Tania's Tales...

	Life at home	14/05/06 Looking back on the year from May...
		14/05/06 Catching up with people
		14/05/06 Good health
		14/05/06 Motorbikes
		14/05/06 Cricket
		14/05/06 The end of February
		14/05/06 March, Waiheke Island
		14/05/06 All change
		14/05/06 The Easter Show and the Rotorua Marathon
		21/05/06 Christchurch
		11/08/05 Another look back, from August
		11/08/05 A winter of sport
		11/08/05 Taupo half marathon
		11/08/05 One Tree Hill summit
		14/08/05 Dave Dobbyn and Auckland Philharmonia
		03/11/05 A lot of rugby under the bridge
		18/12/05 November/December
		27/12/05 Kauaeranga Valley and Christmas

03 January 2006 04/01/06 Next Back to top Home

A week-long bach holiday to start the new year! We were packed and ready to go to Langs Beach by mid-morning. It was a sunny, sunny day and we were in constant text contact with mum and dad, who were heading up a little later. We took SH16 for an easy run northbound, and heard on the radio that southbound traffic was staionary from 2km out of Warkworth all the way to Auckland! We met the queues when we joined SH1 at Wellsford. We overshot the bach on our arrival, and later made the mistake of relating this to mum and dad, sparking a series of running jokes for the next several days whenever any of us walked, drove or ran past the gate for any reason. Our bach was a lovely-looking place on poles, with kayak and boogie boards and room for our car underneath it. Inside, it was done up like something from House and Garden, but apart from that it was exactly the kind of place I expected! We had a view of Mt Manaia and the Hen and Chickens Islands, and wild rabbits wandered the lawn. Mum and dad arrived, and we got a text from Rachel and Barry to say they'd be there that night. After a late afternoon walk along the beach we met them by accident in the fish and chip shop. While we were there we also received a call from Jason and Heather to say they'd be down in their campervan that night as well. So we had a full house on day one! We had a lovely late chat before tiredness overtook us.

04 January 2006 03/01/06 Previous 05/01/06 Next Back to top Home

Jason and Heather left today for their UK home via Singapore, and Mike arrived. The day started out rainy so Rachel and Barry went shopping, mum headed to a friend's place, dad and I had a quiet time of reading and jigsaw, and Warwick and Mike launched into a day of fevered activity... They went for a run together, then came back, changed and went swimming, then came back and went out again to go boogie boarding, then came back and went out again - to the medical centre with Mike's suspected dislocated and broken toe!

05 January 2006 04/01/06 Previous 06/01/06 Next Back to top Home

Mum and I discovered that the fruit growing around the property was banana passionfruit. Two or three would ripen every day so there were plenty for me as I was the only one game enough to eat them after mum and dad had gone! Rachel and Barry also left today, and I headed out for a run. To my surprise, our long, lovely beach was cut in half by the tide - creating Ding Bay and Langs' Beach. I sat on the rocks in between the two beaches and watched the waves crash high just in front of me. And right in the middle of all that white spray was a small, still rock pool, disturbed only occasionally by a few drops of water rippling its surface. Beautiful! And possibly a metaphor for living life. Warwick and Mike, the unstoppable pair, went down to the beach for some kayaking and I joined them later. I thought the water looked good for a swim but I was wrong - it was icy and I only went in knee-deep! So Mike and I watched a couple expertly body-surfing while Warwick swam. I snoozed in the afternoon - this was holiday after all! Donna arrived that evening and we played a lot of Last Card before heading to bed.

06 January 2006 05/01/06 Previous 07/01/06 Next Back to top Home

Mmmm... pancakes for breakfast. Mike left today, Donna went out walking and on to the Smashed Pipi cafe and gallery, and Warwick and I headed to Waipu for milk, post and groceries. We spent the day chatting and reading, took an evening walk on the beach (contemplating the effects of bringing the moon nearer to the earth, reminiscing about tractors we have known, and helping a starfish back to sea).

07 January 2006 06/01/06 Previous 08/01/06 Next Back to top Home

Nigel and Richard arrived today, and also happened to overshoot the place, despite Warwick's monkey-like antics along the deck as we saw them drive close. Donna left after lunch, Ruth and Steve arrived, and we all went boogie-boarding... well, the other five did. I sat on the beach and enjoyed the sun - the water was still far too cold for me! All five of them managed to catch a few waves despite a general lack of big surf. We cut back throught the rocks into Ding Bay and headed home for Last Card, dinner, and a marathon game of original Risk, provided by Nigel. A great game, and so long it had to be abandoned and finished in the morning.

