It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time!!! - Auckland Harbour Swim Saturday 5th November

Swimming from the North Shore to the Viaduct Harbour in Downtown Auckland is not something you can do everyday. So when the chance came about to take part in the annual Auckland Harbour Swim it seemed like a really good idea to sign myself up. After all its only 2.8km, and there is a pub at the end for added incentive. Easy Peasy!!!

Well my training had been going well. A week in Rotovegas on the booze, errr, schmoozing potential clients, was the ideal build up. A mad dash to the Warehouse to get me a cheap wetsuit on the Friday afternoon and i was all set.

It was an early start. The race starting on the north shore at 9.25am. About 900 people were foolish enough to sign up. Feeling a little nervous having seen just how far away the Viaduct Harbour is from the North Shore, matters weren't helped by a warning from the officials that a 2m swell was ripping up the centre of the harbour - anybody who was not confident in their ability should back out now!!! There was no question of that for me.

So i took the plunge. It was freezing. But my cheap wetsuit soon warmed me up. We had 15 minutes to do the first 400m - easy, and then we were out in the middle on our way to a celebratory pint at the other end. After struggling for what seemed hours i finally made it past the headland that sheltered the start from the elements. Then the swell struck.

To be honest it was quite a frightening experience. A km off shore in the middle of the harbour, fighting a 2m swell, not being able to see anything through your goggles, or over the tops of the waves. I felt totally isolated. It was a long way to go and i seemed to be making no headway what so ever. But giving up was not an option. To make matters worse my heap of sh*t wetsuit kept coming undone. It seems in a cost cutting drive by the Warehouse they had forgotten to put a zip on it that actually worked. I was constantly being flushed with freezing water and being dragged under by the weight trapped within the suit. Not a good experience. It must have come undone a good 10-12 times. The wetsuit was going back. Full refund please!!!

Anyway, i slowly progressed towards the calmer waters of the Viaduct. It seemed to take forever. 1hr 30mins after starting i was clambering out of the water to generous cheers and applaus to finish the race. Wow. What an experience. Congrats must go to Max and Melaina who completed it in under an hour!!! And the winner, and Olympian, did it in something silly like 33 minutes!!!

Bring out the Gimp!!!

Oh, one final thing. I got beaten by a dog. Gutted. Next time i will kick that mutts ass!!! Yep thats right, for all the scary moments and pain and effort it took i would definately do it again!!!

Rotorua - 1st November - 4th November

Now before i start i want to assure everyone that it was a work conference and in no way, whatsoever a jolly. It was however a work conference that seemed to have a very definate theme. And that wasn't waste and contaminated land. I'll give you a clue.

Vicky doing a grand job at resupplying the troops

So there were four of us from MWH that convinced our bosses it was a good idea to let us out of the office, unsupervised, for nearly a week. So Max, Sarah, Vicky and myself headed to Rotorua and Wasteminz 2005.

After a somewhat rapid drive to Rotorua we landed at a steak house all in need of a good feed. And oh my god, it was awesome. I will hold my hand up and say it was easily the best steak i have ever had. Basically they bring you a slab of raw cow on a super heated stone platter. And then you cook your own steak to your liking at you table in front of you piece by piece. Awesome!!!

On Tuesday that conference started. Blah blah blah workshop and field trip but nobody cares about that. The real games began in the evening!!! A cultural dinner at the hotel. A 'Hungi' which means the food is cooked in the ground, this time, geothermally by steam. Sounds impressive but a little dissapointed by the 'traditional' Hungi being stainless steel. Hmmmmm.

A 'traditional' Hungi

And so onto the evenings entertainment. A Maori show with audience participation!!! Oh dear. First to take the plunge was Vicky with an impressive effort with the poy.

Vicky waving her ball on a string like a pro

Good value entertainment. The next act however was perhaps not quite as slick and choreographed. Somehow or other (the somehow being unfairly nominated by my colleagues) i was selected for a performance of the Haka. Now not knowing any Maori what so ever, and not being the most co-ordinated chap the performance is not going to be up for any awards. And my fiercest warrior look was interupted by the giggles and a cheesy grin. Although i am sure some people were frightened!!!

Oooooh, Scary!!!

