrecks. It also made the $26 tour seem a bit expensive.

I did swim out to the wrecks by myself to snorkel around and see what I could see. The sun was getting low and I was in the shadow of the wrecks. The visibility under the water was quite poor. I did see a lot of tropical looking fish but none of the pictures came out very good. The best pictures were above water of the wrecks themselves. It was really eerie swiming out the wrecks. The water between the beach and the wrecks is quite deep (too deep to see the bottom). This always gives me the willies. Even with all the snorkelling we do it is very rare for me to get in water where I can't see the bottom. That was almost as creepy as actually getting to the wrecks where I could see some shapes under the water. If we ever go back I will be sure to do this earlier in the day when there is more light and more people around to draw the attention of whatever is living inside the wrecks.

The last thing we did that night was one of the major attractions at the resort, and what gives its name. Overnight guests of the resort can hand feed the wild dolphins that come by every night for a free snack. The dolphins know that if they show up at the right time each night they will get some handouts. It was really neat watching them waiting for the food to start as the dolphins collected near the pier. They were swiming around on their backs chasing fish and jumping after them.

Matthew and Jocelyn got to go first while I took pictures from the pier. Yes, that is Jocelyn in the water with carnivores with lots of teeth. After this and the shark a few days earlier she may never go in the water again.

Day 5 in Australia

2005-02-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

After leaving Bargara we stopped at the Hummock Lookout, a volcanic cone with a good view of the sugar cane fields in every direction and the ocean in the distance.

We didn't have a lot of time left in Australia and had thought of visiting the Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island for a day. I called to book a reservation on one of their day trips for the next day and decided to book a night as well. This meant that we had to get back to Brisbane by early the next morning so we didn't have much time to stop and visit places.

One place we did stop for Matthew was the Bellingham Maze. This was about as close as we got to the Sunshine Coast. It is a star shaped hedge maze that actually turned out to be quite hard to reach the fountain in the middle.

Here is the GPS log from our trip through the maze. After the maze we headed back to Brisbane to find a place to stay for the night before our morning trip to Moreton Island.

Day 4 in Australia

2005-02-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

We stayed in Agnes Water another night to rest after our long day. In the morning we headed to the beach so Matthew could finally try out the boomerang he got on the first day. The picture above is a beach in Agnes Water. It was stitched together with Autostitch.

A large empty beach is a good place to learn how to throw a boomerang.

We left Agnes Water and drove back to Bundaberg. The information booth there was quite helpful and we managed to work out a place to stay in Bargara, just east of Bundaberg. We also booked a trip to the Mon Repos Turtle Rookery that night. At Mon Repos, the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service operate a ticketed beach access at night to watch nesting turtles and their hatchlings. The turtles nest from November to February and the hatchlings hatch from January to March. Everyone shows up at about 7:00pm and is put in groups of 70 people. Individual groups are taken to the beach when there is something to see to keep the disturbance to a minimum. They have volunteers posted on the beach looking for activity. We went with the third group, but that wasn't until after 11:00.

Once we got to the beach they gathered us all around a nest that had hatched. Most of the turtles had already made it to the sea, but they found a few stragglers in the grass headed for the moon and gather them up in the mesh pen. When a nest is found they dig up the contents to determine when the nest was layed, how many eggs hatched, how many didn't hatch, etc. In the picture above you can see the penned turtles and one of the staff/researchers digging up the nest counting egg shells.

A couple of baby turtles were brought around to get a closer look.

As we were making a path for the remaining turtles to go to the sea we got called over to another nest that was just hatching. It was very cool to watch 100+ turtles emerge from the sand.

Once the turtles were out they started digging up the nest to count eggs and found a few more cought in the grass.

The tunnel of light - When it was time to let the baby turtles make their way down the beach they lined everyone up on two sides of a wide path to guide the turtles down with lights. They don't really need guiding as they naturally go to the brightest part of the sky, which is usually the ocean, but using flashlights helps us see them. Some of us also made a "Tunnel of Light" down the middle of the path where we spead our legs and shine the flashlight in front of us. Most of the turtles then followed the line of flashlights down to the water between our feet - very cool.

Day 3 in Australia

2005-02-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

The towns of Agnes Water and 1770 are quite small and it was a lot easier finding the wharf in the morning that it was finding the room the night before. From what I could tell the wharf was the town of 1770. We booked a trip on the Spirit of 1770 to take us to Lady Musgrave Island. You can see the trip in the GPS track below.

