Earthquakes and Jet Boats

Three weeks ago I felt my first ever earthquake, a 4.5 occurring near Milford sound that rumbled all the way across the South Island hitting Queenstown for only a few noticeable seconds. Since then we’ve had three more in the last week: one big one, an aftershock, and another small tremor. It was a 6.7 at the epicenter, again near Milford Sound (see below) and lasted about 20 seconds. I was in Skybar at the time watching the lamps sway and bottles shake saying to myself I didn’t know alcohol had that effect! What a crazy feeling, the whole floor moved around back and forth like I was on a wave or something! I felt the aftershock out on the street a few minutes later; its weird feeling something your mind tells you is so solid and stable like the street move around. There was only a small bit of damage in QT including Absinthe bottles that smashed from the top shelf in the liquor store below Skybar.

NZ is one of the most geologically active places in the world, so it’s no surprise that earthquakes are commonplace here. In fact, there is one nearly everyday. The Southern Alps are the fastest growing mountain range in the world, causing major activity. If you’re interested, check out this NZ website, it tells you where the last quake was and also tracks volcanic activity including the eruption of Mt. Ruapehu last month on the North Island: http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html

Last Tuesday we had a staff party for Skybar and the other 6 bars in Queenstown and Wanaka that are owned by mainly the same people. They make up the Goodbars group: http://www.goodbars.co.nz/

On that rainy Tuesday, we jumped into a Kawarau Jet boat and got taken around Lake Wakatipu and then up the Kawarau river gorge (http://www.kjet.co.nz/about-us/default.asp). It was a blast despite the cold rain as we spun 360’s and raced past rocky river banks and trees. Jet boats were invented right here in NZ and only need 6in. of water to function in. The are the same idea as the jet ski back home and are just as maneuverable. I was amazed at the control and power we had. Imagine rippin’ up the narrow river at speeds up to 80mph with the sound of a burly jet engine behind you, hugging all the turns and fishtailing. Awesome!

A Sort of Homecoming?

Since everyone left from 42 Below and the ski season is winding down here which means most of my good friends are leaving town soon, I've been quite sad. Additionally, as some of you may have heard, we've lost two close family members in the last month, so needless to say, I'm thinking of coming home for a few months to be with my family. A few months ago I thought I was staying here for sure but recently I've been feeling I need a short break. NZ is a great place and I plan on coming back soon, there is high potential for me settling down here. But for now, I still haven't found what I'm looking for...I'm tossing around a few ideas on where to go and what to do...


I now have more questions than answers, but on the bright side, my travels have thought me a few key things in life. I've realized just how temporary things can be if you let them and how your dreams can be attained by just trying and believing. If you want to go to a new place to live, realize how easy it can be to get established and to live with minimal possesions. I can go live somewhere now with just 1 bag of luggage. Step back and think about this for a moment. How free would this make you feel? Another key ideal that I've learned is that you don't have to live your life like society tells you to. Work whatever job you want, go wherever you want, take a break from your professional life if you're curious. You only get one shot here; know you're in control. Follow it.



R

42 Below Week

Well, yet another great week to report on! The week of Sept. 10-16th was the Cocktail World Cup for NZ's own brand of vodka, 42 Below*. 42 Below put on a week-long cocktail competition in which 42 of the worlds best mixologists from all over the world, 14 teams of three, try to make the best 42 Below cocktail. Each team had a home bar in which they practiced all week, I was lucky enough to have one of the coolest, most talented team at Skybar: Scotland. Other teams hailed from England, Ireland, Miami, Las Vegas, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

During the week each team was judged on certain events including making cocktails while bungee jumping, during jetboating, and on top of the Remarkables mountain range! They were also put up in a posh hotel and given cool parties and bar seminars all week.

Being the curious person I am, I got involved in all the events I could. I went to a few bartending seminars and met famous bartending icons such as Dale De Groff, author of The Craft of the Cocktail, and known as the 'King of Cocktails.' He is upon one of the most famous in the bartending world yet surprisingly, he is extremely humble, and super nice. I also was lucky enough to get invited to an exlcusive private party for 42 Below in which all the teams got up on stage and made cocktails for the media. I even got to go up on stage with team Scotland and was on camera making drinks with them, imagine that! The party was well organized and fantastically decorated, like something out of boogie nights, it was wicked!

