Second Sea Swim

My (C) second swim was B's first, after she (almost) fully recovered from her mystery 3-week virus! Fortunately the virus caused her to scream "ARSE!" during only a small number of her sporadic coughing fits a la the gardener from the Fast Show...

The weather was warm but overcast, the waves which cancelled last week's race had died and the sea was a comfortable temperature on the gonads...

About 90 people took part, 12 of whom seemed to use me as their make-shift starting block, using me to scrap against to begin their propulsion towards the first buoy! B took the wise move of starting in the foreground of the pictures where the more refined clientelle put down their gin and tonics before making a composed start to their endurance swim!

In the picture below is B in a green cap (foreground... I know!) whilst I am towards the kayak, under a frothing mass of people...

Alas, we didn't win. We did avoid being eaten by sharks, the single most prevalent thought throughout the swim! Much like West Ham under Alan Curbishley, we were both content with mid-table mediocrity, room for improvement, but in front of the one-armed obese pacific islander who was only really there for the post-race BBQ!

We are heading up north on a road trip on Friday. We'll miss the next few sea swims, but plan on a lot of water-borne activities including scuba diving, being dragged around mercilessly on inflatable donuts and hopefully catching a few sea-beasts without pointy fins and sharp teeth...

More pictures - this trip starts further down...

Pic 1: Fuzzy seal...
Pic 2: We kayaked through this larger gap yesterday, clear and crisp sea...

Pic 3: Me snorkelling in the crystal clear sea...

Pic 4: We found sea shells, ate lunch and chilled out on this beach for my birthday...

Pic 5: Living the dream...

Golden brown, texture like sun...

Pic 1: At Cafe Penguin - a lovely restaurant right next to a crossing in the road, frequented by.. penguins!

Pic 2: Me at said penguin crossing - in case you thought I was joking!

The view from the beach next to our tent...

Pic 4: Me near a sun-bathing seal on my 31st birthday

Pic 5: Sun-bathing seal...

Birthday Bliss!

We have just returned from the simply and aptly named Goldn Bay, towards the northwest tip of the South Island.

Here we camped just off the beach, drank fine wines, explored the coast by kayak and allowed our skin to become the same colour as the sands...

This morning, we walked to Pupu springs and hydroelectric power station. Sounds like a human scar but the springs are the most pure water on the face of the earth, apart from a sub-arctic lake apparently! The hydro-electric generator is small and set well away from the springs, just gorgeous!


Pic 1: B waling near Pupu springs

Pic 2: Pupu Springs

Pic 3: Sunset next to our campsite in Pohara,Golden Bay

Pic 4: B just before sunset

Pic 5: Chris showing off on his birthday....

More to follow...

Summer Sea Swim Series!

Getting up at 5:30am 2 or 3 times a week for the past three months has been tough. Firstly the cold, dark winter starts were hard to get used to (no central heating so cold getting out of bed!). Secondly, the coach is quite blunt and quickly ripped our 30+ year old strokes apart! We train by completing a succession of drills - not just completing lengths but swimming arms by your side, face down, building in small parts of the arm motion each drill... After 3 months we are improved but some way off our goal - there are some lovely swimmers who train with us and it will be great to get to their level of smooth, gliding strokes which look so effortless!

We began and still are in the slowest lane. Constantly reminded not to rush but to perfect the technique... that has been hard for both of us, used to ploughing up and down the lanes to improve strenth, but not technique! One poor guy in our lane has been going for over 6 years and still hasn't grasped much of the technique, but everybody who goes, gets a lot out of the routine and the comaraderie of the whole session.

Last night was our first Nelson Summer Sea Swim Series race. Bernie and I are both on the comittee, as it is organised by the Nelson Triathlon club, and it has been fun and interesting being involved in the planning and organisation. B is still fighting a cold and a harsh cough so she came and marshalled the race. I joined the long swim - 900m - the distance grows each week, eventually reaching a Saturday endurance swim of 3.8km - Ironman swim distance!