Lady Musgrave Island is a Coral Cay that is surrounded by a coral reef with a narrow passage for boats to get into the lagoon. It is made up entirely of dead coral so the beach is not very nice to walk on without shoes. We were taken to the island first to wander around or snorkel. We did a bit of both.

There are too many sea cucumbers to count on the bottom. You have to be careful where you step getting in and out of the water if you don't want to step on one. There are also large clams like this one, some over a foot in diameter.

While snorkelling from the island we swam over this huge ray. We never really got a good answer as to what variety of stingray this was, but we know it was huge. This picture was taken from quite a distance and we estimate the length from head to tail to be about 10 feet.

After lunch back at the boat we went snorkeling from the boat a bit further from the island. The boat was in a deeper channel, but the water over the reef was only a few feet deep. We saw a few turtles like the one above in the deeper areas. The water outside the lagoon was quite rough so the visibility was not very good. Unfortunately this means that the pictures aren't very good.

On our way back to the boat this fella swam by.and stopped for a cleaning. You can tell from the tip of his dorsal fin that he is a white tipped reef shark. He was at least 6 feet long. The currents pushed us right over him but the water was deep enough that he didn't notice us and the pictures didn't come out very well. Matthew likes to tell everyone that he went swiming with sharks.

Day 2 in Australia

2005-02-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

Due to the time difference between New Zealand and Queensland I woke up unusually early. Checking the GPS I realized that it was almost sunrise (looking out the window confirmed that :-) so I snuck out and headed down toward the beach to check it out and get some pictures.

Just after the sunrise I suddenly saw some dorsal fins just beyond the surf break. Now I know that Australia is the home of all things deadly but I'm pretty sure they were dolphins. In fact, on the horizon is Moreton Island, home of the Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort.

Matthew and Jocelyn joined me at the beach and, like at every beach, we made a couple of sand structures.

Once we left Bribie Island we headed straight to Beerwah to visit the Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunder. This is one of the few places that we knew we would visit in Australia. It is very well organized and clean. I don't think I saw a spider anywhere.

We participated in the elephant feeding. You show up at the appropriate time and they hand everyone a piece of fruit or vegetable. I got the impression that this is usually a very busy activity, but I think we eventually went through the line three or four times because they didn't have enough people to hand out all the food. As with any tourist attraction all the good photo taking spots are restricted to staff of the photo shop so I didn't get any good feeding pictures (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). A lot of people were nervous about the elephants and had a hard time sticking food up their nose. The elephants are a bit dirty and Matthew complained all day about walking around with elephant snot on his shirt.

The highlight of the day at the Australia Zoo is the Crocoseum. Not necessarily because of the show, but more because they perform all the shows sequentially in a shaded arena with hard seat backs. You get to sit for a couple of hours in comfort while they show you birds, snakes, tigers, and crocodiles. During the snake show they had a few people walking through the crocoseum showing some snakes up close. Judging by the shrieks from the crowd there are people who are not as comfortable with snakes as Matthew.

The main event at the Crocoseum is the croc show where they lure a large crocodile out into the pond and throw food at it. I was surprised to see how agressive it was. It basically chased the trainer around getting the occasional chunk of meat. I always picture crocodiles as lazy and slow but this one was actively persuing anything in or near the water and was quite fast when it decided to lunge.

As with the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary the day before, the Australia Zoo has a large kangaroo petting and feeding area. Any plans that Jocelyn had to try kangaroo meat in Australia were lost.

Near the end of the day we went to the cheetah display where they had two cheetah cubs. We were informed as we arrived at the zoo that if we were at the cheetah enclosure when they were escorted away that we could get a closer look. Indeed we did.

When we left the Australia Zoo we headed north, not entirely sure where we would end up. We stopped at an information booth along the way and talked ourselves into taking a trip to the Lady Musgrave Island in the Great Barrier Reef in the morning from the town of 1770. We were still quite far away so we just kept driving. By the time we reached Bundaberg it was dark and we didn't have a place to stay. When I stopped for gas I called some numbers of hotels around 1770 and got through a few numbers before anyone even answered. It turned out that the last number I called was the same company that runs the boat trip we booked for the next morning and she easily guessed who I was. Fortunately they had a room available but we weren't expecting to arrive for another hour or two. They left the key under the mat and told us we could pay for the room down at the dock in the morning. Now all we had to do was find the room.

