Week 2 Review - Just been too busy to blog!

Left Wellington on Boxing Day after a fab time with the Guyomars over Christmas. Great hosts. Choppy crossing across Cook Straits!

Our time on the Marlborough Sounds was amazing. Went dolphin and penguin spotting. Also had a great walk along a stretch of the Queen Charlotte Track - some breath-taking views of the Sounds. Weather was glorious - resulted in a few bits of sunburn. Ate and drank well at the Snapper Bar for 3 nights running in the Portage resort.

Headed south to Hanmer Springs on Friday. Another glorious day of weather made the views even more spectacular. Beautiful beaches down the East Coast near Kaikora - plus smelly Seals! Had a good soak in the sulphur baths at Hanmer.

Have now arrived at Queenstown following a damp day's travelling via Christchurch. Drank too much last night and have had a headache most of today (New Year's Eve). Mike took us up to take a look at the bungy site - he wants to get me worried about the thought of doing one in a few days! We've also been out on a Jet Boat ride on the Shotover River this afternoon - that sorted out the headache!

The sun's out, so we're planning a BBQ this evening - we're entertaining some other friends of the Guyomars too....should be a good party! I think my tapering over the last few days and a good training session last night has left me in peak condition for tonight's festivities!

Hope you all have a great New Year's Eve.

Day 8 - Merry Christmas from us in Wellington

Kids up at around 6am fumbling through their stockings and pretty soon the first renditions of "Sounds like Teen Spirit" was being sung on the PS2 Star Sing. Not sure whether Kurt would have appreciated the cover - we certainly didn't by the time the 20th effort was being sung!

Chris cooked the breakfast on the BBQ again - he's starting to excell.

After a present opening session, we headed over to the other side of Wellington to meet up with Mike's family for nibbles and fizz. Great to see them again.
Made to feel very welcome...and we enjoyed a few games of ping-pong before heading off to Scorching Bay for a quick pre-lunch dip in the sea. Lovely and sunny, but the water was a bit cold....but it had to be done.

Back to Lower Hutt for obligatory pre-dinner drinks, with-dinner drinks and post-dinner drinks. In amongst the liquid refreshment, Fiona served up a sumptuous feast - trad. christmas fayre.

And then it was big-kids turn on the Sing Star. Mike and I anihilated Roxanne - too high for our dulcet tones; whilst the big girls sang along to a Dusty Springfield number. Meanwhile the small kids made a home movie - obviously inspired by Wellington's film making heritage. Apparently, there are some scenes still to be filmed down in Queenstown! Who knows, I may have to graduate to You-Tube next to show the finished product?

The rest of the day was very chilled....unlike the beautiful red wine that kept us fuelled into the evening. I think that I have represented the UK very well in the Lower Hutt Wine Drinking Olympics....possibly not wrestled the gold medal away from the host, but certainly achieved a creditable silver. I now have the opportunity to do some further training over the next few days in Marlborough Sounds in the run up to the Queenstown New Year World Championships.

Not sure how accessible an internet link will be out on the Sounds....so this may be the last post for a few days. If so....you'll be able to catch up later.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and that Santa brought you what you wanted.

Bye for now.

Day 7 - I'm not a celebrity...but get me out of here!

We had arrived at the Lodge on the Orongoronga River just before dark and managed to get the fire lit and supper cooked before night-fall. Kids retired to the bunks quite soon after supper and quietly played with nintendos whilst the big kids sat round the wood-burner, quaffed 3 litres of wine and reminisced over times past - it was fantastic. Wandered out into the pitch-black before bed-time for star-gazing. Awesome! Then the fun started as Mike's snoring first amused those who were not asleep (or had been awaken by the rumble) but then turned to annoyance!


So we awoke early on Christmas Eve in a cold Bush Hut on the back of patchy sleep with no milk for the cereal! But hey, it was nearly Christmas....

We headed on out at 8am and arrived back at civilisation around 10am. A fantastic brunch at Days Bay - Pancakes, bacon, banana and maple syrup.

We decided that a trip into Wellington was order of the day, so the Burns tribe headed to the harbour after lunch and then took a ride up the cable car for views over the city. Te Papa museum had been an option but the lack of sleep last night has resulted in a lack of desire to wander around too long.

Back to Lower Hutt and a couple of chickens were slowly cooking on the BBQ. Time to open some Lindauer....then some sauvignon blanc...then some shiraz. Mike is such a bad influence!

