What, no November postings?!!

Sorry for the delay - was too busy growing my Movember 'tash to do any blogging during my birthday month. Actually, I was so busy pruning it every day that it just never took hold!

Anyway, glad to be back on Blogger - even if Maria thinks it's a waste of time!

It's actually been a busy few weeks, as you will no doubt see if you bother to read the rest of this post....

End of October saw me build up the mileage again on the bike in preparation for the Sourse to sea event. I had a couple of 100+ km rides - one with Maria for the first 70km before heading over the Summit Road for a punishing 40km back-end and then a 125km Rangiora/Oxford loop with the 'S-2-S team'.

I also squeezed a 1-Day i2i course in on 30th October. My proposed venue fell through at the last minute but landlady Nicky came to the rescue and we held the event in 'The Studio' - the other house on this section, with an atrium-style, full glass fronted place on the banks of the Avon. It was a perfect setting and the course went well.

Early November saw Maria organising a couple of teams from Solid Energy to run in the Corporate Challenge 5km event at Hagley Park.


The men's team won the team event, and one of the guys - Rowan - actually won the race.

We also hosted Chris and Veronica Ashworth for dinner - Maria's uncle and aunt - who are over visiting Matt and Lou for a month or so. We introduced them to Hell's Pizzas - not quite the same as Jack's homemade efforts - but tasty and convenient in the circumstances.

I took a day's leave on my birthday and headed out to complete the real Long Bays ride for the first time - just before the Southerly blew in and turned it very autumnal for 24 hours or so. I headed out to Darfield - epicentre of the recent Earthquake - for a lunchtime rendezvous with Maria. Lovely bakery-com-cafe there - I'd recommend it. Maria and I headed to the Twisted Hop in Litchfield Lanes for a few bevvies and fish and chips. Perfect. Added bonus was watching Canterbury Rugby win the ITM cup on the TV - bonus being the fact that we hadn't bought tickets and had to sit in the freezing cold and rain!

The following week was 'Cup Week' here in Christchurch. I suppose it's the Canterbury equivalent of Ascot week. Last year, I had been invited to the races by Ashley Cooper and had met quite a few people who I have remained in contact with since and who have proved useful work contacts. As a result of one of those contacts, this year I was working - so didn't get to see any racing!

Friday 12th was Canterbury Anniversary Day - another Bank Holiday here in Christchurch - as well as Chris' 19th birthday. After an early morning bike ride with some of the 'S-2-S' boys, Maria, Chris, Sarah and I headed north to Kaikoura for a couple of nights with the Ashworths.



We had hire a bach just north of the town centre, not far from the beach and had made plans to go on a fishing trip on the Saturday morning.


The fishing trip was fantastic - although there were a few of the party that might not describe it quite so positively. Maybe it was their regurgitated and vomitted breakfast that attracted the fish towards our boat and helped us catch plenty?!



After the nautical experience, I took the 2 Chrises and Vron up to Ohau to see if the seal cubs were still in their 'training pool'. Unfortunately there was only 1 pup that had not ventured out to sea yet - but he was doing his best to entertain the crowd that had assembled.

Dinner, of course, was a BBQ with our freshly caught blue cod and perch on the menu, plus a couple of cray fish that we had also pulled out of the sea.


After dinner, we headed down to the beach and lit a bonfire - a week late, but great, nonetheless. A truely fantastic day. And even then there was more, as we watch NZ beat the Aussies in Rugby League (on TV), literally with the last attack of the match!



During the weekend, Chris also heard that he had been offered a new job as Shift Supervisor in training at the new Wendy's 'Old Fashioned Burgers' Restaurant opening soon in Christchurch. A pleasant birthday 'gift' for him.

The following week saw Saz getting her head down for a few exams at school - which she did very well in - plus she was putting a few more hours in at the dance school she attends in preparation for an end of term show plus a 'Tour of the West Coast' with the troupe! She also had an end of term piano recital on the 20th Nov - but unfortunately I missed it - because it was finnaly Source to Sea weekend!

8 of us - 6 competitors and 2 drivers - headed up to St Arnaud on Friday 19th ready for the 160km ride on the Saturday. 'Captain Carlos' was quite alarmed that I was prepared to have a couple of beers in the bar the night before the event. It was only then that it became clear that the other 5 of us were intended to be his domestiques so that he could get a sub-5 hour time for the event.




As it happened, he didn't need our support as he latched on to a much faster bunch than us and achieved a 4 and a half hour time for his efforts. Much to my surprise - and elation - I wasn't that far behind him at the end - coming in at 4 hours 37 mins. Even more suprising was how strong I felt at the end - managing to hold off my bunch of 14 or so for the final sprint in to the line at Westport and then feeling that I could pull on the trainers and head off on the final leg of a triathlon (OK, I missed the swim leg, but I think you get the idea?).

That weekend had been when the Pike River Mine tragedy occured - just down the road neat Greymouth. The following Monday I was booked in for a couple of days of work at the Fulton Hogan depot there. It was a very strange and sad experience indeed. Due to the small size of the town, 'everybody knows everybody' and it was clear that everyone had been affected one way or another. It was obviously on everyone's mind all the time. There was still hope of a recovery whilst I was there - it was only after I had left that there was a 2nd explosion in the mine. It must have been dreadful for them all.

It was whilst I was in Greymouth that I heard the news that Lance Armstrong was planning to come to NZ to compete in a sprint triathlon in Rotorua on 30th Jan. Only one thing to do, for sure. Be on the start line with him! So once Maria had confirmed an entry for me, my training regime kicked up a step! Damn - I'd need to go swimming again - after 3 years out of the pool! More swimming in treacle!

For the 4th week running, I failed to complete 5 full days of work as I took the Friday off to head up to Auckland with Maria to see U2 on their 360' Tour. We stayed at the Stamford Plaza Hotel downtown and enjoyed a great 24 hours in the City of Sails. The concert - out at Mount Smart Stadium - was stupendous! Fantastic light show and great sound. We had to put up with a bit of Jay-Z and his Auckland fan club - but it was worth it.






It seems that party season is now upon us in full earnest. Saturday after the U2 show we were back in Christchurch and at a BBQ with my immediate work mates. We then were out for dinner the following night with the Ashworths - at the Poseidon Restaurant on the beach in Sumner. Tuesday was then the PTA end-of-year bash at Winnie-Bagoes Pizzeria in Ferrymead.

Tuesday was not a great day on the work front, unfortunately, as I was informed that Fulton Hogan were not planning to make the role (that I have been working) permanent going forward. So as of 17th December, I'm back on the market. But as one door shuts, another door will surely open. So maybe not that bad?

Maria was out with the local branch of the NZ Occupational Health Group on Wednesday - whilst I was cycling up over Summit Road trying to burn off some of the previous evenings Pizza - and then a 'farewell BBQ' at the Ashworths on Thursday to say cherrio to Chris and Vron who headed back to the sub-zero temperatures of the UK on Friday!

And so to last Friday. I woke up and headed straight for the lap-top to see if England had been awarded the 2018 World Cup. It was Russia....and Qatar for 2022?? Not quite a tragedy on the same scale as the one in Greymouth the fortnight before, but a tragedy nonetheless! I was banking on a ticket for the Final from Andy Anson!
No-one at work seemed to understand my malaise. I think they all thought it was due to my impending 'redundancy'! Besides, they were probably still reflecting upon the memorial service that had been held the day before for the Greymouth miners. Besides, no-one had died at Zurich - just the dream. Fortunately it was the department's Christmas Night out that evening so Maria and I got our glad rags on and headed out to an evening of Mousakka, lamb kebabs and Ouzo at Santorini's Greek restaurant!