Day 1 in Australia

2005-02-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

We got up dark and early and flew from Auckland to the Gold Coast Airport in Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia. It is a three hour time difference between there an Auckland so we arrived quite early in the morning. It is intersting to note that, if you ignore day change due to the international date line, this is the same time difference as between Auckland and Vancouver. Contrary to popular opinion though, New Zealand is not half way between Canada and Australia.

Shortly after we started driving north to Brisbane we passed the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. I had read about it before we left so we decided to stop. It was early on a weekday and not very busy. We arrived just in time for the wild Lorikeet feeding. We were no match for the hundreds of Lorikeets. They completely drowned out Matthew's screams as they clawed up his arm, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

You can buy food to take into the Kangaroo enclosure and, well, feed Kangaroos. The food sales hadn't opened up by the time we got there so they gave us free food. It wasn't very good so we fed it to the Kangaroos. The big one in the top right is named Zeus. You do not want to get into a boxing match with him.

Yes, they also have Crocodiles. This is a salty. I'm surprised anyone in Australia ever goes in the water. If that water was muddy you wouldn't even know he was in there.

We saw quite a few wild animals at Currumbin. After feeding the Pelicans they switch to the squirmy black things in the water, the fresh water eels. This was the first creepy thing we saw in Australia.

Another wild guest is this water dragon that joined us for lunch.

Of course it wouldn't be Australia without the spiders. They were all over the place. These guys were as big as they look. After seeing these I got a bit concerned whenever I walked through a web.

We did eventually get through the huge hotels of the Gold Coast and to the information center in Brisbane, but that was a huge waste of time. Their only information was that there was some sort of concert in town and unless we had a room booked we should leave. So we did. We drove north and eventually found a helpful information center (complete with gas and a McDonald's). We decided to go to Bribie Island for the night and found a motel on the east coast. This picture was taken on the beach near the motel just after we arrived.

Day 7 in New Zealand

2005-02-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn, Matthew, and I had a day to wonder around Auckland before we left for Australia. I was hoping to make our way to one of the nearby islands but the weather wasn't very good and we didn't have a lot of time. We decided to go into the city and find something. Once we got there one thing stood out above all others... the Sky Tower. It was close, it was dry, and it was a good view of the city. The cost of elevator ride is included if you have a meal at the revolving restaurant. So we saved a few bucks on the elevator ride and had our most expensive lunch in New Zealand. It turned out to be a good idea. We watched some rain showers pass over the tower as we sat in comfort with an excelent view of the city. We were there for long enough to make a bit more than one revolution and had a good lunch.
The view through the floor of the elevator going up the Sky Tower.

It wasn't raining the entire time we were having lunch. The weather moves quite fast around Auckland. One minute it is raining and the next it is sunny.

One of the activities you can enjoy on the Sky Tower is climbing up to a platform far above the observation deck. Another thing to do is jump off. This poor fellow fell by as we sat eating lunch. They slowly lower the person from a platform above the restaurant on a cable with two guide cables on either side. Then, after everyone in the observation deck below has had a good laugh, they drop them.

This is where the jumpers hit, I mean land.

After leaving the Sky Tower we had a bit of time before we had to return the rental vehicle. We started to drive out of town and just followed some main roads through a bunch of different neighbourhoods. Eventually I noticed we were close to One Tree Hill on the GPS and made our way there. This is one of many volcanic cones in Auckland. It used to have a tree on it that was planted in the 1600s, but that was cut down and replaced in the 1800s, but that was vandalized and eventually removed in 2000. I give the monument now at the top about 200 years before someone cuts it down.

Day 6 in New Zealand

2005-02-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

We drove back down to Henderson from Whangarei, stopping at the Kauri Museum and following the west coast down from Wellsford. The Kauri Museum is dedicated to the native Kauri tree. Actually the museum seems to focus more on the people and technology that helped cut it all down (I have my suspicions as to why they don't have many Kauri trees left).

On the way south we stopped at the Omeru Scenic Reserve for a break where we took a walk around the small reserve. It had a small suspension bridge, a Maori Pa site, some waterfalls and, more importantly, a toilet.

Day 5 in New Zealand

2005-02-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

We drove north again from Whangarei, but this time east through Tutukaka and then north to Oakura Bay. Almost everything we drove through that day was farmland. I guess I expected it to be a bit more "remote". You can see by the map that the most northerly point is not far south of where we were the day before.
I didn't have time to post a fully interactive map today and it didn't add much since we only had pictures from 3 locations. Instead I went with the 3D terrain showing our route for the day.

