Brad's Blog

A Present made from Broken Glass

2011-09-06T20:59:00.003+10:00

Norah turned 1 the other day and as a belated response to a suggestion from her Mum, I made her a present out of broken glass. A bottle, with a hole drilled very carefully into it, an LED shoved inside, filled with broken glass, then capped. Voila! Night-light for Norah and Mabel!

Tracking Utilities

2011-09-01T22:02:00.003+10:00

Although I'd love to spend hours on end setting up Arduinos to monitor everything at home, lately I've felt that my time has been better spent re-watching The West Wing. But I do check the meters every so often, and I thought I may as well publish the results so the whole world can watch the impact 46 Ross St is having.

These graphs are coming from the Google Docs that I use to track these things...

Water Use

First of all, data from our bills. You can clearly see when we bought the house - October 2009. Before that there were 8 students living here. Since then there have been generally 6 or 7 people (admittedly two of those people are very little) but still, a pretty amazing reduction in water use. We put a tank in October last year - just for watering the garden at the moment. It may have had some impact but it's hard to tell.

The following is water use as logged monthly by reading the meter - I will keep this updated.

Gas Use

Now to natural gas - which runs our hot water (storage type system) and one cooktop. You can see that the bill readings went whacko for a couple of billing cycles - I think they misread the meter as the mistake seemed to correct itself.

Electricity

Now onto my favourite... however it's just got complicated with the addition of our solar panels. We haven't received a bill yet, but it's looking like we're going to generate about as much electricity as we've consumed, which means our next bill should include a cheque!

Here are the bills so far...

And this one shows readings from the new import/export meter. Will be interesting to see whether import or export wins in the long term. (Import is the electricity we use from the grid when there is no sunshine. Export is the excess electricity we export to the grid during the day when we are generating more than we use).

Beyond Zero Emissions Article - Brisbane Line

2011-06-21T22:36:00.004+10:00

I wrote this article for 'The Brisbane Line' at the request of the Brisbane Institute, after they heard about Beyond Zero Emissions and the fact that Engineers Without Borders at UQ were organising a forum which I presented the plan at.

Hope you enjoy it!

By the way - I'm presenting the plan again in a few weeks - details here.

Live Output Up and Running

2011-06-04T11:49:00.006+10:00

Finally have our new installation streaming to pvoutput.org. The below should be live data being updated every five minutes during the day. Click on the below graph to see the interactive version on pvoutput.org

Finally!

2011-05-26T16:28:00.005+10:00

After a false start last year when we realised that we should get a new roof before we put solar panels on it (the old roof was about 90 years old), and after months of delays this year as bad weather and time-underestimating slowed down our new roof, we FINALLY have solar panels on our roof - 3kW worth.

Rob and Russ at Local Power were our chosen provider as they have the best bits, most reliable record and, let's face it, they're our mates.

In the next week or two I hope to get their electricity production streaming online at pvoutput.org - stay tuned!

Home Energy Demand

2011-05-03T21:39:00.005+10:00

Back in Brizzy

2011-04-25T08:52:00.008+10:00

As usual, while life carries on as usual in Brisbane, my blog lies ignored as I only really seem to update it if I happen to be in another country. That probably won't be happening for the time being, so I thought I'd put some effort telling my loyal blog followers what has been happening for us in Briz Vegas. Nepal is now but a distant memory...

A New Job

I guess the biggest development in terms of how I spend my time is that after two fantastic months 'off' keeping busy with various things, I am now working for the man - but I'm pretty excited about the role. I'm an 'Energy Specialist' - spending my time reducing energy usage in large commercial buildings. I'm learning about heaps of energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart grid technologies, getting back in touch with a few thermodynamic principles that I haven't looked at since university and learning to navigate the systems and politics of a huge US multinational company. An added bonus is that it's located at Cannon Hill, close to where Di works so we can ride our bikes to school together!

A New Cause

One of the things I'm most excited about is a group I've been doing some volunteer work for - Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE). A not for profit, consisting of mostly volunteers in relevent professions has put together the first part of the Zero Carbon Australia plan to take Australia's economy to zero carbon emissions within ten years using technologies that are already commercially available. Amazingly ambitious but surp

risingly achievable and such a welcome change from the depressing political and media debate. In contrast, BZE has simply says, "What does the scientific consensus say we should do?" and works out how to do it.

So my contribution is presenting this Zero Carbon Australia plan to whoever will listen. So far it's been friends/family, an Engineers Without Borders group and my local TEAR group, but I have a few more lined up with a Rotary Club, at the UQ Engineering Department, at a sustainability festival in Toowoomba and at the Ecosciences Centre at Griffith University.

I'm sick of people's skepticism about climate chang

e and skepticism about whether we can do anything about it. Humanity is innovative and resilient and we can sort it out.

Engineers Without Borders

I'm still involved with KAPEG back in Nepal - encouraging and assisting them as they continue with the wooden LED desk lamps. I'm also working on a low cost, cell-phone connected wind turbine data logger which will be handy to monitor test installations of wind turbines in remote locations in Nepal. I've also been presenting to a few audiences on our experiences in Nepal and getting involved in the local EWB chapter activities.

The photo below shows my colleagues from KAPEG selling wooden lamps at markets in Kathmandu.

That's a snippet of life here in Brizzy, without talking much about the fun of being back here, and some home projects (eg new roof, solar panels - and an energy monitoring system I'm building to match it). I'll try to post some more nerd stuff once I get something working!

Just thinking about that steep hill...

2011-02-08T10:38:00.004+10:00

Just thinking about that steep hill we pushed our bikes up at the end of a 9 hour day.

The below screen shot from EveryTrail (GPS sharing site) shows the profile of the day - see that steep blue line at the end of the graph? That's about 1000 metres up in around 8km horizontally. Phew...

Last Day in Dhulikhel

2011-01-27T14:38:00.002+10:00

The Himalayas put on a show for my final day in Dhulikhel - fantastic - especially considering that they have hardly shown there faces over the past two weeks. Himal ramro chha!!

Mountain Biking the Valley

2011-01-27T14:31:00.011+10:00

NOTE: If any of the below links to GPS tracks do not load, try refreshing the page, or clicking on them anyway - it should take you to www.everytrail.com where the GPS tracks / photos are hosted.

The final adventure I've been looking forward to (aside from a final bout of food poisoning I am now experiencing in Kathmandu) was a multi-day mountain biking expedition around the valley. This country was made for mountain biking - and I need to come back and do more one day.

Day 1 of 4 - Dhulikhel to Kakani

Day one was a nice leisurely 2 hour ride down to Kathmandu from Dhulikhel, on the back roads to avoid crazy traffic. Straight through the middle of Bhaktapur, including a cheeky dash through Durbar Square without paying the entry fee (hey I've paid it at least twice while I've been here, and I don't think the guy at the gate saw me).

Scotto and his -24 degree mountaineering gloves

I met Scotto in Kathmandu for lunch then we both tackled the 800m climb up to Kakani at around 2000m. Apparently Kakani is one of the best places to see the Himalayas from the edge of the valley, but we were treated to nothing more than mist - with the slightest hint of massifs the following morning. Oh well - we're here for the comradery and the mountain biking, not the views. Actually, that's not true... we wanted the views!!!

Liz and mountain biking MACHINE Freya met us at Kakani later that evening ready for Saturday's big ride.

Day 2 of 4 - Kakani to Chisopani

This was the big one - less than 40km, but rough, overgrown single-track - with occasional snow remnants from the week before - followed by fun rough tracks that could sometimes pass for roads. The final kicker was having to descend to the valley floor 500 metres below for a final climb of 800 metres up to Chisopani. This was mostly done by us (and occasionally local kids) pushing the bikes. About 9 1/2 hours on the trail all up - tough, but a memorable day. Special accolades go to Scotto who made it through without eating due to happy fun food poisoning. It was about 7pm when we stumbled into Chisopani in the dark. Cold as it was, a beer was definitely appreciated.

Freya holding a snowball

Day 3 of 4 - Chisopani to Nagarkot

Me, Scotto, Freya, Liz

The mountains finally showed themselves on Day 3 - waking up in Chisopani to some nice views. The trail to Nagarkot was mostly fun up and down dirt road with more views and dodging the occasional hikers (note - if you where an ipod while hiking, you may get the occasional shock - sorry!). We said goodbye to Liz and Freya halfway through as they went to Kathmandu. Scotto and I continued up to Nagarkot - a punishing climb, but after the 800 metre uphill walk from the day before, it was tolerable. The mountains were out at Nagarkot, and as it was only early afternoon we spent it relaxing. Kathryn, an EWB volunteer recently arrived in Nepal met us up there to take in the views as well.

