Monday 19 October 2009

Back to Kaikoura...

Well another fortnight has whizzed by since my last posting and so much to tell you about!

Maria is now settling into her permanent part-time role of Occupational Health Nurse at Solid Energy and seems to be enjoying it. I think she has been given the task of organising the company's entry into a local Corporate Challenge Event - a running competition of some sort - which is a novel part of the job description!

She had a couple of days off last week as it was her birthday last Tuesday. We went cycling out to Sumner on the Monday and had a pleasant relax in the Rock Cafe once we had arrived - it was a head wind all the way - quite tough - but much more fun heading back with the wind on our backs.

Maria was treated to some birthday pampering at the local BeautE salon and then we wandered into town for some champagne in the sun - sitting in a bar on Oxford Terrace watching the world go by - very continental indeed. Indeed a great novelty for October.


I had been running the previous weekend - taking part in the "iconic" Takahe to Akaroa relay race - which was the NZ National Relay Championships this year. It was a 80km race in teams of 8 - I ran for the Port Hills Runners - and just like a few weekends ago, I went off too quickly and really hurt for the second part of my 10.7km leg. I did a time of 42 mins 15 secs which was OK under the conditions - of me being seriously exhausted!

I've continued with more networking over the past 2 weeks. It's a hard job I currently have! I also hosted a free seminar last Thursday which seemed to go down well with those who attended. I have another one planned for Nov 4th with a couple of other guys I have linked up with - the subject is "Committing to Excellence". I'm really looking forward to it - it should be a bit easier than going solo and hopefully there will be a few more people coming along to listen to what we have to say.

We also took possession of a campervan this week. Maria's brother - Brendan - is visiting in December and he has decided to buy and then re-sell a vehicle rather than simply rent whilst he's here. So I guess I'll be doing a bit of touch-up over the next few weeks trying to get it ready for his tour of NZ. Might even give it a test-out one weekend - possibly nip back to Akaroa with Maria when Sarah is on school camp in November?

Last weekend, Maria, Sarah and I ventured back to Kaikoura. This time we had been invited to stay at Shearwater Lodge by Nicky, our landlady. She runs Kaikoura Wilderness Walks which is based on the Puhi Nature Reserve at the Lodge. It's an hours drive from Kaikoura into the hills - across lots of unsealed roads and river fords - followed by a 5 hour "tramp" up into the mountains.

The lodge is at around 3000ft. It's in total wilderness - but 5-star luxury! It's amazing. The weather wasn't at its best, but we still had a great time. We didn't manage to get up to the 5000ft peak that is usually the destination of the Day 2 walk due to low cloud - but there's always next time! The walk out was a bit wet, to say the least and was made worse by the fact that we knew there were some fantastic views just through the clouds! And those small fords that we crossed on the way up there.....well they were now raging rivers on our return journey and it made for an interesting time! But we managed to get out - and cannot wait for the cahnce to go back again.
Take a look for yourself at: www.kaikourawilderness.co.nz

Sarah's back at school after here 2 week Spring Term holiday. She seems to be more settled and is loking forward to a few extra curricular activities this term. There is a "twilight fayre" next week that she will be helping out at - I think we have voluteered our services too.

Chris is still holding down the night shift job at McDonalds. We don't see that much of him when he's working - out all night and sleeping all day - at least we know where he is! He's just spent a bit more of his "car savings" on a set of surround sound speakers for his room - that'son the heels of him investing in a PS3 a few weeks ago. I think it may take a bit longer than he expected to get that car after all? Though he does keep mentioning the fact that it's his 18th birthday soon!

Wednesday 7 October 2009

How could I forget McLean's Island?!

Well, somewhere back in September (Sun 13th to be precise) Maria, Sarah and I visited McLeans Island for an enjoyable hour or so on trial bikes cycling around the forest tracks.
It was really good, and we got to see the Waimakariri river too - the watercourse used on the NZ Coast to Coast race.

I became frustrated at not having a bike, so I went out and bought a Giant Trial bike (not a big one - that's the brand) and subsequently went riding over the Port Hills as a pre-seminar warm-up. Fantastic weather for the ride, bizarrely followed by a severe hail storm (fortunately) once I had returned back to base. It really was a "4-seasons in one day" day!

My seminar went well. People turned up and listened politely. Sometimes they smiled a bit too! I guess it's something to build on. I got some good and useful feedback from the attendees.

I also attended the Champion Canterbury Awards evening at the Christchurch Convention Centre on 24th Sept. A black-tie do - mine was still in the container so I had to hire a suit for the evening. I met some interesting people there and had a very pleasant evening all round!

On Sat 26th, I competed in my first event since the Derby 10K back in April 2008. This time it was the Port Hills Running Club's Annual Road Championships, held at Rangiori. A flat 8K course saw me finish in 31 mins and 11 secs - a very pleasing result given so long out of competitions and still way off any decent level of fitness! Sarah and Maria came out to cheer me on - which was very much appreciated.

Maria was offered a permanent job with Solid Energy (the NZ Coal Board) - to work 12 hours a week providing their occupational health needs. She's really pleased as she says it has a good feel about the place. She can still work other temporary hours around this post giving her flexibility on total hours worked during the week.

The main event last week was the arrival of our belongings from the UK - 13 weeks to the day of our arrival here in NZ. It's amazing how long you can last with the bare essentials! A week later and there's not too many boxes still to unpack - we managed to get most of it sorted quite quickly.

It wasn't long before Maria and I headed off for a long awaited bike ride on the road bikes. We headed off westward along the Avon to New Brighton - not the most scenic of places, but a beach and a nice cafe was all we wanted. It was another gloriously sunny day as the Nor'Wester blew across the Canterbury Plains sending the temperature into the mid-20's. We spent the (Friday) afternoon lunching with Di Illston (her 60th birthday celebration) and then campervan testing for Brendan.
On the way home we stopped off for a post-work drink at Aikman's bar with the Frodshams (at least Steve had been at work!). Most of Merivale were at the pub with us - there was a great summer-buzz about the place.

Sarah has been on school holidays last week and has had a friend (Franny) around a few times. They have even ventured into the swimming pool - despite it not having yet been cleaned or heated. Still, they didn't seem to care!

Chris has been working the night shifts at McDonalds and he has treated himself to a PS3 with his first few weeks wages. I'm not sure how well his saving up for a car is going, but I do know he has now opened up a separate savings account and is transferring some money across on a weekly basis.

Last weekend, Maria competed in the PhysioMed Womens Triathlon here in Chritchurch. Despite not having had much bike practice, she performed magnificently in the challenging conditions - it was fair cold at 8 am on the Sunday morning!

Maria, Sarah and I headed off to Kaikoura for a night on Monday, to catch Nicky's (landlady) art exhibition and to see what else the place has to offer in the school hols! We stayed at "Judes Place" - a pleasant seaside bach on South Bay owned by Jude and Ian - pals of Nicky.

The weather wasn't great - it was a bit wet on the Monday and cold and windy onthe Tuesday - but we still has a good time. We managed to see plenty of seals - including some seal cubs playing around in a waterfall stream about 20 mins drive north of Kaikoura - it was amazing! We visite Fyffe House on the Kaikoura Peninsula, but didn't do the Peninsula walk as it was a bit too cold and windy. The mountains at Kaikoura are particularly stunning, especially as they had received a fresh "dusting" of snow.

So back to Christchurch....Maria's back at work for a couple of days, I have a few more networking events in my diary plus I'm preparing for next week's seminar #2, Sarah is arranging shopping trips with Franny to Riccarton Mall and Chris is preparing himself for a run of late shifts.