The race is in Nelson harbour. To a POM (prisoner of mother England!) like me, harbours are dirty, polluted death traps. Despite being the busiest port in New Zealand, the water is clear and calm and inviting (see pics), why can we have that in the UK - a population 15 times greater than NZ's is probably to blame!

The course was easy to navigate and the 80 or so competitors got around without too many pile-ups which was nice! There were 110 people the week before, a shorter course and many melee's so it was quite fortunate that I was in the Abel Tasman watching seals instead!

Health and safety is not as frustrating as it is in the UK, but it is catching up. Peter Gibbs, who runs the triathlon club does a great job in running the show and with volunteers like Bernie, everybody had a great time. Stories of sharks and getting lost in the small harbour bounced around before people tootled off home. A very pleasant way to spend a Thursday evening (as my father would say!).

I finished 41st out of 80 - room for improvement! There are a further 12 Thursday swims to climb the ladder... back to the pool first thing tomorrow morning!

Fitness Freaks!!

Both Bernie and I began triathlon training in the UK early this year, culminating in two 'sprint' triathlons - 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run.

When chosing a suitable part of NZ to spend the next few years, one big consideration was a triathlon club and suitable training facilities. Needless to say, Nelson has not let us down in the slightest. As mentioned earlier, upon attending the AGM soon after we arrived, we were elected onto the comittee which has opened doors and enabled us to make friends outside school. The pools are great, our swimming coach is hard on us, the choice of runs and bike rides are endless and vary from flat to mountainous with everything in beween.

There is no elitism or cliques here, just friendly people who want to train and compete to their chosen standard. In the UK it all felt elitist and unwelcoming - perhaps because we were plebs, I'm not sure!

We have completed 4 duathlons so far - the swim being ommited due to the cold. Our first triathlon is a couple of weeks away. Bernie finished second and third in the womens' catergories (see previous post) which is excellent, but something B plays down - being typically Bernie!

I am less successful and alas, have not done better than second in my sex and age catergory - it is great to have a competition within a competition to give everybody a chance to compete for honours!

We recently started running training, well I had the assessment (B was ill) but the first training session was rained off. By the time of our next session, our French coach (who competed professionally in triathlons for a decade) threw a hissy-fit (via e-mail) and cancelled the sessions, stating he has been let down and is not prepared to work for $50 an hour!! Oh well, will have to organise my own interval training programme - how hard can it be?!

More to follow soon...

White to Black

Football has obviously been a massive part of both B and my life over the past few years. Despite us now being on Skype (get on it people!) nothing will replace being with freinds, family... and West Ham!!

Optimistically, B surprised me with tickets to the Nelson rugby team The Mako's (I know!) last game of the season (a couple of months ago now). Alas, the crowd, excitement, drama and type of game being played was all a bit too... oval! With an impending fixture which see's England at home to the mighty All Blacks, I feel torn. Mum and Dad sent me and All Blacks top, I coincidentally recieved one from them for Xmas some 15 years ago, and I now live here, watching the match will be tough... GO YOU ALL BLACKS!!

DISCLAIMER: I AM ONLY SUPPORTING THE ALL BLACKS AS I AM IN DIRE NEED OF THE FEELING OF VICTORY AFTER FOLLOWING WEST HAM OVER LAND AND SEA. IF ENGLAND ARE ABLE TO PULL OFF A VICTORY AGAINT THE WORLDS FINEST (BERNIE WONT AGREE BUT HEY!) I WILL EAT MY OWN FACE...

Fun and Phobias!

Having another school trip to the Abel Tasman National Park was too good to be true was it not?!

The very day my students and I kayaked our way through the sun-bathed sea, a scientist (who came and gave my Biology class a shark dissection last month!) was alerted to a Mako shark (annoyingly pronounced Marko here!) lolloping into an estuary not far from our kayaking destination. The half-ton shark soon died - cause unknown, and was hauled up onto the harbour to be gawped at by locals and passers-by. Scientists predict that it is 35 and pregnant - not sure if they met something as attractive in a back-water nightclub recently but that is soe intuition!

