Scratching Around

So, one of the reasons I haven’t been updating the blog of late is because I have been too busy training for the Round the Bays half marathon in Wellington. I set myself a goal of being able to complete it without stopping in under 2 hours. I got my tactics a bit wrong at the start and cruised the first 10km a bit too much (never thought I would write a sentence that said ‘cruised 10km’). I finished with a time of 2 hours 5 minutes but I did get round without stopping and in temps of 23 degrees plus. The Wellington wind played its part too!

Thanks to Rick and Noel for being excellent training partners. Thanks also to the Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters and the Killers for providing rip roaring rock anthems to keep me going. Favourite running tune is now Cold Desert by the Kings of Leon.

The other reason I haven’t been updating this blog is I have been busy having far too much fun! In the last two months we have travelled most of the South Island, been Sea Kayaking in both Milford and Marlborough Sounds, walked up to a glacier, climbed a mountain at Lake Takepo, been flooded out of our campsite in Milford Sound, attended the Marlborough wine festival, took part in the festivities that are the Wellington rugby sevens (still got a hangover!), found my new favourite micro brewery (Moa – just a shame it is on the South Island), flown twice to Nelson on the same plane (hairdryer – refer to previous blog in June last year), broke our car, bought a new car, and all that whilst trying to train for a half marathon. I’m lucky I finished at all! I’m exhausted but can’t wait to get back on the golf course…. it’s been quite a while.

This afternoon we are off to watch the mighty Wellington Phoenix take on Perth Glory in a crucial elimination game for the A-league play offs (football).

Below are some photos of our recent activities (by the way, the people you see walking while I am running at the end only walked 7k)….. I’ve got another bus story to tell, but will save this for the next blog. Promise to do better from now on……

You will see a photo of Lake Takepo below – definitely the most beautiful place on our travels so far and that’s saying something when comparing to Milford Sound.

We have arrived in Milford Sound for New Years Eve celebrations!

This trip has been amazing. Around every bend is another piece of scenery to take your breath away. Lake Takepo and the drive to the Milford Sounds are the highlights so far.

Have a great  New Year! Tomorrow we are going on a scenic cruise followed by a 4 hour kayak around the sounds. Let’s hope the sand flies piss off before then, but I doubt it.

Happy Christmas everyone……

Xmas in Wellington involved a bit of garden cricket followed by a phenomenal bbq fillet of beef. Have a great Xmas and New Year. Slideshow below, click on any picture to start.

The Mayes on Mount Vic

Been a while hasn’t it? Since I last blogged we have been for another trip to the South Island and been visited by Gary Mayes and his family. It was great to see Gary and his kids. I hope they enjoyed their  brief spell in the Capital. Wellington certainly but on a show for them, we had two of the best days sunshine this summer for showing them around Wellington.

So onto our trip of the South Island….I hope this won’t disappoint too many people but the promised musical montage has fallen foul of a technical glitch. After giving myself a big pat on the back for remembering to charge the camcorder and pack the camcorder, when it came to start filming from the viewing platform of the Trans Alpine Express I realised that the discs were in fact in the baggage carriage, which we no longer had access to.
The flight to South Island was pretty uneventful. Shona had the foresight to check us in online and get us a window seat so that we could enjoy the spectacular views of the South Island on the trip down. However she didn’t take into account that we were flying south and that the South Island would be on the west side of the plane. On the wast side of the plane all you could see was ocean, lots and lots of ocean. Bless her….Last night she managed to scare herself with her own reflection.

