Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky

So much has happened lately that I have been extremely assistant to write on this a'here blog, but I feel as if I may be able to hit a few of the highlights with some sort of accuracy, so here goes. Last friday my Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandi were in a nearby town (queenstown) for the day, so I hopped in my little brown car and tooled over and caught up with them in the mid-morn. They had obviously been hatching some serious plans for the day, so we got right down to it and hit the local water, Lake Wakatipu, with a two-hour ride on a 1912 Vintage Steamship named,"the TSS Earnslaw". From the old steamship we got a pretty good view of the surrounding mountains and lake. It was a glorious day outside and the peaks were shimmering with fresh sunlight, so I spent much of the ride talking with Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandi while gazing out at the scenery. After the ship ride we hit the local gondola for a trip up to a peak that conveniently has a cafeteria style restaurant on it. Man, this is where the tourists go! We had some good grub and then shot the breeze a bit whilst enjoying the view. After the gondola ride down the real action came. Uncle Mike and I took a jet-boat ride up the Shotover river. Cruising up a river at incredible speeds while dodging rocks whilst hoping that the dude driving the boat doesn't have a brain-fart had my heart racing, for sure. The dude driving the boat does this crazy 360's in the boat and it is pretty hard to remain seated while he is pulling off these tricks. My uncle mike lifted out of his seat due to gravitational forces during one of these stunts and my immediate thought was "DANGER!"....Fortunately he re-seated and composed himself with very little trouble.

Today was a pretty good day at work due to an in-flux of new employees and some serious sunshine. I spent the morning chatting with a new German girl while in the afternoon I spoke at length with three dudes from Argentina. I've decided that I must one day learn spanish.

Last saturday some friends and I went to an outdoor reggae festival at a nearby winery. There were about 4,000 people there and most of them were drunk on wine and sun-burnt. The main-act "fat freddy's drop" was pretty solid and they definitely got everyone there in a good chilled-out state of mind. My friend Byron forced me to climb up on his shoulders during the show just as a joke, and unfortunately he dropped me and my spectacles got bent out of shape, so now my glass have tape on them.

Hand cramping. goodbye