The rest of the weekend has been quite relaxed. I headed down to McCormack's Bay to watch the finish of the Festival of Cycling Harbour Ride on Saturday morning. Paul Odlin - a guy I have been mentoring for a year or so - was competing - I think he came in around 10th, or so he reckoned yesterday. Sarah has been tied up most of the weekend with final rehearsals for the end-of term dance recital - which we have just attended. Very good it was too.

So Christmas is looming - actually it's accelerating towards us fast. A couple more parties planned next weekend. You need some serious amounts of stamina to keep going - I'll let you know how we get on soon!

Christchurch Bands Together!

It's Labour weekend here in New Zealand - the first 'Bank Holiday' weekend of Spring. The weather is very nice - which is certainly not the norm for a UK Bank Holiday!

The weekend started well with a cycle over the Port Hills with Maria and a few friends and wives. Maria was on the new bike and managed all of the ascents without stopping - with the exception of one where she dismounted to take a photo of a dead possum for her mother (don't ask!!). The ride down Evans Pass was as exciting as usual, though the target of 75 kmph was failed by a couple of 'clicks'!

Yesterday also saw the hosting of a free concert in Hagley Park - called 'Band Together' - a celebration of surviving the Quake and looking forward to the future. It was a gloriously sunny afternoon and over 100,000 people turned up for the event - with quite a few of them turning Desmond Street into a car park.



Maria and I wandered through mid-afternoon to take it in. We decided that a late lunch and a glass of wine at the Arts Centre was in order before sauntering back home. Sarah spent the afternoon at the gig with friends.



We had originally planned for a bit of a getaway today and tomorrow - Tekapo has featured high on the list of possible destinations - but our plans were scuppered by Sarah waking up with a severe attack of tonsillitis. So instead the morning was spent by Maria and Sarah at the 24/7 docs with the afternoon spent lazing around the house. There's now talk of another bike ride tomorrow for Maria and I, which should be fun.

Talking of which, let's see if I can recall any exciting experiences from over the past 4 weeks or so......!

Of course, the main topic of news has been the continued post-earthquake rumblings. We have had aftershocks up to 5.0 on the richter scale which have opened up more cracks around the house plus caused wider damage around the city. Whilst nowhere near as scary as the Shake on the 4th Sept, the aftershocks can be a little disconcerting at times. Most Cantabrians have now become quite adept at guessing the size of each tremor - and then heading straight to GeoNet.com to check out the accuracy of their guestimate!

Elsewhere...Sarah recently took part in a dance competition hosted by the Garden City Tappers here in Christchurch.


The dance school she attends on a Saturday morning entered 'a team' in one of the categories - they performed a dance to a track from the Lion King - and they won their category! Well done them. She is now busy rehearsing a piece for the end of term show.

I took part in a 6 hour mountain bike relay event at McLean's Island last weekend - with fellow Fulton Hugan colleagues. (I had been out to the course a couple of weeks beforehand with a group of colleagues to practice and took a nasty fall off my bike - cutting my arm and leg plus getting a whack fom the pedal behind my knee, which basically put me out of action until the event!)


There were over a thousand competitors in the 6hr and a 12 hr event. I was in a team of 3 so we ended up riding 2 hours each - which was pretty exhausting - in 5 bursts of 25mins around a 10km loop. There was a fair bit of inter-Company rivalry going on between some of the better teams - but my team didn't really feature in that event! We probably managed to eat the most sausages!

My preparation for the Source to Sea ride next month has not been as good as I had hoped with me missing out on a few recent rides with the 'gang' due to my MTB accident. We did do a couple of rides over the Summit Rd - which I think featured in the previous blog - which were quite fantastic - once the Bas#$@d Hill had been conquered! I have 3 more weekends to get some mileage in - though one includes a trip to Kaikoura with the Ashworths for a fishing trip and having fun! Maybe I should cycle there?!

I have had a few pleasant trips out with work over the past few weeks. I headed off to Alexandra for a couple of days doing a Quality Audit and ended up in and around Queenstown on a beautiful, sunny and warm day at a part-built hotel complex called the Essence of Queenstown. The flight back from Queenstown was fantastic - the pilot had his elderly father in the jump seat and must have decided to take the scenic route home to Christchurch as we ended up buzzing the top of Mount Cook. People pay good money for flights like that!

I also had a drive over to Greymouth for a days work at the Fulton Hogan depot over there. We had gone across on the TanzAlpine earlier in the year, but this was the first time that I had driven over through Arthur's Pass. It truely is a fantastic journey.

A few weeks ago, Maria, Sarah and I headed up for a Saturday night supper on the Port Hills in Brendan's Campervan. I cooked some chicken in white wine and once again we sat and watched the sun slowly fall over the distant Southern Alps - supping the wine that didn't make it into the pot! Priceless.






Maria clicked another birthday over this month. We actually went out as a family - all 4 of us - to Budda Stix on Riccarton Rd. It was very pleasant indeed. Maria asked for a new camera as a birthday gift so since the 13th she been out snapping pitures of the flaura and fauna in Hagley Park plus a few of the new post-aftershock cracks in walls and ceilings!

Getting back to normal?

2 weeks on from the quake now and we are still getting aftershocks - some around 4.5 on the richter thing! So whilst we hope that the worst is over and we look forward to getting back to some semblance of normality, we are constantly reminded of what we have all been through and there is always a slight doubt that the Big One is still to happen!

My previous blog probably made out that there had not been much in the way of damage or suffering - but as the dust settled and the aftershocks continued, it was clear that certain parts of Christchurch had taken a real battering. The city centre was cordoned off for best part of 2 weeks whilst engineers painstakingly checked every building for damage, etc. Quite a lot of the older buildings suffered damage and have been condemned and are already being pulled down.

Out on the East side of town where some new housing estates had been built on reclaimed land, they have experienced severe damage to properties. Matt and Lou have also discovered that despite their house remaining upright with only slight damage, the ground on which it stands has been declared unfit - so it's got to come down and they have to find somewhere else to live!! We could be having some lodgers?!

It still is remarkable that no-one died as a result of the quake. The timing played a key role in that fact. Any time during the daytime would have resulted in lots of casualties, no doubt.

Anyway, it was back to work for me on the following Monday - trying to help with organising the Company's response to the emergency - though it soon became eveident that had an emergency plan in place and it wasn't long before I was back to 'business as usual' - whatever that is?!

Sarah's school was shut for a week - along with more or less all schools in the area. They didn't experience too much damage - just some ground shift under the music department which has resulted in setting up some temporary music rooms.

Chris reported that McDonalds saw it's greatest takings on the day of the quake! I think it was because no-one has water or power for so long - so they all stopped of for cheeseburger and chips on the way to the safety of the mountains!

Talking of mountains, I don't think I got to mention that I actually got up to Mount Hutt again the week before the quake - to do some skiing. Chris was working so couldn't get there - Maria and Sarah were still in the UK - so I went along with Rob Sherman and his son Drew. Apart from a wipe-out (which hurt!) we had an enjoyable time. The drive up to the slopes was not as scary as last time - must be because Maria was at the wheel previously?!