Pancake Rocks

I thought there must have been an intruder the shriek she let off.
The first night of our trip was spent in Christchurch. Christchurch is the second biggest city in New Zealand by population and area. A lot of people tell you that it is a lot like Cambridge in the UK….. You can go punting for a start. My initial opinion of Christchurch is that it is just a little bland. For me what makes towns/cities stand out is their individual character traits. Roturua has its Geothermal stuff. Taupo has the massive lake. Queenstown is for the adventure junkies. Auckland is just massive and Wellington is cool and has it’s harbour. Christchurch is just missing something. Maybe Christchurch is just a bit too much like home for my liking.
Christchurch however is the boarding point of the Trans Alpine Express and the first four hours of our second day on the South Island was to be spent traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast of  New Zealand. The journey is 223.8 km long and you pass through 19 tunnels and over 4 viaducts. I know all this because I copied from their website http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/tranzalpine.aspx . The journey was great and despite an overcast day the views were very spectacular. I would like to go back in the winter when there is more snow on the mountains.
South Island people are a strange breed, and west coast people are an even stranger sub breed. I suppose putting up with all that rain will turn the best of people. Our first encounter with a west coaster was the lady in the car hire shop. She managed to confuse both myself and Shona and eventually herself, with what should have been a 5 minute transaction ended up taking about 35 mins.

Kea - They eat Sheep

Next stop on our journey was a quick trip to the Pancake rocks in Punakaiki. The Pancakes rocks are a collection of rocks that look have the appearance of being formed of thin layers of limestone, and look like layers of pancakes. The best bit of going there was reading the sign that was titled ‘How were these rocks formed’ to which the answer was, ‘Scientists don’t really know’. Thanks…

We then took a trip back across Arthurs Pass on car and met the Kea…… well we had no idea what it was but we pulled out at a scenic look out and three of the birds appeared. We were a bit shocked as we didn’t expect to see a parrot in the middle of the rain forest (world’s only alpine parrot). And then the B**stard birds stole bits from our rental car….  Shortly after, a campervan turned up. The man in the van told us we had experienced  a once in a lifetime event. We  were very impressed. Until we thought on. He meant a Kakapo.  They are impressive parrots… just not the ones we saw. He had a great trip though.  He saw a rare species…..

Our first lodgings were to be a motel attached to a golf course. Residents play for free. http://www.lake-brunner.co.nz/.  The course wasn’t great but had good fun going round it. The lodgings were really good, but as with everything in the South Island ‘a bit strange’. It is basically you staying in an extension to the family home, in the middle of nowhere. We arrived on the Friday and were told that the local restaurant and pub does food but you will have to get in early because they both shut at 7.30pm. 7.30pm! On a Friday! Well I said to Shona, the dirty……….

Anyway day 3 saw the mammoth task of driving from the west coast back to the East coast and our lodgings for the next couple of days in Akaroa on The Banks Peninsula. Akaroa is famous as it is one of the few places in New Zealand that hasn’t been solely influenced by the presence of Maori and English settlements. Akaroa has a distinctly French influence and many of the people that live in Akaroa can trace the ancestory back to a French settlement which arrived in NZ in the late 1830’s early 1840’s.

Apparently, once the British heard that the French were on their way to claim this part of NZ as their own, they set out on a mission to beat the French to Akaroa. The race which followed from the top of the North Island to Akaroa was a tight one until a big storm hit and the French decided to head for land (to eat cheese and drink wine, whilst shrugging their shoulders) while the British ploughed on and braved the storm to claim the land as theirs. Makes you proud doesn’t it?  Turns out we let the French settle there anyway, makes you think the british should have stopped for wine and cheese themselves and save the effort.
The highlight of our stay in Akaroa was a boat journey out in the harbour. The harbour was formed in the crater of a super volcano and is now home to a rare type of dolphin called the Hector’s Dolphin. Part of the crew on the boat we were on is a small terrier type dog, whose job it is to pick up on the sonar of the dolphin and bark furiously to let us know that dolphins are within close range of the boat. A very smart plan, but not a peaceful one. We both enjoyed the boat trip and got to see lots of dolphins and seals. I recommend anyone visiting the south Island to spend a few days in Akaroa, very relaxing and very beautiful bit of the country.

Arthurs Pass

We go back to the south Island for an extended holiday over the Christmas and New Year period, so hopefully will have a lot to write about when I get back. I might even try and get a few on while we are travelling . I can’t believe it is nearly a year since we left the UK, the last year has just flown by. I have gone from loving NZ, to resenting it, to loving and so on and so on. It’s all just peaks and troughs. Missing everyone, have a great Christmas and New Year. On New Year’s eve we will be Kayaking in the Milford Sounds, what a life!