Matthew and I built yet another sand castle at the beach in Oakura. The sand was very rough so the best we could come up with was a monolith that Matthew covered in interesting shells that he found on the beach.

On the way back to Whangarei we stopped at Whangarei falls.

Matthew took this picture at the base of Whangarei falls. Matthew and I rarely appear in pictures together. I assure you we are not the same person - he is much cuter.

Later in the afternoon we went to visit a house under construction that Jocelyn's Uncle designed. A 10000 sq ft house with a bridge to the master bedroom over the pool. It really stands out in New Zealand where every other house we saw was a small bungalow that looked like it might have once been on blocks.

Day 4 in New Zealand

2005-02-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

Day 2 on our trip north and Jocelyn, Matthew, and I went off on our own back to Paihia to check out the sights. We took a small ferry across the bay to Russell for lunch and took a boat trip through the Bay of Islands to "Hole in the rock", a rocky island with a cave running right through the middle of it. The weather was too rough to go right through, but they backed the boat right in. As you can see from one of the pictures, the "hole" isn't much larger than the boat. There are a few pods of dolphins in the bay that the boats regularly harrass and this day was no exception. Our boat was licenced to get right up close to them and they swam with us for some time. Even as the boat was leaving at full speed the dolphins had no problem keeping up.

Below is what I could hack together from a GPS travelogue created by the WWMX travelogue tool. The location of each photo is calculated from the GPS track log and the photo time stamp. It took seconds to generate and hours to figure out how to post it to the blog while keeping it interactive.

Day 2 in New Zealand

2005-02-09T18:00:00.001-08:00

We went into Auckland, took in a few sites, and went to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. It is constructed completely within old sewer holding tanks under what is otherwise a road around a scenic point. The only thing you see at ground level is the parking lot and a small building with a door that takes you underground to the entrance. Its big draws are the 110 meter acrylic tunnel that goes through the shark tank and the new Antarctic Encounter where they have penguins and a fake killer whale head that jumps out at you. They also have a stingray exhibit and huge crayfish as you can see in the pictures. Just be careful which exit you take or you may end up on the wrong side of the road.

Day 3 in New Zealand

2005-02-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

We headed out for a three day trip up to Pahia in the Bay of Islands and Whangarei. We were hoping the spend the first night in Pahia but everything was full so we stayed in Whangarei all three nights. On our way up we decided to stop at a beach for lunch but couldn't find anything nice on the highway. We continued north until we saw some signs for beaches and randomly followed them. You can see from the GPS track below that the beach we eventually found (Buckleton) was quite some distance away from the main route.
The image above was created using the GPS logs for the day and a program called DG Terrain Viewer (GDTV) with terrain maps I downloaded from NASA. You can see where we started at the bottom (South), the beach we found way off to the East, Pahia in the North and the hotel in Whangarei.

This is the parking lot (road?) at Buckleton beach. Everyone in New Zealand seems to drive anywhere they want. If the road ends you just keep going on the grass - so I did. In fact, those houses behind our van have driveways that back onto the grassy area.

Above is a picture of Buckleton beach. In the sand you can just make out the sand structure that Matthew and I made. We left sand castles at every beach we visited.

Matthew climbing around in the Whangarei Town Basin, a nice little area near the marina with shops and restaurants.

Day 1 in New Zealand

2005-02-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

Our first day in New Zealand and we visited Muriwai Beach, a large black sand beach not far from where we are staying near Auckland.

Galiano at Night

2005-02-05T19:47:00.000-08:00

A shot I took near a bonfire on Galiano Island last year at the Santa Ship. You can even see some of the spark trails due to the long exposure.

2005-02-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

This is us during a recent trip to Mexico at the Crococun Crocodile Zoo near Cancun Mexico. Yes, that is a real live crocodile and yes, his mouth is open, and no, there is no invisible glass wall between us and the croc. You have to be careful not to step on them.

My new toy

2005-01-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

Just went out and bought a GPS last night. I'm hoping to do something like this for our upcoming vacation.

Moods

2005-01-26T02:01:00.000-08:00

A quick test of the movie and web page making ability of Picasa. Not bad. It's DivX too, so you will need the DivX codec installed to view it. You can get that from here (When prompted, select "Open").

