A family holiday
Have just flown out of Auckland for a family holiday with my olds. Most of the time overseas will be in Austria, where my father was born. I’ve never been there, so am really looking forward to seeing where he grew up, plus all the other great sights around Vienna.
We have a couple of days in Hong Kong as a stop over, and then a week in London catching up with friends. After that it is Vienna and Salzburg for a couple of weeks, and then back home via a stop over in Japan.
I’ve been using foursquare for a week or two. It’s a fun location based service for your mobile, which detects where you are, offers you specials on businesses nearby, and allows you to share your location with your friends.
I’ve only been allowing a couple of dozen people to receive location updates from me, as not even I want 1,000 people able to trace my every step in Wellington.
But while I am overseas, I figure it will be quite fun to have the location updates appear on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, so friends can see where I am. So I’m turning on the synchronisation during the time away. I live in an apartment block with 80 nosy neighbours (and my main item of value – the laptop – travels with me) so am comfortable with the security issues.
But will definitely be turning it off when I get home again.
As usual, blogging frequency and times may be affected. The guest posters may pop up a bit also.
July 21st, 2010 at 11:16 pm
DPF: we went to a great restaurant in Vienna last time we were there – was only a couple years back, so should still exist. It was very modern Austrian – not stodgy like some of the more traditional recipes – and he was making everything with local produce, apart from the aged balsamic that had come from Italy. It was really really good – we found them by looking at reviews on the web. Andreas Kurz was the name. We also stayed at the Hotel Kaizar Elizabeth, they were also very nice, and very central, but I presume you have contacts on that already. Have fun.
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:20 am
>We have a couple of days in Hong Kong
You’re taking your parents out with Cactus Kate?
Brilliant!
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:39 am
I’m very disappointed DPF, here you are supporting the ETS, yet you fly off willy nilly around the world on a family trip. I’m sorry, but flying , as you know, is the worst carbon producing activity a human can do.
As you supported Nationals ETS I expect you to make sacrifices for the good of the planet.
Didn’t your good mate Nick tell you, we’re saving the frickin planet here?
The cynic in me says you’re just another hypocritical warmist.
As I’ve said before, I look forward to the HUGE drop in Government payments for airfares as National (and particularly JK and Nick) show some real leadership and ‘do their bit’ to ‘save the planet’ for ‘ our children and grandchildren’.
Should I hold my breath?
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:52 am
Chicken; True socialists you see. Don’t do as I do etc.
And holding your breathe won’t stop much CO2 as you will soon begin to decay and we would have to put you in the furnace creating more CO2.
You are definitely not a carbon sink.
Enjoy the holiday DPF never mind what all us envious peasants think. Half a chance and I would be doing the same. Stuff saving the world. I reckon I do my bit to keep it nice and at nearly time to collect Johnkeys generous pension I reckon I have only about 30 years left to withdraw some of the good to add to the world doom.
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:55 am
And while we are talking traveling it seems the immigration honeymoon the National usually rely on to bolster the numbers is also going on holiday.
Net migration falloff to hit house prices
By JAMES WEIR – BusinessDay.co.nz
Last updated 05:00 22/07/2010
In a poor sign for an already weak housing market and slow retail spending, the population gain from migration has slowed to a trickle and could soon turn negative, economists say.
Just 70 more people arrived in New Zealand than left in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to Statistics NZ, down sharply on the monthly gains of more than 1000 at the start of the year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/economy/3942969/Net-migration-falloff-to-hit-house-prices
Net migration has hit its lowest monthly level since late 2008.
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:06 am
Chicken, don’t be such an arsehole, you make your points over and over virtually daily at any excuse you can find, and if you don’t find one you make one up. You should be thankful that DPF is keeping his blog going while he is away so you can keep harping on and on.
Have a great trip DPF, sounds like a special time for you and your olds. “Just looking” holidays are great, but trips with a personal connection have a lot more meaning. I did something similar recently, I remember most dearly the family parts. Austria and Vienna was next on my list but just couldn’t fit it in.
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:52 am
Nice one – I’m just a little jealous!
Have a great trip David, enjoy the time you spend with your parents!
Rufus
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:14 am
Its too early for chiken shit.
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:47 am
DPF, I reckon that you must check out the Quantum Optics group at University of Innsbruck. That group at the Physics Department were the first to achieve quantum teleportation in the lab (reported to have achieved a distance of 600 meters a few years ago), and that was lead by Prof. Anton Zeilinger (he is now at Vienna University – so check out him out there too). Quantum Optics group at Innsbruck is leading & revolutionalizing researches into Quantum Computing and Quantum Teleportation, i.e., they have brought science fiction into science reality. Here is an interview with Zeilinger in which he described their teleportation experiment:
Spooky action and beyond
I am sure that they will let you in to see their lab apparatus/equipment setups if you pre-arrange by perhaps just turning up there at the Physics Department and ask in person. I am confident that they will let a tourist from far away like you to tour their facility. I’ve never been there but I staffs at Auckland University Physics Department have told me that in recent years, some post-doc students from Innsbruck do come to Auckland (to do post-doc research) and some post-docs from Auckland do go there to Innsbruck. You wouldn’t want to miss the chance to visit one of the world’s top research facilities which is at the forefront in revolutionizing technology of today & the future.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 am
David enjoy the cake and coffee and all the cafes, fantastic place and so clean.
Vienna is a world class city for dog owners, couldn’t get over the way they allow dogs everywhere and cater for their owners as they do.
Wellington could learn a lot. Philistines.
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:01 am
You have a great time David.
Austria is particularly beautiful.
Hallstatt is a stunning little town well worth seeing too.
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:06 am
And in other countries – on the train to Zermatt a woman had a dog in her handbag, dogs are common on trains. Taking it a bit too far – dogs in restaurants. A guy we sat next to in a square in Florence had brought his German Shepherd from the Netherlands. Holiday for me is getting away from the normal commitments.
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:33 am
“I figure it will be quite fun to have the location updates appear on my Facebook and twitter feeds, so friends can see where I am”, better keep out of the knock shops then. Lucky bugger, I hear they make good beer in Austria.
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:52 am
How about a game of Where’s DPF?
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:09 am
sounds fun, have a great time
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:21 am
Enjoy your time away DPF, and don’t feel pressured to blog too often. It might give some of us mere mortals the opportunity to catch you up just an iota!
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:31 am
Davidp – sadly not this time as I am on the other side of the world, literally.
I have however met DPF’s parents, stayed in the spare room at their residence at very short notice and found them lovely company.
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm
DPF: Pretty hot, sticky time of year to come to Japan, but I suppose it will be cooler than Hong Kong. Why not try some whale cuisine while here, to discover what all the fuss is about?! After all, the whales are dead already, and you can think of it as “preventing the Japanese from eating it” if you take some in yourself.
“Magonotei” in Akasaka, or “Akanedoki” in Shinjuku will both give you a good feed (perhaps especially so if you mention that “David recommended you to me”). A proper meal with drinks might be around 5,000 yen per head.
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Are you bringing the Maori woman back David.
She keeps the controversy going.
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Dear Pete George – Fuck you
Love
Chicken
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 am
I love Austria, Salzburg in particular is a wonderful place to visit. Going there reminded me that NZ doesn’t have exclusivity on good scenery. Culture wise too, it has NZ beaten hands down.