The end of a long day

Well this is a bit late but…congratulations to the All Whites! The New Zealand football team qualified for the World Cup by beating Bahrain on a magical night in the Capital City (of course I wasn’t here to watch it, no I was watching it in a bar which didn’t serve red wine, and when going for a quick wee in the mens room you could still hold a conversation with someone in the beer garden as they hadn’t bothered with windows). Anyway, White is now officially the new Black in New Zealand and football is probably at the height of it’s popularity since New Zealand last qualified in 1982. My favourite moment of the game came after substitute Chris Wood came onto the pitch and an over excited New Zealand commentator roared “There is a gaping hole for Wood to enter” (immature again I know, sorry mum). So congratulations again to the All Whites and their supporters, although just a word of advice to the one supporter in the stadium who took the flag with him to the game with the words “White Power” written on it, you may want to leave that behind if you are thinking of travelling to South Africa to watch any of the games.

How many have we tasted?

The reason we weren’t in Wellington for the game was that we were over in the wairarapa region of NZ to attend the Toast wine festival in Martinborough. Basically what happens is that the town of Martinborough is closed off and 10,000 people descend on it to walk (or take the complimentary bus) around 12 of its vineyards. The vineyards all put on entertainment and food concessions and basically try and fleece you for as much money as they can, while you slowly get merry on their home brew. The festival has a reputation for always being on a hot day and before we went to the event people at work were telling me they couldn’t remember a Toast festival that wasn’t held on a glorious sunny day, ‘magic, that will do for me’. Needless to say this year it was overcast and winds picked up to over 90kmh……Magic. The winds did provide a highlight however. We had just arrived at the Burnt Spur vineyard and entered the first marquee to purchase a glass of the good stuff and a breakfast pie when a gust of wind blew through and took the marquee off the ground and landed it back down on the same spot snapping the legs which were holding it up. A lot of the public came to the rescue and held the marquee up until the fire brigade could turn up and take it down safely. Rick and I however had just purchased our breakfast pies, so there was no way we holding anything up until we had finished those beauties.

I don't get it...a rainbow and it's not raining......More Wine?

I had intended here to pass onto you names of the wines I had particularly enjoyed from all the tasting I was doing. However…………it appears that I may have tasted too many and I now cannot remember which were good and which were not. So you will just have to come out here and try them for yourselves. At the end of the day though Shona was trying to save you all a lot of money by organising some kind of UK distribution deal with one of the vineyards, not sure if she can remember that though.
In other news, I am trying to deal with the embarrassment of not being able to finish last nights 5km run. I blame it on the fact that I have been suffering with man flu for the past 2 weeks and I am still feeling jaded. I always like using the word jaded rather than tired or exhausted, because it sounds almost more poetic, like world-weary. In reality of course I still just have ‘a bit of a sniffle’.

Anyway, today sees Gary Mayes and his kids arrive in Wellington and they will be staying with us, so I am off to tidy the house. Tomorrow we are flying down to Christchurch for 5 days in the South Island, where we will be boarding the Tranz Alpine express to Greymouth. This is supposed to be one of the best train journeys in the world, so I am charging the video camera up as I write. I feel a musical video coming on don’t you? Just need to find a cheesy song to do with trains and then we will be all set.

This weekend sees New Zealands biggest game of football for 27 years. The ‘All Whites’ so called because they play in all white are taking on the football powerhouse that is Bahrain in the second leg, winner takes all World Cup qualifier in Wellington. The game is a sell out, I can’t go though! Shona has booked a cottage in the countryside. Magic.

I am consoled by the fact that the New Zealand World cup song for this game is probably the worst football song I have ever heard. Here it is………I am actually embarrassed to live here because of this song. Enjoy.

The phrase ‘never again’ is currently going through my head a lot. Still another tick in ‘Firsts’  column. Hutt City Triathlon……Done.

Now I am off to the golf course to go round the clubhouse and sidle up to everyone and go ‘What me? What did I do this morning? Oh you know just did a cheeky triathlon’.