08 January 2006 07/01/06 Previous 09/01/06 Next Back to top Home

I had been first to bed so I was first up on this quiet morning - a lovely, still day after the neighbours' fireworks until 1:30am the night before! Salty air, blue sky, a beautiful morning. All day (as all week) walkers and joggers made their way up and down the road. We had a birthday coffee cake for Nigel, Ruth won the final Risk shoot-out with Warwick, and I managed to find some time to lie on the lawn and soak up the scent of the grass and the warmth of the sun, writing and planning for 2006. I also managed to get a lot of juggling and swiss ball balance practice in. We had HEAPS of food - people were so generous throughout the holiday that there were always plenty of treats such as lemon cake and fruit cake to go around. It was a slow, lazy, sunny Sunday, with cicadas, agapanthus, warm air and the smell of salt and grass all around. Baking hot and still - my favourite kind of day! After Ruth and Steve left, Warwick, Richard and Nigel headed back to the beach. I went to join them but they had already turned for home - Nigel had had news of a family bereavement, and he had to head home that day. That evening the three of us left played Settlers Cities and Knights - and I had my first victory! And it was a quiet night for sleeping at last.

09 January 2006 08/01/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

Another sunny, still morning. The birds were very close to us, as ever, and I fed them on the lawn. I learnt a new trick from Warwick - they will come for the bread and clean it up quickly if you dampen it first. I spent a lot of time writing my new website and generally taking things easy. That afternoon, we jumped in the car and headed to the beautiful surf beach at Mangawhai, where Warwick and Richard caught some waves. I wondered out into the water a wee way - it was too hot even for me to sit still on the beach, but the water was still too cold for me to swim! We drove into the township for ice-creams, and the boys reminisced about camps they had been to and places they had stayed here in their childhood. More Settlers that night, Warwick victorious - a lovely last day at the beach. I was reluctant to head home the next day.

14 May 2006 09/01/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

It feels like a long time since our summer holiday, and 2006 is becoming a bit of an annus horribilis for me. But I was running in Cornwall Park the other day, feeling great, enjoying the sunshine and the beauty of the park and the chooks and cows around me, and I was reminded that there are always blessings to count...:

14 May 2006: people 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

Catching up with people Since our Langs Beach break we have been able to catch up with lots more friends and family, for cards, board games or just to chat. It was great living around the corner from Jen and Derek, a situation which saw many cherry tomatoes, desserts (feijoa crumble!), chocolate afghans and bakeless cake exchanged. And being just around the corner from Clem has seen us improve greatly in our Settlers and Risk skills - we've even been known to win once or twice! And somehow I've been talked into training for the Taupo Half-Ironman...! In February we had a fun afternoon catching up with Warwick's whole Auckland-based clan at Patumahoe.

14 May 2006: health 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

Good health This started out as one of the difficulties of 2006, but it's all come good. In January I had a mole biopsy on my toe - a minor, but painful, procedure - and the mole was small enough that they got it out entirely. I was relieved to have the mole taken out but actually a bit surprised to find that the cells were indeed changing, and although they weren't cancerous the lab suggested more tissue be taken from around the site. Ow! So another minor, but painful and much-delayed procedure, resulting in five big stitches on my poor toe, ensured that there were no dodgy cells left. Yay! Since then I'm telling everyone: get your moles checked regularly! Do it! Now! The one highlight of the experience was the sterling aftercare I received in Sarah's text-message prescription of chocolate as I waited for the stitches to come out... she had taken over dad's cellphone while he was with her in America in April.

14 May 2006: bikes 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

Motorbikes On February 12 we took part in the Westpac helicopter ride from Karaka to Akoranga, Warwick and I on our little Yamaha Virago and Jen and Derek on our Suzuki Savage. Fun! Then after a year's riding we sold the Savage, as we really only need one bike over winter and the Virago costs us almost nothing in maintenance. We rode the Virago in the Ulysses club fundraiser for Starship hospital, and there met a couple who invited us to their next meeting. That was fun - but we're about 9 years too young to join just at the minute!

