My Daughter’s Wedding The number one reason my wife and I traveled halfway around the world was, of course, our daughter's wedding in New Zealand. My daughter married a wonderful young man from New Zealand who we are all thrilled about and being her dad, this was most important. I'm happy to report that my daughter looked beautiful and the wedding was fantastic. The bride and groom were blessed with a rare double rainbow at the reception.
Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers After the wedding my wife and I took off for a helicopter tour of the Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers. I must admit that we were very lucky with the weather and were able to land on the top of the glacier. It was an experience I hope you all get to enjoy in the future. After our adventures on the North Island, we flew down to the South Island. It was there that we had one of the most amazing experiences with the geography of New Zealand. We stayed in Queenstown, which is a mecca for thrill seekers. Among the exciting activities offered are parasailing, bungee jumping, jet boats and skydiving. Basically, you name it and they do it there. My wife very wisely held me back from doing something really stupid like jumping out of an airplane, but I have put it in my list of things to do in the future, maybe next year?
The Remarkables & Milford Sound It was from Queenstown that we flew over the mountain range named the Remarkables and then over the Southern Alps to get to Milford Sound. This was one of the great experiences of my life to witness this amazing part of the planet with its towering walls of granite, beautiful waterfalls, dolphins, and seals. This is a truly unspoiled region of the world. Milford Sound was the entrance into the amazing fjord that Capt. James Cook missed when he was sailing around New Zealand in 1770. The physical beauty is spectacular and we felt incredibly blessed that the weather cooperated as Milford Sound is very weather dependent and if the weather is bad (and it had been for seven days prior tour arrival in Queenstown) we would have missed this whole amazing experience.
Ayers Rock From Queenstown we traveled to Sydney, Australia where we stopped briefly before departing for Ayers rock which is in the middle of the country, or I should say, the middle of the desert. When we arrived at Ayers Rock it was raining which is practically unheard of during this time of year (keep in mind that it is midsummer down under). We had expected temperatures to be 40 Celsius and instead it was a very pleasant 25 Celsius which made our stay all the more enjoyable. Again, we lucked out as the rain stopped that afternoon and were blessed with good weather for the rest of our stay. Ayers Rock is something that I've wanted to see for many, many, years and I felt quite fortunate to be able to witness the rare and unique waterfalls coming from this monolithic rock the middle of the desert. After spending a few more days and getting some much needed R&R, it was time to jump on a plane and head up to Cairns which is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef turned out to be just that and much more. My wife and I went scuba diving and snorkeling, and quite frankly the snorkeling was just as much fun, if not more fun, than the scuba diving. 
It was while snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef that we met Roxie the fish. Here was a huge fish (that’s her in the photo) that was not afraid of humans in any way. All you had to do was hold your arms out and Roxie would swim to you, unbelievable. It was one of those experiences that I will never forget. After spending a delightful few days diving and dining it was time to get back to Sydney for our next adventure.
Sydney Harbour Bridge Time was certainly running out for a vacation, but I had one adventure that I had promised myself I would do on this trip. I wanted climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Now this sounds very adventuresome, but the reality is it was it was more like a trek than an actual climb.
It's funny how you remember some things in life and not others. I grew up in the north of England in a town called Newcastle upon Tyne. Some of you may have heard the expression, “carrying coals to Newcastle”. This expression refers to spending copious amounts of time on a pointless activity. Newcastle has an abundance of coal and therefore it would be pointless to “carry coals” there. Well, that's the Newcastle I grew up in. In fact, several of my uncles were coal miners.
What do Newcastle upon Tyne and the Sydney Harbour Bridge have in common? The bridge that crosses the River Tyne is the exact same bridge that crosses the Sydney Harbour. The only difference is, the bridge in Australia is substantially bigger. I remember going down to the Quay in Newcastle with my grandfather when I was just four or five years old and the bridge I grew up with looked so big. With our last night in Sydney, I had to make the twilight climb if I wanted to climb the bridge this time. As luck would have it, I met up with a charming fellow from UBS (that's Union Bank of Switzerland) who was in Sydney doing business. The two of us teamed up and together with our guide we made it to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The view of Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House and the surroundings was, to say at the least, breathtaking. It was an experience I couldn’t possibly forget. I hope that many of you will have the opportunity to enjoy it as well.