Another remarkable day! Not sure how long we can keep up the pace!

Day 6 - Plans for a night in the Bush.

The rain has gone and it's a bright start to the day. The beer talk of a swim at 7 for the big boys has proved to be just that!

Chris cooked some breakfast on the BBQ. Very tasy indeed.

Went to a local splash pool for some water fun - plus some
lengths to work off last nights excesses.

Rest of afternoon spent preparing for our night camping in the bush.

Set out around 5pm - rucksacks full of sleeping bags, "lollies" and camp tucker.



Around 2 hours into the bush before we waded across the river to our lodge. Mike had not done too good a job at managing the expectations of the kids regarding the standard of our accomodation! "It's a dump.....I'm not sleeping on that.....It's dirty...!"...and that was just Maria.

We're reliant on a good fire to keep us warm and to heat up the water for any body-part claening. Best get chopping down some trees...

Day 5 - Heading to Wellington

Friday morning, gloriously sunny start to the day again, sad to be leaving this fantastic place but looking forward to seeing the Guyomars down in Wellington.

Called in at Wai-o-tapu and watched Lady Knox Geyser erupt, as usual, at 10.15am. This place is wierd!

Then the long drive south. Took in a quick look at Huka Falls as we approached Taupo. Fab views of the mountains in Tongariro National Park - "Mount Doom" - over Desert Road - every corner brought an amazing view over big countryside.

Made good time down to Wellington - until I was pulled over by the police for speeding! Fortunately the officer took pity on me and let me off with a verbal - "don't want to spoil your holiday...but don't do it again!"

A great welcome at the Guyomars in Lower Hutt. Dinner, washed down with 6 bottles of wine - Mike was very drunk! He ended up sleeping in the garage!

Went for a walk around the block to see a local house that had been dressed up in Christmas lights.....I don't think that I'm exaggerating if I suggest that there were probably more lights in this one house than the whole of Heatherton Estate!

The only down side....it's raining.

Day 4 - continued....4 seasons in one day

The rest of day 4 was spent in glorious sunshine wandering around Rotorua and then back by Lake Tarawera. Strangely they experienced a hail shower at Tarawera half an hour before we returned, bringing the sunshine with us.
Discovered the root-cause of my photo-mare - a bad memory card; so Mr T beware - we might have been sent a dodgy pair!
Chris offered to cook dinner and did some garlic prawns and lamb steaks which were really tasty. The remainder of the shiraz was consumed along with a bottle of fizzy white which resulted in a rather chilled-out evening. We went hunting glow-worms once darkness fell...and found them not too far from our lodge.

Day 4 - A very Long Day indeed!

A sunny start to the day, albeit it a bit cool. Fantastic views over Lake Tarawera from the lodge.


My UK coach (Steve) will be pleased to hear that the trainers went on for the first time today and I had a run down to the lake - which meant that I had a run back UP to the lodge. A few weeks training here and the Glyndwr trophy will be a non-contest! Beautiful down by the lake...just me (once the boat taking some Japanese tourists had departed off onto the glistening water) and a bit of local wildlife. And it still wasn't 7am!

Once we had breakfasted, we visited the nearby "Buried Village" of Te Wairoa. Again, very beautiful and interesting. Nice cream teas too.

Then off into Rotorua to do the "Skyline Rides" - a gondola ride up a big hill and then luging down on small carts - great fun.

More later...

Day 3 - Heading South

...just to complete the Day 2 newz...
Maria suffering from a pool slide accident - bashed her toes on the pool floor - all purple - she thinks she's broken a couple of them! That's her with a great excuse to not go running in the mornings. Kids had a nap late yesterday afternoon and then didn't want to get up for dinner. I don't think they've totally got over the jet-lag yet. I should talk - found myself wide awake at 4am this morning after 6 hours of deep sleep. Spent the next hour or so reading my camera manual trying to work out what I did wrong in losing 132 pictures! If in doubt...read the instructions. Still non-the-wiser though.
Still no exercise as of yet - need to shake off the effects of the flight first!

Day 3 started with another great breakfast. Our hosts Brian, Jay and Bella have been fantastic. A quick tour of the hobbit house in their back garden and then we set off south towards Rotorua.

The weather has taken a turn for the better - the shades have been on. Arrived at Lake Tarawera Lodge at around 3pm. Have played some basketball with Chris and we've all lazed in a hot-tub. Dinner's ready, so I've got to sign off now. A 3 litre box of Banrock Station Shiraz awaits.......