14 May 2006: cricket 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

Cricket We had a FABULOUS summer of cricket planned. Through National Bank we got discounted tickets to a 20/20, an ODI, and any single day of a test when the West Indies toured here. Yay! But the 20/20 crowds were so drunk and riotous that we couldn't actually follow the game. Boo hoo! So National Bank traded up our remaining tickets for us, for the stand. Yay! So there we sat shivering in shade during the daynighter (wearing several layers including hat over hoodie!) while the people in singlet tops in the terraces were bathed in sunlight. Boo hoo! Then we discovered the best way to watch cricket: take Friday off work and go to the second day of the test. Yay! And that is all I'll ever do from now on. Everything else I'll watch on TV, but you'll find me at the test on a weekday. Yay! The following are the notes I wrote during the lunch break on March 10: Lovely, relaxing cricket... we missed Lara's short innings... after 103 not out the previous innings, Styris has taken 2 wickets for 23 runs in the second... there are lots of school kids here which I think is wonderful. Best though is lunchtime, the crowd is invited onto the park to see the roped-off pitch - some serious pitch inspections amidst a lovely carnival atmosphere! Many, many impromptu games of cricket (some with tennis balls; pillows and bags as wickets; newspapers and water bottles as bats). Some came prepared with their cricket gear, like the game my darling, friendly Warwick joined, which started with three people and grew to include school children as well. Just lovely. George Harrison's Here Comes the Sun is playing.

14 May 2006: Feb 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

The end of February On February 17 we headed with Ron and friends to the Franklin A&P show - yeeeha! A proper country show - only the entry fee was what I considered an outrageous $10! We watched dogs herding sheep, learnt about spinning, played on tractors and quad bikes... fun :-) On February 19 Warwick ran the Cathy Pacific half marathon, while I struggled through the 11km race. With a slack, lazy break over Christmas and New Year, then allowing my poor toe to recover from the biopsy in January, I had lost a lot of fitness! On February 23 we saw Steve Apirana and Derek Lind in concert at the Takapuna AOG (which now has a fancy name that I can't remember). They were FANTASTIC! I really enjoyed the music and the message. And I got to thinking a lot about the nature of church and of worship and of congregation... so much so that I took out a notepad and scribbled it all down during the show. I got a lot out of it. The weekend following the concert we headed down to Tarawera with Sarah and Andrew, for a repeat of our Coromandel bach weekend last year. We ate heaps and played some Settlers and took Andrew's boat out on the lake. What a great lake! But since it turns out I had a much-travelled childhood within New Zealand, I've learnt not to say "I've never been there before." Now I say "I can't remember ever having been there before." And it's great. And we'll go back sometime. And on February 28 I filed my first-ever GST return! And it showed income as well as expenditure! With a cute little rebate of about 50c due...!

14 May 2006: March 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

March, Waiheke Island I usually love March. It's my birthday month after all, with a lovely late-summer feel to the afternoons. We took part in the census (another option, presented by Laird McGillicuddy Graeme Cairns in Hamilton, was to be deep-frozen on March 7 - we didn't go with that idea but he came through it with a headache and a bit of a cold). Jon and Margaret had a housewarming in March, and Ron's friends the Ribbes came to visit as well. But with my toe operation due on my birthday and other things in life not going so well, I decided not to celebrate this year - it didn't feel much like a season for partying. That actually felt quite wierd... a few weeks later I found myself almost mourning my lack of birthday - it felt completely wrong to have just ignored it. So lovely Warwick took me to lunch at the delicious Trinity of Silver cafe in Mt Albert :-) Next year, I'm having a party. March 18 saw us heading to Waiheke Island with Rachel, Barry, Richard and Martin, and all our bicycles. "It's flat!" Warwick had assured me. "We'll just cycle around the flat bits." And I fell for that, because I have spent no more than about 30 mins on the island. Backstory: a 21st party on Waiheke, and a 21st dinner party in the city, both on the same night. Four friends to travel together between the parties, two of us waiting for the Waiheke ferry and the other two running late... they pulled up as the ferry pulled away... the next ferry was over an hour away, which severely limited our time on the island itself given our dinner party commitment back in town... ... therefore, I had no idea until about 20 minutes into our cycle expedition that Waiheke is in fact made of hills, almost all of them going up! I also hadn't ridden a bike for 15 years (apart from a wild 10 mins in Finchley, London, on a fixed-speed bike with no helmet... but that's another story). I couldn't manage the gears, my quads didn't take to the exercise at all, and all in all I felt rather unsafe given the traffic about. So I let the others ride up, up and away into the distance, and found myself a quiet beach upon which to eat my lunch. Then I found the Esplanade, the only flat place on the island, and cycled back to town. I read in the library, I browsed the shops, I walked on the beach... 10 years after having spent far too little time on Waiheke, I began to feel I was spending far too long!