The next morning it was time to pack the bags and catch a flight to Auckland, New Zealand, change planes, and begin our final flight home.
All of this would not have been possible if it had not been for my business partner Dave and all of the wonderful staff we have here at both INO.com and MarketClub. Thank you all for doing a super job while I was away.
All the best,
Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-creator, MarketClub
The culture shock of moving from the north to the south of England was dramatic for all of us. I remember been constantly in fights at school because of the way I spoke. Yes, I spoke Geordie back then and I had to adapt quickly if I was going to survive living in the south. Sort of like the markets now, you have to adapt to conditions.
Sometime in the future I may share my whole story and how I became a trader. Until then, this little snippet into my personal history is all I have time for.It’s a fantastic site. These tips are very useful. it is a really long post.thanks for your information
Thank you Adam for sharing your adventures down under with us.Most unusual to find on a financial site, but nonetheless inspiring.
Wonderful for you - just wait until the first grandchild arrives. No doubt you will visit us 'on the edge' more often.
I am not yet a full member but am seriously considering doing so soon. I see some of the market club members are based here in Kiwiland and I often wonder: do they trade only on the US bourses? Will you be offering Ozzie or NZ exchanges soon? I suppose one has to have a broker in the US?
regards
GaZZA
Gary,
Thank you for your feedback and your kind words.
Yes indeed we should be offering ASX quotes and charts hopefully very soon on MarketClub.com
All the best,
Adam
Wow... beautiful. Thanks Adam! Glad it was such an awesome time!
From one Geordie to another: Weh ye buggar mar, ah did'n nah yeh weor wone of the canny lads from the toon? De ye iver sing blaydon races noo and de ye get yeor broon sent ower.
Translation (Queens English): Oh what a surprise, I was not aware you were a gentleman from Newcastle upon Tyne. Do you ever sing *Blaydon Races now and do you have your Newcastle Brown Ale imported 🙂
Hi Adam, nice to hear of your elation over your daughters wedding and your holiday experiences. A holiday of a life time no doubt. Reminds me of the saying, you only get out of life what you put in.
How about a little more about what inspired you to go into the trading business and how you got into it? Many guys from tyneside of your generation were destined for the ship yards or the coal mines as soon as they left school.
All the best.
Robin
*A Tyneside folk song adopdted as the unofficial anthem of the region.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84jwrWMp5js&feature=related
Robin,
WOW, did you ever take me back to my roots.
When I read your first paragraph I was very moved. I could understand that long lost language that I used to speak and translate it. I think for readers of this blog including the translation like you did was a big plus. Thank you.
As for Newcastle Brown ale another company I have with my business partner is a wine and spirits store. Yes, we actually carry Newcastle Brown ale in the beer section.
Anyway thank you so much for the kind words about my family and my daughter's wedding I appreciated it.
As for what inspired me to get into the trading business and not work in the shipyards or coal mines like most of my uncles will have to wait for another time.
I'm not quite sure where I would begin to tell this tale. I will say this, had my father never left Newcastle to go to the south of England where he could find work I would probably still be in Newcastle. My dad worked at will IRichardsons a leather tannery as a leather splitter. My dad was very well-educated, went to college but could not find a job during the Great Depression. He took whatever work he could find back then.
It's funny, I haven't thought about this for a long long time and that is my late mother cried when she left Newcastle and all the wonderful, warm generous friends who were part of our lives. We all had very little back then but we were rich in friends and they would share whatever they had with you. That is were my value system was born. I believe in sharing just as my parents did.
The culture shock of moving from the north to the south of England was dramatic for all of us. I remember been constantly in fights at school because of the way I spoke. Yes, I spoke Geordie back then and I had to adapt quickly if I was going to survive living in the south. Sort of like the markets now, you have to adapt to conditions.
Sometime in the future I may share my whole story and how I became a trader. Until then, this little snippet into my personal history is all I have time for.
Anyway Robin, thank you for your feedback and your kind words and for bringing back so many wonderful memories to me. I appreciate it.
All the best,
Adam
Adam,
Thank you for taking valuable time out of your day to give me such a lengthy reply.
