Ruamahunga River Kayaking

Had a little trial of the Eclipse kayak in the weekend down the Ruamahunga River.

Noting it is winter and we have had lots of rain. The river was so swollen that there were no rapids but there were lots of boils and floating debris.

A 33km stretch took five of us 2hours to paddle.  We put the boats in at one bridge and finished at the Featherston Bridge.

It was a great experience to test out the multisport boat on moving water after having completed my Grade Two certificate in a sea kayak.

I can definitely see a few swims coming up once the weather warms up and I brave real rapids.

Cirque Du Soleil Dralion

Stunning!  A must see and if you don’t get the chance this year then next time it is in town I highly recommend it.

Celebrating it’s 25th year anniversary this years theme is “the dream continues”.  When East meets West.

We had the Tapis Rouge VIP package which included preferred seating, reserved parking, pre show and intermission drinks, hors d’oeuvres and dessert, a show souvenir goodie bag, and your own utilities which meant no queues.

This package was a must due to the continuous downpour of rain that Auckland put on for the weekend.

The performers were spectacular, very athletic.  The clowns were funny. The costumes bright and well designed.

We had a two bedroom apartment at Stadium Waldorf Apartments Hotel from off  lastminute.

A fantastic weekend away in the middle of a wet and cold winter.

Children of the Snow – Warren Miller Movie 2009

It is that time of year again – a hot date!   Okay, the extreme skiing movie from Warren Miller is in town on its roadshow around the world.  The 58th year of extreme skiing, snow boarding and as the years have gone by more and more random events.

This year there was a make shift band, a surfing legend come new found snowboarder and a comedian to keep you entertained.

So, like … one time at band camp…

A cheap and cheerful dinner out before hand at a friend, Raf’s, Italian Pizza cafe.  The smart boy shares the lease with an 80’s club.  He has the use of the kitchen and bar all day up until 10pm each night.  He seems happy with it.

Three out of five pillows from me on the movie but five out of five pillows on the night out.

All Blacks vs France Test Match

We did it!  Well the team did – Phew!  I think the AB’s man card was riding on that game. Close call but the AB’s held their own.

I was in the Deloitte lounge, thankfully, as it was absolutely chucking it down out there.  Wellington had turned on its best weather again.  The Haka isn’t the same up there though, you miss the whole experience.

It was interesting listening to everyone going on every time that the ball was dropped.  Such and such is a waste of space. I bet if they were out there in the rain and wind they’d be even worse.  Armchair coaches and players…

We bumped in to Wayne and Jimmy at half time and decided to have a drink with them in their hotel afterwards.  The same hotel that the french were staying at so it was a merry old time with the supporters club – who were in very good form.

Needless to say it was an earlish night for me and a late one for the boys.  Town was surprisinly empty – maybe that Wellington weather had something to do with it.  We had trouble giving away tickets for the game for free.

Gore-tex Tester

Check out my YouTube clip as part of my application to become a Gore-tex tester for a few months.

As a member of the Gore-tex email group I was sent this opportunity, along with hundreds of others, to apply on line with a clip, photo and 500 word reason why I would be a good Gore-tex tester.

Entries close today so fingers crossed I get through to the next stage, which is a phone interview, and even better, to the end!

I’ll keep you posted.

Crazyman MTB Race 2009

Damn!  I am 4th again!  Everyone says 2nd is the worst place to be but obviously they haven’t been 4th as many times as I have…

The week leading up to the race was wet and windy, a true Wellington southerly, so many of us weren’t looking forward to race day.

Yet we were lucky and had fantastic weather for the whole day and the track was in great condition, nice traction.

I started out well with Nic Leary on my arse.  I was waiting, looking in the shadows for her to come passed but she never did – phew!  No girls did only a few boys.  One came steaming passed on a hill aptly named ‘Everest’ and others much later on on the down hills, and yes they were butts I recognised and had passed on the up hills – damn!

I enjoyed the downhill a lot more this time and really loved the race along the river.  A guy had passed me on the last piece of down hill and as I knew I was fast on the flat I thought there is no way you are going to get away with that.  Then when I saw him cheat and ride on the footpath I had to catch him up to at least tell him he had cheated.  Once I was on his arse the momentum was good so we kept the fast pace up until the end.  He started to give a little near the end so I pushed him along telling him we are nearly there you can’t give up now. 

There was another rider up ahead that I saw we were going to have to dodge, we both went in different directions around her not missing a beat.  I looked back she looked dazed.

