Hello and welcome to my personal homepage!
My name is Steve and I live in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Why GeckoBeach.com?
First of all, you might ask where the name "GeckoBeach" came from. Well, instead of having a more generic name for the original purpose of this site (cellular and mobile phones), I decided to pick a more unique name that hopefully people would remember. The name is a combination of a neat little animal and my fondness of beach combing.
GeckoBeach.com was established in 1999 after several years of free hosting with Geocities, since that time it has moved homes a few times and been re-written from HTML to ASP and now to PHP.
Antarctic Krill |
Professional Life
My background is in biological oceanography, actually specifically zooplankton. Recently I have moved into a new job, but I still maintain some of my existing plankton research. My new job is a program coordinator, overseeing most of the oceanographic sampling equipment in use in both the Pacific and Arctic oceans. I also coordinate research missions between science and the Canadian Coast Guard. When I'm not doing that then I might be dreaming up some new and unique way of sharing scientific information through databases or websites.
I may spend up to 6 weeks per year out at sea in up to 14 day durations. | |
On the Inca Trail, Peru, 2006 |
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The Original Cellular/Mobile Phone Site
One of my interesting hobbies is running the GeckoBeach.com cellular/mobile phone web site. This site provides consumer information on both the purchase of cellular phones and choosing the right service provider for their needs. Research for the site was started in late 1997 when I purchased my first phone and wanted to know more how the cellular system worked. The web site went online in May 1998 and the GeckoBeach name came into existence about a year later. The GeckoBeach.com site is one of the leading cellular/mobile resource sites in Canada.
Telstra mobile phone tower, Glenorchy, Tasmania
An outrigger canoe or "OC6" | Fitness
I participate in various different sports. Most of my time is spent swimming, cycling, and running, but I'm up for just about anything. I used to paddle outrigger canoe for many years and coached dragonboating for a few years as well. During any particular week I might spend up to 15-18 hours training for these sports. And then of course there are many races during the spring, summer, and fall months, including triathlons and marathons. |
Finish line of the 2007 Royal Victoria Marathon |
Aardvark, Botswawa | 
Turtles for sale in Penang, Malaysia |
Travel
I live to travel whenever I can. To date I have visited all seven continents and 39 countries. There are still many places on the list to visit and most of these locations have very little tourism. No, I don't speak many languages, but it is always useful to pick up a few words of the local dialect when visiting foreign places. At the moment I am studying both French and Arabic.Please visit my travel pages! |
Geocaching
Geocaching is a worldwide game that involves the seeking of small caches using a GPS unit. Most caches are hidden in places that one would normally not visit, so therefore caching gives you a new place to visit, usually along with a hike and some thinking about how to get there. You always know where the cache is (within a few metres), but a straight line is rarely an option. There are currently over 120,000 geocaches worldwide. I combine the geocaching with travel and have hidden caches in 21 countries around the world. I also teach a teambuilding geocaching course. |
Typical geocache |
Photography
Usually when traveling I like to take pictures of whatever is unique to the place I am visiting. Some of these pictures have been entered into various photo contests too.
Namibian sunset |
Japanese maple |
Antarctic ice |
Etosha Oryx |
Check out some of my best photos here...
 | Web Site and Database Design
I also run a company called Gecko Digital Design. This company designs both websites (HTML, ASP, and PHP) and databases (Access, MySQL). If you have a need for website or database development then please visit the Gecko Digital Design homepage. |
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Rabbits
I have had quite a few rabbits over the last decade. Most of these are no longer with me, but here are some pictures. |
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Bunalloo (A silly name, combined between Bun and Callaloo, the leaves of the Taro plant) Bunalloo is a two year old female who is extremely friendly and playful! (passed away 2000) |
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Miso (A Japanese bean paste and flavouring) Miso is a six year old male who likes to sit around most of the day. Remind me to check under him for Easter eggs. (passed away 2000) |
| Peter (After the famous Peter Rabbit) A little dwarf rabbit that loves to chew on baseboards, carpet, newspapers, and just about anything else left laying around. (passed away 1996) |
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Miso and Bunalloo check out Zackery, a visitor from Oak Bay. |  |
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Licorice (A nice flavouring and candy) A big black mini-lop! Also known as 'Sweet Beast', Licorice is loud, adventurous, soft, will let you know if he doesn't like you. Note that he is about to eat my hiking boots here. (passed away 1998) |
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Gathai (Thai for Rabbit) Gathai is a six year female who loves oats, banana, almonds, crackers, bread, etc.(passed away 2006) |
| Loppy and Jackie I found Loppy in Mt. Doug Park in Victoria in June 2004. She was rail-thin and over the next month or so I brought her back to a normal weight. Then while I was out at sea she had a litter of seven (I swear I did not know!). All but one of the litter was given away. Jackie, for some reason, only developed one eye (just a white spot where the other eye should be) and I decided to keep her (she's much bigger now!). |
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