G'day,
I awoke from a good nights sleep ready to pack and leave the south island to fly to Wellington. The people at the home stay gave me a lift to the airport before jumping on the plane for a short journey to Wellington. I say short journey but it was quite a bumpy ride due to a lot of wind travelling over the water and sometimes felt like the plane was travelling sideways.
We eventually landed and I collected my bags, I now needed to look for Matt O'Mara from Wellington City Council, with only a picture to work with I wondered round the airport. It was however Matt who found me first and we jumped in a taxi to hotel Ibis where I would be staying to drop my bags off.
Then back at Wellington City Council I was able to meet the manager of web content and discovered they use Silverstripe as a content management system and have various e-services such as e-petitions and e-payments. I then moved on to look at GIS and the different map views such as 3D or 2D and scenery such as park view or road view. I was also able to see the e-learning at Wellington used to train their employees, both the face to face training and online learning using Kallidus.
I had a great time at Wellington City Council, it was good to see the technology in the capital and meet new people. Afterwards Matt invited me round to his house for dinner, which was a really kind gesture and it really helped me to feel at home. The food was lovely and everyone was great. After food and chats I went back to my hotel for some sleep and I will see you tomorrow.........
Wednesday 21st in New Zealand
G'day,
I awoke to a beautiful day in Kaikoura and ready to do some Whale watching as recommended by the people at ALGIM. I wrapped up warm and grabbed my camera ready to snap some good pictures. I arrived at the Whale watching centre, handed over my ticket and bought cheese, ham and tomato toasties (Have to admit I didn't like it them too much) then sat down for the safety briefing. We then all hopped on the coach for the journey to the sea front to embark on our boat. We were informed that all the people who get sea sick are best seated at the back as the front bounces around more, therefore I jumped straight into a seat at the front.
Wasn't long before we spotted a Whale but it soon went under again so we set off looking for our second Whale. Some of us wondered onto the top deck and it presented us with a beautiful view. This was until one of the Whale spotters shouted Whale 2 miles ahead and the boat shot off with us all holding on for dear life. If your the type who feels the draft from a door easily this is not for you. We quickly arrived at the new location and managed to get some great shots of the Whale before we needed to head back to shore. Luckily we were able to see some Dolphins and native sea birds along the way. A worth while trip for anyone near Kaikoura if you love wildlife or even just to see the views.
I arrived back in the centre of Kaikoura and decided to do a popular walk along the sea front where I was able to get some amazing photos, see Fur Seals and learn about the history of the area, Whale hunting and the Maori. Kaikoura is truly a wonderful place rich with wildlife and history. I had to hurry though to catch the bus to my next stop, Blenheim.
On arriving in Blenheim I was picked up and taken to my Homestay, this is the first time I have ever stayed in a Homestay and it was different. For those unsure what a Homestay is, you go and stay in someones house and other people stay there too so its like a hotel but it has more of a personal touch, it was nice. Anyway time for bed and I will see you tomorrow.........
I awoke to a beautiful day in Kaikoura and ready to do some Whale watching as recommended by the people at ALGIM. I wrapped up warm and grabbed my camera ready to snap some good pictures. I arrived at the Whale watching centre, handed over my ticket and bought cheese, ham and tomato toasties (Have to admit I didn't like it them too much) then sat down for the safety briefing. We then all hopped on the coach for the journey to the sea front to embark on our boat. We were informed that all the people who get sea sick are best seated at the back as the front bounces around more, therefore I jumped straight into a seat at the front.
Wasn't long before we spotted a Whale but it soon went under again so we set off looking for our second Whale. Some of us wondered onto the top deck and it presented us with a beautiful view. This was until one of the Whale spotters shouted Whale 2 miles ahead and the boat shot off with us all holding on for dear life. If your the type who feels the draft from a door easily this is not for you. We quickly arrived at the new location and managed to get some great shots of the Whale before we needed to head back to shore. Luckily we were able to see some Dolphins and native sea birds along the way. A worth while trip for anyone near Kaikoura if you love wildlife or even just to see the views.
I arrived back in the centre of Kaikoura and decided to do a popular walk along the sea front where I was able to get some amazing photos, see Fur Seals and learn about the history of the area, Whale hunting and the Maori. Kaikoura is truly a wonderful place rich with wildlife and history. I had to hurry though to catch the bus to my next stop, Blenheim.
