I started this weekend with a swim in the sea off Takapuna beach. Good fun, but the water is definitely getting colder, I was not shivering when I got out, but it look quite a while to warm the feet up.
I had intended to pave the area immediately around the gate that goes between the front and back of the section, but Alison pointed out it should be consistent with the paving I am going to do to the front steps. But before I do that paving I need to build the deck outside the ranch slider to our bedroom.
I downloaded some instructions but found I needed to modify them as there is so little space underneath I could not put bearers under the joists, but as it is a small deck that isn't going to be a problem. So I bought the materials and, despite it being cool and drizzly the whole weekend, have managed to build all the framing necessary. All i need to do now is nail the decking in place. I have the decking, but it was wet when I bought it so waiting till next weekend allows it to dry a bit so I can stain it before I nail it down.
The weight is still at 76.5, I was a bit lower during the week but ended up where I started. I am a bit disappointed as I have kept my eating discipline well. I did go to the Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving prize giving on Saturday night and had 2 beers (shock! horror!) and a good helping of a really good paella, you can't stop living.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Queen's birthday weekend
I've just had a pleasant Queens birthday weekend.
On Saturday I went to Takapuna beach and had a swim with Vic, Marieke & Valentino (with Pam watching). The water is quite cool, it catches your breath until the first buoy or so, but after a while it is just cool. The sea was a bit lumpy and I found navigation a bit of a challenge. It also took a while to adjust to the different way of swimming in the sea, but in general it was a nice swim with some good people.
We (the family) then travelled down to Hamilton as it was Alison's birthday on Sunday and my mum has just turned 70. My sister was there cooking up a storm (Emily was there too) and Paul, Jenny & Sam were there so there were plenty of people to keep everyone busy. We did a roast lamb for dinner and I even had
some.
I started on a 'liver cleansing diet' after taking to one of my colleagues and Alison agreed to join me. However 2 weeks into it a BBC program on food stated that 'cleansing' diets were a load of hogwash which put a bit of a kybosh on the plans. However, I have decided to continue in the spirit of it in order to loose some weight, my goal is 74kg and I am now at 76.5 from a starting point of 81-83. But I am avoiding red meat and dairy products until then. I'll blog an update when I make the goal.
On Sunday Dad, Duncan and I went to the Hamilton Botanical Gardens and took some photos, here's a link to some of them. This is one of my favourites. We returned to Auckland on Sunday.
On Monday (the public holiday) I went swimming again. The sea was calmer and I enjoyed this swim even more, I was able to get into a much better rythm. We're planning to do a mid-winter swim on June 24th, we'll see how that goes.
On Saturday I went to Takapuna beach and had a swim with Vic, Marieke & Valentino (with Pam watching). The water is quite cool, it catches your breath until the first buoy or so, but after a while it is just cool. The sea was a bit lumpy and I found navigation a bit of a challenge. It also took a while to adjust to the different way of swimming in the sea, but in general it was a nice swim with some good people.
We (the family) then travelled down to Hamilton as it was Alison's birthday on Sunday and my mum has just turned 70. My sister was there cooking up a storm (Emily was there too) and Paul, Jenny & Sam were there so there were plenty of people to keep everyone busy. We did a roast lamb for dinner and I even had
some.I started on a 'liver cleansing diet' after taking to one of my colleagues and Alison agreed to join me. However 2 weeks into it a BBC program on food stated that 'cleansing' diets were a load of hogwash which put a bit of a kybosh on the plans. However, I have decided to continue in the spirit of it in order to loose some weight, my goal is 74kg and I am now at 76.5 from a starting point of 81-83. But I am avoiding red meat and dairy products until then. I'll blog an update when I make the goal.
On Sunday Dad, Duncan and I went to the Hamilton Botanical Gardens and took some photos, here's a link to some of them. This is one of my favourites. We returned to Auckland on Sunday.
On Monday (the public holiday) I went swimming again. The sea was calmer and I enjoyed this swim even more, I was able to get into a much better rythm. We're planning to do a mid-winter swim on June 24th, we'll see how that goes.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
End of swim season braai
Well, we've done a fair bit of sea swimming this year and so it was appropriate to finish off with a braai. We (well most of us) swam the "Round the Head Classic" swim on Sunday morning. It was a bit of an early start, 7:30, but the weather was great, and it was a lovely swim. The tide was pushing us along and so those of use who swam under the jetty got an exaggerated view of our ability to swim fast. Coming round North Head and out of the Waitemata harbour I managed to confuse the promontory at the end of Cheltenham beach for a bunch of rocks I had to swim round and ended up going a bit wide, but I was not the only swimmer to do that so I was not too embarrassed. AT the end there was coffee, delicious sticky buns (Danishes actually) and cool drinks, a very civilised way to finish a swim. The braai was at lunch time and the weather was fairly kind to us. There was Cheryl and her partner Jason, Hector, Pam, Vic & Janey and Helen as well as our family and Duncan's friend Robbie. Vic keeps a diary of his exercise and since October has swum about 220 km, not a bad achievement at all. We still are thinking about doing the swim from Milford to Narrow neck, maybe we'll do that on Monday (it's Easter this coming weekend) so we'll see how that goes.
