As I write this (in all likelihood extremely pesemistic) post I am begging for a shower, waiting at the Mendoza airport for my flight to be called. The volcano that erupted in Chile has wreaked havoc across the Latin American continent and has caused increasingly growing problems in Australia in New Zealand.
After having what could best be described as an interesting and educational weekend in Buenos Aires which included amongst its highlights: Visiting Uruguay drinking Malbec, more tequilla in an hour than can healthily be consumed, and inadvertently ending up in bar where I was offered significant discounts on the products available, I have finally arrived somewhere where it is possible to get home (flights being called, so will finish this later).
I finally made it back to Santiago just before midday, and had the absolute best shower ever - but after 18 hours in airports, 20 hours in a bus I was back, and feeling surprisingly good. Fortunately for me my good friend Matt had his flight cancelled due to the volcano also, so we were able to spend some quality time complaining about the amount of seismic activity in this part of the world. I felt terrible for him, but at least now he has gotten himself on a flight to Lima en route to LAX and the Sydney. Have a safe trip mate!
Currently I am in the Atacama again, working on the commissioning of some new items at a plant we have up here, and whilst I am in the dryest place on earth, I can't believe how cold it is here. Commissioning is for me the best part of the job, where you get to see all of the things that you have imagined in your head and then translated to a sheet of paper end up physically in front of you. You get to do all the things that you never get to do (or are normally really bad results!) to the plant as well, and get to hear pumps cavitate, instigate trips, alarms and generally do all the stuff which in the future you will dread hearing about.
Immediately after I finish up on Friday, I fly back to Santiago, then to Sao Paula on my way across to a new continent. I will be meeting up (again) with Dave to head on a safari with a couple of friends before we convert into table ridden jugadores de ajedrez, at the Commonwealth Championships. It really is looking like a super tournament and I can't wait to get there.
I have well and truly cought the travel bug, and am extremely excited about getting to see everything else that the world has to offer!
Hope all is well back home, and I do apologise on behalf of the volcano here for making life for my New Zealand and Aussie mates significantly more difficult.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Friday, 3 June 2011
Tim Tams save me from the depression of a tigers loss
Well, after relatively regular baggings of Port Adelaide, my much beloved Tigers really turned it up on Saturday night against the Power. After getting up at god knows what hour to watch the game on Saturday morning I always had the feeling that Richmond were going to be slightly too good for the Power, and when in the third quarter the young tigers were 3 goals up, I thought that the dam was about to break. To their credit though, the port boys really stood up and (courtesy of some flick passes from Daniel Motlop that Billy Slater would be proud of) really dominated all but the last 10 minutes of the game. It was a really bad result for Richmond who would have been looking at backing up from a great win in the dreamtime game and getting themselves into the 8 with some momentum.
As disappointed as I was with the result, (personally I share the view with most commentators that at the MCG or Etihad Richmond would have won comfortably), the thing that really stung was Gary March coming out and slamming the team for the performance. I found it an extremely scathing criticism, and in my humble opinion pretty unwarrented - don't get me wrong I don't want to be excusing a poor performance, seeing as they have been served up to us loyal fans of the yellow and black all too frequently - however, the decision to sell the game was not made by the players. Of all the teams to play in Darwin, seemingly Port was the worst team to play there, not because the Power were going to be a tougher proposition than Collingwood or Geelong, but not only was the expectation that we would win, but we were playing against a side who has played in Darwin several times, and comparatively much more accustomed to the heat and humidity that the Northern Territory presents. This combination means that we not only lost, but the Tigers appear to have (by no means deliberately) traded the 4 points for a $500,000 injection to the bank account. All in all, I think those who made the decision to sell the game should shoulder an equal proportion of the blame as those who ran out onto the field in 75% humidity.
Now I have had my rant about the depression that is associated with being a Tiger supporter (which most of you aren't in the slightest bit interested in) I should provide something of an update on things happening in the eastern hemisphere. My good friend Matt has arrived from Newcastle, and whilst he was only here briefly before he departed for Brazil as the first leg of his whirlwind work trip around South America, it was nonetheless good to see him and catch up on the wheelings-and-dealings that have been going on in the Hunter. Also nice was the new football and guernsey that he brought with him.... although both of those things were massively overshadowed by the Tim-Tams he brought across also. Having a hit of Australian chocolate was something I had been craving for a few weeks, and luck would have it, my lovely grandparents (there you go guys, you got a shout-out!) had sent me a package of Haighs chocolate frogs which were a treat from them and my mum when I was younger. So a combination of those and the Tim-Tams means that my endorphin levels have been rather high this week. Add that to the fact that I have been able to do some longer runs, and have been training with a local triathlon club (who just about killed me on one of the hills on Monday night) I am feeling pretty good about everything right now.
This coming weekend I am heading across the Andes to catch up with Dave in Buenos Aires, who returns from Iguazu falls to explore one of the most amazing cities in South America. A couple of days of sightseeing in clean air will be a nice change from the dry and smoggy environment here in Santiago (the lack of rain has made the smog extremely bad right at the minute!)
Anyway I will post some photos and some rants when I return from BA (or if I have internet there, possibly a post from the hotel room).
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