Day 4 of 4 - Nagarkot to Dhulikhel

Woke up in Nagarkot to more fantastic views, so had to invade the roof of the nearby Fort Hotel to enjoy them. After the initial bitumen road climb (still painful!) today's ride was pretty much all downhill through pine forest and villages. It seems to be wedding season at the moment - I actually saw 4 weddings and a funeral.

Saying goodbye to Scotto once we'd descended (he was heading back to Kathmandu), it was back 'home' to Dhulikhel to clean my bike, pack up my stuff and get ready to head home to Brizzy.

A fantastic few days - I definitely could have continued on around the south of the valley for a few more. For another time I guess... for now it's goodbye to muesli bars and trail mix and back to Oz.

Some more photos...

Final Days...

2011-01-20T00:45:00.005+10:00

So five months flies by pretty quickly. In some ways. In other ways it seems like this is just life as normal now. This morning when I came up onto the roof for breakfast, it was about half an hour before I actually looked out the window and went "Wooah...".

Di went home on Friday and had her first day back at school today, so I'm sitting here in our little Himalayan mansion sipping warm glühwein (made partly because it's so cold here and I need the warmth and partly to disguise the taste of old cardboard-box wine purchased in Kathmandu). A particularly exciting moment during it's making was when I discovered that heating it on a gas stove can cause secondary combustion as the wine boils and the alcohol vapour ignites.

It's been great to make some real progress on my project recently - lamps have been designed, prototyped, are under manufacture and a few have been pre-sold. If you want to check them out, see here. They're not perfect, but if there's one thing I've learnt over the last few months it's that you have to pick an idea and run with it - even though you know it's not perfect. It never will be. Ok, so that's not limited to Nepal - I've also learnt that over the last 9 years working in reality as opposed to what university seemed to teach about perfect solutions...

Tomorrow's my last official day at KAPEG. Then it's 4 days of mountain biking around Kathmandu Valley with a few friends (which I'm totally hanging out for), followed by a last visit to Dhulikhel to pack up. Australia Day will be an anti-climax, as the local Australian Embassy has decided not to celebrate Triple-J's countdown and the invasion of our great land. So it will be a couple of days killed in Kathmandu enjoying last cheap-eats, pollution and cold, electricity-less mornings.

See you soon wifey, Bristanbul and Australia! Nice work hanging in there through the floods. Hope there's not too much more pain this season.

Bogged in Tibet

2011-01-05T13:11:00.005+10:00

Just a little addition to the Tibet post... here's some highlights of our experience being bogged in the ice on the way to Everest Base Camp.

Seven Days in Tibet

2010-12-29T02:30:00.001+10:00

What possessed us to go to Tibet in Winter I’m not quite sure, but the pull was irresistible, and we wanted to have an adventure outside of our little world here in Dhulikhel while Kylie was visiting from Australia. As it turned out, it was an experience that while I sometimes wondered WHY we chose to have it, it was certainly worth having. It’s a high, brown, cold, occupied land, but beautiful, as are the Tibetans - an amazing people. One doesn’t have to go to Tibet to realise that, but going to see for yourself does heighten the amazingness quotient in my book.

So we did the research, commenced the communications with various potentially dodgy tour companies and after a few weeks, sent our deposits into the ether, hoping the transfer would result in genuine plane tickets from Kathmandu to Lhasa, genuine Chinese ‘Tibet’ visas and a tour guide waiting on the other end (going on an organised tour is a requirement of the Chinese government).

As it turned out, the visa thing did NOT work smoothly, and involved an exciting couple of days in Kathmandu chasing down tour companies who were supposed to be partners with our Tibetan tour company. It seems that the Tibetan tour company (visittibet.com) neglected to inform the Nepali company that they were their new Kathmandu partner. Not the best way to begin…

Finally, after hours of delays in the moshpit of Tribuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, we were on an Air China plane flying over endless brown lumpiness with the occasional snow covered range or peak. We descended and landed in the middle of it, with no hint of a city nearby, but there was certainly a very nice international airport that wouldn’t have been out of place in the middle of Europe.

Lonely Planet guidebooks are banned in China – radical, government-undermining things that they are – but ours was safely hidden away on our Kindles. I guess the authorities will be onto that sooner or later (probably thanks to this blog). Other travellers on the plane were searched quite thoroughly for guidebooks and we heard stories of travellers brave or stupid enough to have packed a ‘Free Tibet’ flag. They were on the next plane out.

Lhasa is basically a medium sized, very Chinese city – wide streets, identical buildings - that Tibetans feel very out of place in these days. However it has some absolutely amazing aspects. It’s possibly the most amazing people-watching town I’ve ever been in, due to numerous the friendly, character-filled Tibetans who have travelled there on a pilgrimage. You see them circling the major sites spinning prayer wheels and shuffling beads or sometimes prostrating themselves the whole way – something that I did not realise could be such an extreme sport until I saw some young guys doing it along a street, taking a run up, launching themselves and landing on their wood-block protected hands then sliding for a metre or two before rising and doing it all again. They are always ready with a smile or handshake (and once, even a sly poke of the tongue at some nearby Chinese soldiers). I’ve never been anywhere where the people are all so obviously committed to their religion, and their religion is integrated into every part of their life.

We spent 3 days in Lhasa kicking around either lying in bed with altitude sickness (or just recovering from a few hours of walking in the high altitude cold), walking around by ourselves (one of the few places in Tibet foreigners are allowed to do this) or being shown the sites by our guide, Sonam – a nice guy who we were lucky to have.

Potala Palace, the picture everyone has of Lhasa in their heads, is a phenomenal building and we went back again and again to gaze at it.

Sera Monastery, with its clapping, debating monks was a highlight. The monasteries only have a fraction of the monks and buildings that they had before the Chinese invasion, but they are still interesting, vibrant places. The Chinese strictly limit the number of people who can become monks, although the demand is very much there.

Jokhang Temple and the surrounding Barkor is quite a site… the most sacred temple to Tibetans, there is a continuous stream of thousands of pilgrims circling it and it’s a fantastic experience walking with them past the hundreds of stalls selling anything a travelling pilgrim could want. Inside the temple are suffocating smells, thousands of statues, pilgrims, burning butter wicks and tiny donated notes and centuries of dirt. Intense.

After a three days in Lhasa, we spent three days on the road in a landcruiser with Sonam and Doong Doong (our driver). Great guys who love their country. On paper, it seemed like an easy way to spend a few days, and in many ways it was, but the altitude, the intense cold and some food I ate in Lhasa ensured it was a challenging few days.

Say what you want about the Chinese occupation, but they DO know how to make a good highway. The first day took us up over a few 5000m passes, past the BLUE Yamdroktso Lake, Kharola Glacier, Kumbum Monastery in Gyatse and onto Shigatse – Tibet’s second largest city. The accommodation was in what at first looked like a very nice Chinese hotel, but it turned out to be a façade as nothing worked and the place was freezing.

The next day we spent the morning in Shigatse checking out the Tibetan markets, including a huge number fresh Yak heads. We also had a look at the palace of the Panchen Lama. He’s sort of second to the Dalai Lama in the holiness stakes, however the Chinese cleverly got rid of the one the Tibetan’s recognised as their own and the current guy is generally regarded as a Chinese puppet.

Old Tingri was our destination for the day, about 300km. We got in at dusk and it was windy, cold and desolate. The rooms in the courtyard at the guesthouse looking incredibly cold and uninviting so we chose to bed down in the dining area with the family who ran the place. In terms of health, this was probably the low point of the trip for me, so of it, I will say no more.

The next day was Everest Base Camp – a 2 hour off-road drive. Or it would have been 2 hours if we did not make an ill-fated ice-creek crossing which resulted in the landcruiser breaking through the ice and being up to its axles in ice/water. The couple of hours it took to find some help and get us out were probably the most enjoyable we had in Tibet. The locals were happy, willing helpers and at one point there were probably 20 of them taking part on the ropes trying to budge the vehicle. Despite plenty of feet going into the icy water, there were no complaints. Ultimately though, it took two tractors to get the landcruiser out, with the entire mission almost coming unstuck when one of the tractors made its own ill-fated creek crossing.

Everest Base Camp itself was sufficiently spectacular, but I was a little disappointed at the arbitrary location of the ‘camp’ – a little too far from the actual ‘base’ of Everest in my opinion. Still, it was Everest and it was a clear, beautiful day. Juggling was performed.

Due to the day’s delays, we spent the night at the same place in Old Tingri. I think the family that ran the guesthouse were a little less enthusiastic about sharing their living area for a second night running. But there was no way we were going to those little unheated rooms in -15 degree temperatures.