Dinner was delicious and the shiraz excellent.

Both kids in bed by 9pm - they just have no staying power. Why aren't they like this back at home?

Day 2 - Grey clouds on the horizon!

Fantastic nights sleep! Even better breakfast....and the view of Auckland from the dining table is stunning.
Unfortunately the Auckland Sky Tower was in the clouds - so we're not going up there today.
Decided to head off for a tour north of Auckland. Headed to Muriwai Beach to do some Gannet and Surf Dude spotting.
Weather was a bit grim though - grey clouds and rain. The breakers were pretty fearsome and a few surfers were braving the conditions. Didn't spot any pianos though.
Once Chris had done his usual trick of getting soaked in the sea, we carried on over to the East side of island - in search of some warmth at Waiwera Hot Springs. Good fun on the water shoots plus really warming pools - up to 40 degsC.
Have now returned back to base to produce this update. I think I've wiped all of my photos trying to upload one onto this blog! Clever me! Must remember to save!
Have contacted Mike in Wellington. Apparently it's nice and sunny there.....but due to change by the time we arrive. Good job were used to camping holidays in Wales.

Day 1 - The Outward Journey

Heathrow was as busy as you'd expect this time of year. Bumped into Steve Humber in the queue for security!
Strange flight to LA - it went dark within a few hours of take off and then light again as we headed south over mid-Canada.
12 hours of eating and drinking - that New Zealand Pinot Noir is very agreeable.
More queuing at LA - 2 immigration officers for over 300 travellers! Chris, of course enjoyed the free crisps and biscuits in the waiting lounge!
Took off from LA early Sat evening local time and headed due west towards Hawaii then a left turn out into nothing-ness!
I think we managed to get about 6 hours sleep total between the 4 of us during the course of the 2 legs - so it was remarkable just how lively we were when we landed safely at Auckland around 5.30am this morning - Monday 18th Dec.
It's now just gone 1pm local time and it feels like 6pm! We're all starting to feel the effects of the journey.
We've spent the morning wandering around Auckland and Devonport - catching the ferry that links the 2 areas. The weather is very Welsh - wet! But it's quite bright and warm with it.
We're now heading off to our digs for a bit of a siesta.
More news later.....my money's running out!!
Beep, beep, beep.....prrrrrrrr.

Back on-line....

After a team siesta at Number One House, we headed out for dinner. It was quite amusing to see Sarah and Chris with their heads on the table, half asleep, waiting for their meals to arrive.
Once fed and watered, we strolled back to our digs. Nice views of the sunset over the harbour.
Not much persuading required to go to bed tonight.

6 Days and counting...

Another week zips by and we are now down to single figures - 6 days left to get final preparations completed.

We've been keeping a close watch on the weather at present over in New Zealand - viewing a few recent postings on You-Tube of "wet and windy Wellington"! So in preparation, we've spent our last weekend in the UK over on the Welsh coast getting soaked and blasted by the south-westerlies.

Sarah's just responded to an e-mail from Mike's daughter which indicated that he'd got them painting the garage. I recall him saying that he'd be doing a bit of DIY to get things in shape for our visit, but I didn't expect to be sleeping in the back of his car!

Perhaps his suggestion of a trek out into the bush for an over-night under the stars is his insurance policy for the jobs not getting done in time?

Maria has suggested that writing this blog is not getting us any closer to being ready for the trip as she continues to deposit neatly folded garments onto separate piles on the bed in the guest room. Plenty of time really....what's the panic?

2 weeks to go....

Our trip to New Zealand has always seemed to be so far off in the future - but it's now only a fortnight away! It's now that the panic sets in.......have we made all the necessary arrangements, what do we need to take with us, how are we going to get to the airport...?

Sarah has been e-mailing Mike's daughters - Izzy and Floss - for the past couple of weeks; a kind of crash-course in pen-friendship! In my day, it used to take a few weeks to get a response from Gregor in Rheine, but the wonders of the internet allow Sarah to hold two simultaneous conversations on the other side of the world before breakfast.

Chris' fears of flying - or crashing - appear to have been kept under wraps over the past few weeks and he has now started to talk about the NZ trip with an air of expectation rather than intrepidation. He received an i-Pod nano today as an early Xmas pressie for use on the plane - lucky boy. I'm still wondering how I'm going to keep myself amused for 28 hours. An opportunity to read a book maybe. Or start creating my training plan for next year's triathlon season....yawn!