As before, click on any of the images below to start the slideshow.

Looking Good (and not wearing blue hoodie for a change)

The bank holiday weekend started in the usual British fashion, which of course means I spent the whole build up to going away fretting about what the traffic was going to be like getting out of Wellington on the Friday night.  I think I consulted the whole of the 29^th floor of the office block that I work in as to their opinion of when would be the best time to leave. “Hello John, listen, I know we haven’t spoken since I joined 6 months ago but I was wondering, what would be the best time to leave when planning to travel on the Friday before Labour Day?………. Hi I am Paul by the way!” You see my concern comes from the fact that there is only 2 roads out of Wellington; 1 going the way we wanted to go and the other going over the Rimutakas to Martinborough (This is slightly worrying of course when you consider that we are on a major fault line and you begin asking yourself the question what if they both disappear/crack in a earthquake and we need to evacuate. Saying that I am not sure how much of a relief it would be if they announced they were going to build a 3rd).  Anyway, as it turns out I needn’t have worried, because I had overlooked the fact that very few people actually live in New Zealand and of course the roads were largely fine.

As mentioned in my earlier blog entry this Labour weekend was going to be spent in the Rangitikei region of New Zealand.  I have driven through this region several times before and largely ignored it as I had been travelling to the more ‘well known’ areas of the North Island.  However, as I have said before on many an occasion and will probably again many times, “This part of New Zealand is simply stunning”. Rolling hills, unspoiled landscape, endless supplies of fresh air and the impressive Rangitikei River carving its way through the land takes your breath away and leaves myself asking the question ‘Why did I ignore all this on those other times?”

Walk to the waterfall

We arrived at the Bach (cottage) we were staying at around 8.30pm after we had stopped at the Kebab house in Bulls (as mentioned in early blog entry). The rest of our group was already there and had been greeted by the owner before we arrived. Apparently the owner had laughed when one of the group had asked whether we might be getting a key to lock the house when we were out. Apparently you just leave the doors unlocked round here. The Bach was great and we spent most of Friday evening drinking and playing “Apples 2 Apples”, a game in which I managed to repeatedly make people laugh just by giving the answer ‘Danny De Vito’ to every question. Some crowds are easier than others.

So on to Saturday and the start of our planned activities. We were headed for River Valley where some people were planning to go white water rafting. OK so the following is going to require some explanation. River Valley offers 2 different types of rafting, a Grade 5 White Water Rafting experience and a Grade 2/3 rafting experience.

Here is the description of a grade 5 Rafting experience from the River Valley website.

Grade 5: “Very powerful rapids with very confused and broken water, large drops, violent and fast currents, abrupt turns, difficult powerful stoppers and fast boiling eddies; with numerous obstacles in the main current. Complex, precise and powerful sequential manoeuvring is required. A definite risk to personal safety exists.”

Bit frightening but not that bad until you consider the only grade above it is Grade 6 and this is its description from Wikipedia.

Grade 6: Class 6 rapids are considered to be so dangerous as to be effectively unnavigable on a reliably safe basis. Rafters can expect to encounter substantial whitewater, huge waves, huge rocks and hazards, and/or substantial drops that will impart severe impacts beyond the structural capacities and impact ratings of almost all rafting equipment. Traversing a Class 6 rapid has a dramatically increased likelihood of ending in serious injury or death compared to lesser classes. (Skill Level: Successful completion of a Class 6 rapid without serious injury or death is widely considered to be a matter of great luck or extreme skill)

Ok, then. Next one up equals death. Being the daredevil/courageous character that I am, there was clearly only one option for me. The Grade 2/3 scenic raft it was.

Not for one second do I regret not doing the grade 5. The scenic rafting was superb. Between 6/7 hours was spent on the river, climbing up waterfalls or trying to cross strong currents on foot (something Shona was pathetic at!). The rapids weren’t very fierce at all, and for most of the day Rick and I shared a 2 man Kayak separate from the rest of the group who were in larger rafts accompanied by a River guide. I am not skilled enough to do justice to describing the scenery and how picturesque it was. If you want to know what it is like watch the end of the first Lord of the rings film, where Frodo and Samwise are in a canoe, and you will know because it was filmed on the same stretch of river. It was a really good day, topped by Rick getting stung up his nose by something which he had never heard of before, which makes him feel even more like Ray Mears. It was an Onga Onga which apparently, if it stings you enough, will kill you – see here.

