Marsden is Here

Trip down was very sunny, except for some rubbish over the hills. Checked the net from the motel, but it was slow as molasses and I discovered one of the things I had forgotten was the power cable, so I had to conserve laptop battery.

Caught up with micheinnz in what was left of the afternoon before heading to cthulhu_dream and satanicpushcart pre-wedding thingamabob at 10 Bar, which is a nifty underground (or at least dug-into-the-side-of-the-hill) place. The music wasn't too loud, the snacks kept coming (and I may have overindulged) and I got to catch up with several people and meet a few more out of members of the varied social circles who were present.

Photos, but not tonight.

martial_lore walked the shorter distance back to my motel so I could drive her the longer distance over the hill to her accommodation, saving me braving the drunks of George St by myself.

This morning I loaded up on breakfast at Capers then cecked the net with the last of the battery before catching up with salahdra and then eventually managing to collect passengers and heading north about 12:30.

There was a brief period of concern as the Prius persistently flashed up the warning that means, according to the manual, "Problem with the Hybrid system. Take to dealer IMMEDIATELY" but after a short drive and topping up the tank the message vanished. Best guess is it had been sitting in the sun and was just overheating a bit, but I'll mention it when the car goes in for it's annual service this week.

Overall had a really good time. Wish I had been able to stay longer.

Adrenaline moment of the day - coming around a blind 30kmh corner, on a hill, to discover a truck coming around the other way. Luckily we both fit.

So, home again. Mostly sunny trip up. Convoys of campervans going the other way.

~~~
Taught niece to play solitare, first on the computer then with real cards. Hours of future distraction.

~~~
Going to see if mowing the lawns will loosen up my back a little. Not thanking me for 3 days with long periods of driving.

~~~
Photos later.

I plan to travel down Saturday morning hopefully arriving in time for a late lunch, leaving Sunday afternoon sometime. I don't expect you'll all be at the party, so who am I catching up with when? (lenfant_de_jeu, heidipina I'm looking at you in particular)

I've been advised that there will be a Heroes and Villains themed party on September 18th in Dunedin. (Last year this event was themed Heaven and Hell)

At this stage I'm tentatively planning to attend, I guess I'll also put my hand up to co-ordinate other people wanting to make the trip down from Christchurch.

If there's anyone else vaguely considering going down for their First Party this weekend.

more kea photos


~~~
Prius stats:
Christchurch to Greymouth (empty) - 4.5L/100km
Back to Chch 2 passengers, luggage - lifted to 4.6L/100km
Less than 1/2 a tank of fuel used according to the guess gauge.

I <3 my car.

~~~
If no other solutions arise I may be doing the trip again next Sunday. It's much quicker with company, there will still be a spare seat there & back :)

Friday
Due to a number of delays - like going into the office on the way past where 'the boss' obviously had a different idea of what 'I have two people waiting in the car' meant to me, and one passenger leaving their wallet at home - we got out of Chch abut 11:30, 1.5 hours later than planned. Not far enough ahead of the Undy to avoid being stopped at the first checkpoint where I was breath tested twice for some reason, once at each end of the queue.

Otherwise the trip down was sunny and tiring. We were greeted with rain at the other end. Deposited passengers, napped, sorted out dinner, slept.

Saturday
Ate, whiled away the morning in my motel room. Discovered just before leaving for the BBQ that my motel now has wireless. Yay.

Had BBQ, played San Juan, got Mythbuntu off cthulhu_dream (thanks). Returned to motel for nap.

Post nap applied makeup, headed to party. Heaven & Hell party was good. Slave buying proceeded according to tradition (although I didn't purchase a Dictator this tine) - ie added to my collection of slaves with outstanding duties :) Took many photos, which will be online tomorrow.

Sunday
Checked out of motel, hung out with salahdra while processing photos, brunched with micheinnz and others, collected a couple of things left at the party venue & handed over a CD with the night's photos. Encouraged people to think about coming up here for the Gothic Vampire.

Collected passengers, had a sunny trip back to Christchurch. I was significantly more awake than I sometimes am. That is about to pass.

~~~
Prius Stats

Filled up just before leaving Chch. 3 passengers, light cargo.

4.1L/100km to Oamaru
4.3L/100km by the time we reached Dunedin
4.6L/100km upon return to Chch

Probably the most efficient trip I've made yet. Some of that can probably be attributed to the slightly more leisurely pace than usual.

There are a lot more rumble lines in place than last time I was down. I tend to hang to the left, but I'm going to have to relearn the road for a slightly righter, tighter path.

One seat left. Leaving Friday morning to get ahead of the Undy500. Returning Sunday afternoon.

Party details here.

Dunedinites - I'll have Friday evening and Saturday to kill and catch up with people - who's up for breakfast/lunch/dinner/boardgames/whatever?

Two passengers down
Unfamiliar car.
But awake.

See people later :)

I'm back, in one piece although it was a bit touch and go. I really do need >5 hours sleep before driving Dndn to Chch.

Photos should hopefully be processed & online tomorrow. I left a cd with cthulhu_dream for locals who want to get their hands on the whole set.

You don't need to read the rest unless you really want a blow by blow of the trip :)

( Friday )
( Saturday )
( Decadence and Deviance party )
( Sunday )

There are apparently two guests logged into my digsby widgets, who have been for between 8 and 10 hours. I can't tell which widget (two of my sundry profiles have them) which the digsby developers will hopefully remedy at some point. Anyway, presumably this means that someone(s) have left one of my profiles open for some reason, or digsby is a bot-trap under certain conditions.