Barfing Rainbows
Saturday April 27, 2013
It's finally here.
Early last year, after finishing Extinction Squad, we began development of Robot Unicorn Attack 2. I did a few bits and pieces on our store tech before jetting off to the US for a month holiday. Upon my return, I had found out that I'd been put onto Rise of the Guardians Dash n Drop instead, and there I stayed for five months. It wasn't until the start of this year that I was put back on RUA2 to take over as lead programmer while Thomas shifted onto another project. The past four months have been challenging but I know the team, myself included, are extremely proud to have the game finally out on the App Store. We've hit #1 on the Canadian store, #2 in the US, #3 in Finland and #4 in the New Zealand and Poland stores, and have had several glowing reviews and Apple features to boost our rankings and downloads.
I saw Iron Man 3 last Wednesday. I felt it was better than Iron Man 2 (which I saw for the first time the previous day), but it was pretty much still the same old cheesy action movie. Nevertheless, it was fun and enjoyable, and there was a good Avengers tie-in at the end of the credits, so make sure you sit and wait for that. Congratulations to my friends at Weta who worked on the movie!
Following that, we convened at CGR Merchant & Co for a few drinks to count down the time until RUA2's release at midnight on the New Zealand store, and then to Hadley's house since all the bars closed at midnight for ANZAC day. I had a big day ahead so I didn't stay too long after midnight.
Though Thursday began quite overcast and showery at times, the sunlight slowly broke through and produced some great summery weather. We were out at Eastbourne for an explore around Pencarrow Lighthouse and Lake Kohangapiripiri. The trail is about 8km one way, so the trek there and back took us the whole afternoon. There are some magnificent views of the Wellington region and the South Island from Pencarrow Head, and the deep blue seas reflecting the brilliance of the skies above only made the scenery better. There are numerous goats and sheep around the hills as well, and because the area is so exposed from the south, the winds were excitingly blustery. A day well spent, but I was so tired from the exercise that I was asleep by 9.30pm.
Work will continue being busy for the next month or so, and then I'll be off to Malaysia for two weeks for my cousin's wedding. Woohoo!
Posted by Jeremy at 11:38am on Saturday April 27, 2013 :: 0 comments :: 
The Past Month
Sunday April 14, 2013
...has been absolutely manic. Following on from February's packed schedule, I had events on each weekend in March. After our failed comet viewing attempts at Makara, we decided we'd keep going back for the fantastic night sky and the shooting stars. As winter settles in, the sunsets become earlier and the skies become cloudier still, so we're taking each opportunity as it comes, and we've never been disappointed.
Well maybe that one time when Chloe and I saw all the shooting stars and Mitchell missed like, seven of them. Zing!
Apart from our frequent trips out to the west coast, I've been at Tom and Astrid's pirate-themed engagement and housewarming celebration, as well as Dale and Bec's engagement party. I went bowling at Bowlarama for Jono and Karlyn's farewell, checked out Pete and Bronwyn's new house, saw some dragonboating and did some Shufflin' and Gangnam Style at Luba's D-themed birthday party.
I spent Easter up in Auckland, catching up with the old KCC gang and getting some good old milk tea from Momo's with Sam and Jo, who have now relocated to Melbourne. I played Dominion, 7 Wonders, Citadels and Dixit. I spent a day at Auckland Zoo with my nephew, checking out all that has changed since I was last there 15 years ago. There was curry and steak and seafood... and more steak, and more seafood. Easter was full of great people and delicious food.
The following weekend, we made our way down to the South Island for Matt and Clare's wedding at Peel Forest. Having never been to the South Island before (gasp!), we went for an epic road trip that spanned 1,500km over three days.
First leg of our journey was Wellington to Picton on the 2.30am Bluebridge Ferry. We secured a private cabin for ourselves so we could get some sleep for the long drive ahead. We were expected to land at Picton at 6.30am but they lost power to the main engine and that delayed us until 8am - a blessing in disguise as we managed to get that little bit extra sleep.
We hit Picton just as the sun began to rise over the islands of Queen Charlotte Sound and started the drive to Nelson. The sounds were misty from the early morning, and the water totally still and glass-like. We picked up some breakfast at Havelock - a bacon and egg pie for me - and reached sunny Nelson around 10am. We continued on to Murchison where we had lunch, then crossed over to the east coast via Lewis Pass. The scenery through Lewis Pass is so diverse, with forests, rivers, mountains, snow and barren desert all visible in the space of a two hour drive. We had a quick squizz around Hanmer Springs (not enough time to relax at the pools unfortunately) and made our way to Christchurch for dinner. With sunset rapidly approaching, we picked up the pace and headed out to Peel Forest.
Peel Forest is in the middle of nowhere. It was only on Friday morning that we realised that our accommodation was called "Peel Forest Ecolodge". It was so "eco". No flushing toilets (ugh compost), wasp infestation in the main room, five minute walk through moderate bush from the carpark and cold bunk beds. Even the beds on the ferry were better. I mean, it would have been fine if we were there for a camping trip but we weren't - we were there for a wedding and we needed modern amenities. We arrived around 11pm, after many difficulties finding the place, and passed out.
We were up around 8am and headed out to Lake Tekapo, only 90 minutes drive away. The day was overcast and the usually azure lake reflected the greys of the sky. We stopped by the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd and admired the grandeur of the Southern Alps in the distance, with its sprinkling of snow clearly visible. We hurried back to Peel Forest for the wedding.
The church was tiny, fitting maybe 80 people at full capacity, but nevertheless the ceremony was lovely; both the bride and groom tearing up at various points in the service. The reception was in a marquee at Peel Forest Lodge, where we had quite possibly the best rare steak ever. Juicy, succulent and tasty - everything that meat should be. After hitting the dance floor (yet more Shufflin' and Gangnam Stylin'), we adjourned to the lodge in anticipation of another long drive the next day. I could not help but admire the crystal clear skies from the Ecolodge (we were in the middle of nowhere, afterall) and spent about 30 minutes staring up at the heavens. The Milky Way was quite visible, as were many familiar southern hemisphere constellations. And in a moment of pure magic, there was a shooting star across the sky!
We were grateful for the extra hour of sleep from Daylight Savings, and we left the Ecolodge for Christchurch. We let Google navigate us to Cathedral Square, but the effects of the devastating earthquake have rendered many of the city center's roads off-limits. We parked near the closed Rydges hotel and wandered around a bit, looking at all the grim sites of rubble and destruction. We followed the Avon River down to the new shipping container mall, which had a nice vibrant atmosphere and was bustling with buskers and filled with Sunday morning coffee aromas. We had a quick brunch in Upper Riccarton before taking State Highway 1 to Kaikoura.
Kaikoura's awesome. The peninsula boasts some fantastic views of the mountains to the west and Pacific Ocean to the east, and right down by the coast, one can enjoy some delectable seafood from the world famous Original Kaikoura Seafood Barbeque shack. I had a seafood chowder and whitebait fritter, but people on other tables had splashed out for some grilled crayfish. Yum! A few minutes driving north, we stopped at Ohau Point to take a look at the adorable seal pups swimming upstream under State Highway 1 towards the local waterfall, before continuing the journey to Blenheim and Picton to take the return ferry.
We arrived in Picton with plenty of time to spare and had some takeaways before boarding the ferry. The boat ride to Wellington was as smooth as the trip over, and in three hours we were back on the North Island.
Whew!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:22pm on Sunday April 14, 2013 :: 0 comments ::