The final day involved a few more 5000m passes before the long descent back into Nepal – and the welcome site of vegetation. Trees are indeed beautiful things. The Chinese showed particular interest in Kylie’s camera at the border, checking every photo that she took in Tibet. Once satisfied that none of her photos had the potential to undermine Chinese rule, we were on our way. What a contrast to Nepal. The wide, paved roads and sparse traffic gave way to chaos once more.

We had intended to spend the night at “The Last Resort”, a little getaway not far from the border and an ideal place to recuperate overnight before heading back to work, however after showering (hot showers – hallelujah!), lunching and taking a little nap, we were advised by the owners of the resort that due to a little local disturbance, we would have to be evacuated and there was a car waiting. Basically, the locals want the bridge that the Last Resort built. We found out via the news that things were sorted out the next day, however at the time the Aussie owner thought it had the potential to “get a little rowdy”, so we heeded his advice. Beautiful place though.

Wind Turbine Testing

2010-12-05T16:21:00.001+10:00

Here’s a bit of fun for you…

Wait until night time, when the streets are pretty much empty – Nepalis are very much an early morning culture rather than late evening – borrow a 4WD, strap a wind turbine to it, a bunch of instrumentation then find a straight, smooth bit of road and go back and forth for a few hours measuring it’s performance.

I WAS helping – just timed my wave right.

Oscilloscopes are beautiful things.

Paragliding in Pokhara

2010-11-25T17:33:00.004+10:00

Well I finally tried something that I’ve always wanted to do last weekend in Pokhara… I took a hot chick for a ride on a motorbike for a few hours. With that done, I left Di in Pokhara and headed up the mountain to catch a paragliding flight.

Although the photo above makes it look like I’m awesome and doing by myself, I can assure you I had a very experienced Russian pilot, Iliad, doing the flying bit for me. Still, had I seen this news article before I went, I may have had second thoughts.

It was a little daunting looking out from the take off zone, with around 30 paragliders already in the air jostling for space in the nearest thermal. Lucky Iliad had his little squeezy horn handy to warn others of our presence. Also useful when we flew into clouds and couldn’t see a thing. That was a little worrying.

Overall, it was awesome, and a sport I would definitely consider taking up (on cloudless days when there aren’t so many others flying in the same bit of sky).

Of course I logged GPS for the trip...

And last but not leaset... the video:

I'm still addicted to GPS

2010-11-08T12:00:00.002+10:00

As an old, brilliant professor at USQ once said, "GPS is the closest thing we have to magic".

A few fun times in the last few days - first, a 50km ride from Dhulikhel to Kathmandu "via the back door", a dirt road from Panauti, over Lankuri Bhanjyang pass and downhill to the valley below. See link below for the trip, including a few photos embedded in it.

Dhulikhel to Kathmandu - via the back door

Then there was our Saturday morning mountain flight with Di's Dad. A beautiful day and beautiful, surreal views. These mountains are just gorgeous. Peering over them into the high altitude rolling plains of Tibet made us REALLY want to get over there. So we're thinking about Christmas in Lhasa... anyone want to join us?

Mountain Flight from Kathmandu

It’s Christmas in Kathmandu

2010-11-07T21:09:00.001+10:00

Well it feels like it…

Tihar is one of the biggest festivals, and I think feels the most like Christmas. It’s Sunday in Thamel and most shops and restaurants are closed. The ones that are open don’t have much available. There are lights everywhere at night, strewn over houses and hanging from eaves. Fireworks going off in the evenings and groups of children walking around singing songs to try to get a donation from shop keepers and hoteliers. Then there was a bit of the ‘Australia Day’ feel today as dozens of revellers on the back of 4WD utes sped recklessly through the narrow Thamel streets, yelling and banging cymbals, followed by motorbikes weaving dangerously all over the place.

Craziness… and fun to be a part of!

Expat Monkey

2010-11-04T15:46:00.001+10:00

I just had to write to say it’s another beautiful day in Dhulikhel… mountains stretching off into the haze in both directions. Love it. We walked up the hill for breakfast at Hotel Panorama with Di’s Dad. Good chiya, great pakora, interesting ‘french’ toast.

We had dinner at our friend Prem’s guesthouse last night (Tashidale Lodge – ‘Especially for Backpackers’) and had dinner with a couple of interesting people. Keith, from the USA, is travelling randomly and photographing and writing about his experiences here (www.expatmonkey.com) and an Aussie architect travelling just as randomly. I love how that always happens.

’Tihar’ or ‘Deepawali’ this weekend – ‘The Festival of Lights’. Another excuse for a festival holiday in Nepal!

Langtanging

2010-10-30T12:56:00.002+10:00

An earthquake, plenty of smelly toilets, thousands of metres of altitude, some phenomenal scenery and some really fun people - 4 Norwegians, a Canadian, a Dutch/American and 5 Aussies, all living and working in Nepal - a memorable 11 days! WARNING: words such as awesome, spectacular, incredible and other insufficient adjectives may be overused in the following text.

The spectacular 100km, 10 hour bus ride from Kathmandu to Syrabru Besi was all it was cracked up to be – and more. It was a dusty work out, and I may have the endless hours of continuous and extreme bumpiness to thank for my lack of back problems during the rest of the trek. Probably the most exciting moment for me was when Andy and I, with a bunch of locals, attempted to assist a van that had lost it’s brakes roll down the road without rolling off the cliff. It turns out the van DID have brakes. Sometimes I think that even if we knew the language, communication wouldn’t always be much clearer. Anyway – an interesting way to spend my birthday.

First night’s accommodation in Syabru was pretty ordinary – but a good warm up to typical trekking accommodation. i.e. not that great. Di and I were glad we bought some lightweight satin sheets in Thamel before we left to cover the mattresses! Now I’m sounding soft, I know.

Day 1 started us off up the Langtang valley – initially narrow and rainforesty, with a glacial white water torrent running down the middle and the mountains steep and disappearing above. We had our first taste of the annoying tendency of trails to go up, leading you to think you are gaining altitude, only to head back down again.

The next 2 days saw us continuing up the valley. The further we went, the higher we got and the valley opened out onto beautiful vistas. The buffalo cheese factory at Langtang was a particular treat. Grilled cheese and tomato on bread was a wonderful break from trekking food – normally dhal baat or some bland noodles.

As we forged our way up the valley, the other thing that changed was the price of stuff. A Snickers, the basis of the internationally recognised trekking pricing index, while around 60 rupees at the beginning of the trek, climbed to around 180 rupees by Kyanjin Gompa, 3 days up the valley. Andy and I discussed porter wages and worked out that the price increase was definitely not proportional to what the porters are paid to carry the chocolate. When it’s 2 or 3 days walk to a cheaper shop, these places can charge what they want I guess!

4am on Day 4 saw us rising at 4am to catch the sunrise from Kyanjin Ri – a mountain a few hundred metres above the village of Kyanjin Gompa. Climbing that mountain in the pre-dawn, almost freezing, 4000m plus altitude air was one of the hardest parts of the trek for me. I resorted to the 10 steps and then rest option, and Jai and Andy joined me. We were trekking with some FIT girls though – they powered on up ahead of us… impressive. The views from the top were surreal, as light gradually increased, clouds came and went, as did glaciers, ice falls (what’s the difference!?) and jagged snowy peaks. It’s amazing when a part of the sky you thought was just that – sky – turns out to be the side of a Himalaya who’s peak you never get to see.

A side note – I need to state that the relationship one develops with one’s down jacket is more intimate and special in many ways than the relationship one has with one’s significant other.

Early morning on Day 5, I woke to find the building rocking and shaking. “Earthquake!” was the first thought that entered my head, followed by “or maybe it’s someone running to the toilet in this rickety old building” after which, I fell back asleep and didn’t remember it again until someone asked at breakfast whether I had felt the quake. Funny thing was, it could have been ‘the big one’ in Kathmandu and we would have had no way of knowing. Not funny at all I guess. It turns out it was a 4.9 somewhere nearby.

Day 5 was also time for the gang to part ways. Those who couldn’t afford the time for the longer trek carried on down the valley, while Svien, Freya, Kieh, Diana and I tackled the valley wall. After descending around 1000m, we had to climb around 1400m to Sing Gompa at about 3900m. It was tough and we went to bed early that night.

Day 6 was the final climb to the holy lakes of Gosaikund. There was some tough sections here too – especially for Diana, who was suffering from various trekking afflictions (general sickness) by this point. It was really starting to feel like high altitude by this point. We snuck the occasional phenomenal views of Himalayas, but the clouds were never far away. We also said goodbye to Kieh along the way, who decided to hang out in Laurebina Yak, with the promise of panoramic views in the morning, and the possibility that she could go home a different way and make it back to Kathmandu for a party on Friday night. So then there were 4.

