2014 US Trip - Day 4 - Monday September 8th 2014

The plan for today was to get up into the Glacier National Park. We however, would not be able to take the RV's as the road we were driving on would not accommodate. There were some other alternatives such as catching courtesy buses throughout the park but we opted to hire a van capable of holding 10 people. We dropped into the local airport and this was my first opportunity to drive on the right hand side of the road. I felt I went fine, all it requires is a higher level of concentration. Pete and Laurence were able to hire the car and they followed us back to the RV park where we picked up the rest of the gang. Though it was a tight fit it was a good option for us.
 

We drove for about 15 minutes before we hit the park and stopped off shortly after at a lake for photos. From there we ventured deeper into the park following a lake and then one of the rivers that feed into it. The views out the window were amazing. Large mountains on each side, some with pine trees whilst others were just rocks. We stopped a few more times for pictures before pushing towards the top to Logans Pass. This was a very busy place given the time was around 1.30pm the car park for around 60-80 cars was completely full. A few of us got out of the car and grabbed some lunch before we finally got a car space. We then decided to do a walk up to a lookout at about 2.30pm. Just before we left I noticed a thermometre said about 10C. The walk was not overly difficult and much of it was along a board walk. After getting in trouble momentarily by a ranger for before "off trail" for taking a photo he let us go as there were bigger fish to fry further up the mountain.

Along the way we saw white mountain goats and marmots before being entertained by some chipmunks at the top of the mountain. At the lookout we posed for photos before starting to head back down the mountain. About 15 minutes after leaving we were completely shrouded in fog and could only see approximately 100 metres in front. This continued all the way down to the car park at which point the temperate had dropped to 4C. We were all glad to get back into the car but thankful for being able to experience such a great walk and beautiful vistas. The drive back down the mountain was amazing and we enjoyed the sites we had seen earlier in the day one last time. We got back to the RV park around 6pm and dropped off the 10 seater back to the local airport. On the way back we stopped off to buy some "hard liquour" that can only be sold in special state run shops. Beer and wine however can be bought in super markets. We arrived back to the camp site by about 7.15pm where we tucked into some pasta cooked by Trevo, Karen and Laurence. We then all spent the night and the camp fire being buffeted by cool winds. I decided to call Westpac to see why my Glocal Currency Card had not been working and was surprised to hear that they had put a hold on it. I verbalised my frustrations to the operator around the fact that I got no notification of this decision though was thankful that the card was now reactivated. Tomorrow I would give it a go at the general store located a short 2 minute walk away.

The final task for the evening was to try to take some long exposures of the night sky. Though the setup appeared to work well, the high winds and very bright moon light made it a difficult proposition. I will have to wait until I get home to Sydney to properly check out the results.
 

The evening was a late one given this was the first night of us all enjoying the hard liquor around the camp fire.

2014 US Trip - Day 3 - Sunday September 7th 2014

Overnight the majority of us froze in our beds. We hadn't quite figured out the heater and the setting of the thermostat. Only Pete and Maggie had a comfortable night sleep and with the new information at hand as to how to get it working we wouldn't make that mistake again. After unhooking the power and water we were on our way to Bannack, a historic village now a ghost town. This was the real wild wild west with stories of shoot outs in the local tavern and the barber located in one corner not missing a stroke of the cut throat razor. Amazingly the town was still occupied until the 1950's and concerned locals grouped together to preserve the town. The entrance fee was small and we spent about an hour or so before heading back to Dillon to grab some lunch and some extra supplies.

Once we grabbed some local delicacy, McDonalds, we were on our way. The roads I must admit are amazing with dual lanes for pretty much all of the day's driving. The scenery changed quite a bit from rolling planes to more mountainous covered with pines. Along the way to our stop this eveing in West Glacier we made a small detour to visit a wild life sanctuary that had bison, elk and deer. For $5 we were able to drive through a section taking photos. Got some amazing shots that I will shar elater on. We stayed there till just after 6pm and then made the final push towards out final destination, the RV park in West Glacier.

It wasn't until around 9pm that we got there. Everyone was exhausted from the days driving and were happy to settle in for a quiet evening.  

2014 US Trip - Day 2 - Saturday September 6th 2014

Woke up after a good nights sleep. The bed was very comfortable and compared to that of an airline seat I did appreciate lying horizontally. We all met in the foyer before heading out for some breakfast. We wandered around but wasn't able to find anywhere so we ended up back at the hotel where we grabbed the usual bacon, eggs, fruit, coffee etc.

The plan for the today was to pick up the RV's, do some shopping and then get on our way. Pete had organised for some cars to pick us up and to drop us down at the Cruise America depot for around 10.30am even though they had said we should look to arrive in the early after when all the vans would be ready. Fortunately when we got there two RV's where ready so we grabbed those with the intent of doing the shopping first and then picking up the remaining 2 RV's later. After a quick orientation as to how to use the RV we were on our way to Walmart. For all the pages on the internet bagging Walmart and their customers I found it to be very nice and had everything we wanted. We spent about 1.5 hours in there grabbing stuff before we headed back to the Cruise America depot to pick up the final 2 RV's by about 2.30pm. We were then on our way.

