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A few pictures from last weekend, walking about in the hills above our house.
It’s great – a 40 minute walk from front door brings you up here… One of the challenging things post-quake has been finding outlets for energy.. a lot of the tracks are dangerous with rock-fall hazards etc. ChCh is getting back on its feet though – which is great… but it is slow work.
This weekend just gone, Maaike and I flew up to Wellington to see Glynn & Jayne, and also the Irish comedian Dylan Moran. He was definitely funny – though I had less gut-wrenching laughs than I have had with others. I think this might have been down to the acoustics of the theatre (he talks very quickly), and I was also expecting more topical / political humour. Still, an excellent excellent evening. In a parallel dimension, I would love to be a standup comedian. I think.
Oh, Maaike and I also went for a walk above Wellington. I love that you can be right up with a good view in literally minutes walk from the city centre. Wellington really is a nice city, even if she is sitting on a time-bomb (big overdue quake!).
It was lovely seeing Glynn & Jayne. Their daughter Isla isn’t getting any smaller, or quieter. Which is all right and proper for a 1 1/2 year old. Does bring it home the sacrifices one makes from *not* being in Ireland. That said, I read the Irish papers daily, and while I’m sure it’s not as bad as the papers make out, I’m still quite happy to be in New Zealand, and not in a country which must be going through such a harsh transition. I think I’d take earthquakes over mountains of debt any day.
Still, we do have houses like this all over the place. Which is less than ideal.
So.. from September 3rd -> 23rd I will be off at Outward Bound. It’s basically a personal development course run through the outdoors. It involves things like getting up at 6am and going for a 3km run and then jumping in the sea (which is cold). And that is just for starters.
I’m excited and quite nervous.. but definitely more excited than nervous. Thing that’ll happen:
- Teach you how to sail, then put you and your 12 mates in a boat for 4 (more?!) days… on your own… in the sea.
- Teach you how to navigate – then off on a hike/tramp for 4/5 days
- ditto kayaking (I think)
So yeah, lots to do.
Now – we are allowed (in fact, encouraged) to send & receive postcards / letters. These can *totally* include things like:
- Stuff you have learned in life and that you think I’d like to learn too….
- Fig Rolls (you can’t get these in NZ – and I miss them like you wouldn’t believe on hikes!)
- Chocolate
- Letters containing deep thoughts about life, the universe, and everything
- Letters containing jokes, frivolaty, and no deep thoughts
- Pictures from your latest holiday
- Pictures from another holiday / your new house / family members / scuba diving, kayaking, extreme planking… whatever it is
These letters, postcards and packages should be sent to :
Patrick Davey
M561
Outward Bound School
Private Bag 403
Picton 7250
It would be absolutely lovely to get them. Anyone who does write will get at least one postcard in response within the next year :)
More snow across New Zealand. Stayed home for two days this time!
It’s all very pretty of course, and it is, but it’s all quite wet and … gritty!
It was however, an excellent reason to head to the hills to go snowboarding. Headed off to Mt Olympus for the day yesterday. Shelly & Paul (the newlyweds), Dan & Candance, Pauls Dad, Mark and I .. Olympus is a great little club field. It was really hard work as there was tonnes of snow, but it had compacted a bit and had been a little cut-up before we got onto it. It also took us until midday to get to the field as they were only letting high-clearance 4wd cars (with chains) to go up the access road. Still, worth it once we got there.
And there were some stunning view on the way back.
In other news just in – am off to do a 3 week outward bound course in September. Letters (and chocolates etc) would be gratefully received. I’ll send around the address soon. I’m not actually joking here, it would be lovely to get letters/postcards :)
We had snow in Christchurch the other day (quite rare). It was crazier than usual cycling on the streets (I waited three days to go to work and should have waited four!).
Unfortunately – it didn’t mean more snow on the ski fields as the snow pretty much bypassed them!
This weekend was the wedding of Paul and Michelle (Shelly). The weather had been completely miserable all week, but cleared up beautifully in time for the big day.
Security was tight for the event.
Ok, kidding, there wasn’t any security, but it looked like there was! In New Zealand (as opposed to UK/Ireland) people can get married anywhere, and they simply have to have someone with a marriage license to actually marry you. In Ireland there are only certain places you can get married. So, thus it was that Shelly and Paul chose the fairly magical Castle Hill to get married.
It was a little chilly, hence lots of people wearing down jackets – but there were nibbles and mulled wine, and generally it was perfecto.
The beautiful bride arrived, and didn’t worry at all that her lovely dress was getting a little muddy. In fact, I think Shelly quite enjoyed the fact :)
It was a simple affair, with poem readings (The Snow Leopard and the hedgehog went to sea….), merriment, some interesting vows (promising to take responsibility for ones own health… quite an interesting one and I definitely want to quiz Shelly about it!), and, of course, the happy couple.