14 May 2006: change 14/05/06 Previous 14/05/06 Next Back to top Home

All change We had a weekend in Morrinsville at the end of March, and I went down home again at the beginning of April while Warwick stayed in Auckland and splashed his way around the Whenuapai half marathon. Mum and dad flew out to their various overseas destinations in the first week of April. We took dad to the airport and his Iraqi colleague threw water after our car as we left his workplace, her traditional way of wishing safe travels. In March and April I watched a few old, classic movies from Rex's collection. It turns out I am NOT a fan of anything with Bette Davis in it! Too bleak and too grim. But her eyes were indeed gorgeous! James Dean was a fantastic actor but Rebel Without a Cause and especially East of Eden were depressing. San Francisco with Clark Gable was the most uplifting of them all. All this while we were house hunting. Our Ellerslie location was great in every respect except the night-time noise... our lovely wide street with sweeping corners turned out to be a favourite with boy-racers, so we decided to move. We searched around, finding lots of cute wee units but the one which had a big enough garage for our assorted motor vehicles and pushbikes was smack in the middle of gangland in the back of Onehunga! So over Easter we ended up moving to Epsom, close to the edge of Cornwall Park. In fact, our street ends in a wee stile that takes us into the park, so one or other of us is up there running most days. Yay! Also very close to Eve's Pantry (perhaps not such a good thing...) and a 45-minute walk for me to my new job in Parnell (I am now managing a small gym for a charity there). On my last official day of my old job I turned up to find we had been broken into! It was a bit sad leaving the gym there, where I met lots of inspiring women who overcame all sorts of adverse situations to claim time for themselves to work out, but it was time for something new and my new job is fun and highly creative.

14 May 2006: April 14/05/06 Previous 21/05/06 Next Back to top Home

The Easter Show and the Rotorua Marathon We went to the Easter Show with Ron this year... my first-ever Easter Show! And it was walking distance from our new house. There was an art exhibition and some beautiful wood-turning exhibits, but the best bits were the NZ Fire Service's fire saftey demo, and the little circus where I was incredibly impressed with the core strength of the acrobats, and the skills of the juggler and hula hoop girl. And a mysterious Easter Hen came to visit Warwick over this time. Creme Eggs appreared in odd places all over the house... We caught up with Carl and Shelley in Auckland on the 17th. Petrol prices are now so high that the cost of a round trip to the Waikato is prohibitive! Eeeps! We called grandad to arrange meeting him at the Rotorua Marathon at the end of April. "Why aren't you running it?!" he asked. D'oh! Busted! No good reason except for not having trained for it. Maybe next year...? Clem, Warwick and I headed to Morrinsville the night before the marathon. In the morning it was pouring! We got up early and found Misty the cat shivering wet on the windowsill. Since he had not turned up the night before, Clem brought him inside and fed him and even dried him with a towel :-) We pressed on through the rain and met grandad at his hotel, then we headed to the start. We shopped a bit then headed out to the course where caught up with our aunt and uncle and cheered grandad on while he ran. He finished with a sprint :-)

21 May 2006: May! 14/05/06 Previous 11/08/06 Next Back to top Home

May! Finally - I've caught up to myself! OK, Christchurch: In May we headed to Christchurch for Peter's 50th birthday - yay! We caught up with Scott and Sickling family, ate incredibly well, and collected on an old Trademe purchase... yes, Warwick got his hug :-) And a nice chat over coffee. I experienced my first-ever Christchurch beach! And we drove to Lyttleton and back to Christchurch over the Port Hills - so we were proper tourists for once.