I've decided that I'm going to do the Source to Sea bike race - a 160km effort along the Buller gorge at the end of November - along with a few work colleagues. We have had a few weekend outings in preparation. Last weekend saw us ride a 140km circuit around Kaiapoi (badly hit by the quake), Rangiora, Ashley Gorge and Ohoka. It was a 5 hour grueller - quite flat - but just long. I was exhausted at the end. I have often wondered whether I could do an Ironman Triathlon....well after getting off my bike after only 140km I could barely walk to the bathroom, nevermind run a marathon!

There are plans tomorrow for a bit of a hilly ride - Long Bays with a trip out to Purau Bay tagged on, plus a Summit Road finish as Sumner Road is closed due to quake damage. Apparently the climb from Gebbies Pass up to the Summit Road is known locally as 'Bastard Hill' - because it is one! I'm looking forward to that treat - NOT! I've actually bought a new (2nd hand) bike today to help me with the hill climbing - a bit lighter and a compact front gear.

Maria has headed up to Kaikoura this weekend to help Nicky prepare Shearwater Lodge for the forthcoming season. There's a small possee gone in - I think it will be a work hard and play hard weekend! I hope the storm that has been forecasted hasn't hit the high country and spoilt there weekend.

Living in a Disaster Zone!

OK, so we knew we were going on an adventure, but we didn't count on being caught up in the biggest NZ earthquake for a few decades!

4.35am on 4th September - unlikely to forget that bit of information in a hurry - plus the 7.1 richter measurement bit - plus the 2 minutes of shake, rattle and roll!

It was seriously scary :-0

I've heard a few descriptions from people interviewed on TV of it sounding like a train hitting the house and of then spending a couple of minutes in a very noisy tumble dryer. I think that more or less captures it.

There were a few expletives as we jumped out of bed. I shouted at Maria to get under the bed quickly - then realised we wouldn't fit! Maria went off in search of Sarah who was shouting out - probably only marginally more scared than us! Remember, it's half 4 in the morning - pitch black - the power is off - and your being thrown around the room. Actually, good job it was dark as I was stark naked and I'm sure not a pretty sight for our impressionable daughter, despite the predicament we found ourselves in!

So as the girls met on the landing and then headed downstairs towards shelter under the sturdy dining roon table, I dived into the underpant drawer for emergency supplies and then quickly followed!

We huddled under the table whilst the earthquake did it's best to shake the house down. It failed, thank God! So after 3 wintery months of complaining about the lack of double glazing and central heating in these wooden frame dolls-houses that Kiwi's call home, I'm thankful for the lack of rigid brickwork of a sturdy, well insulated UK style house - which would probably have come crashing down on top of us!

The shaking stopped and we wondered what to do next. Then it shook again, but fortunately not as violently this time and for not as long.

A bit more calm and we suddenly realised that we were cold - so I made a dash for some blankets from the bedroom. More shaking as I returned and I quickly resumed my position of hugging the table leg (Maria and Sarah has secured the central section of the underside of the table and left me perched at the edge - a sort of women and children first set up I suppose!).

Still pitch black remember.

The tremors started to subside a little and the gaps between them were lengthening. I pulled one of the sofas over to the table to provide further shelter - plus we grabbed the cushions for a bit more comfort.

We probably stayed under there for the next 20 minutes or so - discussing how bad our emergency prepartions had been - no torches to hand, limited supplies packed 'in case' (despite constant reminders from Government via TV ads, etc!) - and going to bed naked (too much detail, I know!).

Once it seemed to have settled down, we headed back to bed. Suitably dressed this time! I sent a few texts - one to Chris - who was at work - making sure he was OK. He was. Plus I let my bro' John know as I guessed he may pick up the news on the web.

There continued to be small after-shocks, but nothing as severe as the first shake. We managed to sleep a little until around 7am when it quickly went light. A few texts came in from fellow Christchurch dwellers asking if we were OK. Nicky - the landlady - enquired about our wellbeing plus any property damage. We didn't know - we were still in bed! We do like our Saturday morning lie-ins, earthquake or no earthquake!

Once we had got up we surveyed the scene. Some plaster damage and debris on the carpet in the living room, kitchen drawers open but contents all OK....in fact all looked remarkably OK on first inspection. A wander outside was soon to reveal that there had been some damage to the house structure plus a lot of ground shift. In a nut shell, it looked as though the extension (garage and overhead bedrooms and bathroom) had tried to detatch itself from the original house.



There was a large crack uo the side of the house - at the join - plus a similarly large crack along the garage floor. Looking at the ground around the house, it also appeared that there was a fault line running straight through the line of the extension join - which continued across both neighbours properties with quite startling effects - one involving a rather contorted swimming pool and the other the strange sight of scaffolding dangling unsupported over a deep void! A sizeable gap had also appeared in the wall between our properties.


We still had no power and the water supply was off too. So we decided to get on the bikes and head for town - in search of some hot coffee and information! That in itself was an trial - the garage door is electronically controlled - so I had to fumble about in the dark searching for bikes and helmets and then wheel them through the house.

There was some noticeable damage to some of the houses in the locale, mainly stemming from falling chimnies. One of our neighbours had a stack that had not toppled but resembled the end-game of a round of Jenga!

Some of the paths through Hagley Park were cracked and buckled plus there was quite a covering of silt in places which had been washed over from the nearby boating lake - a mini tsunami must have taken place!

We spotted a bit of damage to the Arts Centre and the Canterbury Club - mainly due to falling masonary.


Nothing too severe though. Cathedral Square seemed unscathed but the police had cordoned off a nearby area of the CBD where there had been some more serious damage. We couldn't find a coffee and there wasn't much information to be had too, so we decided to head on back to Desmond Street to get the camping stove out!

We actually spent the next hour in the campervan - drinking coffee and listening to the radio - where we first learned of the extent of the quake and what was happening about thye place. A State of Emergency had been declared - not sure what that meant - but it sounded good! We sat there commenting upon the fact that you usually observe these types of events from the comfort of your own home via the miracle that is TV (not actually a miracle - being an engineer I can explain how TV works but I won't at the moment whilst I talk about the quake - if that's OK!) - but here we were - right slap bang in the middle of it! Gulp!

Anyway, we then thought we should go and do some panic buying as we didn't have a pantry full of provisions like we were supposed to and headed off to Pak'N save at Riccarton. Shut, of course. There had just been an earthquake - hadn't we heard?
We did manage to find a petrol station that was open on the way back home and decided to do a panic fill-up, plus buy a few bottles of lemonade just in case we ran out of water!

And then as we passed along Riccarton Road we spotted that the Sushi bar and GFC cafe were open. Whoopi - real coffee! Well, you wouldn't have thought that there was a State of Emergency in there! Very relaxed - apart from the hard working kitchen staff who were busily trying to prepare all the brunch and coffee orders. No, definitely no State of Emergency there!

So, armed with Sushi and Flat Whites, we headed back to Desmond Street again to decide upon our next course of action.

It actually turned out to be putting the kettle on - power had been restored - as Matt and Lou turned up and we decided that a good cup of tea was the order of the moment - very British!

The aftershocks continued throughout the afternoon, but again, very small in comparison to earlier. With power regained, we were able to vacuum up the plaster debris plus we caught some of the TV coverage of the quake - it certainly looked impressive on the news!

I discovered that we had a mains water leak which explained our lack of running water - it's still out now on Sunday afternoon - we're waiting for a plumber to come and look at it!