Gosaikund was magical. It’s a major pilgrimage site at particular times of the year, but only one Sadhu, living in a hole, remained at this point. We arrived early enough to walk around the main lake and really take in the amazing scenery there.

Our guide, Sonam, said we couldn’t stay at the lodge we chose, because the ‘cook was drunk’ – we could see him, motionless under a doona on the bench. We finally worked out that we could stay, but would have to eat Dhaal Bhat. It was only after the meal that Sonam proudly told us that actually, he cooked the meal that night. It was the best Dhaal Bhat of the trek in our opinion.

Day 7, clear and beautiful, and we climbed out of Gosaikund through the highest pass of the Trek – Laurebina Pass at 4610m. Then it was a steep, cloudy descent (with more than enough ascents as well), across a mountainside whose steepness was only revealed the next morning when the clouds had cleared. There was also snow on the pass we had walked through the day before. Just missed it! (Photo below shows the new snow and the ridge we traversed)

The next few days involved more descending (again, with plenty of ascents) down ridge after ridge back towards the Kathmandu Valley. On Day 9, when we reached a village where a bus could be caught, we lost Svien, whose feet were looking scary and red. But by this point, we also had a new gang – two French Canadian guys trekking together and two French girls trekking together. We all ended up in the same lodges – great to have a bit of a gang again.

A highlight I must say was walking back into mobile coverage just in time on Mabel’s 2nd birthday to give her a call before she went to bed in Brisbane.

On Day 10, that first view of the Kathmandu Valley was something. It was beautiful, as it was the end of the walk, but the smog and buildings/traffic also contrasted painfully with the beauty we had just come through. I was feeling great by this point. It may just have been the lower altitudes, but my pack felt good on my back, my legs felt strong and my mind was used to the daily hours of trail. Pity we had to stop!

More photos here…

Langtanging

End of the first stretch

2010-10-11T17:41:00.002+10:00

I’ve been thinking about what an interesting ‘book end’ Nepal has been for me. 10 years ago Di and I came over here – we had been married less than a year, I had just finished my Masters (sort of) and I had never been out of Australia. We spent the year overseas – most of it in the USA, with travel in Nepal/ Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Turkey and a lot of Western Europe.

After returning home we settled in Brisbane, I got a real job (debatable?), and we spent the next 9 years there – with various travels in between, for fun and work. I spent an unforgettable 8 1/2 years with my last employer, learning a lot about technology development, international business, the transit industry, managing teams, software development and a bunch of other things. Di and I have grown to love Brisbane – especially our friends there, and ended up going halves in a house with two of them. That in itself is quite a new phase in our life!

Now we find ourselves in Nepal again. I’m ready for a change of direction in my career (an interesting combination of factors influencing that one). We’ve been married 10 years. 5 months away from home to step back and take a look at life seems like a good idea. I’m also enjoying the chance to get some hands on experience with ‘international development’ – including all of the cultural, technical and professional challenges that includes – and there are many!

(The above was taken on the day when all ‘Machines’ were blessed for the coming year.)

Anyway where am I heading with all this? Who knows!? I’ve been cruising the jobs sites a bit looking at what I think I will be doing when I get home. Ideally it will be something in the area of either International Development or Renewable Energies – or possibly even both. I’m so busy here that I’m not taking a huge amount of time to reflect on what the future holds. I think that might come in the weeks after we get home when I’m unemployed and longing for the mountains of Nepal and Di is back at work bringing home the bacon (what’s the vegetarian equivalent of bacon?). As I said before we came here, I’ve scheduled in my early-mid-life crisis for late January 2011. Don’t worry – that will probably involve lots of Mountain Biking and sitting at Coffee Shops rather than buying a Lamborghini.

Anyway – we’re off to Langtang for 10 days of trekking. Bye all!

Video Update

2010-10-04T14:00:00.003+10:00

Here's a little video that Di put together. It will be linked from the EWB website soon, but I thought I would give all of my dedicated blog-readers a sneak peak!

Where do we live?

2010-09-22T19:01:00.001+10:00

From 2010 Nepal Highlights album

We walked to Nagarkot on the weekend - and back again. It was certainly a good leg stretcher for our upcoming 10 days of trekking in the Langtang region and some good hang out time with a few of the people we work with, and also Scotto - fellow EWB volunteer - who came along. 20km each day, with the first day involving about 1200m of ascending and 900m of descending. I'm not sure we always went on the 'intended' route. All I can say is that we were lucky to have some Nepalese speakers with us to ask the way!

Nagarkot is a tourist town, existing purely because of the amazing views. We weren't banking on the clouds clearing for us, but on Sunday morning we were treated to amazing views of the Himalayas stretching from Langtang to Everest. Fantastic and surreal.

From one of the steepest climbs I was able to snap a few shots back towards where we live - so put together the little presentation below.

Of course I took the GPS with - you can see where we walked on day 1 here and day 2 here. We also updated out 'Nepal Highlights' album with a bunch of pics from the trip.

I'm still cursing a pearler of a blister on one of my feet, as is Di, but apart from that, and a few slightly worrying lower back spasms, I thought we handled the 40km of walking pretty well. We've ensured that we continued our morning walks up the 'thousand (713) steps' this week to make sure we didn't slack off.

Finally!

2010-09-17T16:04:00.002+10:00

I finally went for an afternoon mountain bike ride the other day. A nice little 45 minute loop door to door and it was glorious! Out the door, along a relatively flat dirt road, up a steep rough road to the Kali temple (where we walk to in the mornings - up 713 steps, or 'the thousand steps' as it's optimistically known here), down the other side, where the road becomes just a walking track and I descended a few hundred metres in altitude past houses, farms with people working in the fields and ladies carrying huge loads on their backs, everyone giving me a happy 'Namaste' as I rode past. After reaching the bottom, the road back was relatively new and cut into the side of the hill - quite spectacular and thankfully it meant I didn't have to ride back over the top. I can handle doing that loop a few times every week!!

Afternoon Ride Bhatti Dandar at EveryTrail

Our Highlights Photo Album

2010-09-04T18:03:00.003+10:00

Here's a bit of a photo highlights album that we'll be updating as we go. Enjoy!!

Photosynth Experimenting

2010-09-04T15:28:00.002+10:00

Microsoft Photosynth is indeed pretty powerful. I've played with it a bit before - at such famous international destinations as Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square and Gibbon St.

Below is a few photos stitched together from our ride last week. It turned out pretty well... I'm going to do a few more of these I think!

Evening Walk

2010-09-01T18:20:00.000+10:00

We went for our first walk down the road the opposite direction to Dhulikhel the other day - into Bhatti Danda, the local area. We met a few nice people along the way...

Prem Lama (photo below, with some random local kids and Di), who runs the local guesthouse and does trek guiding. (Please - if anyone needs his details, let us know!) His guesthouse 'Himalayan Tasidhale' is very new and well done, and even has the promise of hot water - something we've only rearely come across in Kathmandu so far, and don't have where we live!

A few of the local kids displaying their gymnastics...

The local community school.

Cycling in the Valley

2010-08-29T01:44:00.009+10:00

There was a public holiday in Nepal on Tuesday, so the guys at KAPEG suggested it wasn’t worth heading up to Dhulikhel until Wednesday morning. That allowed us some unexpected tourism time on Monday and Tuesday after a relatively quiet weekend hanging around Thamel. Led by Kalu (and his mate Paul), a former AYAD volunteer who one of the other EWBers happened to meet at the airport on the way in, Madeline, Di and I took off. Getting out of Kathmandu on a bicycle is seriously crazy. As Jai, who joined us later in the day, put it, “That was one of the most intense mountain biking experiences of my life”. If it wasn’t for the life-threatening nature of it, it might be fun. Although Paul thought it was precisely because of that life threatening nature that it WAS fun. At the end of the day, there IS method in the madness of driving / riding in the city, and you can do it in a relatively safe manner, and the general traffic speed is much lower than that of a typical Australian city, so don’t worry too much Mum.

Once off the main roads, the riding becomes beautiful – nice country roads with lots of small villages and rice paddies filling every other available inch of space. A few of the villages obviously had a thriving weaving industry as we could hear the clack-clack of the machines as we rode by. After Kalu dropped his original plan of reaching the original destination due to an inconvenient mountain, we decided instead to head to a Danish-initiated organic farm. This was the best decision that could have been made as it was a piece of serenity that couldn’t have contrasted more from the wet, muddy, exhausted group of cyclists that stumbled in.

They served an amazing lunch of pasta and salad that we could eat knowing it was safely prepared, along with the best chiya (tea) we’ve had so far in Nepal. We ended up lazing around all afternoon, then realising we didn’t really feel like continuing riding in the rain that was setting in, stayed there the night. Such a relaxing escape from the world… just what we needed before embarking on the challenges of my EWB placement.