After the fun and frolics of the haka, it was time to hit the town and have a few shandies. We would get to know the Lava Bar quite well over the next few days!!!

Wednesday gave us an insight on how to operate at a conference with only a few hours sleep. What we learned here would see us through for the rest of the week. After all, tuesday night was just a warm up for the the wednesday night.

Dinner overlooking the mudpools and a geyser were on the cards. The sulphur smell aside, which you get used to, it was a super impressive venue for dinner. Wow is all i can say. Outside, having a fab time sitting next to a glooping mud pool and a spewing geyser. It was surreal but amazing. Its something i will remember for a long time.

Trust me, this pic does not do it justice. It was amazing!!!

Thursday was THE day. Luge day. After a shaky start (all Vicky's fault) and a small amount of schmoozing we headed off to find the infamous luge. It had been recommended to me by some paddling mates. Nothing else is worth going to in Rotorua they said. You know what, they may well be right. Hooning down a concrete path on a 3 wheeled tea tray is certainly an experience. Just remember, 'rubbin is racin' haha!!! What fun. 5 runs in total. A nice easy warm up on the beginner track then we hit the intermediate slopes. After a few wobbles i think we all got the hang of it and the games began.

It seemed to be an unofficial destruction derby. Last man standing with dirty tactics (Max) and several near misses. It was inevatable that someone would come a cropper. That cropper was me, with a more than a little help from max. Full on RTA. Multiple vehicles involved (oh the memories - lets not go there). I have the scars to prove it. Not really sure what happened to be honest, but i have an impressive road rash on my right buttock!!! Awesome.

The daring Luge team

And so to the final dinner. A formal affair in a wool shed. Only in New Zealand i guess. A quick game of guess the sheep and then it was down to business. Bring on the wine. We had a list of 29 to get through. It would be a long night. Go hard or go home!!!! Some us however went a little too hard and took the fast track to chundersville - Duncan. An impressive display by a true Scot. But that photo has no place on here!!!! What a night. It finished in that favourite Rotovegas haunt - the Lava Bar.

One of the stars of the week!!!

Wow - What a week. A week i will not forget for a long time!!!

Not a bad place for a job

Last week i headed off to sunny Gisborne on the east coast of the North Island. I was there to investigate an old petrol station site. Can't really say much more about that, but the view at sunset wasn't half bad. Not a bad place for a job at all.

One Hard Point anyone?

This is at the get in to the Wiaroa in the Hunua Ranges just to the south of Auckland. 30m high, never been run. In flood. And there is a line, a nice tongue dead centre. Errrrr, right.

I'll give you one hard point - and one and a half if you hammer of it!!!

Snowboarding - Mt Ruapehu

This weekend i went snowboarding. It was awesome. It was organised by the social club from work (thanks Nicola and Celeste). We stayed in a town called Ohakune which is on the southern side of Mt Ruapehu. A five hour drive from Auckland is all it takes!!! All it takes eh? The drive is epic!!! Roads in NZ are not the best!!!

Now i can't snowboard, or ski, infact the only thing i know how to do in snow (besides right my name in it on the way back from the pub using certain bodily functions) is make snowballs. For this reason i thought i had best book a lesson or two.

The gear was hired, the lesson was booked, i hit the slopes!!! Well the learner slope. A few blasts (read crashes) later i was standing in line for the snow school and before i knew it the lesson had begun. All the basics were covered. And then we were let loose on the slopes. Well i stayed on the beginner slope. But all was cool. Such good fun. I seem to be quite good at going super fast downhill. Awesome. Oh, and it was suprisingly hard work. I was shattered by the end of day one. Although this could be to with having to walk to the top of the slope each time having not quite mastered the drag lift!!!

The View from the top - Mt Taranaki

The saturday night was pretty epic too. Tri-nations rugby, beer, food, dancing. It certainly made for a few painkillers the next morning. Ah a nice hangover, just what you need for learning to snowboard with!!!!