Matt and Lou remained without both power and water for the day so they decided to stay with us for the night. Essential supplies of beer, gin, tonic and chocolate cake were brought by Matt and Lou - at least the survivors party would go with a swing! Various references to drinking ourselves under the table were made by our UK FB friends once our safety strategy had been explained!

Needless to say, the tremors continued throughout the night, but some of us (me!) had quite a good, gin-soaked night's sleep!

To be continued.....

While the cat's away...

So the cat's out of the bag...and has journeyed half way round the world to be at her parent's 50th wedding anniversary last weekend. Indeed, Maria and Sarah travelled back a couple of weeks ago now, but it all had to be hush-hush so as not to spoil the surprise for those that were none the wiser!

So it's been a bit quiet around here for most of August. Quite tidy too!!! It's amazing how little shopping I have had to do - and the shelves are still quite well stocked. The washing machine only goes on twice a week - one dark wash and a light wash. What could be simpler?!

Not seen much of Chris - he's either been working or staying at friends.

Work at Fulton Hogan remains busy - I'm enjoying it - just need to start making some changes and seeing some real improvements.

I have been out for a couple of bike rides with some of the FH boys. Last week we ventured out to Purau Bay around the Lyttleton Harbour inlet. Around 85km of lumpy terrain. Was probably the hardest cycling I've ever done. Made the Ashbourne Duathlon route seem quite tame in comparison. This weekend we ventured onto the flats around Oxford - a mere 110km! 4 hours in the saddle is about as long as I've ever had to endure! There's talk of taking part in the Source to Sea event in November - a 160km ride down the Buller Gorge - should be fun!

Had a game of golf last weekend with Rob Sherman - a close encounter - all square after 18 holes - a great morning/afternoon in early spring weather - very nice indeed. We went out for a few (!!) beers last Friday in honour of his 50th birthday - Saturday was a bit of a blur!

Also had a trip down to Dunedin for a couple of days with Simply Lean last week. I'm becoming a right 'national turbo-prop setter'!

Still no new pictures to post - must be a sign that things are becoming 'normal'? Mind you, Maria has taken the camera to the UK with her. Maybe there will be some of her piccies to post.

Just heard that U2 are playing in Auckland in November - wahoo! Need to get ourselves sorted for that one.

Pinch and a Punch...

1st of August already - whatever happened to July?!

I started work at Fulton Hogan on 30th June as mentioned in the last posting. It's been good so far. Interesting business. Good people. Lots to do. I hope to be there for some time!

I'm based out at Hornby, on the West side of Christchurch and have been cycling the 10km or so most days - so it's helping with the exercise regime! I've also hooked up with a couple of fellow workers who are keen to do an occassional lunchtime run - so it's all getting rather familiar!

We finally decided upon a trip to the West Coast - Greymouth and Punakaiki to be exact - on board the Tranz Alpine Express as our alternative to our trip to Oz! It wasn't quite Sydney - that's an under-statement - but the train journey was quite spectacular.

Maria had been over there with work the week previous so provided the guided tour of all the hot spots! Actually, it was bitterly cold and grey on the second day so we were quite glad to get back on the train and head back to Christchurch!

Maria and I have had a few active outings around town. We ran the Harry Ell track early in July - only to find ourselves totally over-dressed for the occassion as the winter sunshine sent the temperatures soaring! We also had a cycle around Bottle Lake Forest - on our new trail bikes - with the obligatory stop for coffee in New Brighton at the Salt on the Sea cafe. The four of us were also hosted by Matt and Lou for a great Sunday Roast dinner early July - it was nice to get out as a family for once!

We also headed up the Rapaki Track on bikes - last weekend - though Maria spent a far amount of it pushing rather than cycling. I can understand why - it was probably one of the hardest things I've done - a combination of the steepness of the track, the weight of the bikes (and me!) plus a dogged determination to cycle all the way up! Probably closest to max-heart-rate that I've been in some time.

Sarah is continuing with her dance and acrobatic classes on Saturday mornings. She's not cycled for a while - it was school winter holidays and then she had a week off ill! Chris was also knocked back for a week with illness - bronchitis and sore throat - so his pay has been a bit light recently! He's realising that he can't really afford to run his car so I think that it's going to be appearing on Trade Me quite soon - now it's had it's latest crash damage repaired!

One Year On

It's Tuesday 29th June 2010. We arrived here in Christchurch on Tuesday 30th June 2009. So kind of an anniversary, or maybe that's tomorrow? And what a year of adventure!

Chris has managed to obtain and hold down a job at McDonalds for most of the year. He doesn't have much to show for his efforts, mind you, with the exception of an old Subaru that is currently sitting in Hammonds Panelbeaters waiting to have a new rear drivers side door fitted after yet another demonstration of Newton's 3rd Law. His alternative transport at the moment is an old BMX bike - you can no doubt imagine how he looks on that - all 6ft 4in of him! He's been getting a bit wet going to and from work this last week or so! I think he's keen to get up to the snow fields quite soon for some snowbaording - there's lots of snow on those mountains - but I'm not sure that he has the means with which to fund that particular hobby.
He has talked about making some enquiries at the Christchurch Polytechnic again - to resume some sort of study next February - but we will see.

Sarah has settled into Christchurch life like a duck takes to water. She has a great group of school friends and actually reckons that the best thing about the year so far has been her new school - Christchurch Girls High School - great praise indeed! She continues to take part in a number of sporting activities, including cycling, basketball, indoor-football and dance/acrobatics. Her main pastime, however, seems to be developing into visiting the Westfield Mall with her pals! She also has a boyfriend - which we are obviously monitoring closely!! It's winter school holidays next week - so 2 weeks off - time to recharge the batteries - which have showed signs of running a bit low with a few days under the weather recently.

Maria continues to plug away at making the places of work in Christchurch a safer place to be. She's still doing a day and a half at Solid Energy (The NZ Coal Board) and recently helped them relocate their HQ into some rather swish premises. She's off to the West Coast - Hokitiki - in a week or so to a Solid Energy Occ Health Nursing meeting which she's looking forward to.

I've had a busy few weeks culminating in a week's consultancy down in Dunedin at Hillside Engineering with Simply Lean. It was an interesting week looking at the Foundry operations and it reminded me back to some of the places that I had experienced during my time at R-R - in particular some of the forging suppliers I visited as an auditor. My big news is that I have been offered the position of Quality Manager with Fulton Hogan here in Christchurch - starting tomorrow! So there's going to be a bit of change around here. I'm hoping to keep up the work with the Football Academy - as that's mostly weekend stuff anyway, plus I've recently piloted the i2i course in a single day - which seemed to work well - so hopefully they will continue to run on selected weekends throughout the year. I'm really looking forward to starting at Fulton Hogan - they have a really wide product/service mix which should keep me on my toes for quite some time!

I guess that one of the main benefits of taking on the Fulton Hogan role will be that it should help us to get some finance for purchasing a house if we spot somewhere that we like. Desmond Street has been a great place for us - particularly during Summer when we were hosting family - but it's probably too large for us in the longer term. It's been particularly noticeable during winter when we've found it difficult to heat the place up! No immediate plans to move out, but we'll be keeping an eye open for suitable places coming on to the market.

We'd been contemplating a trip over to Sydney at the start of July but a combination of no cheap flights left plus Maria's work commitments meant that we have shelved those plans for now. We'll probably look to get something planned for a future school break and book the flights in good time to get the good deal. We are discussing the possibilities of a long weekend down at Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo instead - which will be a lot different to sunny Oz! Though hopefully we might be able to hit one of the local ski-fields whilst we are there.