As per usual, the flower girls attempted to steal the show… but fortunately not jumping off the rock for attention ;)
Back then to the Bealey Tavern – where the first wedding event they’d ever hosted was held! It was very prettily done up. Shelly had lots of help from her friends out in Sumner – the programmes were printed up, the cake was made.. it seems to be a hallmark of Kiwi weddings that everyone rows in and helps put the event together… very good way of doing things. I reckon.
Just to point out – on the cake, Shelly is tellymarking, and the pattern on the ski’s matches her real ones.. “Lovers Lane” and “The Plunge” are two ski runs here… very cool.
Shelly had asked me to be her MC for the evening. I was *quite* nervous, and definitely shaky at the start, but warmed up. I think that the best speech of all was the best mans. He was nervous (or said he was)… and it was his first time. He lined up 5 shot glasses at the bar and drank them all, one after the other. Then he said he’d taken a leaf out of the grooms book and that it was, in fact, just orange juice. Excellent excellent trick – one I shall definitely copy someday!
So the wedding was a great success, dancing into the wee hours.
The next day – we managed to get a days skiing in at Cheeseman. It was pretty crowded, but still, fun to be out and about again.
Last weekend it was time for Paul (of Paul and Shelly)’s stag weekend.
I don’t have many pictures from the weekend (which is only right and proper).. but it was a fun affair. Paul did irritatingly well it would have to be said. He seemed to drink everything which was set in front of him – and yet managed to outlast everyone. Strange, as he’s a total lightweight really!
Then this weekend it was off to Hanmer for Mark and Neil’s birthday bash.
Here they are playing “The shoe/newlywed game”. Each person takes one shoe from their opponent/opposite/partner.. and have to hold up the shoe corresponding to who best fits the answer to questions like “Who is the stronger in the relationship” etc.. I won’t say whose were held up for “who wears the pants… ;”
Aaaaanyway, fun times. Went biking with Steve & Matt which was lots of fun. Visited one of Steve’s bug sites.
Under the frame are two sets of timber. One wrapped in plastic and the other wrapped, but permeable to insects. I think. The plan is (for three years) to see how they get munched. I think. I’m no etymologist ok. Sheesh. If you want facts go somewhere else. Honestly. ;)
Did get to play with my new ixus 220HS which was lots of fun. It’s a neat little camera and takes HD video’s. Unfortunately this one is a little on the boring side – but more will come now that I’ve got a camera that works again!
Also, this officially means I’m up to date on the blog again. Hurrah.
This weekend it was off to the West Coast for my friend Neil’s 30th. Unfortunately my camera really wasn’t behaving itself too much (have since replaced it!) so just a single photo to show this time (of the Birthday boy himself)
It was a brilliant place to go biking – over at a place called Denniston
It’s an abandoned(ish) mining town with lots of really tricksy mountain biking up on the plateaux. I was walking my bike for at least 40% of the time – I’m just not able to bike down cliffs! Heh, good times though.
Other than that, life has been returning a little more to normal. Snowpool seems to be ticking along reasonably well (phew!), the earthquakes are getting less and hopefully staying that way, and generally things are beginning to settle down a bit more. Long may it last. I’ll try to be a more regular blogger again ;)
Had a 5.5 and then a 6 aftershock today. First time I got under a desk!
Maaike and I are fine.. house still grand with little obvious damage… But lots of liquifaction on the roads. Fun and games
Headed away tramping with Maaike for the weekend. First time in a while I’d been able to muster up the energy to get out. Well, that and Snowpool was successfully launched so had some time again ;)
Just a cruisey walk up the Nina Valley and then onto devilskin biv.
(do like the new topomap site!)
My camera is totally dying – definitely time to get a new Ixus I think, and keep the old one for snowboarding / getting mashed about.. really not too happy with these pictures to be honest.
The biv was just a small (new) two person hut. We did have a tent just in-case anyone else was there, but we had the place to ourselves. Games were played, food was eaten, wine was drunk, and for a while, earthquakes were forgotten.
On Feb 22nd when the magnitude 6 earthquake hit, I was in the middle of the city centre on the 6th floor of our building. We’ve not been allowed back in since (though rescue people did collect our bikes from the basement – which was very nice of them!).
Anyway, the city council has been allowing business’ to go back in and have a single run into their buildings to get essential stuff out. I leapt at the opportunity to go back in and have a nosey (stupidly forgot my head-torch which was a little silly)..
Unfortunately I think my camera is dying, and most of the pictures didn’t come out too well (annoying to say the least). My lunch which had been sitting there for 4 months was a little hairy – but I forgot to check the fridge (which was apparently an awesome site). I did take a video on the way in – which you can see here.
So, apologies for the complete lack of regular blog updates. Truth to tell I’ve been working *hard* on getting Snowpool up and running for Australia and NZ (the snow has singularly failed to arrive), and constant earthquakes simply take it out of you. We’ve had 8000+ quakes since September. That’s actually quite a lot…
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