I'm pleased my post brought back some happy memories, it's always nice to reminisce, and in my humble opinion an admirable quality in anyone to not forget their roots. Where ever they may be from!
"We all had very little back then but we were rich in friends and they would share whatever they had with you."
Your post is very touching when you describe your late mother crying when she had to leave Newcastle, that an the quote above embodies the whole community caring and sharing ethos of those austere times, and the loyalty between friends and family which reflects in the values you possess. Sadly in modern times that is somewhat eroded now even on Tynside, but having said that there is still a community feel about the place and for anyone visiting they will still generally find a warm welcome from helpful and friendly people.
I can relate to a certain extent to the culture shock you and your family experienced. You see, I found it necessary to move away from the north east in 1988 to do the same, seek employment in the south of England. At that point I discovered the powers of leverage and the potential of my north east home as a rental property and so it became just that.
Like you I soon recognised that in life in order to survive and prosper one has to adapt, consequently my accent is not nearly as strong as the dialogue in my last post suggests. My main home is now in 17 miles from London in south Hertfordshire although I do have ambitions to move offshore. (I'm looking for that desert island on the whiteboard series where I can plugin my computer)I still regard myself as a Geordie expat though 🙂
My ex home/investment property became a holiday home in recent years so I have been able to visit good friends and relatives usually in summer time when the weather is milder. Unfortunately with the downturn in R.E. the opportunity cost of keeping it as opposed to using the capital in the markets has become too great and as I have not yet achieved financial independence it has to go.
On the Newcastle Brown ale front and your wine and licor store; I've seen a picture on the web of you and I presume your wife in a pristine looking licor store, water outside, Chesapeake? So it looks like it's home from home if I ever get the chance to pop by Chesapeake:-) To be honest I'm more of a wine quaffer.
Anyway, Adam you'll have to start and extol the virtues and benefits of living in NZ to the ino/marketclub staff once grandchildren are on the way 🙂
Well i'm off now it remains for me to wish you continued success in business and especially market club, you and your staff certainly go out of their way to educate and give the necessary tools for your followers to become successful investors/traders. I'm fully in agreement with you that buy hold and forget is dead in the water, well... for a long time for it to matter to most people and especially those in or approaching retirement. It's an old cliche but it's true: There's only one person that cares the most about your own money....you'll find the answer looking in the mirror. "Here's looking at you" Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca 19... (err.. a long time ago)
Carpe diem
Robin
PS If you want to reminisce some more or any of your posters want to take a look at historic Tyneside (the county of Northumberland is endowed with the most castles of all the UK counties)there are some excellent photo shots of just some of the region here (the Tyne Bridge First of course): http://newcastlephotos.blogspot.com/2005/12/tyne-bridge.html
PPS I just took another look at Wally.... he's the spitting image of my mother in law..... albeit without the curlers. She's a lovely woman.
Robin,
From one Geordie to another every success.
Adam
Blessings to your daughter and new son-in-law. A double rainbow...what an omen!
I want to swim with Josie! That's my incentive to make $ in 2010.
Jack,
Thanks for your feedback.
As for grand kids ... something to look forward to.
All the best,
Adam
Hi Adam,
What a great story, wonderful to see that you can share this experience with others.
Bet you will have many more visits to NZ over the coming years, coming up grandkids......?
As for Ayers Rock, were you able to climb it? that is a great experience which I had back in the 1970's sadly things have changed a fair bit over the years and it is possible that the climb may be closed down soon.
Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your daughters marriage.
Jack from OZ
PS Grandkids change your life forever!
Your trip sound wonderful,life is so short just do it whatever you wanted to do
Thanks for beautiful photo and good story
Somkeat Kulnarakorn
Nice Adam, would have been even better if you put more photos and videos. Enjoy your talks a lot! Thanks!
John,
My Auzzy wife and I went to Australia for the Holidays and saw many of the things you did. We dove the reef and had our picture taken with Wally as you did and climbed the bridge. I understand why you want to tell everyone. It's worth telleing.
No drama, mate
Gaza
(Gary in Auzzy)
Gary,
Glad you met Wally.