The FIFA World Cup has been interesting from the point of view of seeing the reaction in NZ of the 'success' of the All Whites. Despite not qualifying to the knock-out stages, they are being heralded as heros and a parade in Wellington has been mentioned. Quite a difference to what has been going on back in the UK, no doubt! We still have not subscribed to Sky, so have been at the mercy of TVNZ 1 & 7's schedules regarding which matches were on live, etc. The time difference also meant that we had to get up at 2am last Monday morning to watch England get thumped by the Germans! Fortunately neither Maria nor I had any work commitments that day so we did at least get a lie-in. England exiting also means that I am no longer likely to have to get up at that time again! I may just need to negotiate a late arrival at work should I want to watch the semi's and final.

That's about it for now. Quite a year. Not sure if it's gone fast or slow?! A lot of water under the bridge, to be sure, and a lot of personal development for all of us. Looking forward to the next chapter and what milestones that will bring.

Waterlogged!

Well, what a wet and cold few weeks! Winter arrived just after my last blog with six days of more-or-less continual rain! Plus it was quite chilly too. But hey, it's great news for the skiiers down here as the local skifields now have a great base covering.

It was great to be working at Business Mentors in the Canterbury Development Corporation's offices - nice and warm compared to a cold home-office! And being part of a team of people was very pleasant again - someone to speak to over tea-break! There also seemed to be even more 'training course/board meeting lunch leftovers' than at R-R - so I didn't go hungry whilst I was there!

The role with Business Mentors has now finished as Jill has returned from her Northern Hemisphere trip. She found it a bit of a shock landing back here in the midst of a cold snap having just spent a few days in Dubai on route back home! I've got to say that the thought of getting somewhere warmer for a few days had been playing on my mind over the last week or so and I'm still mulling over a trip to Oz over the winter school holidays. (The sun is out today and it's suddenly gone quite warm again - bizarre).

I also closed out my lecturing at the University last week. It seemed to go OK, though my last session was not the best attended. I think I suffered from a big clash with a project hand-in deadline!

Maria and I went to The Loons (theatre) in Lyttelton a couple of weeks ago to see The Butler. It was a good evening out - interesting show - described in the notes as 'Cirque du Soleil meets Pinter'. Lots of action, witty and quite risquee in places - it's coming to a theatre in Islington, London next month if you're in the area!

I also ventured out into Christchurch last weekend for a few beers with the Asia Pacific Football Academy crowd at the Twisted Hop in Lichfield Lanes. It was a bank holiday weekend - Queens Birthday! - and on Friday at 5.30 the place was already buzzing! Apparently it's the closest you will get to an English pint of beer in Christchurch - and it was very good - in fact they all were! Despite being advised differently, this was the start of my carbo-loading for the Christchurch Half Marathon on the Sunday. It seemed to work, as I managed to get around in just under 1 hour 28 minutes - marginally slower than my previous PB set at the Great North Run back in 2002! Maria dipped in just under the hour mark for her 10k. It was a great event - over 6ooo competitors across the full, half and 10K events - the weather was a bit of a spoiler - wet and cold - but we enjoyed our efforts.

It was also Sarah's 14th birthday that day. She had invited a crowd of her friends over for a sleepover the night before. They seemed to have a good time - got on with things themselves - watched a few DVDs and ate sweets and crisps all evening!
It's quite strange witnessing a winter birthday for her - usually it's been an outdoor affair back in the UK - bouncy castles and camping out in the back garden.

I'm off to Dunedin in a week or so to do some work with Simply Lean which has been scheduled for some time. I'm looking forward to that. There was also an outside chance of being required on a contract out in Sydney at the start of July - though that seems to have gone quiet. I've also been discussing the opportunity of doing some Quality/Business Improvement work with Fulton Hogan in and around Canmterbury. Again, this looks as though it would be interesting stuff to be doing - they're a growing company with a presence in OZ as well as here in NZ. Hopefully that one could turn into something quite substantial.

And with just over 24 hours before the start of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, I'm starting to map out my TV time for the next 4 weeks around all of these work commitments! We still haven't installed SKY, so I'm limited to whatever is on TVNZ 1 or 7 - unless I want to be in a local pub between 2am and 8am each night! England vs USA is live on Sunday morning - so I guess my world cup will start then!

"...and on the palm of her hand is a blister..."

Another month whizzes by between blogs - I need to ease back on this work stuff so that I can concentrate more on keeping everyone up to date!

Steve and Viv Frodsham invited us around for a Sunday roast back in April - and WOW, was it delicious. Steve has missed his vocation as a top chef - the joint of pork he cooked was delicious and his veg selection was pretty awesome too. I tried my best to do justice with a bread and butter pudding for afters - seemed to go down well with all. That was back on the 25th April. I have been keeping a score of alcohol-free days vs had-a-drink days; it was 52:63 at that point - I'll keep you informed as the year continues. I guess the current ratio is symptomatic of the Kiwi-culture of any gathering is an excuse for a bevvie!

Maria and I also went out the following weekend for a few more bevvies...to the birthday party of someone I've met since arriving here - Christine Prince - she's an ex-work pal of Darren Rudkin - a fellow Pembrokian and 1986 Footballing Blue - it's a small world! We've caught up a few times - including at the end of the Christchurch City2Surf 12km race, where she was hosting her fellow Canterbury Tourism employees to a post event BBQ lunch - and glass of champagne, of course.

Talking of races, I've actually entered the Christchurch half-marathon in 2 weeks. Maria is entered for the 10km distance event on the same day - as is Christine. My preparations had been going well until I ran the Tai Tapu 15km race a couple of weekends ago, only to put myself out of action with a humungous blister - not on the palm of my hand - but on the ball of my right foot! I couldn't walk properly for 3 days and didn't run for 9 days after the event!! By the way, I managed to clock 63mins 9 secs for the 15km - the last 5km in blister-agony!

Maria and I had an enjoyable Parents' Evening at Sarah's school - not least because of the fact that the appointments were booked by ourselves on-line rather than having to deal with a hap-hazard mix of appointments and the ensuing scrums. It was all very civilised - plus Sarah's reports were all very positive!

Sarah herself continues to amaze us with the things she is throwing herself in and out of school. She has recommenced piano lessons after school - much to our pleasure - plus she has chosen basketball and cycling as her school sports options this term. The former results in after school matches on a Friday whilst the latter involves a Wednesday post-school 10km cycle out to Tai Tapu Old Rd for a 12km time trial and the 10km cycle back. I would never have guessed she'd have been doing that if you had asked me 12 months ago!

She also goes to a 4 hour, Saturday morning dance and acrobatics class with one of her school pals. She seems to be really enjoying it.
This weekend was also a Charity weekend where school kids were encouraged to 'fast' for either 20 or 40 hours - by which fasting meant survive on rice and barley sugars! Sarah and friends spent 20 hours camping in a back garden at one of the homes - and yes it was very cold last night! Crazy kids!

Anyway, with Sarah out camping and Chris working, Maria and I decided to go out for dinner last night and went to 2 Fat Indians - a curry house in Merivale. The food was great and mine was accompanied by a pint of Boddingtons "Pub Ale"!

May 9th was Mothers' Day here in NZ. Maria and I marked it by going for a lovely walk up in the Port Hills - without the kids! Chris was sleeping - he'd been working nights, and Sarah was too tired from her dance classes the day before!

