Queenstown. First impressions.

Smooth and uneventful flight from Sydney to Queenstown. Met at the airport by the person who would be our tour guide once our tour started in 2 days. He did some sidetrips on the way to hotel to see some awesome views, and drive around town to help us get our bearings. Also made suggestions on what we can do in our time before the tour.

Our room at the St Moritz is fabulous. Mini kitchen. Washer/dryer. Bedroom and living room separate. Shower that is separate from tub. All the rooms look out onto the lake. I took some fabulous pictures with my camera that is supposed to send the pictures over to the iPad via wifi but I can't get it to work. Not sure why not. It worked at home. Anyways there are some pictures from the room balcony that I shot with the iPad. They may not post. I am having troubles tonight with getting them to upload to the blog. Well here goes. Of it doesn't work I'll try again tomorrow.

We had a local beer sitting out on the wharf. Walked around town, really quite small, and then had a fabulous fish dinner. I had blue cod and Dana had groper (which is not grouper). This restaurant tries to locally source most all of its product from the South Island of NZ.

We are both exhausted. Trying to stay up,til 8 NZ time. Not sure if we will make it or not.

Travels to New Zealand. Long flight.

March 6 2015

On flight to Dallas. Left about 40 minutes late because of a lot of flights being cancelled yesterday and this flight is extremely full. What was fun was visiting with a friend of mine who works at the charlotte airport. Had a nice visit while she was in between her double shift. 

We left charlotte on a Friday night and are arriving in Sydney Sunday morning and will be in NZ Sunday night. This time zone thing and 26 hours of travel is kind of mind boggling.

Made it just fine on our flight from Dallas to Sydney. Double decker plane. Airbus a380. For once I'm on a flight where the entertainment system works. Watching The Hundred Foot Journey.  Culinary adventure with french and Indian cuisine. Unfortunately it made me hungry for some good food. Lots of fun.  Dana is watching Lord of the Rings since our tour is going to go to where it was filmed. Plane not full so I moved to window seat and Dana in aisle seat with an empty seat between us. Clean and comfortable for now. 16 hour flight to Sydney. Then a flight to New Zealand. Looks like we will be well fed. Love the Australian accents of the crew. 

I have slept about 2 hours but woke up thinking that 16 hours in one plane is a new record for me. And that there are still 11 hours left. I looked at the flight path and realized something. I have never before in all of my travels been to the Southern Hemisphere. I've mostly traveled to Europe with Scandinavia also thrown in there. I've been north to Alaska. I've been to some Caribbean islands. But have never been to Asia. Or South America. Or Africa. With this trip I'll be in Australia. Albeit only the airport. And then New Zealand. Maybe now that I've gotten these thoughts out of my brain I can go back to sleep. 

Slept for a while. Then watched the movie The Love Punch with pierce Bronson and Emma Thompson. Cute. A bit predictable. Most of it takes place in Paris which made it seem to fit my mood. Movie over and still 6 1/2 hours of flying time left. 

 Next movie was a tear jerker. If I Stay about a prodigy cello player and her love of a rocker. And then. .. A tragic accident.  Not giving it away. And now only 4 1/2 hours left!  Hope they serve breakfast soon I'm getting hungry. 

In between movies, sleeping, eating, playing games on my iPad I'm reading a book recommended by a friend. The Bone People. Takes place on the South Island beaches of New Zealand. Bound in Maori myth. I bought it at the used book store in Weaverville and just discovered that the original price on it was from the UK.  Took a little bit to get into it but now I'm really liking the novel. He said to always read something about the country you are about to visit. 

 

Pre trip last minute

All packed night before trip. Suitcase weighs 35 pounds plus my carryon. I was mostly packed on Sunday due to working all week. Now starts the did you. Pack ?  Or ? No matter what something will be forgotten. But that is ok. And then our pre-vacation ritual. Dinner at Stoney Knob Restaurant. We don't like to cook etc right before a trip. Now to figure out what time to leave home tomorrow to have plenty of time for all those things that might happen. Bad weather shut down a lot of flights today. Hopefully weather will be clear tomorrow.  Now I'm chilling. Hope I can sleep tonight. Long couple of days of traveling coming up.

New Zealand here we come. Resurrecting my travel blog.

I started this blog a number of years ago when I was traveling a lot for work and some for pleasure as a way to keep track of my thoughts when I was traveling. Haven't used since 2010 since I've been on Facebook (way too much ). This time I am traveling for a long period of time and thought it was time to resurrect my blog. And some of my friends, work buddies, and family are not on face book. So here goes.

Today is Wednesday night and on Friday at this time Dana and I will be bound for New Zealand. Some people call it the once in a life time trip. But for those of us who love to travel we think every trip is special whether to Georgia to visit customers or Maine to see family or half way around the world. I plan on posting pictures and stories. Let's see how it goes. And mom this blog while I am gone is dedicated to you.