On arriving in Blenheim I was picked up and taken to my Homestay, this is the first time I have ever stayed in a Homestay and it was different. For those unsure what a Homestay is, you go and stay in someones house and other people stay there too so its like a hotel but it has more of a personal touch, it was nice. Anyway time for bed and I will see you tomorrow.........
Tuesday 20th in New Zealand
G' day,
Today I would move on from Christchurch and travel north to the Whale watching town of Kaikoura. I jumped on the coach and enjoyed the various city and rural views on my trip to Kaikoura. Upon arriving at Kaikoura I was amazed at how beautiful the place was, no skyscraper buildings and gorgeous mountain ranges, definitely a place I would recommend visiting. I then went looking for my hotel and found it fairly easily and was shown to my room. I went to check out the bar to find it full of New Zealand truckers and if they are anything like the truckers in the UK, you don't mess with them. So I set out to find a nice place to eat choosing the beef and reef followed closely by heading back to the hotel for an early night.
So see you tomorrow.........
Today I would move on from Christchurch and travel north to the Whale watching town of Kaikoura. I jumped on the coach and enjoyed the various city and rural views on my trip to Kaikoura. Upon arriving at Kaikoura I was amazed at how beautiful the place was, no skyscraper buildings and gorgeous mountain ranges, definitely a place I would recommend visiting. I then went looking for my hotel and found it fairly easily and was shown to my room. I went to check out the bar to find it full of New Zealand truckers and if they are anything like the truckers in the UK, you don't mess with them. So I set out to find a nice place to eat choosing the beef and reef followed closely by heading back to the hotel for an early night.
So see you tomorrow.........
Monday 19th in New Zealand
G'day,
Welcome to todays blog in New Zealand and today I will meet my first Council in NZ, Christchurch City Council. Here I met Greg Riach and we started with a coffee (Yes I've started drinking coffee over here now). We then headed back to the office where quickly I learned they are moving to SharePoint in the next 12 months. It was great to see how the project is coming together as Leeds City Council is currently migrating to SharePoint. I was then shown the Library and Art gallery sites who are doing large amounts of web 2.0 to push out events and information.
Now time for lunch, Greg took me to a local cafe, which I had a modest sandwich and drink of cola. Then onto my next organisation, Environment Canterbury (E-Can). Here I met David Lewitt who gave me an insight into the role E-Can plays in the community. For those curious, they oversee all the environmental issues such as air quality, coastal environment, emergency management, pests and biodiversity. This was a very unusual place to visit as I found out during a tour, one moment you're in an office with people wearing a shirt and tie, the next you're in a lab with people clutching test tubes. This was an interesting place to visit seeing all the environmental processes in place and getting to look at the emergency room in case of a natural disaster.
I then set off on foot back to the hotel and managed to get lost wondering through the different streets. I did however find a Subway and remember thinking to myself Ill grab one of those later only to not remember where it was, doh! So I eventually found my hotel and settled down for the night.
That is that so see you tomorrow.......
Welcome to todays blog in New Zealand and today I will meet my first Council in NZ, Christchurch City Council. Here I met Greg Riach and we started with a coffee (Yes I've started drinking coffee over here now). We then headed back to the office where quickly I learned they are moving to SharePoint in the next 12 months. It was great to see how the project is coming together as Leeds City Council is currently migrating to SharePoint. I was then shown the Library and Art gallery sites who are doing large amounts of web 2.0 to push out events and information.
Now time for lunch, Greg took me to a local cafe, which I had a modest sandwich and drink of cola. Then onto my next organisation, Environment Canterbury (E-Can). Here I met David Lewitt who gave me an insight into the role E-Can plays in the community. For those curious, they oversee all the environmental issues such as air quality, coastal environment, emergency management, pests and biodiversity. This was a very unusual place to visit as I found out during a tour, one moment you're in an office with people wearing a shirt and tie, the next you're in a lab with people clutching test tubes. This was an interesting place to visit seeing all the environmental processes in place and getting to look at the emergency room in case of a natural disaster.
I then set off on foot back to the hotel and managed to get lost wondering through the different streets. I did however find a Subway and remember thinking to myself Ill grab one of those later only to not remember where it was, doh! So I eventually found my hotel and settled down for the night.