As a scientist myself, I'm proud of my lack of phobias. Spiders are picked up (even eaten at festivals... long story!), snakes stroked at the circus and ladders climbed in a suitably manly fashion (if that's possible!) But, like many, I am still haunted by Jaws, or the thought of ending up like several of the (poor) actors on the Californian coast... Each time I go swimming, kayakng, fishing or sailing in the sea (yes it is a hard life!) I think constantly of fins, teeth and (my) blood-shed... Logic (and several hardened Kiwi adventurers) tells me that large sharks are now rare (thanks to man) and that an encounter with one would be brief, uneventful, and fortunate. Hard to agree with eh?!

Anyways, one fewer of the feckers are in our seas. The beast is holed up in an industrial freezer until an important enough scientist is dug up and put in charge of telling the waiting masses if the thing was about to release killing machines from its loins, its age and cause of death (possibly its own offsring... I know!)

Upon returning to Nelson and hearing this wonderful news, I had a few days of normality before heading out to the Abel Tasman again. Fortune was with me and I was asked to tke a group into the park on foot. I did venture out on the water and guess what - saw a sea creature being bludgoned to death by a sea beast... these took the forms of a happy seal and an increasingly legless octopus!

Another fab few days was spent sliding down waterfalls, watching glow-worm caves and huge insects at night, incredible star-scapes and stunning coastline and most importantly, no sharks!

On the flip side, I am currently studying prudently for my PADI scuba qualification which my good chum Crispin will assess me for over Xmas and the New Year. We will be up in Whangarei... shark territory!

Instead of Chavs, I get to see.... (read post below first)

In all, we saw blue penguins, NZ fur seals, Dusky dolphins, stingray (all pictured) as well as lot of fish, birds, golden sand, clear water and blue sky!

Now Abel to do this!

No, my spelling hasn't deteriorated... I've just returned from 3 days in the Abel Tasman National Park on a school camp. School trips in the UK meant a 5 hour coach journey, a hail of sweets inside the bus, icy hail outside, nights chasing kids around tents, and 5 days of muddy adventuring.

Instead, I took 23 impecably behaved Nelsonians just an hour from school into a dolphin and seal haven. We camped, swam, BBQ'd and played games on the golden beaches and visited seal colonies, islands and remote beaches by day!

The weather was hot and dry throughout, at no point were any of us bored yet, when I sarcastically asked one lad if he would rather be at school, he said "I wouldn't mind, I quite like school!" I must apeal to his teachers to give him a harder time!!

There was a pod of Orca (killer whales (which are actually dolphins not whales!)) in the area but we were not fortunate enough to see them. One of the guides taught me a fair amount about these awesome creatures, although he emphasised how little we understand them still. They are depicted by native American Indians as wolves of the sea due to their sophisticated social lives and their whilyness. There are two types, most are residents to an area who hunt fish not mammals. The other types are rogue travellers who attack seals and whales, clearing large expanses of sea as wildlife flee these aggressive hunters - detectable by a different clicking signature... apparently the only incidence of killer whales killing man is at Seaworld!

Anyway, I returned to Nelson tanned and ready for the weekend. Sadly, I have to teach for two days next week before heading back out to the Abel Tasman with a different group of students... what a bugger!

Spring then Snow?!

After a week of mostly sunny weather and warming temperatures, with Spring in full gear (I've been wearing T-shirts and shorts to school!), we were treated (?!) to some snow yesterday!

The houses here are paper-thin and central heating is a swear word. We arrived home late from a friends house to our chilly new abode... alas, we did not rise at 5:30 for our Thursday morning swim, but hunted under the duvet for what heat we could find...

The picture is from a bike race around the south island, where competitors have gone from sub-tropical to antarctic conditions in a day. Weather maps show huge, icy gusts spewing up from the south pole, a stark reminder of our remote location.