All the best,
Adam
It was our good luck to spend a month in Aussie land and NZ. And that was too short. We climbed Ayers Rock, Scuba at GBR aboard a sail ship, saw the jungles in the north, visited Alice Springs, and much more. We went to the glow worm cave in NZ and wished we had another month there.
Best wishes to the Bride and Groom!
Hi Adam,
I've been itching to go down to NZ for years, you've just set me off again - I think that trip will be a great longterm goal for me, and keep me focused on sticking to the 5 reasons in Whiteboard 8. I'm just sorting a few out a few things and I'll be signing up to the Market Club trial, I think its a great site, and your easy but focused delivery style is a refreshing change. Now we know your roots are over the 'pond' here in Blighty - do you see Market Club covering the Main London market (FTSE 350) anytime?
Best Regards,
Chris
Chris,
The British markets are on MarketClub's radar screen. Stay tuned.
All the best,
Adam
Thanks for sharing your experience with market club & your "bragging rights" about your trip to N. Zeland & Australia,great show Adam, on top of Sydney bridge with the Opera House behind,Keep up the good works! will join your team soon, regards from a"blockhead"from Argentina. Mislav.
hi Adam, Glad you had a great time in NZ, here in Tauranga Bay of Plenty we had the greatest rainbow the full lenth of the Kaimi hills, so fantastic my wife took a photograph of it . Thanks for the good site that Market Club is .
John,
My new son-in-law is from Tauranga Bay. Great spot on the planet.
Cheers,
Adam
Thanks for sharing both your expirience as well as your trip.
Nice to hear you enjoyed NZ and Australia, I live in Auckland NZ, so am always glad to hear that somebody had a nice experience in our home... Both NZ and Australia are beautiful countries and we always welcome people to see our beautiful back yard!
great post and blog -
i really like this unofficial attitude combined with seasoned, experience and knowledge.
Thank you Adam!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip with your readers. It's fun to take an arm-chair (actually computer chair) trip with you. Glad you had a marvelous time.
Thanks - I appreciated a lot this second hand honey moon trip. Have my best wishes for the special bride
Vic
You know why I probably wouldn't want to live in Australia? Everything that moves is potentially deadly. 😉
Adam, Thanks for sharing, I'm a manchester boy myself, so I know about bringing coals etc!!! Good luck. Your site is a wonderful resource, I am still learning. JH
delightful reflections Adam.........would never have guessed you were a Geordie! (from someone at the other end of Hadrians Wall....& down a bit!)
great site.......thank you.
Ian
thank you so much in this good information this teading we be starting very soon as you are going to see it. we are here to things order, to be ok. soon is tow years now we have being working with you so we need result over so that we can achive good thing coming up soon
thank you.
I've been a member of marketclub for a week now and I already feel like this platform was made just for me. havn't made any treads yet,stell reading and playing with the tools. I look foward to some great treading soon.
YEAH,YOU,RE SUPPOSED TO USE " ULURU " IN LIEU OF " AYER,S ROCK IF YOU DON,T WANT ALL THOSE WRETCHED POLITICALLY CORRECT CROWD ON YOUR BACK.
BUT WHY DIDN,T YOU ALSO GO TO MELBOURNE AND SURFERS PARADISE IN Q,LAND AT LEAST? BUT YOU NEED 6-8 WEEKS TO COVER THE LUCKY COUNTRY.
IVON
Ivon,
Thank you for your feedback.
I guess I've been politically incorrect for most of my life and I doubt if I can change that now.
As for Melbourne, I'm hoping to get to the Australian open next year 2011.
All the best,
Adam
I'm very glad you had a good time down under Adam. Water falls on Uluru must have been a special treat. Fox and Franze Joseph Glaciers are both on the west coast of the South Island so you must have flown south soon after the wedding. You are allowed to mix stuff up after a whirlwind adventure.
Thanks Adam for your warm,friendly and very informative site.
It is rare to find traders with your experience sharing your knowledge so freely.
Its easy to feel part of the "family" at Market club
All the very best
Bruce
Twin Waters
Queensland Australia
Beautiful post! Makes me want to goto Australia, where my mate stays in Brisbane Gold Coast. Tickets are pretty cheap at $200 for return, i think i should do it.
Your post will be a great boost tourism down under.
Best,
Pradeep