Long time, no see! And welcome to tutors and/or students of 158100

Hi ya. This blog post is part of a lab for a computer paper I'm taking extramurally through Massey University this semester. My humble apologies if you've subscribed to this blog via RSS and were expecting something more newsy. So I'll take this opportunity to inform you that I do most of my blogging now on my own website www.samway.info . There you can catch up with photos, videos, files and other miscellanea that I post. My blog is currently entitled 'Ramble, rant 'n rave, and there are plenty of easy subscribe options available on the page.

So feel free to pop over to my to website. I look forward to meeting you all online on WebCT for the quizzes and discussion.

To the is-land (apologies to Janet Frame!)

New Years eve saw us picking up a rental car and heading to Victoria, Vancouver Island. Our rental car (which we still have so that we can drive to Seattle in tomorrow) is a Pontiac Grand Prix. I'm no petrol head really, but it looks like one swanky ride. There is certainly lots of buttons to play with. Waiting at the ferry terminal our [i.e. mine and Nathan's] curiosity got the better of us and we fiddled with some of the buttons on the rear-view mirror. Despite Bronwyn's warning we [it wasn't me!] pressed the one that was a white cross inset in a red oval. There was the sound of a telephone dialling and a voice issued forth from the dashboard, and spake thus: Welcome to Onstar emergency assisstance. What is the nature of your emergency?

The remainder of the time waiting for the ferry was spent reading and not touching any of the buttons...

The ferry was a decent-sized passenger ferry, big but not quite a Cook Strait ferry. The one hour forty minute journey was occupied with eating lunch and taking photos. As I queued for my 'McFerrys' burger and fries I eavesdropped on the conversation behind me. Someone was remarking on his chunky cellphone and how much it reminded him of the camera-phone on Flight of the Conchords. The other members of the group expressed a general admiration for the Conchords while I resisted my patriotic pride and the temptation to butt in on the conversation.

When we arrived in Victoria we checked into the HI hostel on Yates Street and then drove a short distance down to the waterfront with it's impressive landmarks: the Empress Hotel and the Government buildings. The waterfront and CBD was lit up spectacularily for Christmas, particularly the Empress and the Government buildings (though we couldn't tell whether the Government buildings were lit just for the festive season or whether it was lit like a Christmas tree all year round). We wandered around the waterfront awhile and then stopped at Mirage Coffee on Government Street where we had some of the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted before making our way to the National Geographic IMAX theatre to watch The Polar Express.

The IMAX theatre does not feel that large when you walk into the theatre. It seems to be the size of one of the theatres in Wellington's Readings Complex. I had imagined a cavernous room, like the Michael Fowler Centre's auditorium or something, probably because I had heard that the screen is six storeys high, a fact which is hard to appreciate until they show a rectangle outlining the size of a standard movie screen. Though the movie was an entertaining way to spend the evening I'm not convinced that it really showcased the IMAX technology to the best of its advantage.

New Years Eve in Victoria was remarkably sedate; there were no loud, drunken parties (not that that's our scene!), no huge organised events, no fireworks. So after a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant we made our way back to the hostel for an early night as we were all totally shattered.

Thus ended the first day on Vancouver Island.