View from the 12th tee

Day 2 was spent at Rangitira Golf Club, which is set next to the Rangitikei River and the last 12 holes are probably the most scenic I have played. Fun day had by all, the manager wasn’t too worried about us carrying a crate of beer round with us all day which made for a very relaxing time. The round was interrupted by Rupert as he averaged more than one piss a hole. Rick and I won the match play 2 & 1 and I shot a 14 over Par 86. We liked it so much that we went back on the way home on Monday and this time let the girls play, who had been horse riding the day before and missed out on a trip round the course. Definitely recommend this course to any golf fans, once you get past the first 6 holes which are pretty ordinary the rest of the course is magnificent. Highlight is getting a cable car from the 18^th to the clubhouse.

Tomorrow will see another first for me as I am competing in a triathlon. You did read that right it said triathlon. If I make it through, I will put up some pictures.

After a period with a severe lack of travel, this weekend will see us once again board the metallic pink Honda Accord EX and hit the road to Rangitikei. On the agenda is a cheeky bit of White water rafting followed by a leisurely round of golf. There is a group of 12 of us going up there, 10 ex pats an Argentinean and an Aussie. We are staying here http://www.bookabach.co.nz/cf_RentalSearch/dsp_listing.cfm?bachId=8064 . Looks stressful doesn’t it.

I am really looking forward to the golf. Here is the link to the golf courses website http://www.rangatiragolf.co.nz/rangatira-golf-course-info.php . You need to get a cable car from the 18th back up to the club house.

Good news, I smashed the old 5km PB this week by over a minute and it is now standing at 25.36.

So I am beginning to think that I am taking too much for granted! Since I last blogged we have been to another All Blacks game, attended a barbecue for ex pats in New Zealand and competed in the Karori Golf Club Championships (Knocked out in the first round – I just can’t get a break, the golfing gods seem to have it in for me!). However, none of the above compelled me enough to write a blog entry. This of course proves what I have known all along that I am lazy, but also that I am becoming blasé about some of the things which 6 months ago I would have gotten all excited about. This is just a note to myself that I am going to nip this in the bud and once again become completely giddy at the prospect of doing new and exciting things whilst here in New Zealand.

My main news is that I have begun participating in a weekly 5km race around the harbour. I have been running for 5 weeks and have set 4 personal bests, bang! Running for fun has never been my idea of well….fun! However I am enjoying this while it lasts, and you have an incentive of a free beer once you have completed the course which keeps you going. The run is organised by ‘The Welllington Scottish Athletics Club’ and the weekly results are posted on their website here http://www.scottishathletics.org.nz .This week’s results are here http://www.scottishathletics.org.nz/Brooks5k13Oct2009.html . As you can see I am by no means keeping up with the competitive runners, but I am not last either! The second week I showed up one of the other male competitors came up to me and said that he didn’t care what time he got as long as he beat me. Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it! I haven’t beaten him yet but wait…just wait until I do. Wellington, with its winds isn’t ideal for running as you can imagine. Yesterday, it was particularly bad and at points it felt like you were treading water, so to notch another PB felt good and reward for my training last week which saw me notch up 22km. Still on track for 2012.

In other news, we are just about seeing off the end of winter and looking forward to the start of summer. However, last week it felt like it just wouldn’t stop raining and it is still raining as I am typing this blog entry. This is a pain as Rick Astley and I have recently purchased a couple of fishing rods and we are keen to enter a new ‘Hunter Gatherer’ period of our time here in New Zealand. I think Rick is hoping to move away from the comparisons with Rick Astley and become more like another famous ginger haired celebrity, Ray Mears. Speaking of ginger haired related stories, every morning I get the same bus into work. A couple of stops after I get on the bus a mother gets on with her 3 sons, all of varying ages and heights, nothing unusual there except for the fact that they all have ginger hair. Every day I find myself thinking ‘Well at least she hasn’t stopped trying to have a normal haired child!’ You have to admire that don’t you?

