Well here I am again.... I always seem to be doing a "catch up" post and can't believe we're a quarter of the way through the year already! So I won't bang on about "I have to post more often blah blah.." and just be happy that I'm getting some of the "Family Race" experience down on paper (so to speak).
Anyway, here goes a review of life since the last post (only 6 months ago..)
Xmas 2009
This year is was our turn to spend with my mum an dad down in Tauranga. We had a great time with pretty good weather for the week, lots of good food and drink and got in plenty of trips to the park and beach (which we always do in Tauranga. It's a great place to visit and Trace and I keep saying if we were going to move from Auckland, it's most likely to Tauranga).
The big difference for me this year, over xmas, is my new found love of exercising (or rediscovered love of exercise but we're talking about nearly 15 years of not doing much). I've really got into my cycling this year and loving the "feeling fit" feeling (it's probably more the endurance endorphins that I'm loving...) but found that I've got more energy, sleep better, I'm more alert and more active with the kids, so it's got to be good.
Ever since we came back from the UK in 2002 I've been threatening to get back into some form of exercise and always ended up trying running and nearly always ended up with the same result, shin splints (or "can't be arsed" syndrome). I'd get the shin splints if the running was going well.. I'd build up to about 8-10k runs and just be starting to get fit, then my lower legs get tight, then sore, and then downright painful and the only cure was to ice, massage and rest. So then I was back to square one. (I don't think we need to go into "can't be arsed" syndrome but basically I never got fit enough to get the "need" to exercise feeling that I've got now).
So what changed this year? (or last year now as I'm so out of date). Well it was about Feb last year and I was having a browse on Facebook (probably in work time but we won't go into that) and ended up looking at some photos posted by Glenn MacLachlan (actually posted by his wife Debbie, as Glocks isn't terribly computer literate). The photos were of the Wanaka Challenge and Glocks did the cycle leg, a mere 180kms! but I thought if Glocks can, I can (maybe not 180k but at least enough to get fit). Then another mate that I used to work with (who is 10years + younger than me and already a good cyclist) signed me up for a 100k ride from Rotorua to Taupo, so I now had a goal... and the rest is history. I did the ride (albeit crook from the flu but I'd told too many people what that I was doing a 100k ride that I couldn't back out) and my competitive nature kicked in. Another ride was signed up for, training plans were made etc etc with the pinnacle of the year coming with the Lake Taupo cycle challange, a 160k ride. Once I signed up for that, I was well and truly hooked. (We're hoping that the Taupo ride will be an annual thing as we had a great time and talked some friends into doing it as well which made for a very social weekend).
Now that I've had a good bleat about my personal health, time to get the blog back on track... to Xmas 2009. Once we had our week down in Tauranga, we returned to Auckland for New Year's and we're all sound asleep by 10.30pm (being the party animals that we are). On the 2nd we were off camping for a few days with Tracey's brothers family (Lyndon, Layla, Baden and Zayde). This was the kids first real taste of proper camping, as it is a doc camp so only had the basics of running water and a long drop loo.
Kids loved it, made friends with the other kids (generally stealing their toys and telling them what to do... harriet) and survived fine without TV and playgrounds and looking for junk food every 5 mins (which is one of their favourite things to do when stuck at home). Interestingly it was the older kids (Baden and his mate who are 10) that got bored and hung around the camp a lot and wanted to be entertained by us adults. Maybe they can't do without the playstation, dvd's, gameboys etc at that age?
In late Jan, early Feb, the whole family had a trip down to Dunedin, the official reason was a Masters cricket tournament but was a good excuse to catch up with the boys down south and basically have a cheap holiday away (thanks to Sherb for putting us up!). So it was sight seeing and family time during the day then from 4pm it was cricket playing then beer drinking.
Highlights of our daytrips were: Seeing seals, penguins, albatross etc down at Tiroa heads on the peninsular (but the kids enjoyed the ice cream, hot chips and the park on the way back the most i think). Train trip to Middlemarch see: http://www.taieri.co.nz/, again the novelty wore off after a couple of hours but we (Trace and I) really enjoyed it. And a visit to Cadbury world (tour of the factory in Dunedin), where the kids obviously loved the chocolates but were pretty much bored with the details).
Everyone has a great time and will be definately back in 2012 for more Masters Cricket.
P.S. sorry for lack of photos but camera had packed up and so had my good phone... both replaced now
P.P.S this post has just been finished in Feb 2011 so only about a year in the writing... at least it's something ;-)