The next day (Tuesday) we managed to pull ourselves away from the organic farm, after being joined briefly by a few other friends who took the easy ‘car’ option from Kathmandu. It had rained all night, but as we departed for the ancient town of Bhaktapur to check out its famed Durbar Square, it slowed enough that we weren’t absolutely soaked. It did pretty much set in for the rest of the day after we reached the town, so sitting at a café and observing the square from a café was the best option. We followed that up by a nice walk around and a long lunch (long as in, we had to wait for an hour or two for our food). It was fantastic just strolling around the streets where people were generally just hanging out on their day off – although there was work going on here and there, such as at the chook-slaughtering house. Interesting.

The ride back to Kathmandu took longer than we realised it would and it was getting dark as we finally pulled into Thamel after a long muddy sojourn around the airport. Being the intrepid travellers that we are (and inspired by Jai’s enthusiasm) we showered and headed straight for Boudanath – Kathmandu’s biggest Buddhist Stupa where the full moon is a special occasion. We were a little late for most of the festivities but still saw some dancing and plenty of candles in the serene atmosphere. Dinner again with the gang in a Tibetan restaurant followed by a walk around the stupa with no one else around capped off an amazing couple of days!

This was right next to the runway at Kathmandu Airport. Not fun.

Almost home.

Announcing... Our First Himalaya!

2010-08-26T00:16:00.003+10:00

So today it happened... the clouds finally cleared long enough for us to catch our first glimpse of the Himalayas. It happened a few hours after we finally made it up to where we'll be living near Dhulikhel. The view from here is astounding - and will be even MORE astounding once the clouds clear properly. The mountains are 100km away and more, but we are still looking up at them.

Of course, the even more amazing thing that happened today was that Norah Lily was born to Ben and Sarah back home in Brizzy... we are so happy for them and sad to be so far away! See you in 5 months Norah!

First few days in Kathmandu

2010-08-22T13:09:00.006+10:00

Landing in Kathmandu...

Mostly our days at the moment consist of sitting in cafes / restaurants in Thamel, Kathmandu. I’m sure a lot of you know it – it’s the backpacker area and the easiest place to find WiFi and a decent feed. I’ve been going through EWB policies / procedures / expectations with the other volunteers and meeting people.

Ride around Kathmandu – We also had a great intro to cycling in this crazy city when Jai (EWB field officer AKA ‘our fearless leader’ here in-country) hired mountain bikes and took us for a ride. The ultimate goal was the Australian Embassy, but we took the ‘scenic’ route along the river – and the poor areas along it. Amazing to see people spending their lives pulling gravel out of the bottom of such a dirty river. I also picked up some rendering tips (see below) - puts our Ross St efforts in perspective!

A short stop at the Australian Embassy for some of the group to vote, and to meet the first secretary. Fresh from a Baghdad posting, he was not keen to let us to far through the front door!

We also visited a few interesting NGO/projects during the day. KEEP Nepal (Kathmandu Environment Education Project), NEWAH (Nepal Water for Health) and another organisation who’s acronym eludes me at the moment. There’s a lot of good stuff happening here – a lot of huge challenges too. One of the guys that presented to us spoke about their work to stop practice such as the sacrificing of a nine year old girl that occurred recently due to a bad season in that particular area.

I've posted a few more photos up here on PicasaWeb (or see below).

Nepal

Election Night in Kathmandu

2010-08-22T00:11:00.002+10:00

Sitting here in an Kaldis Cafe in Thamel, Kathmandu watching the Australian election results come in... wow. Sounds like politics is going to be even more painful for a while in Australia. Similar to Nepal really - neither country can work out who they want to be Prime Minister.

We've had a great few days meeting a lot of people - from fellow Engineers Without Borders volunteers to AYADs (Australian Youth Ambassadors - AusAid funded) to people from EWB partner organisations to other random travellers...

More soon!!

Nepal!

2010-07-13T21:47:00.003+10:00

So we're off to Nepal for 5 months - as of August the 17th. Here's the rundown - I applied for a volunteer position through Engineers Without Borders and was subsequently offered the position which is a project commercialising a low cost LED lighting system in Nepal. Apart from being an incredibly poor country, Nepal suffers from 'load shedding' meaning that there can be blackouts for 12 hours a day or more. So having access to a really low cost lighting system that runs even when there is no power is important. There's plenty of options around for this, but KAPEG (Kathmandi Alternative Power and Energy - the group I am working with) thinks there is an opportunity to get Nepalis to manufacture something locally using some locally sourced materials - thereby stimulating the local economy and improving on the low quality Chinese imports.

Whether it's all possible... we'll see. But five months is not a very long time to find out. We spent last week in Melbourne with a bunch of other volunteers heading out into the field undergoing some pre-departure training. Learnt a lot and got to hang out with a great bunch of people!

We'll be located near Dhulikhel, about 30km from Kathmandu and are heading off on 17th of August. I'll be updating the blog along the way. For starters - here's a photo of Dhulikhel. More soon!

Why the hell is Brad Juggling?

2010-06-02T12:23:00.001+10:00

A little update on the project I have been working on over the last couple of years...

Back to the Blog

2010-05-25T22:17:00.003+10:00

So I think I might be posting a little more on here in the coming weeks and months. More on that later. First of all, I'd like to do a little catchup...

First of all - New Caledonia. Di and I used up a few frequent flyer points and ducked over there for a week over Easter. What an amazing place - closer to Brisbane than Adelaide!

Then there was a quick 2.5 week jaunt around the world earlier this year for work:

I don't believe I even linked to Borneo on here (Jan 2009):

That's enough excitement for one night.

2010-04-01T21:39:00.000+10:00

Weekend in Melbourne... Happy Wedding Chey and Libby!

Chey Libby Wedding Weekend

Dear Senator Fielding...

2009-06-04T06:54:00.000+10:00

Dear Senator Fielding,

I note your recent attendance at a conference of Climate Change skeptics in the USA and I complement you on your attempts to understand the arguments for and against humans-influenced climate change. However I would like to offer a perspective on the debate to which I don't believe you have yet been exposed.

As an engineer, I take a risk management view of these things, and it comes down to two basic things:

Impact of Risk
Likelihood of risk.

If a risk is of low likelihood, but high impact, then any engineer - whether running a mine site, factory or power station, will do all they can to reduce the chance of that risk happening.

What climate change comes down to is a matter of probability. Most scientists agree that the likelihood of climate change being caused by humans is high. However even if you personally believe the chance of this is low - let's say 25%, then given that the impact of climate change is massive, far reaching and devastating, I believe this likelihood still warrants urgent action by all governments internationally.

A few other notes,

Australia is not going it alone - we are trailing many countries with regards to our actions on climate change and need to catch up.
Even if we were going it alone, then that does not change the morality of the issue, and the fact that we need to take action, however small proportionally.
The argument that we don't need to take urgent action because we are only a small proportion of world emissions is childish - on a per capita basis, we are at the top of the list, and I use the example of other crime - the argument that 'everyone else is doing it' has no impact on the personal or local morality of any issue.

Senator, please consider my arguments. I trust you will respond appropriately to this issue and work with the government to come up with a good climate change policy and emissions trading scheme.

Kind Regards,

Brad Schultz

More Dubai / Abu Dhabi Photos

2009-03-22T21:42:00.002+10:00

A few more photos from my work trip... click HERE to go to the album in Picasa Web.

I only blog when I travel...

2009-03-18T01:47:00.004+10:00

I still can't say Dubai endears itself to me... It's so spread out that it needs lots of big roads to carry all of the traffic. To make room for the big roads, the city is quite spread out, which means it needs big roads to link it all up... you get the picture.

I managed to get up on top of the Hilton - best view of the city I've had so far. You can see Burj Dubai - tallest building in the world - back there somewhere, and down below in Dubai Creek, the old wooden Dhows which carry freight between here and Iran - they carry everything on their decks from cars to tvs. Everything the USA doesn't want imported into Iran.

The above is the entree to the Syrian meal I had last night. That bowl in the middle is Hommous (which I always get mixed up with Tabouli... if any of you can tell me why, that would be great).

Off to Abu Dhabi for the day tomorrow... bye all!

Chin up old chap...

2008-11-12T21:52:00.004+10:00

Travelling again for work... this time it's the UK, Dubai and Singapore - two weeks in total.

The highlight really would have to be running into Prince Charles after being in London only a couple of hours. He was laying a wreath at an Armistice Day ceremony. I couldn't stop smiling.

Managed to catch up with a couple of friends in between meetings. Had to buy an umbrella... act of purist optimism to have not brought one with me I suppose.

2008-11-08T15:36:00.000+10:00

Another Baby update...