I held another i2i course in mid-May - which went well - but could have done with more people on paying more money! I've also started my lecturing at the University of Canterbury - which has also gone well to date. I had 6 hours last week and I have another 6 hours the week after next. Not a huge amount, but a start.
I've also been doing a few hours at NZ Business Mentors - holding the fort whilst the usual Canterbury coordinator has headed off to Europe for a holiday. So that's why I've not been blogging - it's been more than a full time job, with lecture preparation, course marketing and administration, etc..

Mind you, I did find the time to go for a round of golf this morning out at Macleans Island Golf Course. It was a BNI fund-raising event - I represented the Emissaries chapter along with Steve Richens, Pat O'Donoghue and Chris Westeneng. I don't think we won any prizes, but we had a pleasant time - and the rain held off. I think we're due plenty of the wet stuff over the next few days. Still, it's been so dry for so long and we have continued to get unseasonably warm days right up until a week or so ago. Autumn is starting to take a hold and it's noticeably cooler at nights - oh for some central heating and double glazing! I think that that's becoming a priority and may cause us to seek out somewhere different to rent in the medium to longer term. Plus, the novelty of the swimming pool has worn off and I'm getting bored of cleaning out the leaves and constantly needing to buy chlorine to fight off the algae! Remind me never to buy anywhere with a pool - more trouble than they're worth!

Tree of Beliefs

Wow, 4 weeks since the last blog...I must be getting busy!

During which Utd have exited the Champions' League, thrown away the Premiership and then got themselves back into the race again (Paul Scholes - he scores goals!) and Europe has become a no-fly zone! Plus my HCI laptop died. :-(

Easter weekend saw Maria, Sarah and I venture up to Hanmer Springs in Brendan's campervan for an overnight adventure. We spent the afternoon in the hot springs - which was great.

We found a site to pitch for the night in a nearby Forest Camp and experienced life inside the tin home for the first time. Cosy to say the least - Maria and I snuggled on the fold-down bed and Sarah tucked into the over-head space above us! It was a bit on the cool side too at 3am. But once the sun came up and we had the first cup of tea of the day brewed, we were soon warm again. In fact it was another gloriously sunny warm day.

We decided to venture along the "Waterfall Track" to seek out Dog Stream Waterfall. It was a reasonable climb and Sarah needed some focused motivation (!) at times - but we did make it to the destination eventually.

We returned to Christchurch and the rest of the Easter break was pretty uneventful - albeit very warm.

Sarah was on a 2 week school holiday and the middle weekend saw us host 5 of her new pals for a sleep-over - an oxymoron if ever there was one! They were pretty self-sufficient so at least Maria and I got some sleep that night!

The following evening we headed out to Lincoln "Township" to a small soiree hosted by one of Maria's Solid Energy colleagues - Tony McInally. A fellow Manc, he invited us around to meet some of his "Pommy Pals" - a nice bunch and a pleasant time had by all (apart from Sarah who was tired from the previous day's lack of sleep!).

Maria and I have continued to try and keep up the exercising and we did manage to have a pleasant morning walking/running up the Rapaki Track. It was another beautiful day, with great views from the top of the Port Hills over towards Bank's Peninsula once we had reached the top. The legs took a bit of a pounding on the run back down!

I've had a busy week this week - running a 2 day i2i course on Monday and Tuesday (only a few people in attendance but it went well nonetheless) and a Day 3 event on Friday. I have also had some "Leadership Training" this week for the role that I am picking up in my BNI group starting next month. It was also the first lecture of term at the Asia Pacific Football Academy this weekend - "Tree of Beliefs" - teaching them about positive attitude with stories of people like Steve Cunningham and Cliff Young - they seemed to like them!

The weather has remained un-seasonally warm and very dry - there's a serious drought up in the north of the north island. The first rain of any note finally arrived yesterday - just as I went off to compete in a cross-country relay with the Port Hill Runners....kinda reminded me of the UK! I've been trying to up my running a bit more recently as I have targetted the Christchurch half-marathon on June 6th and set myself a goal of doing it in around 1 hour 35 mins. So need to get some miles in between now and then.

Autumn Equinox in March?!

Having written off Summer, we were treated to a great week of weather mid-March with temperatures back in the mid-20's! That came to a sharp end however with a 10 degree difference in the space of 24 hrs!


The cicadas are still chirping in Hagley Park and it's still great cycling weather - not much rain - which seems to fall mainly at night at the moment - very well organised by the NZ Met office!

One of the benefits of not having a "9-to-5" is that you can go and sit in Robbies Bar in Riccarton at breakfast time and watch Man Utd beat AC Milan in the Champions League! No beer at that time, of course - just good old English Breakfast tea. Plus an 80's throwback on the jukebox - Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits and Piano Man by Billy Joel to name but a few that had me back there!

However, talking of breakfast beers, I almost did find myself drnking the amber nectar last Sunday morning at the end of the City2Surf 12km race through town. I had been invited to visit the Pratt & Whitney hospitality tent (turncoat?!) at the end of the race - at QE11 stadium - only to find myself being offered a beefburger and Steinlager at 10am. You'll be pleased to hear that I did resist - though this is definitely not normal NZ behaviour to do so! At least Maria did take up the offer of a glass of Bubbly an hour later when she came to pick me up. That offering was from the Canterbury Tourism tent - I'm certainly getting about!

Anyway, should anyone be interested, I completed the race in 49mins and 54secs - 6 seconds inside the time that Coach Guyomar had set for me the previous evening. The previous evening had itself been a very enjoyable occassion as we had been invited around to a pals BBQ - so the 2 bottles of pinot noir and 16oz of beautiful filet steak had obviously been just what I needed as pre-race preparation!!

It was also at this BBQ that I had my first ever taste of "barbequed-beer-chicken" - curtesy of a couple of the aforementioned Pratt & Whitney team.

In addition to the 12km run, Maria and I enjoyed a jog out to Boulder Bay from Taylor's Mistake on one of her Monday's off work. It was a glorious morning down by the sea, running around the cliff tops and finished off with a delicious lunch at Scarborough Fare cafe in Sumner. We also enjoyed an afternoon stroll in the sun around Corsair Bay and Lyttleton on another of Maria's days off.



I was back at Sarah's school a couple of weeks ago - I've volunteered for the PTA - it must have been the wine at the Parent's evening that did it! And needless to say, there was plenty of wine on offer at the PTA AGM - non NZ readers may be starting to see a pattern here associated with any gathering of NZ adults - whether it is a PTA meeting, Parents evening, athletics event, social gathering, etc....! It's not just the pastureland and the West Coast forests that are lush!!

Now that the tourist season is over, Brendan has asked us to re-sell his campervan so I'm in the process of getting it's warrant of fitness (MOT) and Regio (road tax) sorted before we advertise it on Trade Me (Ebay). It'll also need a damn good clean at some point too! So we're taking the last opportunities to get some use before it's gone and are planning a trip to the West Coast over Easter - though the weather forecast is looking as though that might not be the best place to be next weekend. We did take the van up onto the Port Hills last Friday evening to sit and watch the sun go down over the Alps - with a nice bottle of Shiraz and some supper. It was beautiful.