I'm very fortunate as my Y10 form class and I are camping next week. A load of other students are camping this week and have paid for sea kayaking tours - I pray the weather is better soon! I'm even luckier in fact, having secured another trip the week after my first - both kayaking around the Abel Tasman - fingers crossed for more warm weather and whales!

Awesome Olympian!

Bernie and I rolled up to the AGM for the Nelson Triathlon Club, hoping to meet a few people before getting involved in triathlons. We ended up as comittee members and have now enjoyed getting involved in setting up and participating in 3 duathlons - triathlons to start in November (when the sea warms!).

Our most recent even was on Sunday and we were chuffed to have World Champion and Olympic silver (2004) and bronze (2008) medalist Bevan Docherty with us for the weekend.

Bevan gave a pre-race talk, started off the race but didn't compete sadly (nerves I'm sure!) although he did spend a lot of time chatting to us and having pictures taken and signing anything thrust in front of him - literally!

I managed to get a fair few students from my school to get involved in the race and they loved meeting him and posing with his medal (pics to follow). More importantly Bernie cam 3rd in the womens race and got a mention in the Nelson mail... again!

Linyard, Wood strongest
duathlonBy PETER GIBBS - Nelson Monday, 27 October 2008
Under the watchful eye of double Olympic medallist Bevan Docherty, the stage was set for fireworks at Sunday's Triathlon
Blah, blah blah...
In the women's race, Wood held on to a three-minutes advantage from Wilcox, followed by Paterson and newcomer Bernie Whitaker.
Blah blah blah.
Results at www.nelsontriclub.co.nz.

Not only that, but Bevan pulled our names out of the hat for spot prizes! What a weekend!

Chook-tastic!

The wonderful engineering skills handed down to me by my late Grandfather AJ Whitaker were utilised to good effect recently, enabling me to develop a chicken coop! Items used were all abandoned or aquired from friends. Like all the best things in life, it cost absolutely nothing! My trusty partner in production was Niko - an incredibly enthusiastic and knowledgable 6 year-old who lives next door. His range of expertise and power tools enabled us to get the job done in a coupke of afternoons - a profile on him to follow!

Bizarrely, getting hold of chickens was the hard part. There were a few adverts in the paper and in local supermarkets, but they had either sold out, or wanted $35-50 per chicken which was completely at odds with my strict policy of free or no frikin way! Alas, I rang around several people selling eggs direct from their farms - nobody wnated to part with there golden beauties!

Dejected, I had to see my new coop, empty and alone in the garage, day after day, until a surpise phone call. One of the people who I phoned and bought eggs off (in an attempt to secure chickens) had been watching Hugh on River Cottage on his UKTV channel and felt a sudden gesture of goodwill. He agreed to lend me 4 of his prime layers if we visited him on his farm!

Berns and I made our way to his 22 acre land and over a coffee managed to secure the 4 chickens, as well as promise of some chicks early next year, a load of chicken feed and a dozen eggs to get us started - all for sweet FA!

Further to this, the chickens have had their diet protein enriched by the mutilated hearts left over from school dissections!

We know enjoy a helathy 2 to 4 eggs per day and the joy of watching them mince around all day in chicken-heaven!

Pics!

If our house wasn;t surrounded by other houses we would have these stunning views... unfortunately we don't, but our friends do so we can stroll around there to drink wine, launch kayaks and gawp at the majesty of it all!

Our house has a huge double garage - curently hosting a work area, tools, 2 kayaks, 4 bikes, 1 mini, 1 huge gas BBQ, camping equipment and some of the boxes from our recent shipment! There are two bedrroms downstairs - under-used by guests but I guess we are quite far away!

Mini Magic!

Our station wagon (estate car) is great for lugging traliors and our toys (bikes and kayaks) around but we drive to the pool and supermarket and friends' houses in the petrol guzzling beast which seems silly.