2008-10-27T07:39:00.000+10:00

Almost ready to go in the fish tank with the big fishies!

They Grow up so fast...

2008-10-27T07:38:00.000+10:00

Update on our Angelfish Fry - this is a couple of weeks ago

Hail at Maleny

2008-10-27T07:24:00.000+10:00

View from the place we stayed at Maleny - family weekend away with Mum/Dad/Sis/Bro/sis-in-law

While the hailstorm was still hitting

All the cars had a bit of damage - big crack in our windscreen, but I think that's all as it was under a tree. Quite exciting really...

Check out our Babies!!!

2008-09-28T08:18:00.003+10:00

They are Angel Fish in case you were wondering...

Gav and Mel's Wedding - Ballina

2008-05-16T21:22:00.004+10:00

Me with Animals

2008-04-20T13:45:00.000+10:00

Singapore Zoo

2008-04-20T13:39:00.000+10:00

Singapore and Singapore Zoo

2008-04-20T13:38:00.000+10:00

Incheon Airport, Korea

2008-04-20T13:21:00.000+10:00

My dinner (Beef Stock Soup)

Free Korean art thingy at the airport. I made Di a necklace. (Well, knotted a couple of knots in it...)

The lady that showed me how to tie the knots.

More Museum Pics

2008-04-20T13:14:00.000+10:00

A trip to a Museum

2008-04-20T13:12:00.000+10:00

Last day in Korea and one of my hosts decided to take me to a Korean art museum instead of their electronics assembly factory.

The museum was next to the 'Everland Resort' - a Disney style theme park. This is the toll gate coming off the freeway.

Cherry blossoms

Statue at the museum. The Museum was set up by the guy that started Samsung.

Korea Pics

2008-04-15T23:09:00.001+10:00

Tech Mall. Lots of technology... I'm sort of over those places!

Building I had a meeting in today - Qld State Trade office

A street...

Dinner time - before the pork went on the hot plate.

2008-04-15T23:08:00.000+10:00

These little dudes great me when I get out of the elevator every morning.

The Olympic Stadium

Nothing really... just going over a bridge

Out to dinner - noodles!

Day 1

2008-04-15T23:07:00.000+10:00

On the way from airport to hotel (a 90 minute bus trip)

Building a new city. About a hundred of these babies going up in this one construction site.

This is my 'hood - Samsung Plaza

Seongnam Soliloquy

2008-04-15T22:17:00.002+10:00

Ok I admit it - I had to check how to spell Soliloquy just to make sure I got it right...

I just spent the last few minutes learning South American countries using this site: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/samericaquiz.html
Onto Africa next. That might take a little longer.

Anyway, Korea has been okay. Meetings have involved a fair bit of waiting in between, but have gone pretty well. Haven't seen too much of the city, but that's a business trip I guess! Ate some fun food - might have to whip the old oriental grill out when I get home.

Seongnam - Korea

2008-04-13T22:58:00.003+10:00

Yep - this is what I thought Korea might look like...

Di's 30th Birthday Day and Party

2008-03-31T22:56:00.000+10:00

How to Make a Transformer...

2008-03-30T16:03:00.011+10:00

I feel the below image needs some explanation. As it turns out, somewhat counter-intuitively, a transformer costume seems to really impress the ladies. If there was a single guy in our party, I would have gladly given him the suit so he could weave some magic with it...

Where is Punta Gorda?

2008-01-21T01:48:00.000+10:00

So after 5 weeks of jetting around the USA, we thought it was time to come up with a funny travel anecdote to send people...

Yesterday, we were to fly from Greensboro, NC to Columbus, OH (then drive to Toledo) – which would have taken about 10 hours to drive the whole way. We were a little excited because our flights cost $10 each with a new ULTRA low budget airline called Skybus. We dutifully went to the airport two hours before the flight, only to find that it was delayed by 3 hours (along with most flights). After the wait, and negotiating our way through hordes travellers, having a gate change, no signage or update announcements, and straining to hear flight attendants yelling above the crowd, we boarded our plane. No big deal, it was just another about of about 19 flights we’ll be on this trip.

When we landed, the captain announced “Welcome to Punta Gorda, Florida” – and a bunch of people laughed, so although my heart jumped, I wasn’t worried.

An arctic blast was forecast for the North, so the temperature was likely to be 0 ̊F outside (about -18 ̊C). So we put our coats on and braced for the cold air... which was... warm and humid. Weirded out, we walked into the tiny (ie NOT Columbus) terminal to see people in shorts and t-shirts. Really weirded out. We walked around for a while in disbelief, but it finally started to sink in that we were indeed in Punta Gorda, Florida. I’d never even heard of the place – and it took a while to even work out what it’s name was. If you’re wondering, it’s down on the bottom Western side of the little appendage that is Florida, sticking out like a pan-handle from the USA. I checked with Google, and it told me we were a 20 hour drive from Toledo, Ohio and therefore, Grandma and Grandpa.

When we finally got up the courage to tell a staff person, and he said – “You’re not the only ones” and we met our new friend called Dain who the same thing had happened to. Since Skybus is such a low cost carrier, you can’t talk to a real person who works for them. The guy we were talking to was just a contractor, and they do everything online, so there’s no phone number to call. The airport was so tiny that it was only Skybus who flies into it, so there were definitely no more flights going out (it was after midnight by this stage). After lots of fun, we ended up getting a lift in an airport employee’s limousine to a nearby Days Inn for the night, planning on turning up to the airport the next morning at 7am to talk our way onto the 9am flight.

Apparently the area we were staying in was devastated by Hurricane Charlie in 2003 or thereabouts. All the buildings had been either rebuilt or re-furbished after the storm.

The next morning, after a little adventure trying to get a lift to the airport and getting there with less than hour before the flight. (Floridians seem to be very friendly, but pretty laid back, i.e. not in a rush to get us to the airport, and also due to dense fog, the guy who eventually was nice enough to drive us got a little disoriented) the Skybus people still claimed they could do nothing for us, so I urgently had to buy tickets online in the minutes before departure time – luckily I had my laptop and the airport had free WiFi or we and our friend Dain were not getting on that plane. We can apparently claim a refund online... probably about as likely as Di and I coming to America and not eating Krispy Kreme donuts.

The plane ended up being a few hours late again due to the airport being fogged in. We finally got to Columbus, complete with arctic blast, got our car and followed Aunty Ji’s directions to Toledo, Grandma, Grandpa and dinner. Aunty Ji is our GPS.

So overall, it was a shame to miss almost a full day of our last two days with Grandma and Grandpa for a long time, but it was an interesting experience. Sort of.

Dain and me booking tickets with minutes before the flight was due to leave...

Boarding our Skybus flight in Florida.

By the way, Punta Gorda is HERE

2008-01-11T12:04:00.000+10:00

Election signs in New Hampshire. I just registered Di to vote today!

New Hampshire

The Strip in Vegas from the plane when we were leaving

BumbleBee at the CES show.

We just got back to Toledo after a whirlwind 24 hour visit to Vegas. I had set up a work meeting with a guy at the consumer Electronics Show (CES) - a HUGE event held in Vegas every January. So while I spent the day there, Di hung out at Tahiti (out hotel).

That evening we spent our time walking up and down the strip and looking around in the casinos. While I had been a little skeptical, I now agree that it's definitely worth giving Vegas a visit at least once in your life.

We went and saw the Cirque Du Soleil show 'KA' at the MGM Grand Casino. It was simply the most astounding thing I've ever seen... it's a little hard to describe really. Everything, from the theatre, to the stage setup (involving multiple massive platforms that were manipulated into every imaginable position while the performers were defying death on them), to the insane things those performers do, to the costumes and beautiful lighting - was amazing. It seemed weird to step out of the show and back into the real world (well, it was Vegas, so it wasn't really 'real). It was as if this thing we had just experienced should be headline news around the world... but no one seemed to care. *Sniff...*

Now we're REALLY back in the real world. Toledo! Had lunch at Tony Packos cafe today - of MASH fame. Good Hot Dogs and a very entertaining ordering process. I would say, "I'd like a Hot Dog ple..."
"HOT DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG!!!!!!!!!!!" the server would reply.

525,600 Minutes

2008-01-03T14:12:00.000+10:00

I just couldn't resist a quick post tonight... because we're in New York City, and I had forgotton what an amazing place this is.

We drove about 4 hours from Nashua, New Hampshire where we've been loving staying with our friends Ambrish and Shruti. On the way down, we stopped at Hartford, and then Yale University in New Haven on the way to have a few Gilmore moments. Pretty impressive campus actually, and right on the edge of the hood in New Haven.