With the head a bit fuzzy i hit the slopes again on sunday. This time i took the 'next step' lesson. This was supposed to get me turning and carving. Hmmmmm. Well i can turn well one the heel side of the board, but going the other way is somewhat problematic. I just seem to end up pointing down hill and gathering alot of speed. By this point i am going way to fast to turn. All good fun though - but perhaps not the best technique. Lesson over, and after a few more practice runs i was growing in confidence so i decided to hit the higher slopes. Although i stayed on the beginner runs, it was a bit steeper and the drag lift was a smidge more aggressive. Yet more walking up the slope!!! I was definately improving in the speed department - by now i could go super fast!!!!

The slopes

Anyway, it was a awesome weekend. And i am definately going to do it again!!!

The Mighty Huka

The mighty Huka Falls - anywhere other than river left is most definately sub-optimal!!!

The mighty Huka Falls on the Waikato River flowing out of Lake Taupo. Is it runnable? Well yes its been done before. And i am sure it will be done again. But will it be done by me - errrrr, well we shall see. It's a bit of a monster. The line is definately river left, down the tongue. Anywhere else would definately be sub- optimal. The lead in seems to be the main issue. A couple of nice holes to gobble you up if you are not careful. Swimming is not an option. And interestingly, about 15m upstream from the lip of the fall, middle of the river, there is a really really sweet wave. However, i think if you played on this you would also surely hold the world record for having the worlds biggest balls!!! In which case you would need a special kayak to carry them!!!

Polo Down Under

This weekend was my first taste of a polo comp NZ style. I was playing for Auckland in the North Island friendly competition held in Taupo. Taupo is freezing. It was proper winter down there (middle of the North Island) not the psuedo winter Auckland gets. I was glad that the comp was being held indoors. The comp was also an opportunity to test out my new (2nd hand) polo boat in anger. I am now the proud owner of a Vampire 2001 in black. Needs a little tlc, but nowhere near as much as my last polo boat.

So the polo then. Well i didn't get to play that much. My teams 3rd game in on saturday I, well actually the opposition managed to dislocate my right ring finger. Ouch - it smarted somewhat! Apparently paddle fouls don't exist in NZ. Well thats what it seems anyway. Interestingly, you are also allowed to push people onto other boats. Now i am not an expert in the rules (as my record of getting crads will justify), but i am pretty sure you are not allowed to push people onto boats (can someone clarify this for me please - Elan? Ceri?). In the NZ rules however it states that being pushed onto the deck of an opponent is considered a legal tackle and should not be penalised. Well fair enough i guess, as it is not that dangerous - IF it is only onto the deck. But players seem to read this as 'you can bin people onto or into any part of the boat'. And the refs just seem to let it happen. I saw several nasty instances that could have caused bad injury, yet the ref seemed to be perfectly happy. I guess i will just have to get used to it. Anyway, on with the comp.

The team played really well and only narrowly lost a few games. We ahould have won more - but going 3-0 up at half time and then losing 4-5 is not acceptable. We paid for many a result like this by bringing up the rear in the standings. Ah well. It was a good laugh - while it lasted for me anyway.

A variation of the Hoonerburger - an inverted 4G negative dive Hoonerburger perhaps?

Practical Transport for a City? - errr, not really

Well it is now August so i have been here for over a month now and i am settling in nicely.

I have moved into a house in Mt Eden, a suburb of Auckland. The location is superb. Close to town and about 25 minutes drive from work. The house is also fantastic, if a little chilly. The New Zealanders don't seem to believe in central heating. We have one gas fire in the lounge and the rest of the heating is provided by thick wooly jumpers. Its not too bad though, and for winter i think it is boardering on a heat wave!!! Others would disagree.

My House - Its behind the tree!!!

Right, my house mates. Well i am living with 3 gorgeous girls. Heidi, Jamie and Tracy. They are a great laugh and have made my transition to NZ painless and simple. My only reservation about these guys is their obsessive watching of NZ Idol, Shortland Street and Footballers Wives on tv. Thankfully the latter has now finished, but I am still stuck with NZ Idol and 'Shorties'!!!

I also now have my own transport. I have a truck. The budget for my new car wasn't enourmous, but I was pointed in the direction of Ellerslie Car Fair. Every sunday morning, anybody selling a car can turn up at Ellerslie Racecourse and sell their car. I was expecting a few cars to be there, but that few turned out to be hundreds, of all shapes, sizes, ages, makes, types, everything. After an hour or so of mooching around i was drawn to the 4x4's (after i deliberately ignored them at the start of my quest). And there it was. A Toyota Hilux Surf. What a beast - 3.0L V6 with all the trimmings. A little worn and battle hardened shall we say, but it goes well and everything works. It was mine!!! How practical for a city!!!