(Dave and I with team Scotland: Richard, David, and Claire)

(David from Scotland, Lovely Leah from Miami, Alan and Ryan from Ireland)

The final competition was on Saturday in which each team had 7 minutes to make a winning cocktail. Out of 14 teams, the States' very own team, Las Vegas won it! They had liquid nitrogen on stage to freeze strawberries and to infuse strawberry into vodka in minutes. Scotland came in 4th, which was pretty good. After that, a famous kiwi band called The Black Seeds took the stage for a free concert. They were incredible!

(Team Miami on Stage top, team Vegas with their liquid nitrogen. And yes, the bar was made out of ice.)

(Team Scotland)

Later that night was one of the best nights of my life! Skybar had its biggest night ever and was just completely RAMMED busy! We danced on the bar, tables, lit the bar on fire, did umbrella dances behind the bar and parties all night. I got so many compliments on the bar that week from all the 42 Below people saying it was the best bar in town, wow! Then I got invited to the 42 Below after party and partied until 10am! What an epic, epic night!!

(Skybar's biggest night, better than New Years!)

(The crazy after party where everyone got silly. Dale De Groff and I donned in our cult-like robes along with 30 others outside the hotel at 9am. My tie is the belt of the robe! I have no idea how I managed to tie it in the state I was in.)

So it was another crazy week, one of the best and most memorable of my life, again! I met some really inspirational people from all over the world and learned a lot about bartending. I've been inspired to learn more about cocktail bartending and now I'm motivated to stay in the field for a while.

What I realized was how deep this profession can be and how much like engineering it is. There is so much attention to detail in cocktail methods, bar equipment, and knowledge of spirits. There is so much behind why things are done the way they are, why the equipment is purpose-built. The history of spirits and how they originated is quite elaborate and fascinates me. I was just blown away by how creative this field is; it is an art, a science, that I never realized before--truly culinary arts behind the bar.

Then there is the element of flair, which is not just flipping bottles around like Tom Cruise, but merely bartending with style. Watching someone in which all their movements are so practiced and precise while they enjoy making your drink using their creativity and knowledge of mixology is something to behold; it is truly a profession of expression.

For once in my life, through bartending, I feel I can easily transcend my inward creative energy and desire for inspiring people to enjoy their life into an outward feeling that is hopefully enjoyed by all those around me.



*42 Below was invented by a guy named Jeff Ross several years ago in Wellington, hence 42 below degrees latitude. The vodka started in his garage as distilling your own spirits is legal here. With a little marketing the vodka got very popular and eventually was bought by Bacardi for a huge sum of money. Now its one of the leading lines of vodka in the world and has several unique flavours to boot, like Manuka honey, a native NZ honey, passionfruit, kiwifruit, and fejoa, a small green fruit native to the pacific islands.

First Birthday in a Foreign Country

Yes, the Playboy Mansion Party went well. Guests were welcomed into a voluptuous Skybar decorated with pink and black balloons, a borrowed lingerie mannequin, and a bubble machine. Dave went as a pimp, and me, as Hefner, complete with the signature smoking jacket and a pipe. We got a few girls to be bunnies and we all had a wicked night! I still think the Bond party, however, was the best.

(Barbara, Dave, and I)

(Dave with Millie and Gemma, and Petr, Millie and Dave dancing on the bar)

Last week was my birthday party! The night before my big day, we had a small get-together at my house. It was refreshing to not be at a bar and get a chance to BBQ and socialize. Friday, the 10^th, I had a party at Skybar. I didn’t expect anything, but when I walked up there, I was astonished! Dave Harris (I call him Davis), co-worker and best friend, had decked out the whole place with balloons, streamers, and pictures of me and my friends all over the walls! Wow, how special! The night started slow with a cheese platter and a few nice drinks, but then quickly proceeded into a serious piss-up session, as one does on their birthday. People I didn’t even know recognized me from the photos on the wall and bought me Jager Bombs and shots of Chartreuse. It was an epic night.