That is that so see you tomorrow.......
Saturday 17th / Sunday 18th in New Zealand
G'Day,
Today was my first day in New Zealand, however the blog is a little late due to Internet issues and little time. However it is here now and I hope you enjoy reading the NZ part of my trip as much as the Aus part.
I landed in Christchurch, NZ and I am so thankful I didn't need to face any jetlag like landing in Australia. I stayed at a modern hotel called Hotel SO, which has some very innovative features. These included a mood light which changed colour depending on the mood selected and sunbeam lights designed to help with jet lag.
As it was a Saturday I decided to see the NZ nightlife. The lovely girl at the reception pointed out some areas of interest and honestly I couldn't find any of them. I figured I would find a nice steady bar and have a drink only to find everywhere empty, I later learned that everyone drinks at home until midnight then goes into town. So I went to the local store for Cola and Chocolate followed by a night of TV.
Soon followed Sunday and I decided to visit the Willowspring Wildlife Reserve, which for me was a great experience. To start with I got to walk around a beautiful environment and interact with a group of Wallabies. They would jump around me, feed from my hand and allow me to take some great pictures so a great experience.
At the Wildlife Reserve I signed up for the Maori experience, which allowed me to learn a lot about the Maori uses of trees and importance of local wildlife. On this experience one of the young warriors perform a war dance during which a branch from a local tree was dropped. I then had to accept the branch as a sign of peace or reject as a sign of war, for obvious reasons I was only told to pick up the branch and only told the other option afterwards (I'm pretty sure I would have accepted peace anyway as the guide explained the men would have to go to war and in this particular tour the only other 'warrior' on my side had been using a bus pass for quite some time). Having accepted the gift of peace we met the Chief, which I did the native greeting and later performed the Haka, a native dance.
I then finished the day off with a night tour around the wildlife reserve to experience the native nocturnal wildlife especially the symbolic Kiwi bird. This ended a great weekend in New Zealand and I can't wait to see what ALGIM (Association of Local Government Information Management) has planned for me. For those who do not know about ALGIM they organised large amounts of my trip to New Zealand. ALGIM like SOCITM (Society for IT Management) in the UK provide tools, services, resources and conferences for its members mostly from Local Government. With that explained I will see you tomorrow...........
Today was my first day in New Zealand, however the blog is a little late due to Internet issues and little time. However it is here now and I hope you enjoy reading the NZ part of my trip as much as the Aus part.
I landed in Christchurch, NZ and I am so thankful I didn't need to face any jetlag like landing in Australia. I stayed at a modern hotel called Hotel SO, which has some very innovative features. These included a mood light which changed colour depending on the mood selected and sunbeam lights designed to help with jet lag.
As it was a Saturday I decided to see the NZ nightlife. The lovely girl at the reception pointed out some areas of interest and honestly I couldn't find any of them. I figured I would find a nice steady bar and have a drink only to find everywhere empty, I later learned that everyone drinks at home until midnight then goes into town. So I went to the local store for Cola and Chocolate followed by a night of TV.
Soon followed Sunday and I decided to visit the Willowspring Wildlife Reserve, which for me was a great experience. To start with I got to walk around a beautiful environment and interact with a group of Wallabies. They would jump around me, feed from my hand and allow me to take some great pictures so a great experience.
At the Wildlife Reserve I signed up for the Maori experience, which allowed me to learn a lot about the Maori uses of trees and importance of local wildlife. On this experience one of the young warriors perform a war dance during which a branch from a local tree was dropped. I then had to accept the branch as a sign of peace or reject as a sign of war, for obvious reasons I was only told to pick up the branch and only told the other option afterwards (I'm pretty sure I would have accepted peace anyway as the guide explained the men would have to go to war and in this particular tour the only other 'warrior' on my side had been using a bus pass for quite some time). Having accepted the gift of peace we met the Chief, which I did the native greeting and later performed the Haka, a native dance.
I then finished the day off with a night tour around the wildlife reserve to experience the native nocturnal wildlife especially the symbolic Kiwi bird. This ended a great weekend in New Zealand and I can't wait to see what ALGIM (Association of Local Government Information Management) has planned for me. For those who do not know about ALGIM they organised large amounts of my trip to New Zealand. ALGIM like SOCITM (Society for IT Management) in the UK provide tools, services, resources and conferences for its members mostly from Local Government. With that explained I will see you tomorrow...........