Through some mud, up a bank and ‘walk your bike down the stairs please’, ‘only 600m to go’ – Yes! as my legs did not want to go fast anymore.

2:25hrs for a 4th – Go the Boulcott Babes!

Also I won my first spot prize!  It was more exciting than the race, it was the first thing everyone told me when I rode over the finish line.  Ironically it was a Merida lime green hydration pack – matches my lime green roadie and a friend of mine is sponsored by Merida and even he doesn’t have a bag with lime green flames on it – stylie

Next year I think I will do all three disciplines myself  :)

Porirua Grand Traverse 2009

I had been unable to preride the course as it is on private land and I had missed the one opportunity I had to ride it due to another race.

However, on Sunday morning Craig and I set out for Battle Hill – yes, Craig came too, it was exciting having him along as he’s never been to a race before.  He was chief bike holder while I gossiped with everyone.  I think he was overwhelmed with the elite looking riders and how skinny but strong they looked – it was funny.

3, 2, 1… and we were off, pedaling like snot trying to get a good place in the line of riders heading down the track over a river and straight up in to a long hill climb.  We had a few more of these hill climbs and gravel down hills as we headed West over the Belmont Hills surrounding the picturesque Patahanui Inlet towards Porirua.

2:26hrs later I rode in to the transition area for the 18km trail run.

This is a great little multisport event worth supporting in Wellington each year – check it out at Porirua Grand Traverse.

Grade Two White Water Kayak Course

$25 per night accommodation, unheard of in New Zealand.  But for anyone on Canoe & Kayak courses in Taupo you can stay at Bradshaw’s Lodge for $25 including cereal for breakfast.  They also have some cool looking apartments at the back that they look after on behalf of another company.  These apartments are new and would be great for anyone over the age of 30 years who wants to avoid the noise from the younger crowd at the Lodge.

Canoe & Kayak in Taupo are a great outfit, they definitely put the brand back on the map as far as I am concerned after my dealings with the Wellington store.

The first day we spent the morning drowning ourselves in the hot pools upside down in white water boats.  Then we took these boats to the river from the control bridge down to Reid’s Farm to learn further paddling and rescue techniques.

The next day and weekend were also spent in this section of the river, practising techniques and drowning ourselves.

Then we got to head to the Mokaha for our first taste of white water and rapids – it was fun, but freezing!

The third and final weekend was spent doing our assessment in the Mohaka for our swimming techniques and then in the Tongariro for some faster fuller rapids.  Now that was a fun day!

Needless to say the three of us passed – Phew!

Personalised Number Plates

Craig and I received a cool gift for Craig’s 40th birthday in January from his mum – personalised number plates for our cars!

Grant at Personalised Plates was fantastic to deal with, great sense of humour and ability to come up with plate options.

If you want to know what they are you will have to email me and ask

They actually take three weeks to be made, they are digitally printed in Australia and then made into plates back in New Zealand.  And as Grant says, ‘not by prison inmates’.

They look great on the cars.

Thanks Diane

xxx

Tineli Bikewear Rainbow Rage MTB Race 2009

It had to be done, even though it is considered a family ride, it really isn’t like that out there on the track, it is everyone for themselves!

Four of us ventured down to Blenheim on Friday for a early start on Saturday morning to ride 106km’s from St Arnaud to Hanmer Springs via private farm tracks.

The late arrival of portable toilets meant everyone was peeing and doing number twos in the trees.  The tree section was starting to smell like a toilet.  I wouldn’t want to be that farmer.  The toilets turned up 10minutes before the start of the race – pointless.

I had a gromet say I was a machine on the up hill to Iron Saddle as I bombed the hill passed everyone.  Pity I am not like that on the down hill!

I came 4th in my class, it should have been 3rd but I was such a girl on the down hill on the gravel and got passed near the end – Grr! There were about 650 entrants. Check out the Tineli Bikewear Rainbow Rage for results and information.

It was nice to have a plate full of food that had been prepared for riders after the event and a relaxing swim in the Hanmer Hot Springs.

Photo’s of us prior and after the race.  Then during the race.

Would I do it again?  I do not think so, too bumpy for this kid!   The experience was great but the butt ache from the continuous water ruts along the track are not worth a second look … or maybe they are from a 4WD as that is what you would need for a slightly more comfortable ride.

The scenery was beautiful, the dramatic hills lining the valley you rode up along side a fresh river that you could still drink from was worth the pain once.