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!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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!!
Friday, October 24, 2008
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!
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!
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!
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