11 August 2006: Jun/Jul 21/05/06 Previous 11/08/06 Next Back to top Home

Another brief retrospective... June and July In a nutshell: brrrrrrr! June and July have been FREEZING. Lots of frosts, crazy cold days heartened only by the happy purchase of a dehumidifier... it's all far too cold for me! My impressions of this winter are summed up by the foggy Super14 semi-final that nobody could see: nothing you can do about it but wrap up as warm as possible and wonder in disbelief at the conditions. We did manage to drag ourselves out of the house on a Wednesday night for nine weeks, for a Sports Nutrition course at AUT. This course was fantastic! We learnt heaps, the teaching was excellent, and we feel much more clued up on our own nutrition. Warwick has also been doing some weekend courses at AUT, which meant that for the month of July his working weeks were supplemented with what were effectively working weekends - 30-odd days on the go! We've been running to keep warm! Cornwall Park is lovely. On one memorable day I was running after the rain, and the sun reflecting off the leaves on the ground ahead of me turned them from a carpet into a glitttering sea. It was beautiful. Another nice thing about winter: the smell of wood fires, mmmmmmm... And a slightly more iffy thing about winter: the almost incessant rain! It's been PERSISTING down (in the choice words of a TV3 weather presenter - these sparked off many a TradeMe messageboard thread about what words she actually used). Warwick and I each booked a surprise outing for the other during June. Warwick's first: we went to the Silo Theatre (Maidment) at Auckland University for a revival of Roger Hall's play Glide Time. What a fun afternoon out! For starters it was fun to be hanging around Auckland Uni again. The theatre brought back memories of Red Dwarf nights (and weeks), and the grungy old cafe that was alongside it is now a nice place to be. I remembered getting a dollar or so in change from the old vending machine that used to be there - I got it all in 5cent pieces :-( The play itself was really funny, and because it was not modernised at all it was an enjoyable trip back to the 70's. I nipped out in search of chocolate at the intermission... not a problem as the quad area is well-stocked with food and every other shop a student might possibly want these days. It's quite a different place to what it was, but it's good. On June 18th it was my turn to surprise Warwick, so I took him to the Civic to see a show called Stomp. This is a dance/percussion act which I had wanted to see in London a few years ago and never got round to. And I'm so glad we saw it! It was clever and creative, with lots of movement and some humour thrown in. The dancers used brooms and sand, plungers and water, tap shoes, bins and bin lids and even water cooler bottles to create their own music.

11 August 2006: sport 11/08/06 Previous 11/08/06 Next Back to top Home

Sport! This winter has been very entertaining in terms of sport. Warwick and I developed a happy little routine of channel-surfing in the mornings to get the best of the overnight action from the Football World Cup, Wimbledon and Tour de France. Wahoo! The first morning that none of these were on at all was quite a shock! This was my first year of addiction to the Tour de France - I had no idea cycling was so watchable. So I'm a bit heart-broken about the Floyd Landis controversy... :-( On July 15th Clem, Warwick and I went up to Kaipara Flats for our favourite little 10k race. I was nowhere near ready for it but entered just the same. I had to walk a bit in the second half of the race, rats... Warwick however managed a PB and Clem got 4th overall in his first ever race of that distance! I have started swimming lately, in preparation for some form of triathlon sometime (the offical goal is Taupo in December but I'm not sure I'll be ready for that). I'm happy to say that I swim a kilometre quite happily though. I had not swum properly since high school so I was a bit worried at how it would be - turns out it's not only doable, it's FUN!