The Beast!!!

I am still waiting for my stuff to arrive from the UK so my room is a little baron at the moment. I am getting by though. I am only really missing my paddling kit - i want to go paddling - and some tunes. But hey, it will be here in a few weeks - if it gets through customs that is!!! I am also looking forward to getting my bike here. As it comes into summer i can dodge the traffic, cut through the park to work (One Tree Hill) and stop getting cake fined at work for being totally unsustainable by cruising around in my fuel guzzling beast!!!

Things here are pretty cheap. But i guess that is partly because in some ways i am still working to UK living. I got a new stereo for my truck last week. Was considering the total pimp out with a sub and an amp but couldn't bring myself round to the Tim Tits school of driving sounds. It is dead cheap over here as imports come direct from Japan. The damn thing took me a whole day for fit and wire up. I had to dismantle the entire dashboard to get it in. But i now have the piece of mind that if anyone tries to nick the stereo in the night, they will still be there in the morning trying to figure out how to get the damn thing out. And you know how you take something apart, not really knowing how, and then rebuild it, again not really knowing how, and then you get the odd bit left over. Well i managed to rebuild my dash minus 3 bolts and a random cable and connector (a little worrying). At the moment everything is working fine though.

New Zealand Baby!!!

Well i have finally made it. I am in Auckland. City of sails. After several weeks of goodbyes in the UK it is detox time here in NZ. And what better time to do it than in the middle of a Lions tour in the middle of winter!!! Well, i think that is enough about the Lions. Less said the better - although the kiwi folk are dead friendly, and enjoying (hmmmm or not) the rugby at the Barmy Army HQ in the Viaduct (harbour area) is certainly an experience.

So what is it like here. Well it is big. 2nd biggest city area wise in the world apparently. Doesn't suprise me. It is huge. This is due to every single property being a detactched house with a garden. No inner city terraces here. Quite nice really. Just takes a while to get around. Oh and Auckland is built on several volcanoes. These make for good viewspots of the city. And there are several more volcanoes forming islands out in the gulf of whwetjhwfuygfw or whatever it is (Not up to speed with Moari yet). And it is these volcanoes in the gulf that are due to blast next. Cool.

So at the moment i am still motelling it. Bit of a pain now but i move into my house in Mt Eden on sunday. I am sharing with 3 girls. Hmmmmm, should be interesting. And seeing as the room is somewhat smaller than back in Cardiff it is sure going to be fun trying to fit everything in. Its a nice house. Wooden villa, big open living space, electric cooker in the kitchen (annoying but it seems the norm over here) and no heating (again, no heating seems to be totally normal over here. But then they all complain about being cold. Hmmmm).

Sorry there are no photos yet. Not got my computer here with me. It is hopefully somewhere oceany (south Atlantic? Indian ocean?) on its way here. Thats if the Rusky boat captain can find his way to NZ through his vodka fuelled haze. (Pirate pete and all that!!!)

Well there we go. Thats it for now. All seems good here. Although i am still struggling a little with being upside down!!!

The Lions Adventure Begins

The British and Irish Lions played a 'warm up' test match at the Millennium Stadium. Bish, Fran, Dave and i were lucky eneough to get hold of some tickets and see witness the action. The opponents for the Lions were the Argies. And a weakened side at that so hopes were high of a resounding victory. Afterall the team can call on guys that are amongst the best 45 rugby players in Britain and Ireland right? Well, err, yeah, but a resounding victory it was not!!!







With the action underway it was the Argies that drew first blood with a well worked try that was certainly not in the script. The Lions seemed to be struggling to string phases together and conceeded too many penalties within kicking range, which were duly converted by the inform Pumas fly half.

The Lions remained in touch thanks to good play from Jonny and Ollie Smith resulting in a good try. However this seemed like the only try the Lions would score as there were just too many errors. Perhaps a sign of a team that had not played together much before.