The journey out of Salt Lake City was a busy one. Lots of traffic but thankfully we were on good roads and with Pete in the lead with his GPS we simply followed. We tracked along the valley floor with large mountains to one side and slowly as we got further away the traffic began to die down. We were on our way. Watching the 3 RV's in front of us in a convoy was amusing and I am not sure what other road travellers would have thought either. From a scenery perspective we were driving along open planes. Not a lot of trees about and if they were they were small shrubs.

We eventually arrive in our first overnight stop in Dillon at around 9.30pm where we refueled and made it to the RV park. Then became the first adventure of hooking up power and water. The night sky was clear and there was definitely a coolness to the air. We were not long out of bed given that it had been a long day.

2014 US Trip - Day 1 - Friday September 5th 2014

Well as with most of my preparations for finishing up cleanly at work, it didn't work out too well. Made getting ready for the trip that more difficult. Whilst I was sort of ready from a packing perspective i didn't leave myself with a huge amount of rest the night before the flight. Friday 5th September started early with the alarm clocking ringing at around 5.30am. I had been clock watching for part of the morning.
 

The cab picked me up right at 6am and the journey to the airport took about an hour. Checking in was very quick and the usual people watching took place. Got through immigration and security checks relatively quickly and then it was time to grab a coffee and croissant.
 

Boarding of the flight was delayed by about 45 minutes and I started to get a little bit nervous for my connecting flight though I had approximately 3.5 hours to play with. Once we got off the ground I realised that there was a familiar face on board, Karl Stevanovic. Throughout the flight he came back to entertain some of the other staff that were on the flight with him. The girls were swarming around him like puppy dogs. One word, "player".
 

The flight itself had good food and movies. The only mishap was when they came around with an ice cream which was fantastic to eat though it instantly froze to my tongue when I first tried to eat it. Luckily I didn't remove a large chunk of my tongue as I remove it.
 

The flight landed about 15 minutes later in the end and quickly disembarked. Getting through customs was also quick along with baggage claim. I then dropped the bag off for the onward flight to Salt Lake City and then went about finding my connection. I had landed in Terminal B and needed to get to Terminal 4. Had no idea how long that was going to take me to get there but thankfully the terminal was next door and was able to walk. Got through another security check and then onto the gate. I had to catch a bus to a smaller terminal where the flight to Salt Lake City would depart. Made it in plenty to spare and wait for about 45 minutes.
 

The plane to Salt Lake City from Los Angeles was small holding only about 60 passengers. The flight was not full and fortunately the lady originally sitting next to me moved to another seat that was vacant. Our steward, Juan, was Hispanic. I like Hispanics because they define my gender and state of mind so well.
 

After taking off and heading over the Pacific Ocean for a little while we tracked back and headed east. View California from above you can really see that it is a very dry state. The rest of the flight was a mix of me falling asleep and looking out the window.
 

Checked into the Hilton Hotel with no issues and dropped my bags off before heading out. Salt Lake City is hosting a Comic Con and there were people of all ages out there in their uniforms and costumes. There were even whole families that were getting into it to a high level of quality. I had hoped to see Polygamy Man, who is a super hero capable of managing multiple "wives", though did not see him.
 

I then visited some churches and the local mall which was landscaped to a high level of finish. Running through the main street is a free tram that does a loop of the main shopping areas and the other avenues of the grid pattern were wide, spacious and beautifully designed.
 

I returned to the hotel after completing a loop. I chilled for a little bit longer in my room before catching up with Daryl, Kate and Lachlan. They took me through their holiday so far which has compromised island hopping in Hawaii before arriving in Salt Lake City this morning after an overnight flight.
 

We then made contact with Karen, Laurence and Trevor and bumped into them in the hotel foyer. From there were ventured down the road to grab some food. The food was good and hardy and very reasonably priced. I had pork shank which is just like lamb shank but with pork instead. After finishing dinner we retired back to the hotel.
 

Around 9pm Pete and Maggie made contact that they had arrived. I was debating whether I would catch up with them this evening as at this point I had not slept in a bed now for 30 hours. I decided that the bed could wait and met them as they pulled up in their cab. Karen, Laurence and Trevor appeared shortly afterwards and we had a night cap to round off the evening.

Voting in Australia and "having a reasonable fear for your safety"

Monday 19th August 2013

For the first time in my voting history I have chosen to do a postal vote. I'll be travelling on Saturday 7th September to event a number of hours away and we'll be looking to leave at about 6am making it difficult to vote in my local electorate. I found it very easy to fill out and submit the form online but was a taken aback by one of the reasons you can give for not voting in person, that is "have reasonable fear for your safety".

I wonder what the circumstances that have led for this to be provided as a reason? Maybe it is a way to better understand voter behaviour within certain seats. I hope we don't move towards the scenes of violence that other countries experience.