(Skybar decorations and Chris, Angelo, Kat and I)

(Me, Nikki, and a pumping Skybar)

Saturday, we all went to see Shapeshifter over in Wanaka, a kiwi drum and bass band with very positive lyrics and hints of hip-hop. I’ve seen them before and they are excellent performers, please check out this band if you like electronic music. Their newest album, Solstice, is choice.

(Shapeshifter in Wanaka)

What a great birthday! Three days of enjoyment and one of the best I’ve had. Thanks to all!

If it sounds like a constant party down here, well it is. I guess that’s the nature of running a bar, but most of the time, I like it. I’ve still been having some of the best, most memorable times to date down here and I don’t want it to end. Things have just been working out so great for me since I’ve gotten established. I don’t know if it’s been my positive attitude, just meant to be, or both, but I’ve been so fortunate the last 9 months.

Currently, I even have a few engineering job prospects on the horizon. I’m writing this blog entry from the Wellington Airport since I got flown up yesterday for an engineering interview by a company called OPUS. Today I had an interview with Weta Digital, one of the leaders in the computer animation sector of the film industry contributing to such films as King Kong, Shrek, and Lord of the Rings. Can you believe it? How I got that one, I don’t know, but what an opportunity! They want me for my Solidworks 3D modeling experience.

Just finished with both interviews and everything went smooth. For the first time, I didn’t get nervous for interviews. I feel so confident knowing that NZ is in such a shortage for skilled people. I felt that anywhere I drop my resume, I will get attention. Its such a great feeling. It takes the pressure off the interview and I feel like I can promote myself even more. They never asked the HR questions like why should we hire you. They were so chilled out and laid-back (yes, the Kiwi style) and just was telling me about the job and trying to get me interested. I felt like they were on interview, not me. It was a great experience.

NZ is such a relaxed place with so many subtle differences from the US, you can’t help but fall in love with that. For example, I didn’t even go through ANY security to fly from Queenstown to Christchruch! In addition, during the flight, the pilot said that since we were 10 min. early, a clear nice day, and his last flight for a while, we were going to fly over Mt. Cook! So he took the whole plane (a 737) over Mt. Cook and the West Coast and pointed out the glaciers and Mtns. A spectacular view from the air! Would that ever happen in the US? Diverting a plane for sightseeing? Even when I went through security at Christchurch, the guards were friendly, the line short and fast, and it was just painless. Flying here is painless. A lot of things here are made so simple and trusting to people, I can’t believe it.

That said, I’m thinking of staying another year, especially with these real job opportunities on the go. I’ll keep you all posted, thanks for reading!!

My Pad and the Skybar Parties

Wow, it's been a while again since I posted, I've been so busy with work the last month. To start off the winter season here I decided to throw a trilogy party at the bar with three themed nights three weeks in a row: Miami Vice, James Bond, and A Night at the Playboy Mansion. For the last two Wednesdays there have been Miami Vice and James Bond. The parties were a lot to plan and get decorations for on top of my normal load of work, but they have been a huge success and tons of fun! Miami Vice was great, we all dressed up in cheap 80's sport coats and played 80s tunes all night. Everyone had such a great time!

(Dave, another bartender with Nikki and Anna, two friends (left). Me with Beth and Dave, the three bartenders on that night! (right)

(Some hard lines of icing sugar and two cool dudes)

Next was James Bond. All the bartenders dressed up as Bond wearing our bow ties and carrying a PPK. Brilliant! Quite a few people dressed up as villians and other Bond characters, such as our door man as Oddjob, a girl as Goldfinger, and Jaws...

(Me with 'T', our doorman as Oddjob, and Barbora, one of our bartenders.

It was an epic night, and everyone said it was the best Bond party they ever went to. We played the Bond theme periodically and snuck through the crowd with our guns. It was so much fun! I went to bed at 9am that day.

Next Wednesday is the Playboy party and I hope everything goes ok. I got a Hugh Hefner robe for myself, some pink and black balloons and a few of my female friends to dress in provocative bunny outfits.