The rest was really a kicking contest between Jonny and the Argies. Although a few good line breaks got the crowd going the finishing pass or move just wan't there. But it was a good game for Jonny, and looking at this i think he may well have secured his spot in the test team.

Oh and by the way, what on earth is the Lions anthem about - the power of four. Whatever!!!

Canoe Polo - 22nd-24th April 2005

It was time again for the BUSA Canoe Polo Chamionships at Hatfield Water Park in Doncaster. Although a student competition, an Open League was set up for University old boy teams, and anyone else who cared to enter. I entered a Cardiff Old Boys team, comprising of Old Cardiff uni club members and a couple of folk from the local welsh polo club, Aberfan.

The weekend started off with a slight hiccup having discovered the boats didn't fit in the panel van. Well Done!!! It wouldn't be a canoe club weekend without a certain degre (read: alot) of faff. Anyways, up to Doncaster we went. Many beers later it was time for bed. It was freezing. That will learn me for camping in April with a 2 season sleeping bag!!!

Saturday dawned and it was bright and sunny. The girls and the uni team were on early, but the Old Boys had the luxury of a much needed lie in to nurse the hangovers. Our games didn't start till 1.30pm. Bliss. However, being the athletes we are, a warm up was scheduled for midday. Out came the beers, and a few games of polo were watched. Throughout the afternoon the team performed flawlessly - the warm up worked wonders obviously!!!



Only one close call where we managed to miss the start of the game and played one half with only 4 players. The cavalry arrived for the second half and we went on to win 5-1 against Warwick uni Olds. So four games down on saturday and four wins. Top performance and well pleased. We were through to the quarters on the sunday. Time for more beer!!!



Sunday came and it was an even better day than the saturday. Warm and sunny. Perfect for polo. Our quarter final match was against Leeds White Rose. A cagey affair, hard fought, and sometimes not played strictly within the rules. All good fun though. 2-2 at full time after a wonder goal from the half way from Rob saw it go to golden goal extra time. Tense. Still 2-2 so down to penalties. Three pens a peice were saved, including mine. All square after the first round so to sudden death. Would you belive it, mr polo himself Elan Winter was the culprit. His was saved. We were out. Now, i am not going to instill a blame culture here, but if Elan had scored we would have won, so, i guess its his fault!!! haha!



So that was it, the dream was over. A play off lead to Cardiff coming a respectable, but a little dissapointing 5th out of 20. Ah well. It was a top weekend (although alot of the reffing was extremely dubiuos). Good to catch up with old buddies from the polo world.

At Last i go to Cornwall

After much nagging and with an eventual window opening up in my busy (read: work, eat, sleep and occasionally paddle)life i managed to get down to Cornwall to visit Jennas home in Goonbell, St Agnes. Really nice place. And the weather was stunning. It made the coast and the see very mediterranean, which sadly meant no surf, but crystal clear waters instead. I did discover however the sea was no where near as warm as the Med though!!!


Just like the Med

So with no surf, other forms of entertainment on the beach had to be found. Kite fling was attempted, but lack of serious wind halted that, so it was left to sand dune surfing. Note:- remember to close mouth when face planting the beach at speed!!! Gritty teeth for ages. And i am still finding sand in my wallet, pocket, ears.....nice!!!!

A top weekend


yummy!!!

Scotland 2005 - 19th March to 28th March

Over Easter i went to Scotland with Cardiff University Canoe Club. We stayed in Glencoe Bunkhouses, a mile or so down the road from the wonderful Clachaig Inn. For 10 days the mission was to hunt out water, paddle, then retire to the pub for plenty of tale telling and beer swilling antics. I think myself and everyone else on the trip managed all of this with ease. Although in my case there seemed to be more swimming than paddling!!! haha!!!



The weather was stunning on the first day of paddling. We took on the mighty Arkaig. And swim no. 1 for me. Whoops, but i can honestly say my deck popped. But all the same i felt like a right tool. Nice little warm up, and it confirmed that there was plenty of water in the rivers!!!



Next stop the Orchy. A really good river with sections for all and some for no-one (Barbie it really doesn't go!!!). Yes Barbie added to the swim tally. Whoops. He even had to swim back into the undercut to retreive his boat!!! But on a rope this time. Ha ha!!!

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