Where is Darran?

This was one of my favorite and most memorable days of New Zealand.

It started off by picking up some passes for the Mt. Fyffe Hut. The hut is maintained  by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and a pass is required to spend a night in the hut. The pass is a steal at 5 NZD a night for an adult. This hut is well maintained, has 8 bunks with mattresses, back-country bathroom facilities, and a wood fired stove for cooking and heating. There is also a rainwater collection system for drinking water and washing dishes.

Next, we went to check out the Kaikoura seal colony. Mikey had already been there, but was nice enough to go back so that I could see it too. Seals are very good at blending in with their surroundings. Unless you get a close up picture of a seal, your seal pictures are most likely going to look like rock pictures.

On the way to the seal colony we noticed a Cray stand. Cray is crawfish in Kiwi. They were cooking up a few different things and we settled on Cray fritters. It was a good choice.

We were going to spend a night on the mountain which meant that we were going to need some food. The grocery store was next on the list. We decided to eat right on the mountain and settled on some steaks, potatoes,  and vegetables for the evening meal. For breakfast we got some eggs and other tasty items not normally found on the trail. From the store, we headed off to the trailhead. Once there, we packed our bags and started our way up the mountain.

The trail is an access road making it not too hard to hike, but there is a good deal of elevation change. The hut is at 3600 feet in elevation. Below is a picture of Kaikoura from somewhere along the trail.

With some good conversation and Mikey’s good singing we made it up to the hut, dropped our bags, and attempted to summit Mt. Fyffe. After analyzing the pace Mikey and I were holding, we decided to head back to the hut and summit the peak the next day.

If you do make it up here, make sure to bring a cook kit and some cooking utensils. Mikey saved the day by bringing a cook kit. Without that, we would have had to get very creative preparing and eating our meal.

After doing some dishes Mikey and I got into the bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label he had purchased the night before. We also got some good games of Backgammon going before going to bed. Below is a picture of Kaikoura at night from the hut.

Tour progress so far:

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There are quite a few programs for watching TV with on linux, but the best one I have found is me-tv! You can download me-tv from https://launchpad.net/me-tv/+download or via your distributions package manager. It makes scanning for channels, adding channels, watching TV, and recording shows a cinch. Big up to me-tv!

Today I started off on my own again. This time headed north to Kaikoura. The bus up to Kaikoura was smaller and only had a handful of people. This allowed the driver and I to take an excursion to Mt. Fyffe after dropping off the rest of the backpackers at the hostel. The driver and I summited Mt. Fyffe, hung around for a bit at the top, and then headed back down. The track is easily doable, but be sure to bring plenty of water. Bring some good hiking footwear because even during September part of the track is covered in snow.

The Summit looking towards another range

Summit marker with driver, Cam, getting into a snack

Some pictures of Mt. Fyffe from a distance

On the way back to the hostel, the driver and I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some sausage, bread, barbecue sauce, and beer. When we got back to the hostel, I cooked up some grub and eventually met up with an old friend I had traveled part of the North Island with, Mikey. Mikey had hired a minivan that had been converted to a camper from spaceships.

After getting some grub and killing a few beers we walked around Kaikoura scouting for night life. Kaikoura is pretty quiet at night but there are a few bars that can be found. There is a long walkway beside the beach that stretches the length of town. We walked almost the entire distance and then returned back into town and entered an Irish pub just as it was closing. Luckily, across the street was a bottle shop. I think we picked up some beer (I know I couldn’t decide if I wanted more or not) and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label. We returned to the hostel and had a drinking session.

I don’t remember what we discussed or how it ended, but I felt alright in the morning. I do remember the hostel, The Lazy Shag Backpackers, had a nice fireplace in the kitchen/lounge area, a nice kitchen, and dorms with their own bathroom.

Tour progress so far:

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After a big night out, we were slow to rise. Danny, Vincent, and I went out to have some lunch, but I can’t remember where we ate.

Cathedral Square from the side

Afterwards, we went to the park to throw the frisbee and rugby ball around. Eventually, we were joined by Mark, Lucy, and Jack and spent around 5 hours enjoying each others company. The weather was incredible. Families, older couples, young children, and everyone else were really enjoying the park.

We then headed back to base and got some Japanase food at an eatery that was right around the corner. I finished my meal and then I think I finished off Vincent’s. After dinner, we had a lengthy UNO tourney in the Base bar. The picture below accurately depicts a professional UNO environment.

We eventually grew tired of UNO and decided to go out. Not much was open, but we headed to Soul Square. This is an area full of bars and restaurants. The place was dead, but we found an Irish pub with live music and a crazy dancing girl accompanied by two crazy dancing guys. I was not feeling the bottle after the night before, but the rest of the crew downed a few before we left to get some McDonalds on our way home. I tackled the Mac Attack the day before. Today I set out to tackle the Hunger Buster.

Tomorrow, I would have to leave Mark, Vincent, Jack, and Lucy to head north to Kaikoura. After enjoying such great company through so many great days, I would be on my own again.

Sr. Project Analyst – Req # 583709

Responsibilities

In this position, you will be a member of Intel’s Corporate Platform Office supporting microprocessor and SoC design teams in Austin, Texas. Your responsibilities will include implementing and maintaining project management systems, metric development, and analysis in the areas of critical chain project management, resource optimization, productivity, technical indicators, and risk management.   You will work independently with first line through senior engineering managers to provide regular analysis and recommendations in all aspects of project management.

Qualifications

You should possess a Master’s degree in electrical engineering or computer science (with relevant technical knowledge) and >7 years of experience in project controls/project management, or equivalent experience.

- Proven leader within a highly matrixed organization

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- Ability to influence and advise senior staff on program management topics

- Must be flexible and posses the ability to work successfully in a dynamic team environment

- Self-starter, able to achieve results with minimal supervision

- Excellent communication skills at both technical and business levels

- Prior engineering experience in a CPU or SoC design environment

- Strong PC and Unix skills

- Working knowledge of Excel*, pivot tables, formulas, and VBA* would be an added advantage

- Experience with theory of constraints methods and tools (CCPM* / ProChain*) would be an added advantage

- Some programming expertise in web-based systems, Perl, or SQL* would be an added advantage