Now, as promised some pictures of my cool flat! Its one of the best flats I've ever had. Not only is it a 5 min. walk from town and has an incredible view of the lake and the mountains, it has a spa pool and a sauna! Additionally, the basement floors are heated tiles and we have a big screen plasma TV. My flatties are really cool too! Its such a great set up, I don't want to leave. Chris Payne and his girlfriend Kat are my flatties. Chris is a genuinely nice guy from NZ and helps me out at Skybar. He's a professional bartender and knows his shit. Kat is a lovely girl from Ireland and is a pleasure to be around. I feel so lucky and I don't want it to end!

(Our Front door and view looking down on QT, and, of course, our spa, and BBQ.)

(Our living room and the door to our sauna)

(Our living room, kitchen and TV, and our downstairs bathroom with its' cool tile work)

(Chris and Kat, and Queenstown Wharf after our first snow)


(Me with the Flatties in our living room)

(The view from our front porch, and snowy mountains on Lake Wakatipu from the QT waterfront)

Millonare for a Day...

Yesterday was probably one of the most memorable days of my life to date. You will not believe what I got to do...

My boss, Al Spary, owner of Skybar and 6 other bars in the region, not to mention liquor distributors, liquor stores, and countless real estates, called all the bar managers for an all day meeting. He didn't describe the events of the meeting, but just instructed us to get a taxi at 8:30am.

We arrived to his estate to find three helicopters with their rotors going and were just told to get inside. I'd never been in a helicopter before and always wanted to, so you could imagine how excited I was!

(Kieran, our manager, and Adam, Angelo, and Dan, other Bar Managers)

So here, at 9am, and after being handed an ice cold Heineken inside a helicopter, we took off and began what was to be one of the best adventures I've had to date. Immediately, I was amazed at how versatile these machines were and how quickly they could gain altitude. In no time, we rotated 180 degrees and were 2000 ft up, moving West at 105 Knots.

We headed toward Glenorchy and the Routeburn Track and within 30 seconds traveled the track that took me 3 days only a few months ago. During our initial flight, we flew close to the mountains getting views I only have had in my dreams and that you saw in Lord of the Rings: mountain peaks and ridges running underneath you and opening up into large valleys. I was in the front row seat and experiencing these first hand.

(To Glenorchy via Chopper)

(Routeburn Track from the air)

(Glenorchy, top left, and On the way to Milford)

Next, on the radio I heard, "Al, you wanna go through Milford?." I thought holy crap, we are going through Milford via helicopter, a trip people pay 700 dollars for! We descended through clouds and valleys and passed snow capped mountain peaks in the morning sunlight on our way to Milford, a convoy of three choppers, on a mission.

My third visit to Milford was of course spectacular in the air. Snow topped peaks and calm deep waters below made up the visual stimuli. We stopped for fuel there and then went straight for Bowen falls. Our pilots took us vertically up the falls right next to the water, and turned around and went straight back down toward the ocean floor! Shit! My stomach was turning and I felt like I was dreaming!!

We continued out toward the Tasman sea winding close to the glacial carved rock faces and fern trees. We reached the coast and flew about 100ft up really fast over waves breaking on the coastal rocks. We even found a huge seal colony that we whisked by. Oh my god, what an experience! And it gets better...

There were two huge rocks out at sea and our pilot put the chopper sideways through the middle of them! We followed the coast for another 10minutes and landed on a remote beach only accessible via helicopter or boat.

(The West Coast with Dan and Adam)

We had another beer there and enjoyed the scenery before we hopped back in our cool transport devices and were off. Now up to Mt. Aspiring National park into the glacial capped alpine peaks. We flew just barely above rocky snow covered peaks before Al told the pilots to land.

(Bar Managers: Dan, Angelo, Adam, Rob. Right: All of us enjoying Bollinger Bubbly)

(Al and I)

We landed in the middle of nowhere on a glacier and then broke out a case of Bollinger Champagne! Man, Al has style! He really knows how to enjoy life-a completely different lifestyle being a Millionare. I just couldn't believe it! Here we were in the middle of the Alps in New Zealand, hopping out of helicopters and downing cases of $150 bottles of bubbles. I just felt unreal, like all of the South Island was our playground, like this magic land that we were treading up through the air and exploring like you'd do in a dream. Going anywhere you wanted to go, and doing anything you wanted to do. I got to experience that and I still cannot believe it. How lucky I am. Wow. To think if I'd never left my cubicle in the states and came down here...I just can't fathom what has happened here.