The approach to New York City from the North East was overwhelmingly urban - it's unbeleiveable how big this place is. We arrived in the city at about 5pm - when the streets were full of people leaving work, and it was COLD. So after giving the rent-a-car and the keys to a parking garage a la Ferris Bueller, we went for a walk to Times Square - only a few blocks away. Managed to pick up some cheap tickets to 'Rent' the broadway musical, so that was our evening planned. It was sort of cool seeing Rent in New York City, WHERE it is set, in Winter at Christmas/New Years - WHEN it is set. Just got back to the hotel, after a nice walk back from the theater in -8 Degrees C.

Smelling the books in Yale Library

Apparently touching the foot of this guy is good luck for exams

Macys

Brad in the "most beautiful place on earth if you don't read English" (Is that a Mark Twain quote?)

The theatre we saw 'Rent' at. Obvious really.

Happy New Year from New Hampshire!

2008-01-02T12:47:00.000+10:00

ToledOooooooooooooo

2007-12-28T11:11:00.000+10:00

A guy at the Glass Museum in Toledo today explained that the Toledo accent is different than other Americans because they have long 'O's. I guess that comes from saying ToledO and OhiO a lot.

We made glass beads out of glass. I like the kind of art where you get to use a blow torch.

We had a nice Christmas in the old folks home with Grandma and Grandpa and all the other residents. Tomorrow it's off to New Hampshire. We'll be trying to outrun the cold weather that's coming across the country after us. It snowed last night - but just a little bit. Just enough to ease us into it.

Christmas Dinner

Making Glass Beads

Our art. Di, Di, Brad, Di, Di, Brad, Brad, Di, Brad, Di, Brad, Di.

Taipei and Vancouver - Totally Grouse

2007-12-23T15:45:00.000+10:00

We're finally off again! Brisbane-Taipei-Vancouver-Toledo-Nashua-NewYork-Toronto-Toledo-Las Vegas-Toledo-Washington DC-Durham-High Point-Toledo-Vancouver-Taipei-Brisbane
Or something like that...

So here's some photos so far. From Taipei and from our few days in Vancouver with Owen and Corrina. Sorry for not rotating the images... but I'm using an Apple, not a computer.

We made a list, and managed to tick off most of it... including snowboarding, ice skating, watching hockey, playing hockey, Cinnamon Buns, Stanley Park, Granville Island, Tim Hortons, Krispy Kremes, Sushi, Mastering Etch a Sketch, Buying warm clothes, 5-pin bowling, Corrina's Mum, Owen's Mum, Corrina's Grandma and watch Degrassi.

Off to Seattle tomorrow for a day, then flying to Toledo for Christmas with Di's Grandparents!

Our Taipei photo

Di in the night markets - Taipei

Christmas in Taipei

A really tall thing (and Taipei 101 - tallest building in the world. We went up it!)

Some random people at Vancouver Airport

Granville Island

A Clear Day. Wooh!

Ice Skating

Di, Corrina and Owen with Santa and Mrs Santa at Grouse Mountain

Snowboarding on Grouse and a chick I picked up while doing it

Goalie Di

Brad Gretzky-Schultz

The Team

Old man?

2007-10-14T21:35:00.000+10:00

Just thought I'd whack in a quick link to some photos from my 30th birthday party on the weekend. Check out our photos here.

Pretty amazing to have so many great friends in one place. Even the people working at the pub commented on what a great bunch of people our friends were! I just wish I could have been part of multiple conversations at once all night. Thanks to all who came and to those who I know couldn't come but wanted to!

May the Don rest in peace.

Piloting skills

2007-10-03T15:14:00.001+10:00

I'm making some progress with my piloting skills...

Heavy Machinery, Hotels and a Weak Share Price that Doesn't Matter to Me

2007-09-25T06:57:00.000+10:00

This post starts with the following sign that appeared a few weeks ago, across the road from us, sending us into frenzies of excitement... Our very own new Coles supermarket, looking ready to open for MONTHS was finally opening!!

As many of you know, we have experienced much pain in Gibbon street with the construction of the development across the road. So to finally gain some benefit out of it, even if it IS just a Coles, is appreciated.

So 8am on Monday the 24th, we were there - part of the mob of around 30 odd people who wanted to see the doors open at a Coles for the first time. We got in, bought our clothes pegs and cookie dough, claimed our free rose, then got out. Sort of surreal to see this supermarket with NOTHING missing from the shelves...

Unbeknownst to us, we were putting our lives in serious danger by even entering the store! When dropping in later in the day to by some more things, we were informed about THIS little news story.

Meanwhile, next door, work on the North South Bypass Tunnel has continued, being a major disruption to our otherwise idyllic lives. Last week was particularly painful, with work going on until midnight every night and starting at 6am the next morning. After a few late night phonecalls to their 'hotline' to complain, they came through with the goods - putting us up in hotels for the next two weeks while they complete their night works!

See the view from our new pad below.

Unfortunately the hotel's TV isn't as big as the one I had in my room in Sydney when I was there overnight for work this week...

Another New Toy

2007-09-22T09:12:00.001+10:00

I've decided to launch a transportation experiment... by purchasing an electric scooter on ebay. Legally it's classified as a bicycle (so I'm led to believe). I'm sure this classification will be tested the first time police notice that I don't have a number plate...

2007-07-28T02:35:00.000+10:00

A few photos...and a few more are here.

I found Krispy Kremes in Mong Kok!

At Si Kung

Going home tomorrow!!!

2007-07-28T01:58:00.000+10:00

Hello countless millions of Brad's Big Bad Blog fans...

Well I didn't really do too many updates during the week. It was a pretty full week of work, but topped off with a nice day today. Knocked off at Lunchtime and my host, Ian, took me to Sai Kung, a nice little 'holiday village' type of area just out of the city. Ate some seafood, drank some beer, and it made all the hard work worthwhile!

This evening I hit the technology shops - Apliu St, and the Golden Computer Arcade - then the Temple St markets and some other markets around Mong Kok. Fun evening - I just wish Di was here too! I'll post a few photos.

Not much time...

2007-07-25T10:46:00.000+10:00

Well I haven't really had much time to do fun and exciting blog updates. Sitting in Changi airport waiting for my plane to Hong Kong. As many of you probably know, the foot massage machines here are free and nice.

Wrong pizza...

2007-07-22T13:20:00.000+10:00

Off on a work trip again - Singapore and Hong Kong for the week.

Got given a bacon pizza instead of chicken which I asked for - I think its a sign to go a little more vegetarian like I keep meaning to. Primarily for sustainability reasons I guess, but after reading "The Ethics of What We Eat", the cruelty factor is certainly real.

Like the true early-technology-adopter I am, I now have this new fangled thing called a digital camera in what's called a 'mobile phone'.

What we've been up to...

2007-07-12T23:02:00.000+10:00

Juzzy competing in a downhill race at Canungra:

Camping at Tamborine for Grace's 30th Birthday party: (Grace is the one next to Di)

Di spent a day making sock puppets with Sarah, Becky and Josie:

Some domestic violence at Gibbon St:

Home!

2007-05-16T09:05:00.000+10:00

I posted a bunch of photos here.

Enjoy!

Good ol Boys

2007-05-07T15:46:00.000+10:00

Had to get a photo at Cooters of Dukes of Hazard fame...

Jetlag

2007-05-04T12:46:00.000+10:00

Tired.... must.... upload... photos...

Denver airport:

Me in Nashville:

Across the Pond

2007-05-02T07:13:00.000+10:00

This is where I'm heading on this trip. The last stop is Toledo, Ohio - which I HOPE to get to, if time permits, to visit Di's Grandparents!

The last few weekends...

2007-04-23T20:55:00.000+10:00

have taken us to NSW for multiple weekends! Camping at Nightcap National Park at Easter, then Curryfest at Woolgoolga, then a relaxing weekend at Murwillambah.

The above wasn't on a weekend... but it's a nice photo of Gav and Matt.

Look who I had lunch with on the weekend...

2007-04-17T00:04:00.000+10:00

Rainbows in South Brisbane

2007-04-02T10:02:00.000+10:00

Di's Birthday

2007-04-01T22:21:00.001+10:00

To continue the 'Di' theme on my blog this week... here are a few piccies from her birthday!

Di and Kay and Rosa's cafe with her complimentary 'babycino'

Birthday dinner at Kangaroo Point (Barbequed Salmon, Haloumi and Pumpkin Risotto)

Watching Casablanca in our backyard with lots of friends on Friday night

This should be an ad for QUT!

2007-03-27T22:58:00.000+10:00

This blog post is an official, public congratulations to Di, from me, for deservedly receiving a University Medal!!

Alaska and Sushi!

2007-02-10T12:20:00.000+10:00

Finally back home - 36 hours after flying out of Los Angeles! (Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore to Brisbane).

