New Beginnings

So I've put in my resignation from my current position at TVNZ today. It is sad because I love the company and the people but unfortunately some of the new shift patterns don't quite agree with me or my body, so decided to take the leap into the unknown.

TVNZ has been very supportive and have offered me freelance work - which is fantastic as it gives me the initial stability and also will stabilize my work hours a bit. This is great as it gives me time to pursue various business interests and opportunities that I wanna explore in this coming year.

Freelance work starts mid-Jan, so if there is anyway I can help anyone with their business, let me know. Here is to the universe - for taking care of me.

Amit

Tongariro Crossing

What a weekend!!! The weather over the past week and half over New Zealand has been crap but since we'd booked the trip a couple of weeks back there was no backing out, especially since this was my 4 day weekend stretch.

Zoe, Katie and me got down to Tongariro National Park in Zoe's car while Simon drove Glen and Una. It was a slow journey down as the rain was pretty bad. We stopped at Tamaranui for some fish and chips and had them while looking at a billboard of Tongariro National Park.

Brief respite from rain

Zoe driving pretty seriously

Katie enjoying the back seat

The weather forecast for Saturday wasn't looking great but it did say that the weather would clear up over the afternoon, so I was pretty hopeful that the weather Gods would help us out with the trek.

There is a storm coming

As we drove into the lodge we booked ourselves at I realized that I'd been there before in August 2005 with Lance and Anabel and Tarikh. The Lodge itself looked the same but there were huge improvements on the inside and it was definitely an awesome stay. Once Simon and Glen and Una joined us we called it a night around 10PM hoping that the weather would clear up for Saturday. The good thing was that our shuttle wasn't coming through until 7.45AM {they cancelled the 6.45AM shuttle because of the weather} with the decision whether the trek was gonna go ahead or not reserved till 7.30AM. It meant an extra hours sleep in - which was fantastic considering my sleep depravation situation because of overnight shifts the week prior.

Unpacking (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Saturday morning wasn't looking too bad with overcast skies but as soon as we got to the start of the trek it started raining, so everyone put on their wet weather gear. There were a couple of other girls travelling in the same shuttle as us and it was funny seeing them start of the trek with a super-sized can of 'Red Bull' and a cigarette.

Overcast Skies

I'm ready for the trek (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Una, Glen, Katie and me

Tongariro crossing is one of the best one day hikes in New Zealand and I had no idea what to expect from the hike. The start of the trek wasn't bad- we saw a little bit of blue skies and were really hoping that the clouds would clear up.

Start of the trek

Only bit of blue sky we saw the entire trek

Onwards and upwards

Me - right behind are Lorianne and Caroline - the red bull girls (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

After this stage it was all downhill, so to speak. The rain started and it became colder and the wind picked up and combined with the uphill climb it was a hard walk. The worst thing was that taking photos became virtually impossible and a huge task. On top of that I managed to loose my rain hat somehow.

Mt. Ruapehu in the distance covered by clouds

Into the clouds 

Una waiting for me to catch up

First break near Soda Springs

Zoe helping Katie while Una and me catchup with the gang (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Glen trucking along even though his hands were starting to freeze up

The walk wasn't hard in itself but the wind made it hard. The visibility was poor and there were no real views to be had, so we just put our heads down and kept walking. Simon, Zoe and Katie had screamed ahead, while I started doing good pace once I stopped taking photos and left Glen and Una behind.

Walking in South Crater

Climbing towards the red crater

A french couple walking through the red crater

I guess one of the good things about doing the trek in such conditions is that you have photos that no one else has and you also don't meet many people on the trek. On a good summer day the number of people who do the crossing on any given day is about 900-1000, but on a day like this it was just the french couple and the red bull girls who were doing it in the same direction as us and we crossed paths with maybe 12 other people doing the trek from the opposite side. I caught up with Simon, Zoe and Katie near Emerald lakes as going downhill was easy because of the walking stick.

Simon, Zoe and Katie at Emerald lakes

Unreal landscapes and smell of sulphur

Passing the emerald lakes

After passing the emerald lakes the rain just got worse and everything was soaked - even though things were water-proof. I wonder how the rain got through the water proof stuff.  Anyway the stop at Ketetahi Hut was great. We met a whole heap of people there - including a bunch of american kids doing a photography course, who had started the journey from the other side but decided to flag rest of the walk as it was just terrible weather.

Steam rising from Ketetahi Hot Springs 

All of us took an hours lunch break and warmed ourselves up and dried out our essential gear like beanies, socks, gloves as much as we could. It was a temporary relief as it all got soaked again as soon as we headed down. I was one of the last ones of our group to leave but soon found a good pace and the 1 hour solitude in the rain did me good as I was able to think some things through.

