A perfect Kiwi day...

The title might suggest incorrectly, that I enjoy hunting the endangered species, although this reminds me of the time when I saw a burger promotion at a McDonald's which made me go in and demand an explanation as to how they can get away with slaying thousands of their rare national bird to put in their "Kiwiburger"! The joke was obviously lost on those that I spoke to and I promptly left sans burger!

Anyway, this post is designed to allow me to show friends and family what I get up to on a day when poor Bernie is rushing around the office and I am on holiday...

6:55 Wake up and snuggle up together because the nights are now much colder, the house is cardboard thin and we have forgotten to replace the Summer duvet with the nice thick winter duvet.

7:05 Bernie gets up and brings me tea in bed (in my pint-sized West Ham mug from Mum!), I know it should be the other way round but I've got a big day ahead of me!

7:15 Get on t'internet and check West Ham news, watch Premiership highlights, check e-mails, check that the 5-day forecast has five suns for Nelson (pretty much always!) and check the tide times - As we are by an estuary you have to wade through 2 foot of mud if you aren't within 2 hours of high tide!

8:00 Get on mountain bike and despite living on the coast, within 10 minutes I'm heading up into the hills above Nelson. It is a really hard slog for the last few K's (what are miles - I've forgotten?!) but you are rewarded with this spectacular view upon reaching the summit:
I have labelled our house, where I fish and the school on the following picture - its a bit hard to see the writing though...

I then have an exhilarating scream down the hill back towards home. It really feels like you're flying... people use the hill (the Barnicote) to take-off when paragliding, the area produces strong thermals all year round so you can take-off, fly around for half an hour and then land back at the top of the hill, rest then do it again! Needless to say I've spoken to a guy about lessons, another thing to add to the growing list!

9:30 Upon cycling home, I have to pretend I'm in race transition and head straight off into a run. The triathlon season may have finished due to colder seas, but the duathlon season really picks up speed in its absence. On Sunday we have the first of a series of races where you score points each race and there is a league table based on points accrued. I now head off from home on a 10km circuit around the airport which flanks the coast:

There are coastal breezes to put up with, but this view helps to keep my mind off the growing pain in my legs:

10:10 Drink, sweat, stretch and sit back in front of the computer to check if anything has happened at West Ham (despite it being late evening in the UK!)...

11:00 After a shower, eat a huge bowl of pasta, pesto, veggies and cheese.

11:30 Plant seeds in our veggie garden - plenty of sun = fast growing veggies but also weeds too...

12:30 Head into town for food etc. Go to Adrian the Artist - my hairdresser and get a shock at the 20% price-hike. Have a discussion with Adrian who has been running his shop for 18 years and never increased the price! The flat-cost was $10 (£3.30) per cut when he took over and he's finally decide to put up with giving change in order to make a bit more money - $12 (£4).

13:15 Head to the bank to change $100 notes into dollar coins for Adrian! I cannot imagine being trusted like that in London!

13:30 Pop into the pawn shop next door to ogle at at still. It is legal to distill booze here and for $350 (£130) I could be in business. 1lt of spirit costs about $3 (£1.10) to make after initial set-up costs! Worried for the health of my liver though! Leave without the still...

14:00 Go to butchers to buy meat, including some Jamie Oliver sausages - you can get away from it all in NZ... except getting away from the ubiquitous cockney chef that is!

14:30 Go to petrol station to fill up mini with fuel. Cost = $16 (£5.50!)

15:00 Go to school, have coffee and chat with office ladies (including Bernie) who have to be in school whilst us teachers get to mince around in mini's!

16:00 Take Bernie home and hurry Bernie into getting back out the door as high tide approaches...

16:10 Get into kayak, armed with a spool of string, a lump of plastic and a hook and head out into the sea in search for a meal or two. Snapper is a Cod-like white fish (to eat) prized by Kiwi's (the people not the birds!) but they have left for the winter and that leaves Kahawai as the prey for the evening. They are called Australian Salmon by... Australians due to their similar features and ferocious fighting efforts when caught. Dragging the aforementioned lure behind the kayak, the hand line is suddenly ripped out of its hold on the kayak as a Kahawai tears off with the hook in its mouth. The next few minutes are spent heading in the direction the Kahawai wants to go as I reel in the lure under great duress.

Kahawai in their natural habitat:

18:00 Kayak, legs, clothes and arms splattered in blood, I head back to the shore with 4 beautiful fish in the hold of the boat.

18:10 Explain to Bernie why I was out after sunset on the water and why I look like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

18:30 Eat Jamie Oliver's sausages from butcher - not too confident they followed Jamie's recipe.

19:00 De-scale and fillet fish. One pair of fillets in fridge for tomorrow, 3 pairs in the freezer, fish carcasses back into the sea.

19:30 Shower (again) to get rid of blood, scales, salt and sweat.

19:45 Enjoy a movie and a beer with Bernie.

21:30 Fall into bed whilst Bernie gets ready for work tomorrow...

22:00 Apologise to Bernie for the fact she worked and cooked dinner!

Same again tomorrow?!

Alas, this is not what happens every day - sadly school commences next week. Until then - anybody fancy going fishing?!

Having said that, I finished teaching at 3:10 as usual a few weeks ago and managed to get home, changed, have a drink, get the kayak into the sea and began fishing by 3:30! I didn't catch anything that day, but I saw a seal frolicking in the distance. I powered over towards it as quickly as I could as it kept disappearing and re-appearing. I kept paddling as hard as I could in the direction of the place I last saw it. Suddenly, the large (bull?!) seal breached right in front of the kayak! A fraction of a second of elation was followed by panic - it was a metre in front of my speeding boat and I duly struck the poor beast! The seal turned, snarled dissaprovingly (but unharmed) and dived as I sat, slowing in my kayak feeling very ashamed of myself!