After toying with several alternatives - mopeds, old bangers etc, I found a cheap 1968 mkII Mini online and haggled a very reasonable price for the 850cc nipper! Having learnt my way around under the bonnet (to an extent) and fiddling with various bits and bobs, we have a really funky mode of transport! Nelson even has its own Mini drivers club - who gave us free membership until the end of the year, and the 50th anniversary of the coolest car in the world is going to be held here in sunny Nelson next year!

It is great fun to drive, flies around corners and turns heads like no other car I've owned! It costs a fraction of the petrol to get to the pool and back and makes getting up at 5:30am that bit easier!

Any visitors to our sunny paradise will be met at the airport by us in this spacious beauty! Come join the fun!!

Our house!

Not the conventional bungalow - we are blessed with a double garage - already full to bursting with kayaks, bikes, boxes, fishing gear etc! I have planted a load of veggies on one side of the house and we have chickens in a coop on the other side, but we havent got a field for pigs, sheep, horses etc... yet!

We are a few doors away from the sea and sadly dont have a view like the one pictured - we can launch our kayak in minutes though which has enabled a few fishing trips after school to get dinner!

Nayland College

1500 students, only uniform for lower two year groups, the rest wear 'mufti' and the vibe is pretty chilled out...

The start of something beautiful...

Bernie and I left the UK feeling guilty and worn-away by the farewells, packing and the predictable uncertainty of moving to the oher side of the world 3 months ago today. Four flights and a lot of movies later, we landed in Nelson as the sun set on a balmy winter's evening (I now!). We were met by many hospitable and firndly faces who soon became friends and we immediately new we would be happy forging a living here for a few years.

Alas, this promise of paradise was brought crashing to earth by a storm so bad, nobody alive remembers anything as powerful and destructive! Many trees, buildings and rare native birds were skittled on "Wicked Wednesday", Bernie and I marked the day by venturing into the sanctuary of the Riverside pool which was soon to become our second home!

To summarise the past 3 months:

Jobs:

B has become a teaching instructor and has lost all arm hair, her sense of smell and now sports surfer-style blonde tips to her hair! She is very good (looks even better) at teaching and the kids love her. Downside - minimum wage, hair loss / prune like skin!

I enjoy school, more relaxed atmosphere which took some getting used to, some great kids and good focus on sports. Best moment was yesterday when studying plant seed dispersal, young Tom answered a question in front of the class asking how humans aid seed dispersal, Tom stated masturbation!

Home:

3 to date. One week in deputy principal's granny flat, three weeks in my bosses house with stunning sea views, two months (and counting) in a three-bed house (visitors please!) very close to sea but with views of mountains (yes it is a hard life!).

Fun:

Immediately armed ourselves with mountain bikes and kayaks, fishong gear and a swimming coach. We have spent 2 weekends and a 3 night session exploring the wonderful coastline and bush - mostly by kayak (no it isn't amphibeous!). We also train in the pool 3 mornings (at silly o'clock to be precise!) and the odd evening, and fit in cycling and running where we can. The racing season has already commenced and we have so much to do in Nelson, it is hard making time to go around the country over the summer holiday's (mid-Dec to end of Jan).

Boozing:

Would normally be first thing under the heading Fun, now taken a back seat, our bodies have gained weight not due to muscle building, but liver regeneration! Drank plenty of Marlborough and Nelson Sav Blanc to begin with, now in bed soon after 9 so no time!! We went to a beer festival and didn't end up in a fight - how civil the locals are!

Football:

Still persuading students that football = spherical ball not egg-shaped ball. Missed West Ham like mad for first 6 weeks, fortunately they started losing after I lost interest!

Friends (including family):

Very hard to keep in touch with, even harder to replace. Our laptop and modem arrived this week so hope to be online at home to use Skype (and this blog) regularly.

Weather:

Like Spring ever since we got here - a mixed bag with plenty of sunny spells, but also showers fairly frequently. Apparently the weather has been disasterous since we arrived, we completely disagree but are both looking forward to the sort of consistent weather we're hearing about!