11 August 2006: Taupo 11/08/06 Previous 11/08/06 Next Back to top Home

Taupo half marathon We did the Taupo Half Marathon IN THE POURING RAIN! As I spent the week beforehand telling everyone: by the time this half marathon rolled around, I felt I was about ready for that 10k we did in Kaipara Flats a few weeks ago...! Warwick and I rented a wee unit for the weekend, got down there very late on Friday night, and had a lovely relaxing day all Saturday, went to Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon, it was all very nice but overcast and grey - the sun hardly showed through the low, low cloud. Rain was forecast for the Sunday run... it arrived that night and POURED down all night long... In the morning we woke up in time for breakfast 2 hours before the start, and it was STILL raining... I ran to the kitchen, got breakfast, took it with me back to bed and stayed there until it was time to get changed. It was so cold! And we were only a 5-min walk from the start so we were planning to walk down there, in only the gear we were running in (t-shirt and shorts each). Aaaah! So COLD and WET! So we jogged in the rain down to the start as late as we could leave it, then it was 21 k of run/rain/run/rain... we had to run through a gate into a field at one point, and to get by we had to hold onto the gate post and inch around it as there was a huge, deep mud puddle blocking the way. I couldn't feel my fingers from about the 16th km - gloves next time! Warwick did just inside 1:45 and I did just inside 2:30, walking quite a bit after the halfway point. The plan was to meet back at our unit, as we knew Warwick would be 30-45 min ahead of me... so I got there and banged on the door... again... no answer... "Warwick! Warwick!" Oh no - was he asleep and left me locked outside in the pouring rain, freezing cold after running/walking 21km, cooled down from not-very-warm-to-begin-with, no sweatshirt or anything??? After a little while a lady from another unit saw me and took me indoors where she had a heater going for the runners in her family, so I dried out there for a while then went back to our unit just as Warwick was arriving... he had thought he could get back to the finish before I came through, so he had taken me my jersey and gloves so I wouldn't be cold on the walk home! And we'd missed each other! Now, a wee story from the Plonker Files... We always look forward to our race goodie bags and freebies. Always! But I was a bit bemused by what Taupo promised us at the end of our race: a banana, a sports drink, a bottle of water - so far, so standard - and "a Taupo brown trout". A Taupo brown trout?! Surely they couldn't bring themselves to murder thousands of trout for us all? Surely they couldn't AFFORD to? And quite apart from such logistics as people keeping fish cold while travelling after the race - who would WANT to receive dead cold fish right after running 21km? But what else could they mean when they say "a Taupo brown trout"? Well I got into the chute, I got my banana, skulled my sports drink, grabbed the water, and as I handed in my transponder I was presented with... the yummiest chocolate in the shape of a Taupo brown trout. Yay! And so, in cold, shivering style, with a touch of chocolate and a sense of building momentum, the half-marathon season has officially kicked off for us :-)

11 August 2006 11/08/06 Previous 12/08/06 Next Back to top Home

Talk about building momentum...! I've just come home from a lung-blasting run up One Tree Hill with Clem. Yeeha! Good park, Cornwall Park. It's where Nik and I did our mad rainy 60 min plus run. Well on this showery day, Clem and I set off in sunlight through the leafy streets at the base of the mountain, over the stile, through the slushy paddocks and onto my usual path. As we came round the mountain we could see from Mangere all the way around to the north-western motorway. There we saw sunshine on two sides - to the south and to the north - and rain directly over Onehunga and Mt Albert, with a tiny patch of rainbow in the middle. And about 2/3 of the way around the loop, Clem asked the fateful question: "So, have you ever run up the hill?" The technical answer to that question is yes, but the more meaningful answer to that question is a big, fat NO. Apart from bush-bashing straight up the side of it in the rain with Nik a year ago, I've only even walked it two or three times. I never do run it. I didn't believe I could run it anymore. But as we approached the turn-off to the summit, Clem persuaded me to give it a go. And with all his encouragement, running so hard I couldn't talk, I did it! I only stopped to walk twice! Yeehaaa! And on the way up, we were treated to a beautiful sunshower, like little flecks of gold falling about us. The view from the top was beautiful as ever, but the colours were denser and brighter than usual and we saw a large, complete rainbow running from south to east Auckland. I took a bit of a rest at the top of the hill, then we jogged home. I have to say, for all my running, and for all the exercise theory I've picked up over the last year or so, I never usually do a proper lung-blasting workout like that. But I definitely need to do more. And I have a new goal which I know is achieveable: to run up that hill without stopping!

14 August 2006 03/11/06 Next 11/08/06 Previous Back to top Home

Dave Dobbyn! He's fantastic! We are both fans from way back, so we were very glad to get tickets to see him perform with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at the Aotea Centre on Saturday night, 12th of August. After a world-record sleep-in for us (til 11am - unheard-of!), then an afternoon visit from Jen and Derek (with board games and cheese scones), the day sped by. Soon we were navigating through central Auckland to find our usual free parking space not too far from the Aotea Centre. That spot has only ever failed us once, I believe. We ran down to the Centre right on 8 o'clock, and were only in our seats a few minutes (three or four rows back from the stage) when the conductor and Dave Dobbyn came out, and the show began. [Gushfest begins here] Sigh. I love this music. The man can write songs! And he can sing! And of course, the piano, the guitar... But most of all he seems to have an awesome time on stage and creates a really friendly and party-like atmosphere with the audience. The warmth and love in this man come right out into the world when he sings. Sigh :-) What a show! We were treated to old classics, and some of his excellent newer stuff from his album Available Light. Just like the day, the evening sped by all too quickly. [End gushfest] The next day Warwick ran the Auckland Volcano Challenge - a total of 7 cones, and somewhere between 25 and 30 km, his longest run to date. Martin and Heather came by - bearing ginger cake - for a lovely long chat in the afternoon. In the early evening Clem and I got technical with our swimming: he brought a video camera down to the pool, and with the pool managment's permission he filmed me swimming a couple of lengths. Wow! What a difference it makes to actually see yourself in action! It's nice to know that I could get faster still with a few changes to my technique, on top of the improvements in strength, endurance and aerobic capacity that my training is starting to show.