Waiting for the shuttle (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Glen and Una make it down as well (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

The whole group finished the walk in 7 hours including the 1 hour lunch break but had to wait another 30 minutes before the shuttle came and picked us up. A hot shower and a meal later, we all dug into the secret theatre at the lodge and watched 'The Dark Knight' before calling it a night.

Sunday was a stunning day but the number of people doing the trek on Sunday had increased manifold as well. We took a stop-start drive to Tokaanu to enjoy the thermal pools. The stop-start was because I kept wanting to take some photos on such a nice day.

Mt Ngauruhoe

Mt Ruapehu covered in cloud

A Hut

Tongariro crossing in the distance

A marae in beautiful settings

Zoe, Katie and Simon enjoying a laugh

Natural Thermal Springs at Tokaanu

Magical Landscapes 

Glen, Una and me in the hot pools (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

The hot pools were nice and were a soothing balm to all those tired muscles. After a brief lunch stop in Taupo and a coffee stop in Cambridge - we were back in Auckland.  I loved the walk and compared to climbing Mt. Ruapehu or Mt. Kota Kinabalu - this was nothing but I'd like to do it again on a nice sunny day, so I can take some nice pics and take in some of the stunning scenery.

If you are thinking of doing the trek and not sure - don't think about it - do it!!!

Later,
Amit

Entertain Me

A couple of friends of mine - Claudia and Kevin have been hard at work over the past year and have created an awesome website called 'Entertain Me'. Besides deals related to entertainment - they usually are in the know of all the cool stuff happening around Auckland and they also have some pretty damn cool stuff to give away usually, so check them out. You can also catch them on their facebook page HERE. Good job guys, keep up the awesome work.

The 6 minute prologue to 'The Dark Knight Rises' was awesome. The action was crisp and the IMAX sequence looks amazing and it sets the tone for the movie in a big way. Love how each of the movies are shaping up to be thematically different while set in the same universe. There is consistency but also massive differences in how each movie is being filmed. It'll be a long 7 month wait for the movie to be released. The only thing I hope that they fix is the way Bane speaks - I could barely understand him and if that carries across to the movie we might end up with some thing like this

Batman (growling voice): whhhy doo youuu wanna takkee ovver gotham?
Bane: Hrrggh...arghghgh...Muhahaish.
Batman (growling voice): whyy dooo youuu wannna swap masksss?
Bane: daaass nooshehgrh whaass say
Batman (growling voice): i thoughhhht i whaaaas baad buttt you make me look goood.
Bane: gruassh...hurrrass..arghghgh
Batman (Bruce Wayne's voice): F@#$ this shit. I'm going home. Give me a buzz once you take some speech therapy. Do you want some recommendations?
Bane: graaahhh

I'm off doing Tongariro crossing this weekend. The weather has been playing up and the rain is putting a damper on things across the country. Here is hoping that things clear up a little.

That's me for now.
Amit

Reading Depravation

This week is an exercise called 'Reading Depravation' as part of 'Artists Way' and man it is extremely hard. It is friday and I've managed to get through the week so far without reading a newspaper, magazine, website, book. The point of the exercise I think is to spend more time doing things you keep neglecting - which gets occupied by the constant influx of media.

One of the things that the reading depravation has gotten me to do is actually sit down and update the blog after ages. I'm also planning to simplify and update the main website in line with some major changes happening next year.

Evening Star

I reckon it is a great thing to do, just to give yourself some space to sort out stuff that you've been postponing for lack of time. Reading depravation definitely gives you heaps of time. Another 2 days to go. Wish me luck.

What it also has gotten me to do is become more aware of whats happening around me and also getting me to return to photography as well as socializing over this short period of time.

Grey evening over Auckland

A view from the top

A night out with Douggy - a mate from oz

Shadows and Deals

That's me for now.
Amit

Bethells Day Trip

Took a day trip to Bethells Beach recently as part of my 'Artists Way' commitment and it turned out to be a great outing.

Every road trip starts with a road

Lydia made me a compile CD for the trip and the selection of songs was great and she also suggested that I take a small trek to O'Neills Bay. It turned out to be a great suggestion and a mini-adventure doing the walk on my own.

Streams and hills

Walkways

Freedom

Start of the trek

Bethells

Into the unknown

Bethells Beach

Yellow

Bethells Beach

Part of the woods that freaked me out

The walk definitely did me good and also bumped into a couple of cool cats - Tim, Nick and Melissa (am not 100% on my memory there with the names). They were enjoying the summer at the beach and funnily enough the '2 degrees of separation' manifested itself during the conversation.

Kiwi summer

O'Neills Bay

Rough Seas

The serenity and the calm was broken as soon a whole lot of kids walked through the area on their school field trip and thankfully they were just walking straight through to their bus instead of stopping and exploring the area.

Kids on their day trip

Fishing in rough sea 

Alien Land Mass

Entry Prohibited

The trip was awesome and it had fun exploring one of my favorite beaches in Auckland. A good day trip for sure.

Amit