This was done entirely within Picasa 2.0 using the "Create Movie" function to generate the movie from still images and then "Export to Web" to generate a web page containing the movie. I then uploaded the movie to okuda.ca and copied the HTML code containing the movie player object initialized with the correct movie. The "Export to Web" step wasn't really required as I didn't use the full web page it generated, but it allowed me to copy the object tag needed to embed the movie on this page.

World-Wide Media eXchange: WWMX

2005-01-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

World-Wide Media eXchange: WWMX Now this is a cool site I just found. A world-wide image archive that organizes the images by their GPS coordinates. Perhaps we can track our next vacation this way, now I need a GPS.

Google Local

2005-01-23T16:51:00.000-08:00

Google Local As my first test of the "Blog This" button in the google toolbar I decided to show you my favourite site for searching for local businesses. Google Local is yet another cool Google service. You specify what you are searching for and a location (Postal code is my preference) and it will give you a list of hits in order of distance (and a map showing each hit). What's more is that it gives you quick access to other google hits that reference the business. You just have to try it to understand.

Cozumel Crab

2004-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

A crab I found in a tidepool on Cozumel

2004-04-21T23:21:00.000-07:00

A picture of an iguana from a recent trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico (South of Cancun). This was taken at Xel-Ha, a park with great snokelling and big iguanas.

2004-04-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Do not mess with this guy. I ran into him in the water at Xel-Ha.

2004-04-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

A butterfly in Xcaret park, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

2004-04-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

A baracuda we almost stepped on in Mexico.

2003-12-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

Matthew in Playa Del Carmen. You can't keep the iguanas off you.

2003-11-29T11:15:00.000-08:00

Matthew swimming with the dolphins at Xel-Ha on our first visit to Mexico.

Actun Chen

2003-11-27T12:37:00.000-08:00

The three of us in a cave system at Actun Chen, right across the street from our hotel, the Bahia Principe Tulum.

2002-08-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Matthew (right) and his cousins, Anthony (left) and Kyle (middle). Can you tell what's different?

2002-05-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

Matthew climbing on the Lahaina banyan tree. This tree was planted in 1873 and now takes up an entire block with 12 major trunks

2002-05-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Maui Ocean Center

2002-05-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

"Does this mean that I get to eat whatever I dig up from the garden at home?"

2002-05-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

It is traditional at a luau to cook a pig in an imu (pit). It is wrapped in banana leaves, buried in the pit with hot charcoal and rocks for hours, and comes out all tasty. Mmmmm.

2002-05-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Matthew learning a polynesian dance with Maori Poi balls at a luau in Wailea.

2002-05-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

We took a snorkel tour to Molokini. It is a volcanic crater with the interior and north side under water. Matthew even went snorkeling, though he prefered the underwater viewing area in the boat.

2002-05-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

A look into the crater at the top of Haleakala. It just doesn't seem fair that Matthew didn't have any sunglasses.

2002-05-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

"Stop making me stare into the sun for these stupid pictures!" Maybe it's just a camera effect or an illusion, but that horizon looks curved.

2002-05-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hello from the top of the world. We took a trip to the top of Haleakala, a 10,000ft mountain and national park in Maui. As you can see from the shadows the sun is rather low and very bright so we squinted a lot.

2002-05-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew learning to snorkel

2002-05-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Walking on the beach in Kihei, Maui.

2002-05-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

That's not just any rock. That's a Maui rock.

2002-05-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Keep up!

2002-05-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

I think he likes the sand

2002-05-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Matthew and I building sand castles on the beach in Maui

Easter Egg Hunt

2002-03-30T10:37:00.000-08:00

Matthew at an Easter egg hunt in Coquitlam

2002-03-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn has been busy renewing our furniture again. This is our dining room chairs before (left) and after (right).

2002-02-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

Lots of fun things to do at Science World

2002-01-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

Matthew, Kyle, and Anthony at the Aquarium

2001-12-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for a new year's eve at Disneyland.

2001-12-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

Matthew at Legoland in Carlsbad California.

2001-12-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

California Adventure Sun Wheel. A Ferris Wheel with swinging cars as you can see.

2001-12-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

Matthew at preschool

2001-12-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

Mel and Lauryn's visit, December 2001.

2001-12-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

A quick trip to Disney World while Daddy is at a job interview.

2001-11-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

Uncle Bill and Auntie Nao visiting our home in Carlsbad, November 2001.

2001-11-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Santa Monica Pier bumper cars, November 2001.

2001-11-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Universal Studios, November 2001.

2001-10-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

Halloween at Legoland