The long and winding road...

Wanaka put on a great weekend. I had a few beers with several friends from Nelson, nobody was up for hedge-diving unfortunately...

I have been cooking a lot of my own food - stir fry's with rare rump steak for dinner, but the odd Subway thrown in at lunch - only a foot-long touches the sides - and its meatballs every time for me!

Wanaka is a great place to visit, nice and chilled out...

And the water is lovely... but cold!

The birds dont mind...


This is where I stayed for 3 nights with friends - a short walk from town and the lake:

And everything manages to fit into the car for the onward journey... destination unknown...

I drove East across the South Island, looking for somewhere nice to stay, where I could run, bike and swim in preparation for the next race... I drove and dorve, and the road turned to gravel...

And ended up driving across a pass which was very remote. I passed one car, and chased a hare (it ran up a 20 foot cliff to escape unfortunately so no hare stew for dinner!) and eventually returned to civilisation... but had to drive for a long time in the clouds:

I eneded up at Kakanui, just south of Oamaru on the East coast. Its a fantastic surf beach and I watched from my bike or as I ran as people braved bigger waves than these:

I've also watched 150 + pengiuns surf in and waddle up to their nests at dusk. I've also joined up with my coach and friend from Nelson and done heaps of training in preparation for Sundays race, and eaten heaps of food the both his mother and his mother-in-law have cooked us as we travel between their houses on the East coast!

Gotta dash, love to all,

Chris