Friday 16th in Australia
G'day,
Today is my final day in Australia and I went to visit Sydney Downtown Council. Sydney Downtown Council and the structure in place reminds me a lot of Leeds City Council back home so it was interesting to visit them.
At Sydney I got to meet the web team focusing on e-services and the customer focused applications in place such as e-payments. Also discussing the different practises and careers within Sydney Downtown. I then met the project manager and we talked about different management methods and agile development and e-learning. I then met the mapping team who spend time mapping the whole of Sydney such as locations of trees, buildings, roads and cables to aid the teams on the streets with portable computers. This was very interesting as Sydney is such a big place but the models were well constructed. I was also shown the physical 3D model at Sydney Downtown Council created by professional modellers. This looked really amazing and I will put some pictures on for you guys a long with lots of my trip. I will also be doing a presentation and writing an article of my findings so keep your eyes peeled.
So that concludes Australia, tomorrow I fly to New Zealand, so see you on the other side (or the dark side as the Aussies like to call it)........
Today is my final day in Australia and I went to visit Sydney Downtown Council. Sydney Downtown Council and the structure in place reminds me a lot of Leeds City Council back home so it was interesting to visit them.
At Sydney I got to meet the web team focusing on e-services and the customer focused applications in place such as e-payments. Also discussing the different practises and careers within Sydney Downtown. I then met the project manager and we talked about different management methods and agile development and e-learning. I then met the mapping team who spend time mapping the whole of Sydney such as locations of trees, buildings, roads and cables to aid the teams on the streets with portable computers. This was very interesting as Sydney is such a big place but the models were well constructed. I was also shown the physical 3D model at Sydney Downtown Council created by professional modellers. This looked really amazing and I will put some pictures on for you guys a long with lots of my trip. I will also be doing a presentation and writing an article of my findings so keep your eyes peeled.
So that concludes Australia, tomorrow I fly to New Zealand, so see you on the other side (or the dark side as the Aussies like to call it)........
Thursday 15th in Australia
G'day,
Not long to go before New Zealand but today I have a very busy day visiting people in Penrith and Parramatta.
In the morning I met with Kathie Goldsworthy at the University of Western Sydney to discuss the e-learning taking place there. We talked about the content management system in place and different plug ins such as the lecture recorder. This was very interesting as unlike the UK, Australian Councils do not oversee education so it was great to see some e-learning in action.
I then went to meet Richard Hawkins, the web co-ordinator at Penrith Council. Richard showed me the content management system in place there and the issues he is facing. I was also shown the e-services in place before going to lunch, I had the steak sandwich and chips (if anyone was wondering).
I then quickly moved on to meet Professor Peter Phibbs at the Urban Research Centre. Peter helped me arrange my visits today and we had a quick chat about my trip and about my favourite sport, Rugby League (I support Bradford Bulls if anyone was wondering again).
I then returned to Sydney and as it is the last chance I will get to have a few beers I went out for a bit, tomorrow I will be visiting Sydney Downtown Council and packing my bags ready for NZ. See you there..........
Not long to go before New Zealand but today I have a very busy day visiting people in Penrith and Parramatta.
In the morning I met with Kathie Goldsworthy at the University of Western Sydney to discuss the e-learning taking place there. We talked about the content management system in place and different plug ins such as the lecture recorder. This was very interesting as unlike the UK, Australian Councils do not oversee education so it was great to see some e-learning in action.
I then went to meet Richard Hawkins, the web co-ordinator at Penrith Council. Richard showed me the content management system in place there and the issues he is facing. I was also shown the e-services in place before going to lunch, I had the steak sandwich and chips (if anyone was wondering).
I then quickly moved on to meet Professor Peter Phibbs at the Urban Research Centre. Peter helped me arrange my visits today and we had a quick chat about my trip and about my favourite sport, Rugby League (I support Bradford Bulls if anyone was wondering again).
I then returned to Sydney and as it is the last chance I will get to have a few beers I went out for a bit, tomorrow I will be visiting Sydney Downtown Council and packing my bags ready for NZ. See you there..........
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