Idlemind - nickcoster.com » travel http://www.nickcoster.com Future gazing from a quiet corner of cyberspace. Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:50:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 New Years Day 2008 (2) http://www.nickcoster.com/2008/01/new-years-day-2008-2/ http://www.nickcoster.com/2008/01/new-years-day-2008-2/#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 21:32:36 +0000 nick http://www.nickcoster.com/?p=134 The weather this Christmas has been surprisingly mild this year. By mild I mean that it has not been swelteringly hot and muggy. Instead the skies have been grey and occasionally menacing. In Brisbane there was an occasional downpour, but not so that it dampened anyone’s spirits.

It would be nice though if we could get just one bright sunny day while we are on the road near the beaches. We went for a post dinner stroll along the beach here at Kingscliff and were just awed at the raw power of the vast ocean. Looking out to the horizon the sea met the storm clouds.

I took this little snap of Adrienne with my phone.
Adrienne at the beach

Even with the wind howling around us, it was beautiful to be out there. Just watching the news as I write this they are talking about a new 30 year weather pattern that will bring rain and storms to the coast.

]]> http://www.nickcoster.com/2008/01/new-years-day-2008-2/feed/ 0 New Years Day 2008 http://www.nickcoster.com/2008/01/new-years-day-2008/ http://www.nickcoster.com/2008/01/new-years-day-2008/#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2008 06:44:41 +0000 nick http://www.nickcoster.com/?p=132 The food was great, the drink flowed freely and everyone had a very happy new year. Waking up this morning was not as hard as I thought it might have been after the night before. We are on the road back home now, stopping off at Kingscliff for a couple of nights so that we can be close to the Gold Coast for a meeting tomorrow. On Thursday we will head home via the New England Highway and stay over in Armidale.

Today though, we waved goodbye to the Brisbane clan and are having a quiet little rest at the Peppers resort here. Not a bad start to the new year if you ask me.

]]> http://www.nickcoster.com/2008/01/new-years-day-2008/feed/ 0 Brief update…. http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/06/brief-update/ http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/06/brief-update/#comments Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:22:38 +0000 nick http://www.nickcoster.com/?p=117 It has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened. I have run the half marathon and although I just missed out on my target time I was really happy with my 1:03:19 time fo rthe 21k run.
I didn’t get into the NYC marathon. Maybe next year.
I have changed jobs, leaving the bank and moving to eBay. This kicked with a trip to the US to get to know the US team and find out about upcoming projects. My first day in the Sydney office is tommorow.
That’s all for the moment.

]]> http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/06/brief-update/feed/ 2 iPod in airport = Bad http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/03/ipod-in-airport-bad/ http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/03/ipod-in-airport-bad/#comments Tue, 28 Mar 2006 12:54:22 +0000 nick http://www.nickcoster.com/?p=115 I am finally in a plane headed to Melbourne and lucky to be here at all. I missed my flight at 8:30pm for 2 reasons.

  1. When I looked at my boarding pass I confused my seat number (5D) with the departure gate. Stupid.
  2. While I was patiently waiting for the (now overdue) boarding call I was listening to a ranting podcast, completely unaware that the plane was infarct leaving on time and was trying desperately to call for me.

Still unaware of my error I proceeded to board the plane from the wrong gate with everyone else in the lounge. As I scanned my boarding pass, there was suddenly a problem. My pass was returning the wrong name. Do they ask for id? No. Do they try and resolve the problem? No, they direct me onto the plane anyway.

Thinking that at last I could relax and be on my way I sit down and stow my bags. A moment later there is another problem. Someone else has my seat number. I am just about to get grumpy now, when the hostess mentions that this flight is headed for Coolangatta and not Melbourne.

Oh. Dear.

Once out of the plane the Qantas staff were very helpful in getting me back on track, although the next available flight was at 10:20pm. It certainly gave me an opportunity to reflect on my attention while traveling.

]]> http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/03/ipod-in-airport-bad/feed/ 0 Happy 2006 http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/01/happy-2006/ http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/01/happy-2006/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2006 08:51:24 +0000 nick http://www.nickcoster.com/?p=106 Well it has been a pretty good year. A lot changed and a lot stayed the same. It has been a while since the last post, and there are some ipod updates that I need to make, but i’ll get to that later.

The fun part of what I am doing right now is that I am blogging this directly from the bus on the way home. COOL!!

Not far from my stop now so it is time to publish the post..

]]> http://www.nickcoster.com/2006/01/happy-2006/feed/ 0 My First Day in Paris http://www.nickcoster.com/2005/09/my-first-day-in-paris/ http://www.nickcoster.com/2005/09/my-first-day-in-paris/#comments Sun, 04 Sep 2005 05:29:25 +0000 nick http://www.nickcoster.com/?p=98 It is nearly 1pm in a little suburban area on the outskirts off Paris, on the way to Versailles. I am going to try and get myself into the city by public transport. I need to wait until 20 minutes past one to get the bus. Here are a couple of photos of the view from the bus-stop. Very quaint. I am going for a quick stroll while I wait for the bus.

Lovely little streets. It is clichéd but nice. Every one is shopping at the markets and patisserie and leaving with the long French bread rolls. The markets look just like a local growers market, with flowers, fish, meats and verges as well as a clothing rack.

Still 10 minutes before the bus arrives. Looking at the intersection in front of me reminds me to be careful when crossing the street here. People drive on the right here so that means that I am in mirror land where everything is flipped around. So as a pedestrian I need to make very sure to look in every direction when crossing the road. It is also hot and the bus stop is indirect sun.

It is 1:45pm. I just realized that I was sitting at the wrong bus stop. Live and learn I guess. I have also learned how to read a French bus time table as a result. Believe it or not there are weekend timetables that differ from weekdays. Surprise, surprise!

Basically I just missed the first bus at 1pm because I was at the wrong bus stop. Now I have to wait till 2pm for the bus. A full hour wait. That’s ok. I have been trying to learn some French while I wait. OK… €1.40 for the bus from hotel buss stop to Pont de Severes, which is the location of the train station that will take me into the city.

… That was all quite stressful but it was a great experience. Phew!!

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