Sarah's school netball team won a schools tournament last week - which she was pretty chuffed about - despite having spent most of the final being barged "off the ball" by a rather physical and large Polynesian opponent. She's also rekindled her piano skills and has started lessons agian, at school. Thanks to Jack and Eve for the fantastic gift of an electric piano when they were over here - it's great to see Sarah enjoying playing all her favourite pieces again as well as adding to her repertoire with new ones. Sarah has also started to bond with a few of her class mates and there have been a few "school dances" that she's been out to on a Friday night! Fortunately no sign of any boys as of yet!!

Chris remains a periferal figure in our lives at the moment, with him continuing to work night shifts at McDonalds, sleeping during the daytime and spending time out with friends on his days/nights off. He has just bought himself another car - this time a Subaru Legacy. I think that the ANZ Bank were stupid enough to lend him the money - at least he was wise enough not to ask me again! He's still paying me back for the last one - so heaven only knows how he will afford to pay for and run this one! We shall see.

It feels a bit like living on a building site at the moment here at Desmond Street. One of our neighbours (No 20) is currently building the biggest house in Christchurch! Actually, it looks like it will be fantastic when it's complete - just hope we get an invite to the house-warming. There's another large place going up across the road plus the council have just moved in today and started digging up the road just outside our place as the start of a street "face-lift". It will all look great when done - but about 12 weeks of chaos is likely to ensue.

Last Saturday, Maria and I went to her boss' 50th birthday party held at the local Christchurch Boys High School. It was a fun night, including - of course - a free bar and enough food to feed the 8th Army. Bizarrely, the fire alarm went off at one stage (due to some cooker smoke in the kitchen), which was duly ignored by 99% of the party goers (mainly due to its inaudability above the live entertainment) then switched off by the caretaker only to result in the local fire service turning up and being seriously upset that "the band had played on"! "She'll be Right".... Also, I've never witnessed a 50 year old being presented a rifle and live ammo for his birthday gift from his pals before - had me on edge for the rest of the evening!!

So next weekend I believe we put the clocks forward, or is it backwards....? I'm getting confused! Answers on a postcard please.

The house now seems very quiet!

Summer really arrived with some vengance week commencing 22nd Feb - temperatures were in the high 20's all week and the "grand-folks" had to resort to sitting indoors out of the heat - the sun can be quite vicious in this part of the world!

Sarah enjoyed school camp with her new chums - not sure how much sleep they all got during the outing but she didn't make it in to school first day back! Whilst Sarah was away, Maria and I took Ted and Sheila over to Akaroa for the day and managed to get them onto the Akaroa Jet Boat experience! Great day out. Akaroa is a great place.



Andy Thewlis and family called in for a 'BBQ and lashings of red-wine' evening - it was great to catch up after 25 years! Much talk about the pros and cons of emigrating to NZ - but surprisingly little mention of football - which was a shame as I don't often get the chance of winding up a City fan.



And so Ted and Sheila's time was up on the 26th and they headed back to the UK - closely followed by Jack and Eve on the 28th. In between time, we had a meal out at 'Cooking by Gas Light' on Worcester St - which was FAB. Also has a double-header house-warming party-day as Matt and Lou held an open home as well as Steve and Viv Frodsham. Wow - such a social life!

And then it all went a bit quiet......we move Chris back into his bedroom - now that JAck and Eve had vacated....and the TV room became a TV room again noe that Ted and Sheila had moved out. And I had an office again!

I've been busy marketing my Open Courses and so have been attending lots of BNI breakfast meetings - it's almost been like having to get up for a regular job! I have actually managed to get some interest...which makes the hard work worth while.

Went to a parents evening at Sarah school last week. It was like no parents evening I've ever been to before! It wasn't to meet the teachers...but to meet other parents...so there was wine and nibbles on offer...it was very civilised, in fact! Have volunteered for PTA duties as a result....obviously too much Sauv Blanc consumed!

Went up to Wellington last weekend for a night out with Mike Guyomar - he's emigrating to Brisbane (now we've arrived here in NZ!). We got to go to the Wellington Phoenix vs Newcastle play-off match - which was good fun. Usual issue with being in Mike's company - non-stop alcohol consumption from start to finish!



This week it feels like autumn has arrived. Cool nights are back - Maria is looking to get the winter duvet back on the bed. Not so many people wearing shorts and T-shirts around town. I think we've seen the last usage of the pool this season!

Summer Returns to Christchurch

Everyone has been mentioning how bad the Summer has been this year - I've not really noticed apart from the few dys of rain that have come in now and then - but that's par for the course where I'm from. But this weekend has suddenly kicked back in with some scorching Summer heat. We've spent today lazing around the house with Ted and Sheila - who even ventured into the pool at one stage!

We also had a trip over to Hagley Park mid afternoon to take in the "Lazy Sunday" live music in the Botanical Gardens. Some great blues/jazz guitaring to accompany an excellent chanteusse.

Jack and Eve are on tour at the moment. They headed northwards last Tuesday to Kaikoura and then onto Nelson and the Abel Tasman. I think they had a few damp days heading up there but the past few days around AT will have been fantastic weather for them. I think that they are heading to Hanmer on route back to here - possibly arriving tomorrow.

Ted and Sheila enjoyed their own tour around the south of the South Island last week. They stayed at Dunedin, headed to Te Anau, did the Milford Sound experience and then had a couple of nights in Queenstown before witnessing the spectacular Mackenzie Country on their journey back to Christchurch. They didn't bother with the bungy!

I held my first i2i Open Course last Thursday and Friday. It went very well - I received some good feedback and have now scheduled my next 2 events - in March and April. The lectures at the Football academy are also going well and I've also been offered some lecturing work at the University of Canterbury - it's starting to get busy!

Sarah has settled in well at the Girls High School - despite her initial insistence that she would not like it! Seem to have heard that one before somewhere? She is off to school camp tomorrow so she's busy getting all her stuff together - and pestering me to go and find her a torch.

Last weekend we were treated to the NZ Coast to Coast Race staging it's cycle-to-kayak transition at the bottom of our garden (almost) - due to bad weather conditions in the mountains causing Plan B to be enacted.
It was great to see the chaos ensuing on the banks of the Avon as tired cyclists searched frantically for their launches - and then headed off towards Sumner. Maria and I also cycled out to the finish to see some of the athletes completing on the beach - giving me lots of inspiration for my own attempt at the challenge sometime in the next year or three! Best get some training done.

One Year On

I've just noticed that it's 1 year to the day that I started this blog - so Happy Birthday!

I've just been looking back over the blogs and I've got to say that I am absolutely amazed at what we have packed in to this last year - but then, I've not had work getting in the way!!

I really do think that everyone should be given the chance of having a year off to go and do everything they've ever wanted to do. It's such great fun! It's just so sad that it's taken me so long to get on and do all of these things.

Will I still feel the same in another 12 months when all the redundancy money has been spent and I'm having to work to pay for my entertainment?......you bet I will!

No room at the Inn!

Sorry for the delay in update....it's been a hectic month!

Maria and I were straight back into busy-busy working once our Tasman holiday ended.

Whilst we were away, Chris had off-loaded his car to the local breaker's yard - realising a $730 loss on a $800 "investment" after 4 weeks of ownership!

Brendan, Steffi and Olivia popped back into Christchurch for an evening before heading off to Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula for a couple of nights and then we had Jack and Evelyn arrive. We celebrated their first night in NZ - and what we thought was Brendan, Steffi and Olivia's last night in NZ - by hosting a BBQ - also inviting Matt and Lou around. It was a lovely evening.