Between LA and tokyo, I decided to lift my window shade to see what we were flying over (expecting it just to be cloud or water) and I saw a little island. It had a mountain with snow on it. I lifted the shade all the way up, looked ahead, and saw the Alaskan Peninsula spreading out before me! With snow covered rugged mountains as far as I could see, and after a few minutes, one HUGE volcano. Subsequent research revealed that it was Mt Veniaminof (Google Maps Here)- an active volcano. It was surreal to think that I was flying over Alaska to get back to Australia from the USA...

In Narita airport in Tokyo, I had a big walk around the airport and found a GREAT sushi place near Gate 33... anyone else know it? I guess I can't say I know what 'genuine' sushi is having never been out of the airport in Japan, but this seemed pretty close... you sit at the counter and there is a row of old Japanese sushi chefs yelling at each other and cutting and rolling sushi so fast that it's a wonder they don't cut off fingers. I ordered a whole plate - and it was a little bigger than I'd pictured, but I made it. It was surely the best sushi I've had ANYWHERE... (well, out of Brisbane, Vancouver and Singapore, which are the only places I've had sushi that I can remember). I found out though that they tend to hide lumps of wasabi in the sushi itself. I now have what I would call a 'Wasabi Headache'. I wear it as a badge of honour.

San Francisco!

2007-02-07T15:15:00.000+10:00

Spent the last few days in San Francisco on a last minute work trip. Sort of nice, sort of weird (since there were things I felt I should have been home for...)

San Fran is definitely one of those cities you feel like you know - even though you didn't realise it. The Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, the car-chasing steep streets, the cable cars... I only had a had little video camera with, so photos are only of mobile phone quality...

Worked with some bus guys for a few days with our technology. They took me out for seafood at the wharf at a place that was VERY San Franciscan. They love their city and their history. It was nice to hang out with them! To top the evening off, we saw the Queen Mary II - largest ocean liner in the world exit the harbour.

Ooh - I saw the latest Gilmore Girls LIVE on the WB too!

(Sort of cool how this photo of Alcatraz came up more like a painting)

Chrissy!

2006-12-27T21:44:00.000+10:00

Here's a few piccies from Chrissy so far this year... beer brewing with the neighbours, camping with the Schultz's (Mt Mee) and a bit of fun in Adelaide...

Christmas 2006

2006-12-21T08:54:00.000+10:00

Stylin the Green

Di has an unorthodox, but surprisingly successful bowling style. Watch, and learn

Video Update

2006-12-08T16:44:00.000+10:00

If anyone has tried the videos in this blog recently and they haven't worked - my apologies! All should be fixed now. Please check them out again!

EWB PNG AT

2006-12-05T20:47:00.000+10:00

So, EWB - Engineers Without Borders
PNG - Papua New Guinea
AT - Appropriate Technology

For the last week, we had Shirlee from PNG staying with us. She works at ATprojects, where Di worked in January when we were up in PNG. She was here to spend some time with the EWB group at University of Queensland who is working with ATprojects to build affordable, easy to build toilets for use in villages in PNG - one of the most important aspects of improving people's health there.

SO we managed to fit in a few other things since it was Shirlee's first time in Australia, AND Anna from Adelaide was visiting - yet another South Aussie who has been lured up to Queensland at least partly due to Di's magic charm. Beach, Citycat, West End markets, Sunshine Coast hinterland, baking Christmas cookies, German club... fun week!

2006-12-02T20:57:00.000+10:00

Nimbus #2

Just an update on my unicycling progress...

2006-12-02T20:56:00.000+10:00

Remote Submarine

This is my re-enactment of Hunt for Red October

Crazy Times!

2006-11-22T17:40:00.000+10:00

Melbourne, Mackay, Adelaide - that's the weekend before last, last weekend and this weekend. CRAZY!

Since Di's finished uni (WOOHOO!) and is (relatively) free, we decided that she could accompany me on a couple of short work trips - both lengthened to take in the weekends.

A few of the highlights:

Melbourne

Being extras in a Bollywood movie and seeing the star - Sharuhk Khan (our hero, and only the most famous dude in bollywood cinema!). We were asked to return for a smaller shoot on the Tuesday night but they couldn't afford us... (plus it was from 8pm to 4am and I was working both days...)
Seeing Daz on Sat night with Markie and Rachel and friends
Experiencing Melbourne's coldest November day ever(?). Including a memorable walk in the hail in thongs by Di
Kulcha
Visiting my university
Kylie!! (And friends, and gelati)

Mackay

BELLA! (And Mel...)
Paddling in the water and THEN finding the 'beware of crocodiles' sign
Uri - our little yellow hire-car
Platypus at Eungella
Pinnacle Pies
Eimeo Pub

That's about it for now... off to Adelaide!

2006-11-10T14:52:00.000+10:00

What I do during the day

Operation: Save The Fish - UPDATE

2006-10-31T16:47:00.000+10:00

Two days later and all is well!

2006-10-31T10:48:00.000+10:00

Nimbus Ride #1

So I got this unicycle for my birthday from Di... I thought I might provide a little entertainment for everyone by showing off my progress (or lack of) over the next few weeks/months/years/decades as I try to ride this thing.

Any unicycle riding advice welcome!

Operation: SAVE THE FISH

2006-10-30T10:21:00.000+10:00

9:00am - Picked up a rental van
10:00am - Ben runs music at church, Brad packs van
11:30am - We leave for Yamba - 3.5 hours away, directed by 'Yoda' on my GPS software
3:00pm - Arrive at Yamba and inspect the 6 foot tank of cichlids at Ben's cousin Dave's's Optometry clinic. He's moving office and doesn't want them any more. We're here to save them and the tank setup!

6:30pm - After 3 hours of catching fish, syphoning water, moving heavy things and eating a well-deserved sub, we're heading back to Brissy.
10:00pm - Arrive, Woolloongabba, start unpacking
10:30pm - Matt Jantezki, our handy-man saviour arrives to help move the tank cause it is HEAVY
11:30pm - The tank is in our new downstairs hangout room
12:20am - The tank is full of water and filtration system up and running
2:00am - Tank almost full of fish and cleanup begins - Only two casualties (out of around 50 fish!) Di is happy below because she's setting the last fish free!

3:17am and the operation is complete! Success! Sleep...

2006-10-14T15:43:00.000+10:00

b-rad-o

Erin put this together for me on my birthday... I LOVE it! I hope you don't think I'm too odd after watching it.

That Erin sure has a talent for these things...

The last house standing...

2006-10-14T12:46:00.000+10:00

I came home on Monday and there were three less houses in our street. The North South Bypass Tunnel is going ahead, and life in Gibbon St will never be the same. Not that it ever WAS the same... I mean, ever since we moved here it has been in a state of flux. But now ours is actually the only numbered house left in Gibbon St.

Opposition to the tunnel is out there, but at this point, I think it's probably too late. Someone graffitied the worksite fence, calling the council 'terrorists' for destroying communities. Although terrorist is a bit of an exageration, I found that strangely affirming that someone else cared that the community we had in this street is now almost gone. Now it's just us, Ben and Sarah, Colin, and the Red Paintings next door...

Birthdays, Footy and Coopers

2006-09-23T19:38:00.000+10:00

We're in Adelaide for a few days, primarily for Julie's (Di's sis) 30th birthday - celebrated by a fine Thai dinner last night and a champagne and pancake breaky this morning at the Zwars place.

A sad day for Adelaide however as the Crows lost the prelim final. A happy day for Loz though as she both started her very own blog and is a supporter of West Coast.

Crying cockles and mussels alive a-live O!

2006-08-27T20:02:00.000+10:00

Joseph (in the picture) from the company I'm doing training for over here took me to a few Hawker Centres today - they're the best thing about Singapore methinks. Before he took me to this one to try the famous Cockles Curry dish, he made sure to check whether I was up to date on my hepatitis shots... as sometimes they aren't cooked completely.

I'll let you know if they weren't.

Haircut in Singapore

2006-08-25T23:39:00.000+10:00

Singapore for 4 days! Delivering some technology to a transit company here. Shouldn't be too crazy a trip - presuming all the technology works...

One of my tasks this morning was to get a haircut. Found a little place in Little India that did a $10 job. It was a little scary, as every time I tried to tell the guy what I wanted, he berated me. So I was reduced to squinting at the mirror (since I had taken my glasses off) trying to work out what evils he was committing to my hair. It didn't turn out too bad. I should have just trusted him all along...

Plaza Singapura

2006-08-25T23:32:00.000+10:00

Sometimes Singapore seems to be nothing but these types of places...

(This was put together from 10 randomly taken photos using 'autostitch' (a free program from Univeristy of British Columbia))