03 November 2006 18/12/06 Next 14/08/06 Previous Back to top Home

Quick November update... Habour won the Shield, Waikato won the inaugural Air NZ Cup, we saw a lot of rugby and Waikato Stadium has an unbeatable atmosphere :-) Among the games we saw there was Harbour v Waikato, we sat in the sopping rain with poor longsuffering Rich, lucky the result went the right way for me ;-) We meandered back to Auckland through the back roads, that was fun in the downpour! We also saw the semi and an unforgettable final. Yay! I was there in 92, and now again in 06 - let's hope it's fewer than 14 years between home final victories this time! What else...? I dropped an ironing board on my toe resulting in eight weeks (eight weeks!) out of training with torn ligaments. I don't even do ironing! I was just moving the board out of the way. Grrr. And how do you tear ligaments by dropping stuff on them? Better news on the fitness front: I bought a cool bike, and an indoor trainer, and now that my toe is healed it seems I have all three triathlon disciplines on board, just gotta bring them together. Cycling around a local carpark at the weekends because I am not at all confident in the local traffic! What else...? Nothing really. I'm working two part-time jobs which is fantastic, one in the gym and the other in tertiary education. I love the variety. This has still been a difficult year - very certainly a time of letting go of everything and learning to trust God. I've been looking forward to 2007 since March, but right now I wouldn't mind if the year slowed down a bit. Warwick has found a way to string up our hammocks on the deck, and we are spending some lovely light evenings out there under the wisteria, remembering that there is a lot to love about life. Very nice indeed, so I won't wish the spring of 2006 away. Got a feeling though that it will be summer very quickly.

18 December 2006 27/12/06 Next 03/11/06 Previous Back to top Home

How could I have forgotten to mention the Simple Minds concert in May?!?! We ran in right on time and took our seats as they took the stage... they were FANTASTIC! The Civic was filled with 80s-vintage people just like us, and the music really was superb. And we saw U2 again! They came to Mt Smart Stadium for the Vertigo tour which they had scheduled for March... so we didn't get to see them on St Patrick's Day as planned, but they were well worth the wait. We went with Jen and Derek. Bono wore a Warriors logo on the back of his jacket, and there were beautiful references to New Zealand throughout the show - especially the visual motifs during One Tree Hill and the odd line of Crowded House song or other New Zealand reference dropped into U2 classics. The show was so good that we seriously considered going again the following night... but there was a half marathon on Sunday morning to consider. Needless to say the half marathon won, so Sunday saw us zooming to the start line just in time to fasten our transponders on and head off with the gun. This small, friendly and extremely well-run half marathon was hard work up through Glover Park, but Tamaki Drive lends itself well to running and it was lovely to have the sea beside us most of the way. I ran the first hour then ran/walked to the finish. We joined the Salvation Army motorcycle toy run again this year, and my beautiful wee bike looked decidedly small amongst her bigger sisters and brothers. Another great ride, and fantastic weather to boot. Christmas is coming and we have a real tree for the first time. Warwick insisted this year, and now our house smells beautiful after it has been shut up all day. The tree is decorated with every ribbon or bauble that has ever been given to us on top of a present. The first cicadas and monarch butterlies have arrived, and our hammocks are seeing good use of an evening. Warwick has bought a weights bench that works beautifully propped up on our deck and I think he looks very California, pumping iron in the early morning sunshine, looking out over the Epsom rooftops :-) Finally, we saw Clem swim the Harbour Crossing, and towards the end of December we headed to Rotorua to see him finish his half-Ironman - the one that he first suggested I do! I'm still pretty far from that goal but there is a short triathlon booked for the end of January... The setting of the half-Ironman was beautiful, and we spectators sat in sunshine on the terraced ground beside the Blue Lake.