To our surpise, Brendan, Steffi and Olivia were still around at breakfast the following morning! They had been unable to board their 6am flight due to not having the correct visa for a 10 hour stop-over in Sydney - and there was not customs staff to process one for them. So they were to have an extra day here in Godzone.

It took a few days for Jack and Eve to fully acclimatise and recover from their jet-lag. The weather was not particularly great for their first few days, but at least it wasn't too much of a climate shock for them. Maria and I had a busy week working - I actually held my first all day course - or at least a Day 1 from my 2-day i2i course. My audience were 7 of my BNI group who had been keen to experience what it was I actually did! They all seemed reasonably impressed with the experience - at least no-one cancelled coming to the 2nd Day (see later!).

We had arranged to head off to Wanaka for the last week of the school Summer holidays - staying at our landlady's (Nicky) skiing chalet - with Jack and Eve. Chris had managed to get some time off his work this time around - though not the whole week! - so he joined us for a couple of days of fun.

We spent the first night in Tekapo - staying at "The Chalet" - where we had stayed 3 years ago on our first trip. It's positioned on the lake edge and has fantastic views across the water and of the surrounding mountains. The weather was beautiful and the sun cast some fantastic shadows and different colours across the slopes as it set - whilst we sat chilling on the verandah. We then sat star-gazing as the night sky seemed to become alive and you could almost touch the Milky Way!


The following morning we headed up to the Mount John observatory to take in the great views across MacKenzie Country then departed south towards Wanaka - with the obligatory photo stop at the Mount Cook viewing point. The peaks were a bit overcast today - but we were to get some clear shots when we called in again on the return journey north later in the week.

We had a fantastic week in and around Wanaka.

Maria, the kids and I had a go at quadbiking up near Cardrona - which was great fun and very amusing when Chris got stuck in a swamp and had to be towed out! Of course, no trip to Cardrona is complete without calling in to the Cardrona Hotel for lunch.

We enjoyed a trip over to Queenstown and a gentle steam across the lake on the Earnslaw to Walters Peak and back. AJ Hackett's Karawau Bridge bungee site was re-visited once more - but this time I resisted the temptation! I guess it didn't seem as appealing without having the pleasure of seeing Mike Guyomar putting himself through the mental torture of preparing to jump just ahead of me!

Further nautical adventures were to include Sarah and I taking a catermaran out onto Lake Wanaka for a very enjoyable sail Maria, Sarah and I taking the River Clutha Jet Boat experience along NZ's biggest river (by volume flow); plus Sarah taking her water-hating grand-father onto Lake Wanaka aboard a very dangerous and life-threatening pedelo.

Sarah and I also visited Puzzlingworld whilst Jack and Maria went off cycling towards Lake Hawea. The next day, we were all to head over to Lake Hawea for an afternoon's lazing on the beach and a picnic. It is a beautiful place. But then, so are most places around and about!

The local beach at Lake Wanaka - heading towards Peninsula Bay - saw a visit from us most evenings - for a late dip in the water or an open-air dinner.

At the end of the week, Jack and Eve headed off further south in the campervan - Milford Sound was their ultimate destination - and we headed back to Christchurch.

Another busy week - including the 2nd day of my 2-day course - and then it was the turn of Ted and Sheila to arrive. Jack and Eve returned too, after a weeks touring the Fjords and a revit to Tekapo to take part in a star-gazing experience at the observatory.

So this weekend we've had a houseful. We enjoyed an evening of classical music in Hagley Park on Friday and then Matt and Lou invited us around for a BBQ at their new house yesterday. Yesterday, I delivered my first lecture to the boys at the Asia Pacific Football Academy - which went very well. There may be hope for me yet!

Happy New Year Holidays

So 2010 has arrived. I hope you all had a great festive season and were not troubled too much by the freezing conditions (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere or in Antarctica). Christmas arrived towards the end of a busy working week for both Maria and I (though Maria was the only one who got paid!). Good news is that I have secured some work at the Asia Pacific Football Academy starting in February - really looking forward to it! I also managed to secure some additional work with a lean "consultancy" starting in the new year - so a great Christmas week all round. Mike Guyomar called in for an evening on his way down to Dunedin where he was to pick up "his girls" on route to his in-laws for Christmas. Needless to say, plenty of vino was quaffed in support of the BBQ fodder - a sign of things to come!
After an afternoon in the swimming pool and last minute present wrapping, we wandered into town, to Victoria Square, on Christmas Eve for the Carols by Candlelight concert plus a picnic and another bottle of wine! It was very popular with the locals indeed - standing room only around the edges. Christmas Day was spent mostly over at Corsair Bay, by Lyttleton, with Di, Geoff and Sighle Illston. Another picnic and, you guessed, more wine (sparkling this time trhough) saw us through until Christmas dinner in the evening (though not traditional fare). We had a great time chilling - or in Chris' case, roasting - plus took to the water for a bit of pre-food and wine swimming. Geoff and I finished off the afternoon with cycle over to Godley Head and then back to our respective homes. Boxing Day saw us head North towards Nelson for our summer camping expedition - but not before Maria and Sarah had ventured out early into Christchurch to snap up some Boxing Day Sale bargains! We were booked in at Mapua Leisure Park for a week or so. The Park used to be a nudist camp and still has a clothes optional period in February and March. Must remember to stay away during those months! Bren, Steffi and Olivia met up with us too for a few nights before they headed off to walk the Abel Tasman Park Track. We spent a day around Kaiterteri and Stephens Bay - dodging a few showers but mainly on the beach and in the sea. Brendan was to return the next day to Stephens Bay and go diving for green lip mussels which he served up as a delicious dish at camp supper. The lure of the Abel Tasman meant that we then arranged to take a water taxi up to Anchorage Bay for an afternoon lazing on the beach. This was to be where Brendan, Steffi and Olivia would be staying after their first day of walking into the Park, on New Year's Eve - and what a fabulous place to be celebrating the advent of 2010 in. Lucky people! At this point in the week, my drinking pace-maker, Mike, arrived with his family - Fiona, Isabella and Florence! We visited nearby Rabbit Island with its lovely sandy beach where the girls attempted to build a raft to sail out to sea on. Unfortunately it did not survive the launching! The town of Nelson featured on a few days, with trips in for various provisions and camp necessities. We also (foolishly) bought an inflatable dinghy for the girls which was to result in the need for a rescue boat being sent out to retrieve the 3 of them from the mercy of the raging Tasman Sea (that bit was a slight exageration of what really happened, but they did need rescuing!). New Year's Eve saw the hiking party depart camp and head off on their 5 day trek through Abel Tasman. Maria, Mike and I accompanied them for the first couple of hours before stopping for lunch and then turning back to civilisation. Some pleasant walking with great views across beautiful bays of golden sand and aqua blue sea. Much more pleasant without a 21kg back-pack, believe you me! The rest of the holiday involved a few visits to local wineries - for wine tasting and for lunch stops - further trips to local beaches (though without further dinghy episodes) - fish and chip suppers from Mapua Smokehouse F&C Shop plus the consumption of lots of beer and wine from Mike's rather large Chilly Bin. Must buy one! The highlight had to be the lunchtime Jazz and Blues session at the Woollaston winery, where we were entertained by the Mike Garner Band with 2 and a half hours of great music whilst quaffing a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - fantastic stuff! So that was that. It soon became time to go home so we all packed up the tents and headed our separate ways. We did stop off for some fresh cray fish at Kaikoura on the way home though. A great view from the restaurant.