Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Kiwi-Bound

So... can anyone recommend some cool shit to do in New Zealand?

Last night I got hired to cover an event in Queenstown, New Zealand, putting two trips down under on my rapidly expanding travel schedule. I get to spend about a week in NZ, before flying up to Melbourne and covering the PokerNews Cup at the Crown Casino with Pauly. Three weeks down under in October, another four in January. I'm a lucky, lucky girl-- though I fear I'll need to install a sidebar on this blog like the one Pauly has telling people where in the world I am. After returning from London, I get a little over a week in Los Angeles before going away for a weekend trip to Florida, then eight more days home before the 17-hour flight to New Zealand takes me away until the end of October. I think I get all of November at home (we allllmost had a Thanksgiving-week gig in Moscow of all places) before heading back to Vegas for the December blogger trip. Then back home for Christmas before leaving again for Australia the day after New Year's.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it! So yeah, any recommendations on cool shit to do down there would be most welcome.

For now, it's back to the grind in the Empire Casino for Day 2A of the WSOPE Main Event. We're all reunited in the same venue today after being spread around London for the last two days. Plenty of poker luminaries are still in contention including a number of poker's most talented women-- Jennifer Harman, Vicky Coren, Annie Duke, Isabelle Mercier, Beth Shak, and Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad. I met the latter a couple of days ago while she was sweating friends in the 2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event and she's sweet as can be.

"I watched you win the $500K on Full Tilt a few weeks back. You're a sick, sick puppy!" I said. Annette blushed and smiled.

"Aw, thanks. I couldn't believe I won. I got some pretty sick hands at the end of that one."

Destroy your workplace productivity and tune into Poker News for all the skinny from London! You didn't want to file those TPS reports today anyway, did you?

11 comments:

Jordan said...

So, does that mean that the first day action was held in several venues at once? If so, how did it go? I wish they'd do that for Vegas and the WSOP ME (among the many Harrahs hotels).

change100 said...

Jordan-- Day 1 play was indeed divided up amongst three venues-- the Empire, the Fifty and the Sportsman-- due to space constraints. The Empire is the largest and even it can barely squeeze in a 160-player field and they got 362 for the ME. Things actually went very smoothly-- much more than I expected.

pokertart said...

Nice gig! Congrats.

Can't wait to see pictures from NZ...I've heard it's incredible.

Unknown said...

I'm glad to hear the writing thing continues to go so well. It's nice to see good work rewarded. That's not always the case.


NZ is a hiker's dream. Lots and lots of scenery with mountains and waterfalls and all that. Try to get some hikes in while you're out there. Unfortunately I don't know many places to go but I know it's an awesome place.

Garthmeister J. said...

Queenstown is Extreme Sport Central for NZ. SO if you are into bungee-jumping, parachuting, etc. etc. you just hit gold.

lj said...

i can't remember which city i did my skydive in, but i definitely bungee jumped just outside of queenstown. i recommend both, though i preferred the bungee jump for the rush -- the skydive was just more of a nice perspective on some beautiful scenery.

i loved auckland, but mainly for the shopping (def hit up ponsonby road), and i recommend a store/brand called world. there's an island off the coast of auckland where i rented a car and drove around on the "wrong" side of the road, that was a trip.

if you only have a week and you need to be in queenstown you may not have time to hit the north island. i took a short boat cruise and saw some beautiful glaciers somewhere in the south, but can't remember the name of the city...i'll think on it.

have fun!! your travels sounds so fantastic!

Unknown said...

Didn't Kirk Morrison live in NZ for a while... might want to talk to him if he's still in the tourney.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your recent professional successes and may they keep getting better and better.

Enjoy every minute of every day.

Anonymous said...

Hi Change100, I'm from Auckland...anyway you are basically going to one of the most beautiful parts of NZ so if you are short on time that's quite lucky as you can just step out the door and you will be surrounded by mountains and lakes etc...

Do the shotover jet rides and jump off a bridge (with an elastic band tied to your legs of course :) )

There are loads great restaurants and bars too..

and also Kiwis are connoisseurs of fine ganja too...

If you so get some time in Auckland, check out the west coast beaches (where I live), also there's shopping on Ponsonby road, K road, and High Street...

Enjoy your stay here!

Jennifer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer said...

So many exciting things happening for you... Congrats!

When you're back in L.A., call me if you want company at Zankou or Juniors. I'm in Vegas until the 20th but back in L.A. after that. :)