27 December 2006 18/12/06 Previous Back to top Home

Always suckers for punishment, at the end of a tough year and a gruelling week Warwick and I joined a trip to the Pinnacles (Coromandel Peninsula) days before Christmas. This was organised by our friend Donna. Both she and Warwick had done the trip before, but despite the best efforts of our teachers and 7th form camp leader when I was in the 4th form, I had not. Backstory: 4th form camp involved two weeks in Kauaeranga Valley, one at our main camp and another walking and tenting higher up. But after our first week at camp we were rained out - we tried to cross the river to get up towards the Pinnacles, but it couldn't be done. So we spent a second week at camp, hunting possums and repeating all our bushcraft activities. And when we got out of the bush we learnt that a couple of tourists had been murdered up there at the time we were there. Scary! And I never went back. So here I was, two days before Christmas, revisiting the valley. The track is beautiful, with lots of uphill walking. My quads are getting nicely trained on the bike lately, so they had no real problem - but my poor calf muscles...! A highlight for me on the way up was seeing Tauranikau, a rhyolite lava plug formed eight million years ago from the core of one of the volcanoes. The volcano has since eroded away from around it, but the plug still stands as a rocky tower today. Cool! After 3 hours we got up to the hut (opened in 1995 and sleeps 80, making it the biggest in the country) where Allan the warden was setting up a brand new barbeque. We rested for an hour then after some indecision we pressed onwards and upwards to the Pinnacles, which are also apparently lava volcano plugs. Donna and Warwick insisted that we newcomers were experiencing nothing short of luxury, with the newly laid track, firmly fastened ladders, and rungs bolted into the rocks. But it was all just a mite terrifying to me! Perhaps terrifying is an overstatement, but the final climb was certainly a challenge. It's probably just as well I didn't do this as a skinny wee 4th-former - clambering over smooth rocks above sheer drops would not have suited me well! After some quick-cooking rice and a game of cards, and becoming the first visitors to sign the new visitors' book, we headed to bed. The bunks were comfortable but a couple of snorers and someone's sneezing fit put paid to any plans of a decent sleep. In the morning (Christmas Eve) we took a 2-minute walk to see the dancing dam, then headed homewards. As we left the hut, an American couple arrived - at 9:30am they had already made the 3-hour walk up here, were going on to the Pinnacles and aiming to catch a plane in Auckland at 8pm! Warwick joked that they'd probably pass us on the way down. At the first junction we decided to take the Billygoat Track - a longer walk than yesterday, but hopefully flatter. Be warned - the Billygoat is steep, up and down! And as we descended the steep (1:2.7) railway tracks, who should pass us at great speed but our American friends! We're fairly sure they made their plane! As for us, our poor toes were screaming as we emerged from the bush. After a quick stop at the visitor's centre (where I learnt all about our endangered Archy's frogs, which begin life not as tadpoles but as froglets, have round eyes, prefer woods to water and which squeak rather than croak) and after a Subway and grocery stop in Thames, I drove home while Warwick catnapped. A lot of the oncoming cars had their headlights on, a safety measure recommended by police for the holidy period. I also spotted an undercover cop in a little runabout car - part of their new scheme to police undercover from less recognisable vehicles. Christmas Day involved a pancake breakfast at our place, with dad and Clem, Ron, Jan, Jen and Derek, Ruth and Steve all joining us. A long, fun, lazy morning, complete with a phone call from Sarah. When everyone had gone I managed to sleep (I NEVER sleep in the daytime!) in the afternoon. That evening was a pot-luck dinner at Ron's, with about 16 Asian visitors from various countries. It was a fun evening, involving two toilet-paper mummies waving at the traffic, and a group-effort, drawn-in-the-dark nativity scene. We called Nicola on Boxing Day, then headed out to Patumahoe where Warwick's family gathered for a very long lunch, a garden walk and, oddly enough, a spot of target practice...! Today is the 27th, Warwick's last day at work for the year. We had visitors for breakfast once more - dad and Peter have arrived with a German friend, about to embark on a bit of a North Island tour meeting WWII veterans. I got to speak quite a bit of German - fantastisch! On Dec 28, after recycling our Christmas tree and spending most of the day organising our little house, we headed off for a week at Waihi Beach... I'll write about that holiday in my 2007 diary.