Rachel's Reflections

The following was part of our company (Karpen Steel) e-news letter that I thought I would share with everyone. I also used it for our company luncheon with a few ad-libs, edits and so forth. (FYI, last year my theme was traditions). 

2010 has been a year for reflecting and figuring out new ways to look at my daily life both at work and at home. A lot of these changes were based on outside influences, things I had no direct way of controlling. How I chose to deal with these changes has been through various means, some of which I have learned in my Yoga classes.

For instance, our instructors teach us to focus on the here and now and not worrying about what comes next. So, when we are doing a specific exercise, the idea is to work hard to master that exercise to the best of our own personal ability, not to compare ourselves to the person next to us, but to try our best and persevere. Perseverance is not about working ourselves so hard that we collapse unable to do the next exercise. It is working hard and stretching ourselves to continually improve. I have also learned perseverance through another exercise class, which is an intense workout. I have seen some people unable to finish the workout because they started out too hard too soon, without building up their stamina, instead of setting realistic goals for each session.

How does this apply to work? I have learned not to worry about the future (plan and persevere, yes), to work my hardest every single day, and to make sure that the company produces the best quality product every single day. I have also learned that when things get the best of me, to retreat to my office and take big deep "yoga breaths" or go outside and get some fresh air and regroup. I will be the first to admit that I don't always do this soon enough, but life and self-improvement is a journey.

Part of living in the moment is also pausing to reflect on my surroundings and to appreciate the people in my life, especially my husband. One day we stopped a class for a few moments to appreciate the sunset, which was beautiful, and which will never be the same again. Likewise, I am learning to take some time off, to travel, to take long walks building up to short hikes, to taste really good wine made in North Carolina and so forth.

Let this year's holidays create memories you will long cherish, and may 2011 allow you to improve your present abilities, to learn new skills and to relish the joys of everyday life.

President

Greetings of the Season

Rachel’s dog, Panda, wishes you all happy holidays on behalf of all of us at Team Karpen Steel.

Veterinarians

One of our dogs, Panda, needed to have some surgery today at the vets. She had her teeth cleaned and she had a growth on her ear removed. We scheduled both for the same day so that should would only have one traumatic day. But it was 2 different vets at the animal hospital that did the surgery.

What has always amazed and amused me about the Animal Hospital of North Asheville is how awesome they
are and how much they check up on you. I always wished that our pediatrician had been as in touch with us. First we had a check in appointment today where everything was thoroughly explained to me. Then when Panda was in surgery, we had phone calls from each of the doctors, and one after she went into recovery. And, they were very thorough with written instructions on how to care with her tonight besides verbally reviewing everything with us.

And, I know that during the next few days they will call us at least 2 more times to check in with Panda (or more). Based on past history with this group, you never feel neglected and they are always available to answer questions or concerns.

So, why when I need to talk to my regular physician is it so hard to get someone to return a call? Or to check up on us afterwards, or to see if we need more information. I think one big thing is that with animals who can't express themselves in words, they want to make sure we know what to expect. And customer service is paramount, when everything that is done for them is really "elective". We don't typically have insurance for dogs, and they want us to be satisfied and wanting to come back to their practice. In fact, one of the other vets stopped by to chat with me for a few minutes while I was in the waiting room and I got a chance to ask her about the med dosage for my other dog.

So, this is really a thank you to the awesome care that my dogs receive at the animal hospital, and to let everyone know that great customer service makes a difference in everything that all of us do!

Changes

What I hate being an owner of a small company, is trying to make changes. Not just the thought of what people will accept, but having to keep so much of the work "quiet" until it is time for an announcement. I guess that this is not true just about changes, but also about fun projects (like the T-shirts we did a couple of months ago), or the Holiday presents that just arrived and are stashed away.

I think it is the secrecy that is hard to deal with. So, my research, or my plans, or my thoughts can only be shared with 1 or at the most 2 other people. On small things, this is fairly easy, but on larger projects it gets harder. Whether the changes are big and awesome and good, or the changes are thing we wish didn't have to happen it takes its toll on me until it is implemented and rolling along.

I guess this is why outside management consultants manage to stay in business. They become a confidant outside of the organization. But, who can afford that luxury in these times? And, I can't talk with my husband about some of the things on my mind ( because he also works at the same company), and I can't talk with my immediate family members (like my mom or brother), so I talk to myself. The best thing is, I usually agree with myself.

One fun change that is now implemented is the fact that Dana and I are now taking a 1/2 day off every week for US. Not to do laundry or grocery shopping, but to explore, hike, walk, talk, eat out and have fun. This past week we went to downtown Asheville to Lexington Avenue Brewery. We both had a flight of 6 beers, really good food to eat, and then walked around down town for quite a while. Before heading out we stopped at a used book store where I had credit. We are planning on doing this at least through the spring.

The economic situation has caused all of us to have changes at work and at home. Change is not all bad, it can be good and I plan on continuing to enjoy the challenges ahead.