Carnaval in the Hunter

We recently had our annual office-wide company offsite. Last year, you'll recall, it was spent skiing down south. This year, the venue would be the Hunter Valley, one of my favorite places in Australia outside of Sydney. 3 days and 2 nights spent in the wine region, with a ton of fun in store for all. The morning we left was also the morning of the dust storm - and the dust was apparently worse up north in the Hunter.

Vonnie and Fadhila - notice how everyone is

wearing the same hat. One of the many pieces

of sweet swag we got as a result of the Carnaval

theme.

I dunno, I think it's a good look for me...

While there was a portion of the offsite dedicated to actual work stuff, there were ample opportunities to have a bit of fun. For example, my team had not spent our quarterly offsite budget yet, so we decided to go horseback riding. It was quite stunning - the sun was shining, the wind blowing the tall grass, magpies swooped out of the sky to attack your head. Really magical.

Me and Rusty, who was generally well-behaved,

but who made a really dramatic scene when

walking downhill with me on his back.

While we waited for the one taxi in the Hunter

Valley to come pick us up, we entertained

ourselves with a few of the animals hanging around.

Anna, pictured here with Buddy, the happiest

little pooch you've ever seen.

There was also a very affectionate cat, who at

one point disappeared into a bag of sawdust

only to emerge completely covered in it.

The first evening there we had a fantastic pub quiz competition with 300 people, hosted by Lincoln, who dressed up as a bogan (the Aussie equivalent of a redneck). There really isn't a huge difference between the two - mullet, cut-off shorts, plaid sleeveless t-shirt. He was an awesome host, and the evening was great - mensa problems, balloon animal making, and my personal favorite, movie quotes (destroyed it). After an evening of drinking and dancing, most of us retired to bed to prepare for the next day.

After the work festivities were over the following day, and we had gone horseback riding, we all began to change into our costumes for the evening, which would bring the offsite's biggest party. Even better, it would be themed after Brazilian Carnaval, and everyone was encouraged to dress up. In my 4-and-a-half years, it was probably the best Google party I had ever attended. There were food stalls set up with Mexican, Indian, Asian, and American food (I think I had 4 massive tacos), and the mood was set with tiki torches burning in the darkness. Then, the party kicked off.

Out of the darkness emerged a massive Brazilian

percussion band, which immediately got

everyone dancing.

We also had dancers.

Bora and me - she was the only one who knew

that my mask was from Venetian Carnaval and

not Brazil. Curses!

At one point, the entertainment turned to

Capoeira dancers.

Fadhila and me - I wish I could say that the soft

filter was an artistic choice, but I'm fairly

certain I just touched the lens after eating my

tacos.

Fadhila post-lens-cleaning, with the

maracas we got as another part of

our swag.

The footballers, before things got rowdy.

Ashleigh and Joe, mid-meal.

Hooray for matching costumes!

The Golden Girls.

Jasper - part Brazilian, part Jamaican - and

Joel / Zorro.

The party rages on outside on the patio - which

was sadly right outside of some other guests'

rooms. They picked a bad week to come, I guess.

Verne, dressed up as...I really don't know.

Me and Victoria. I've discovered that the

amount of alcohol I consume is directly

proportional to the likelihood of me

making Magnum / Blue Steel / Le Tigre /

Ferrari faces in pictures.

Alan, our Engineering Site Director, maraca-ing

things up.

Isa and Roger. Little-known fact: Under the right

circumstances, a maraca can actually substitute

as a microphone.

Adam and Lu. Not shown: Lu's small shaker of

glitter, which she went around shaking on everyone.

I was still finding glitter in my hair several days

later.

What has been seen cannot be unseen - this is

one of the most disturbing photos of the evening.

Ashleigh and me...and my gills. My secret is out:

I am part mer-man.

The evening progressed (mostly) without incident, and eventually the party moved inside and continued into the wee hours of the morning. The following day, we had one last fun activity planned.

The following morning - guess who can't

take serious photos?

Ok ok ok, I'll give you one seri-DANGIT YOU

GUYS.

For our fun activity we did a wine blending and

cooking class. What better way to spend a day

after a party than drinking wine in the hot

sun at 10 in the morning?

Mark, apparently immune to or still recovering

from the night before. We only had one rule

at our table when it came to wine: if you spit

or tip, you leave the table.