Moving on. Another highlight of my bus journey into work is when the bus passes the Wellington night shelter. Now, I understand that this is a refuge for people less fortunate than myself and I am by no means poking fun at them, I am merely painting a picture of the character of this city. You should understand however that unfortunately I still have the sense of humour of an immature 12 year old and still quite often make myself laugh by asking Shona to ‘pull my finger’, so I can’t help but find this stuff humorous. For instance, as the bus was passing last week a pot bellied chap was stood out the front of the shelter (located on a busy main thoroughfare) the with his legs shoulder width apart in just a shell suit top and a tight pair of Y-fronts saluting the rush hour traffic as it passed by him. On a separate occasion I saw a man stood outside the shelter wearing a pair of jeans, with a pair of pink novelty boxer shorts pulled over the top, he was obviously having an argument with his imaginary friend. His arms were flailing around wildly, and in my mind the argument went something like this (minus any swear words).

Man: ‘I am Super Man’.

Imaginary Friend: ‘I do protest! For I am Super Man’

Man: ‘Look! Now just look here! I am clearly Super Man, I have gone to the trouble to put my novelty underwear on the outside of my trousers, therefore man equals super vis a’ vie Super Man’

Methamphetamine has a lot to answer for!

Another character who always boards the bus at the night shelter stop is a rather large, threatening looking lady who has very few teeth remaining (a common sign of meth abuse). The kind of person who, if they board the bus and you have a spare seat next to you, makes you inevitably shift uncomfortably, hoping they won’t sit next to you as they are clearly intimidating. However, this lady has the honour of twice in one week lifting my spirits and reinforcing my own whole hearted faith in human kindness (What’s that Paul? You are just like an onion aren’t you….so many layers? Well let me tell you the story first, but of course you are damn right!). Anyway, the first time I remember noticing her on the bus was when she got on the bus and found a seat opposite a man with his very young son. She was holding a lunch for the day provided by the shelter which included a small bunch of grapes. The young boy who was clearly not as intimidated by the lady as everyone else on the bus, began pointing his finger at the bunch of grapes and with his finger aloft repeatedly said ‘Gwapes, gwapes, gwapes, gwapes’. You could sense the tension amongst the fellow commuters as they imagined what type of scene was about to be played out in front of them. ‘Was this lady going to snap and lift this child up and eat him, as she looked like the kind of woman who had used this punishment on other children who had dared to speak to her in the past? Or if not that drastic was she going to unleash a tirade of profanities at the poor defenceless child, as this is what is expected from such a menacing looking woman, isn’t it?’ There was an audible sigh of relief however when a toothless grin appeared on the woman’s face and she put her hand into her bag of grapes and said, ‘I’ll just take off a few for myself and then you can have the rest’ and she passed the grapes to the young boy.

I can’t remember the second incident but I do know it finished with another toothless grin. She still gets on the bus, and most days will have a very enjoyable, jovial conversation with herself. Although it isn’t with herself because I know I am listening.

Once again I apologise for the lack of activity on the Blog. October and November promise to be busy blogging months as we have trips to Martinborough, Christchurch and Rangitikei (White water rafting) planned. I am especially looking forward to the Martinborough trip as it is for a wine festival, see here .

Shona is fine by the way and just about to finish her busy season at work. It’s like my homie Jay-Z keeps telling me ‘I got 99 problems, but the ***** ain’t one’. True.

To finish I thought I would let you know that I have discovered that I have a new super power. Last Saturday I correctly predicted that we would be experiencing an earthquake in Wellington a full 5 seconds before a 4.8 magnitude quake hit the capital. This completely freaked out the friends we were with (Rick has come up with the name Vibrator Man!). However, I do now have to come up with a super hero costume for my new found powers. I am thinking of wearing novelty pink boxer shorts over the top of some jeans. I hear it is popular amongst other Wellingtonian super heroes.