Day 23–Tour Day
Today was a long day. We did a big tour of some of the main sites. First main stop was at the old bell tower and we saw the nun from the church across the road climb the ladder and … Continued
Day 22 Checking Out the Desert
Saturday morning we had a bit of a sleep in after lots of travel it starts to catch up with you. We have the biggest bed I’ve ever seen. It’s like sleeping in a bed by yourself the other person … Continued
Day 20-21 Journey to the Driest Place on Earth
This morning we were feeling a bit drained from 3 days being tossed around a 4WD and we had a big journey ahead so we slept in, found the 24h House channel and generally chilled. In the afternoon we said … Continued
day 18-20 Volcanoes
Monday we started our 3 day tour of some of the volcanoes in Ecuador. After a late start due to communication issues we drive to Antisana. First up is a hike – walking at this altitude really hurts and you … Continued
Day 17 Riding the Ciclopaseo of Quito
Last night we went for a bit of a wander for dinner. The place seemed eerily abandoned. The police had started taping a few of the cross streets off for some reason. Found a steak place that we had to … Continued
Day 16 Getting High in Quito
We went in search of high places in Quito. It’s not hard when you’re already at 2800m but we wanted a good look at the city. We’re near old town which has a lot of old buildings and most of … Continued
Day 15 Bye Bye Galapagos, Hello Quito
This morning had a fairly early start with a 6am taxi, a ferry to Baltra, a bus to the airport and a flight to Quito. Annoyingly you “have” to be at the airport 90 mins before the flight even though … Continued
Day 14–KoM hunting in the Galapagos
After sitting around on a boat for a week doing sweet FA I thought it was a good idea to go for a bit of a ride while we had the chance. We’d spotted a bike hire place whose bikes … Continued
Day 13 Stroll out to Tortuga Bay
This morning we woke to rain, so rolled back over and waited for our 8am breakfast to be delivered. After a few hours the sun came out so we decided to go for a stroll to Tortuga Bay. After a … Continued
Day 12 North Seymour and Back to Santa Cruz
Up for 6am start today for our last trip of the cruise to North Seymour. Here we’re on the hunt for Blue Footed Boobies, which we found a few nice specimens that sat fairly still while we took photos … Continued
Day 11 Santiago and Bartolome Islands
This morning starts with a zodiac cruise of the shore of Santiago island. We’re in search of Blue Footed Boobies but alas none to be found. There are however, quite a few nesting pelicans. There’s a juvenile hawk that for … Continued
Day 10 Fernandina and Crossing the Equator
This morning we visit a new island – Fernandina. The zodiac driver is quite skilled at navigating us through the shallow rock to land on the concrete platform. Here lives the largest population of marine iguanas. The rocks are literally … Continued
Day 9 West Isabella
This morning I’m sleeping with the help of some cold and flu one of the other passengers had. The real stuff is so effective and so annoying that it’s almost impossible to get at home. John goes out on the … Continued
Day 8 Isabella Island
Today I’m feeling worse so I pretty much sleep the entire day. John goes to the island in the morning to visit yet another breeding center. This one has lots and lots of babies. It’s almost surprising there’s any of … Continued
Day 7 Santa Cruz Island
Today we’re on the most populated of the islands – Santa Cruz. We spend the morning at the Charles Darwin Foundation and breeding center. There’s some massive guys here but the pens and the light aren’t so great. We wander … Continued
Day 6 Santa Fe and South Plaza Island
Today I’ve woken up with a head cold. I think weeks of battling people at work and on the bus coughing on me, long travel and probably the cold snorkel tipped me over the edge. Still not terrible, I load … Continued
Day 5 All aboard the Galaven
Today we head out on our 8 day boat trip around the islands. We get a nice sleepin and wander into town. Have one last meal at our regular food place and look for a long sleeve shirt for John. … Continued
Day 4–Reverse 360 around The Island
Today we set sail early to do the 360 tour of San Cristobal. I was keen to check out Kicker Rock as it’s supposed to have heaps of sharks at snorkel depth. We motor on for awhile, pretty much the … Continued
Day 3–Turtle ride to Puerto Chino
This morning we woke to rain. That annoying type of rain that isn’t pouring but enough to be annoying, especially when we were supposed to be going riding. We headed over the bike shop, had a chat and decided we … Continued
Day 2–Arrived in San Cristobal
Flight 4 of 11. After yesterdays’ mega journey, today’s plane ride of 2 hours seemed short. Last night we stayed at Air Suites which is really close to the airport. It was a bit of an odd experience in that … Continued
Day 1–Arrived in Guayaquil
Today was a long day of travel. There were border security strikes at all international terminals today and we only had 1 hour to get from our domestic flight to international in Sydney so I got it moved. Meant an … Continued
South America Bound
We’re doing a bit of travelling over the next month. We’ll be visiting Ecuador and Northern Chile. Always keen to meet some local devs to if you’re in those areas let us know so we can say hi!
Hololens for Everyone (us and canada only)
Great news for everyone that wanted a Hololens and couldn’t get past the application form stage. The team announced today general availability of up to 5 devices from the store. Only catch is it is still only available to those … Continued
Band 2–GPS Power Saver Mode
Microsoft’s ears must have been burning the other week when I wrote up my dislike of the power consumption when I’m cycling with my band. No long after that they released a new feature: GPS Power Save Mode which you … Continued
Microsoft Band–My Band Journey
At Build last year I rushed to the Microsoft store to buy a Microsoft Band. They weren’t available in the US and what drew me to the device was the phone integration and the ability to track my bike rides. … Continued
Altering Font Size Based on User Proximity Using Kinect
One of the things we discussed at our recent presentation covering Kinect was using is in the periphery as an aide rather than being the centre of attention. The concept was simple- as the user moves closer or farther away … Continued
Presentation in Johannesburg – Preparation for the NUI – a developers survival guide
Today we visited Microsoft Johannesburg office and presented about preparing for NUI. We covered some history, talked about all type of sensors and senses, Kinect, and of course the potential for HoloLens. We had some great audience participation with our … Continued
Day 24–Rain, Rain and More rain
The first day of spring and it was … raining. The tour guides cooked up a storm for us last night and we were hoping for some sun today but alas it was not to be. It was the worst … Continued
Day 22 and 23–Rain, Rain Go Away
It’s been raining for 2 days. The kind of rain that’s quite annoying. It rains a bit, stops. You think you’re good and go outside for it to start up again. The sun decided to peek through the clouds late … Continued
day 21–Taking the Cheetah For A Walk
Today was a bit miserable – cold, overcast and threatening to rain. After the morning feed we gave the servals some new hay for their beds. Each group inspected the new bed for approval. Ubuntu and Upendu decdided they weren’t … Continued