After tasting several wines, we were then given

a mystery blend bottle and had to mix the

proper proportions of each wine to match

the bottle. Jon and Joe took it very seriously,

and in the end, we were SO close...

We then had to create our own blend, complete

with bottle label. Ours was named after the

blending process, which I developed. It was

mixed in the measuring beaker by capping one's

hand over the end and shaking vigorously.

Chateau du Paume en Sueur will be hitting

shelves near you soon.

Laura demonstrates our unique blending process.

Because our grill was not working, the chef actually

cooked ours for us. Mark wanted everyone to

think otherwise though.

We enjoyed a fantastic meal in the sun. Watch

Mark closely - his steady decline has been

cataloged for later viewing.

Not looking so good...

His last living photo - lots of red wine + scorching

Aussie morning sun = not a good idea.

Anna relaxing before we all took the long bus

ride home. In the Hunter, beer glasses come

in '512-ounce Big Swig' sizes.

Isa - the event organizer, still alive after

very little sleep.

We boarded the buses to head home, arriving back into Sydney just in time for rush hour, making our return journey time around 3 hours. The good news is that I slept through most of it.

Luna Park

For the 3Q this year, we were given a rather unique company-wide objective: to have fun. Every team was given a small budget to spend as they wished, as long as they had fun doing it. My team decided to use this money to ferry across the harbor and go to Luna Park, a heritage-listed amusement park that originally opened in 1935. It has been restored and kept in immaculate condition, and is a fantastic departure from the present into a bygone era. Ok, so there are some anachronicities, but for the most part, it was a great experience. Reminded me a lot of Pleasure Island from Pinocchio.

Isa, Angelina, and Anna on the ferry ride over.

The ladies again, this time with Sara and

Ashleigh added in for good measure.

Ashleigh, Will, and Rick, rounding out most

of the team.

And of course, yours truly, with a rather

spectacular day in the background.

The entrance gate is terrifying - I'd imagine

less than half of potential parkgoers make

it through.

We decided to start our visit off with a ride

on the ferris wheel. For whatever reason, I

find them (initially) to be much more terrifying

than you'd expect. Especially the one at

California Adventure in LA.

From the top of the rotation, you could see the

entire midway.

Ashleigh, initially enthusiastic, remembered she

was scared of heights only after we had reached

the top.

I don't know what this ride is, but I was really

wishing it hadn't been closed.

I love funhouse mirrors!

We decided to go on the carousel next -

Anna poses on her horse. I was on a chicken.

Named 'im Fluffy II.

Ashleigh and Angelina enjoying themselves on

the carousel. Angelina wanted me to make note

that her horse also had a tiger on its chest.

Stylin'.

Scandal.

I don't care if it's called fairy floss over here. I'm

calling it cotton candy. Also, delicious. I had one

bag and one stick of it.

Angelina's day would not be complete until

she got her princess tiara.

We also did bumper cars, which, over here, are

called dodge 'ems. Regardless of what it's called,

it combines two of my favorite things: driving

and competitiveness.

Maybe it's just me, but the portrayal of the guy

in the green car seems slightly racist.

Ashleigh - slightly confused where to sit, since

she was unsure if the wheel was meant to be

on the left or the right. It was in the middle.

This was spectacular - sometimes it's the

simplest things in life that are the best.

Joe, our new boss, and Angelina. We sat and

soaked up the sun for a little while. What a

great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

They had giant slides. Freaking awesome.

The round thing in the back right corner was a

giant spinning platform. Everyone sat in the

middle and tried to be the last one on. I won.

I told you I was competitive. I also may or may

not have bent the rules a little.

House of mirrors. It was amusing listening to

the thud of people walking into walls. What was

not amusing was that it was me.

Warning: ride may appear more terrifying

than it actually is.

This ride was so spectacular we went on it twice.

It spins around and then becomes vertical. You

are in a cage. With nothing holding you down

except centrifugal force. Didn't always work.

Against my better judgement, the last ride we went on was one of those pirate ship rides that goes back and forth, and eventually upside down. Ok, fair enough. Anna and I got on and there was a small kid in the row behind us. He seemed calm enough. The second the ride started, he began screaming. No, screaming is not an appropriate word. He began screeching like a Nazgûl. I spent most of the ride turned around trying to talk him down. He eventually went quiet. Or into shock. I'm not sure which. Either way, I felt ridiculously ill afterward.

All in all, aside from the woozy ending, it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I'm just thankful I didn't end up spewing pink all over the place.