Preface: I wrote this as a catch-up post on Sunday night, because I realised I hadn't written anything on my personal blog for a week. But as always happens to me, a few words become a couple of thousand, so I've decided to slice it into several posts for those who don't specialise in endurance reading. But keep in mind that I wrote it as one long ramble, so it will probably make more sense read in sequence… It's been such a busy week, I'm not really sure wh...

Before I set off on my American adventure, whenever I told people where I was going, most people just looked blankly when I said "Dubuque." Those few that had heard of the place didn't sound too complimentary. Well, to all those who hadn't heard of the place, allow me to introduce you. It's a smallish city, a bit like Palmerston North, and the central part of the city is laid out in a grid also. But the architecture is quite different, with a lot of concrete p...

For those that don't know, the title of this blog is taken from one of the most famous quotes from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It seemed an appropriate way to summarise the last few days here in the US. It's been full-on since the program started on Monday, and I've seen so much, spoken to so many people, and had so many ideas crammed into my head (not to mention the food crammed into my mouth), that it's a little overwhelming. As I'm renowned for long-winded writi...

After arduous international travel from one side of the planet to the other, I was relieved to land in Washington DC and check into our hotel. A reasonably decent night's sleep recharged the batteries enough to have a poke around the political mecca that is Washington DC... We (me and my posse of other exchangees) christened our shiny new Metro subway farecards, and after two failed attempts to breach the turnstile (don't need to insert it, don't try to go in...

So I've landed in Auckland, where the wind it is a'blowing! I think I heard somewhere that a tornado is forecast. Fingers crossed there are no sharks in it [insert Sharknado reference here]! It's a bit hectic, trying to get round and visit all my family in one day. My lovely sister Nikki collected me from the airport, and we stopped in at Mum's where I got to meet the latest addition to her menagerie - a 9-month old Maine Coon called Guinevere. She's a gorge...