Queenstown here we come !

Off to Queenstown for our Easter break, huzzah ! Things on the to do
list include:
Movies: 300 and Black Sheep, Jetboating, Downhill mountain biking,
something on the water, a days drive to somewhere nice, couple of
dinners out. Watch this space for more details, as they come to hand

Its raining again

Well what to say since the last belated update? Oh yeah.

Both Tash and I have changed jobs, sold our house, bought a house, moved out, then in, then all around. Back to Auckland and 5 Squadron for me, Massey High school for Natasha. Its now only two weeks until the end of term 1, which Tash has managed to make it through alive (yay!)

Belated Lake Taupo challenge update.

Well its only three months late but here goes. Natasha's first foray
into the fine fitness phenomenon know as cycling was at Lake Taupo, for the Cycle challenge. We took part as a five person team 713, Team 'Eie Spie' with a few friends from work, Jeremy(Leg 1), Fiona(2) and Mike(MTB). I was down to do leg 3, the dreaded Kuratau Hill, while Natasha got leg 4 (Hatepe hill). At the last minute Fiona sprained an ankle, so was unable to make it. So full of beans Jeremy did both legs 1 and 2 for a total of 80km.

The good news started when we got to our lovely accomodation for the weekend. Jeremy 'Fingers' had already pulled out five spot prizes from the registration spot-prize pool. Four (thats right, four!) MP3 players and one gift basket later, we were all quite stoked with the entry fee.

With Mike and Jeremy on the early start, Natasha and I had a very relaxed morning, until we set out for the 2-3 changeover point. Apparently you're supposed to take the bus, but hey, we're aucklanders......... Caught up with Mike B at the changeover, he was taking part with some of the boys from the fighting fifth.

Jeremy came flying in, finishing his 80km with a ride time of under three hours (holy smokes, batman). I set off for my forty K sprint up the hill, passing plenty of 80km or 160km riders on the way. You'd be amazed at how slow people go down a hill, honestly. Even the ones with
90kg of ballast......I even stopped to catch up with an old man and his lovely wife, but they just growled at me for stopping, of all the nerve.

90 minutes later I pulled into the 3-4 changeover and swapped the transponder over to Tash. We then rode on together towards the ominous Hatepe hill. Which of course, Natasha rode all the way up without stopping!!! The downhill was a million times more fun, but we still had
20km to go before getting into Taupo. We finished with a team time of 7hrs 54min, which wasn't too bad considering it was 160km plus a 20km Mountain bike circuit. Next time I guess we'll take the bus, and stay away from the Spa Road Takeaway bar (hour and 20 for a simple order of chish and fips...)

I seem to do nothing except post bike pics

But that's okay, as this is upon request eh Dave. My second foray into the world of two wheeled motorised mayhem. Please note the 250 sticker on the side was the previous owners attempts at deceiving law enforcement agencies, which is no longer neccessary for a lawabiding citizen such as myself. If I were to break the law in the future I would tell you that wee yellow is capable of 150k (theoretically of course) at 9500 rpm. I've also added a small windshield that doesn't actually shield the wind, nor me, but looks good. brmm brmm.

Yes, I did come home from Sydney...

Have been meaning to write up a full post about my adventures in Sydney, but have been so utterly flat out since returning home that I've only managed to upload a few photos to the web so far. That and my keyboard at home has thrown a wobbly. So here's a link to the gallery at least... Sydney Gallery

A wee prang

Not to worry folks,

A slightly drizzly and gray ride to work saw my precious on its side with some cuts and scrapes, and my right wrist in a cast. Luckily it ain't broke, so I was back on two wheels once Phil Turnbulls had sorted it out.

After my wallet was much lighter (the other driver will be helping) I decided she needed a bit of proper colour, so here she is.

Yes we are still here...

As I am sure avid readers of this blog are aware, there has been a lull in postings for quite some time now. There are possibly several reasons for this, most of which include at least one form of idleness I am sure. I'll let the other members of the blog make their own excuses but for me the reasons are as follows...

First and foremost for me (aside from the above mentioned idleness) was the recent breakup between myself and my fiance the lovely Josephine, whos words and likeness have graced these pages many times in the past. I wont go into the details but as you can see there are no hard feelings and I wish her all the best.

So what have I been up to since then? The internet might run out of space if I were to recount all of my recent adventures so I'll try and keep things concise.

• Moved in with some friends in Grey Lynn who were conveniently looking for a flatmate.
• Rediscovered my love of running, but this time have also discovered weights and Pilates. It seems to be a great combination as my fitness and physique have improved dramatically since. Its also great on those days when its too wet and cold to go out running to have something to fall back on. =)
• As a result of all this exercise (and not living with a food fanatic) I have been discovering my own style of cooking. It may not be marketable (yet) but it is tasty nutritious and filling.
• I've spent a good deal of time developing new friendships with a huge range of people in all sorts of unfamiliar situations which has been incredibly personally satisfying. One such friendship led me to spend a super-long-weekend in Christchurch and surrounds. It was my first time deciding for myself to travel (having in recent years only flown to Fiji for my dear brothers wedding) and I thoroughly enjoyed every challenge along the way. So much so that the day I returned I commited myself to further travelling and have since aquired a credit card (the horror!) and booked a flight to Sydney in June.

Along the way I have adopted a couple of catch phrases which have not only helped picked me up when feeling down but thrown me out the front door too...

"Live no one day without an adventure" - Me

"It's a great day to be me" - Church - Red vs Blue

Said under the breath at least once a day (people get tired of hearing how great you are if you say it out loud) these sayings can propel you towards many wonderful new experiences.

Thats all from me for now.

D