We took off from there, flew up to a high valley glacier and flew right next to it, admiring its giant crevasses and beauty. Again, our pilot, who I'm told is one of the best in the world, flew really close to the glacier, pitching downward toward the snow capped crevassess...man. Maybe I'm still dreaming.

We winded our way through canyons heading toward the East coast, stopping for fuel while refilling our glasses of champagne. We made it to a small old mining town called Dansey's Pass, parked our helicopters and went into the pub. We dried our feet by a hot fire and sat down to have some lunch. I can hardly eat from excitement.

After lunch we took off again and went to St. Bathens, another small mining town in the middle of nowhere. It was just crazy, parking our helicopters and zooming up to these pubs. People couldn't believe us, they were taking pictures of us like we were celebrities. It was then I really felt like a rock star. I got to feel what it was like to actually be famous, a Millionare. We just parked our choppers wherever there was space in open lots. It was so laid back. We did more shots at the Vulcan lodge there and just got back in our flying machines to head to the next pub. We were on a pub crawl all over the South Island, via helicopter. Man, what a trip!

(Maniatoto Valley from the air near sunset, NZ's Big Sky Land)

Flew up to the final pub, the Cadrona hotel and ski lodge, about 4pm to find seven people staring at us and taking pictures. You don't know how cool you feel when you get out of a chopper! Millonare for a day, mate. Wow.

This day will last in my memory forever and probably won't be easily topped. I work my ass off for Al as all the bar managers do. He expects a lot, but then he does things like this. Gives you experiences that money can't buy, well, my money anyway. I am so lucky. It was the first time he'd done this for everyone, I was in the right place at the right time. We'd clocked over 4 hours of flight time, and you could tell even the pilots were having fun.

What a way to experience New Zealand.

Forward Thinking

I watched a movie that has changed the way I think about things. Its an American film called "What the Bleep do we Know?" about quantum physics and how that applies to our lives. Synoptically, this movie discusses how our thoughts dictate our reality and how we can be in control of our environment. They also explain how they have scientifically proven some examples of this.

One such example is Dr. Emoto's work on photographing the water molecule. Dr. Emoto took water from the same source and put it into several different bottles and subjected these bottles to different thoughts and ideas. For example he put a label on one bottle called "Thank You." On another he put "You Make Me Sick. I Will Kill You." The next day Emoto photographed the water molecule with a microscope and got strikingly different images. "Thank You" presented a beautiful, symmetric crystal, while the other was distorted and discoloured. Just the thought that he put on that bottle physically changed the chemical structure of a water molecule! If the body is over 70% water, imagine what your thoughts can do to you...

He also had water subjected to different music, and names of world leaders.
Read more about this experiment here: (http://www.wellnessgoods.com/messages.asp).

I'm starting to believe now more in personal affrimations, optimistic tendancies, and treating others better. Try it. They also talk about in this movie that the synaptic interfaces in the brain are conditioned to certain paths that dictate how we react to situations. We react how we have in the past. Changing our thinking will weaken these links and form new links in the interfaces which will, in turn, change our behaviour.


I've still been really busy with the bar. I've really turned my focus and energy on managing staff. I'm learning how to do this bit by bit and hoping that this experience I can carry on to any line of work. I hope if I can manage a bunch of crazy bartenders, I can manage a group of nerdy engineers any day! I've also attended a manager's seminar through the Otago Polytechnic Univerisity here and learned a great deal on the subject. I will follow the steps necessary and eventually get a internationally recognized General Manager's Certfificate. It costs about $400 but I figure this is a good thing to have. I'm also thinking of attending a professional bartender's course which will give me an internationally recognized credit to the bartender's guild. I guess I just like learning in general and I figure if I do anything, I want to do it well. I'm also updating the website now (or supposed to) so feel free to join in: http://www.goodbars.co.nz/bars/GoodbarsHome/Skybar/tabid/58/Default.aspx

Ski season starts soon here (in about 5 weeks) and the whole town is buzzing about it. I don't expect the snow or the terrain to be anything to write home about, but I think it will be a fun experience nonetheless.

I also have more news to come as I'm moving into a new primo flat with a plasma TV, a spa and a sauna overlooking the lake! Stay tuned.