Tubs
Dan Holtby Joined: April 21st 2006
Logged in: December 1st 2011
Logged in: December 1st 2011
I've been inspired by my housemates to create this journal of my time there. There's sure to be plenty of pictures for those of you who can't be bothered to read it and i'll try to keep the boring touristy information to a minimum. Please understand that on occasions i may feel the need to enlighten you upon my time spent experiencing new cultures, new ways of looking at and doing things. However, the primary purpose of this journal will always be to record the top notch banter and general good times that is sure to be had down under.
Of course i encourage anyone and everyone to leave your own comments on my blogs be they helpful advice, news from back home or simply your own confused rantings. I must ask however that you keep it tasteful. Actually i don't mind if you swear, just put a little asterisk in place of some of the letters then you can say whatever the £*$! you want.
So that's it. Upon my return i hope that the sum of all my experiences will have made me a little wiser and given me plenty of fond memories to look back on for when i'm launched, head first into the real world of jobs and mortgages and stuff. Failing that, i'll always have this journal to remind me of those carefree days when anything was possible and life was worth living.
Join me won't you.
Ok it's a year later and this time I'm off to the Antennas and Propagation International Symposium in Hawaii on my own... alone! The conference is just for a week but since the department was paying to fly me out there, I thought I'd get my money's worth and spend a bit more time exploring the magic that is Hawaii. Like I said there's no one going with me so this time it's gonna be all about meeting new people and creating some new and orignal banter. Are you as excited as me? You will be... you will be!
Travel Blog Posts
Das Brandenburger Tor
Well it’s been a while, but I’ve finally got the chance to go to another conference. Last time it was Hawaii, this time it’s Berlin. Not quite as exciting but still good banter. Any who, if you’re interested, the conference was called EuCAP and it was all about antennas and propagation. I was set to deliver not one, but two papers this time around so you might say there was double the pressure. Double the danger! It goes without saying of course that this time I would not be taking part in any activity that involves travelling at high speeds down volcanoes. There were quite a few of us from my department going to EuCAP but for one reason or another we went in about 3 different groups. I got stuck with (nah I love you ... read more
And They're Off!
Hello again. For those of you who read my last blog first let me assure you that I am alive and well and that my shoulder healed up nicely a long time ago. You may remember that I broke my collar bone whilst cycling down a volcano in Hawaii a year ago. Well there have been no big trips to speak of this year. Sadly due to a lack of funds and creditable work I missed out on the chance to attend the APS conference, held this year in San Diego (To be honest I don’t much care for America anyways so no big deal). However, thanks to a drunken promise made to my cousin Adam Bartlett, I have been in training since the start of the year to cycle from one side of our great ... read more
Our Ride
Now that the conference was to all intents and purposes done, I was free to enjoy the rest of the trip… or so I thought. The next morning I got a call from Lee and John. Unlike me, they hadn’t seen the rest of the island yet so we headed over to Enterprise and hired a car for a day. Being the tight wads that we are, we were just going to settle for a tiny little compact but for just $5 more we could get a convertible. The choice seemed clear. So off we rolled in our swanky convertible with the hood down, with me in the back so I got blasted by the wind - nice. We drove anticlockwise around the island, driving up the windward (East) coast. We passed a sea life ... read more
A Room With A View
url='/Videos/3997.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3997.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Parade In The Streetsurl='/Videos/4001.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/4001.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Domo Arigato Mr Roboto Right, where was I... My last day on the North Shore, I checked my bike back in (boooo) and caught the hostel's shuttle bus back to Waikiki. Today is the day I meet up with my university buddies and the conference begins (sort of). Arriving at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (that's my hotel) was a bit of a culture shock. I'd spent the last week in grubby hostels, having to fend for myself for food and sleeping on mattresses that can only be described as thick sheets. The hotel was very different. First up, my room was on the 18th floor so every time I went up in the lift my ears popped! Then I got a look at my room. The bed ... read more
The Invisible Hostel
Had a sudden flash of inspiration this morning that if I didn't get my ass up to the North Shore soon I wouldn't be able to see it. With that in mind I checked out of my hostel in Honolulu and caught a bus to Hale'iwa. To get a bus anywhere in Oahu cost $2 no matter if you're just going down the street or the other side of the island and you get a free transfer! Once I alighted in Hale'iwa I used my trusty lonely planet to navigate me towards the only hostel only to find when I got there that it no longer exists! Apparently it was knocked down two years ago. Needless to say I was not best pleased with lonely planet (the book of lies as Mike or Will might ... read more
En-ger-land!
So the adventure begins. Got up bright and early at 3am and set off for Manchester aiport. Said a tearful (not really) goodbye to mum and dad and then I was off. Being a bit dubious about travelling alone, I decided to not be shy and struck up a conversation with the girl sat next to me on the plane. Luckily she was a Electronic Engineering lecturer at Manchester university going to virtually the same conference as me in Hawaii, so I would have a travelling companion all the way there. When we got to Newark, me and Danielle (that was her name) took absolutely no prisoners and sprinted from the plane, past all the other bemused travellers to Immigration. I didn't do us any good though. The queue for Immigration was massive and to ... read more
Lets Do It!
And so it comes down to this. After fours years of study, countless exams, mountains of coursework and a few scary presentations, my time at Sheffield University as an undergraduate finally draws to a close. If I'm making it seem like University was all work and no play, then let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Interspersed with all this hard work there was of course a lot of getting drunk, crash team racing and watching Neighbours whilst having tea and biscuits. I think those are the things that I'll remember the most. So what better why to say goodbye to life at University than by having a big celebration with all my course mates. Turns out they have one of these for every student and it's called graduation. Graduation day ... read more
The Last Supper
That's right people. It's sad but it's true that all good things must come to an end. I've had an absolutely brilliant time travelling with my friends in Oz and NZ. Now it's time to head back home, graduate and enjoy the rest of the British summer. This blog will cover my final night in Queenstown and the long (LONG) journey back home. After the skydive, Will and I celebrated with a KFC (well you've got to haven't you). I then did a wee bit of shopping in town and bought some more trousers seeing as I seem to have ripped every other pair I own. We then got a little merry back at the hostel before the final night out was to begin. It was gonna be messy. Joining us on this epic night were ... read more
A Town With A View
Welcome to Queenstown. Since the very first day of my travels I'd been told by people that Queenstown was "the" place to go in New Zealand so I expected it to be a great big city like Sydney and Melbourne. Well it isn't. It is in fact quite literally a town as the name suggests but what it lacks in size it makes up for in awesomeness (is that a word?). The first big job that we did was to go and book the bungy jump that we'd all been dreading for so long. Ohh scary. I'd been umming and ahhring about the whole bungy jump thing for a while but then one day I thought "When am I ever gonna be in Queenstown again - the adventure capital of the world?". So I did it! ... read more
Getting Kitted Out
So we arrived in Fox Glacier. It's just a tiny little town where you can book a tour to do a glacier walk. We did this straight away. We spent the night in a nearby hostel and got up early the next day for the glacier walk. First up we had to kitted out with the right gear. Gloves, rain jackets and hiking boots are a must. We then had to be fitted out with crampons to use when we were on the ice. We drove out to the glacier on the tour bus. Once we got there, we had to do a short hike to get to the glacier along the side of this bloody great mountain. The going was pretty tough. There were loads of loose rocks you could slip on and the drop ... read more