Whale Watching In Port Stephens

Wednesday 24th July 2013

In July 2012 I was spending a week up in Port Stephens on holidays. This is an area I know quite well given the family has spent many holidays there over the years and now my parents have a home up there as well. But for all the years that I had made the journey up the coast, I hadn't bothered to do any whale watching. I decided to right a wrong and spend a couple of hours out there and was fortunate to see two whales making their way up the coast on their annual migration north to warmer waters. I captured some video here ... http://youtu.be/fCf7E6zjLJs

Last week I was back up in Port Stephens and thought that I should find the time to take another trip out onto the water. Once again I had picked an absolutely stunning day for whale watching, skies were clear and the seas relatively calm. I chose to do the whale watching with the Tamboi Queen Cruises http://www.tamboiqueencruises.com/whale-watching-cruises.html#. They have been around for over 40 years and are family operated. Staff are very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful and the ship was not over crowded allowing people to move around easily.

The boat that we went out on was the same vessel as last year, the MV Spirit of Port Stephens. Not the biggest boat in Port Stephens but this to me is where it has a distinct advantage. More maneuvrable than the larger craft in the bay it is able to get into areas the others can't.

Before boarding I took some travel sickness tablets just in case and they seemed to work quite well given the seas were rolling up and down quite a bit. The journey out past Little Beach and Shoal Bay gives a different perspective to the area and reinforces the fact that it is a beautiful place to visit. We had calm waters out past the Tomaree Heads and picked up some dolphins swimming along side the boat. We stopped for a quick look at a cut in the southern headland and the smaller vessel was able to maneuver in allowing people to take some photos.

After spending a minute or two there it was now time to make for open water and to find some whales. There was one other whale watching boat out and they had located a whale and we headed straight for them. After about 15 minutes of motoring we had made it there and the single humpback whale was in a playful mood. Over the 45 minutes we watched multiple full body breaches by the whale. I had my 100-400mm Canon EOS lens along with the Canon 7D. The camera and lens performed flawlessly but would have liked a few more shots at the higher shutter speed to capture the entire sequence of breaching through to splash down. In the pitching seas however I was not able to zoom to the full 400mm but was taking most of my shots in the 100mm-150mm range. This is where having a 70-200mm Canon EOS lens would have been more preferable.

We then left the whale and headed back towards one of the islands near the inlet to Port Stephens, called Cabbage Tree Island. The captain located six Australian fur seals having a bit of a snooze on the rocks and I was able to get in nice and close with the lens. They were very placid and didn't appeared phased by the boat being relatively close to them. I suspect the fact the ship visiting multiple times a day would make them used to our presence. We then headed back into Port Stephens passing a pod of dolphins feeding in the white water just off Tomaree Heads. They were able to get much closer to the rocks then what we could so we decide to move back into the the bay. We searched for some more dolphins but weren't able to find any but the cruise was enjoyable.

On the way back to the marina we passed a small group of fairy penguins. They were a bit flighty so didn't get too close to them plus they were quite quick and nimble with their swimming. Pulled back into the marina and was certain money well spent. $60 for 3 hours of entertainment is excellent value these days. Saw more than what I had expected and on such a beautiful day, couldn't have asked for anything more.

I've included some pictures below for you to take a look at. Click on the image to view the larger image size.

 

 

Oculus Rift Development Kit ordered

Sunday 2nd June 2013

Over the past week or so I've been watching a huge number of YouTube videos around the Oculus Rift. It appears to be the first consumer focused virtual reality headset targeted at a reasonable price point and complimented by a awesome array of features such as large field of view, head tracking etc and decent screen resolution.

I had originally read about the Rift on Kickstarter but as they were targeted for developers I didn't really think much about it. But as the developer kits were delivered and people started to post their reactions it became apparent that not everyone who bought the kits were themselves developers. I guess like most people who have an interest in VR they want to get it as quickly as possible and didn't want to wait for the consumer version to arrive.

What peaked my interest was the reaction people were having to the immersion. This was not just gamers but their parents, grand parents, friends and other family members. I decided to check the OculusVR webpage and the development kits are still being offered for $300USD. Now to me that is fantastic value and that would be the average pricethat I've paid for monitors. One of my favourite games is Armed Assult and I knew that it supported EyeFinity and ended up getting 3 new 27" monitors. That has served me well for about 2 years but always wanted more monitor space. A video of my setup is included below.

How do I increase the level of immersion with a monitor setup? Do I get bigger monitors? Do I create a Simpit in my garage to satisfy my demands? I've even seen novel ways of hooking up 3 projectors and having them overlap to give large field of view but nothing quite achieves the screen size as that of what the Oculus Rift aims to offer.

The potential for gaming is enormous. FPS shoot em ups are made for this but also flight/space and driving simulators. But there should also be lots of other opportunities for pre-visualisation of architecture and even for travelling to places you would never get to in person. 

How the Oculus team is staging the availability of the Rift makes perfect sense. No point bringing out a product if no one has any content for it. Get it out there for the developers first to understand their requirements and to allow them to create the tweaks to existing games.

My order # itself is over 56000 so if this aligns with the true number of developer kits sold that is a significant number and shows the potential that this has. Can't wait to receive the developer kit and looks like I'll have at least a 2-3 month wait.