Megan underwater
Megan wanted something a bit different for her 13th birthday party so Alison organised a SCUBA party for her and some of her friends. It started a bit later than anticipated, but once we got going the kids had great fun. Alison & I also got in the water and got to blow some bubbles.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Wet weekend
It was wet because I spent a lot of time in the water.
On Saturday we took the scout up to Goat Island. It's been a long time since I was there last and it was good to go back. There were plenty of fish to see and David took some bread in a bottle to feed them. The scouts all had a good time and I got to swim around the island.
On Sunday I swam a (supposed) 3km sea swim at Red Beach with Vic, Sheryl, Pam & Helen. Took it really easy and swam with Pam as she was a bit nervous, but got round pretty easy. I was wearing an Orca wetsuit and have decided to buy one, it felt so much better than the Blue Seventy.
On Saturday we took the scout up to Goat Island. It's been a long time since I was there last and it was good to go back. There were plenty of fish to see and David took some bread in a bottle to feed them. The scouts all had a good time and I got to swim around the island.
On Sunday I swam a (supposed) 3km sea swim at Red Beach with Vic, Sheryl, Pam & Helen. Took it really easy and swam with Pam as she was a bit nervous, but got round pretty easy. I was wearing an Orca wetsuit and have decided to buy one, it felt so much better than the Blue Seventy.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Queen Mary departure
The Queen Mary was departing and I wanted to see it. But I knew that the rest of Auckland thought the same and there would be traffic mayhem. So I managed to convince Kevin to take his (Wayne's) boat out and watch the departure from the water. In the end only Kevin, Duncan and I went on the boat, everyone else either had other plans or didn't want to be on a boat at night.
We launched at about 8 p.m. from Waiake beach and motored over to the harbour. Duncan was fairly nervous but Kevin kept the boat at a reasonable speed and we got there no problem. We did get spoken to by the coastguard as we weren't showing a stern light, but we managed to get it going.
The queen Mary herself is an awesome spectacle, especially at night when it gets lit up like a Christmas tree, and on the water we had a fantastic view. We had a great view of the firework display as well, although it was a bit further away than I had anticipated.
By the time we followed the liner out of the harbour and into the gulf it was completely dark, a new experience for myself and Duncan. Duncan struggled a bit on the way back, he didn't like the unpredictable manner the boat moved in with the various wakes coming off all the other craft, and being dark it was not easy to see the water surface. However, once we were on flatter water he regained his confidence and enjoyed the last part of the journey.
By the time we got the boat back onto the trailer and to Kevin's house it was after midnight, a long and tiring night for a 10 year old (and his dad).
But all in all, a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We launched at about 8 p.m. from Waiake beach and motored over to the harbour. Duncan was fairly nervous but Kevin kept the boat at a reasonable speed and we got there no problem. We did get spoken to by the coastguard as we weren't showing a stern light, but we managed to get it going.
The queen Mary herself is an awesome spectacle, especially at night when it gets lit up like a Christmas tree, and on the water we had a fantastic view. We had a great view of the firework display as well, although it was a bit further away than I had anticipated.
By the time we followed the liner out of the harbour and into the gulf it was completely dark, a new experience for myself and Duncan. Duncan struggled a bit on the way back, he didn't like the unpredictable manner the boat moved in with the various wakes coming off all the other craft, and being dark it was not easy to see the water surface. However, once we were on flatter water he regained his confidence and enjoyed the last part of the journey.
By the time we got the boat back onto the trailer and to Kevin's house it was after midnight, a long and tiring night for a 10 year old (and his dad).
But all in all, a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Whale Island swim
On Friday I left work at 1-ish and headed off to Whakatane to attempt the "Whale of a Swim". Quite a pleasant and uneventful drive the weather was pleasant and other than the inevitable roadworks nothing much to talk about. When I arrived at Whakatane I went straight to Piripai beach to see Whale Island. My first thought was "Damn, that's far away". I carried on to the 'motel' where I was staying, which was about 100m from the finish line of the swim. Motel may be generous, it was a flat at the bottom of the house, but was lovely and I had a good night there. A short walk into the town and a pasta meal at the local Italian restaurant and I was ready for bed.
I was up bright and early (5:30) and ready to load kayaks and be briefed at 6:30. Whale island was hazy in the morning behind the statue of Wairaka, but 9.1 km is a long way. But as with many events like this is was a case of "hurry up and wait". A combination of large swells and a very low tide meant that the harbour master had not opened the bar at the river mouth for general traffic and the coastguard was not prepared to take us out until it was 'opened'. It was fine for swimming as there was very little chop, but the briefing was delayed until 8:30. This did not really help my growing anticipation and nerves.
But at 8:30 it was all go, so the kayaks were loaded up and off to the island we went. My kayaker was a great chap called Jim Robinson (so there was a lot of "Hey, Jim", "Yes, Jim", "How are you, Jim", "Good, Jim") who is a multisport enthusiast. He had swapped his normal kayak (which he was told would be too fast) for a sit on one so it was easy to access the bag of powerade and water he was carrying for me.
The swim started at about 10:00, and was quite enjoyable, the water was a tremendous blue colour and as there were not that many swimmer (< 40) and kayaks it was not crowded. The first half or so was plain sailing, I went past the half way marker at about 1:35 but after about 2 hrs of swimming my shoulders started aching. Unfortunately it didn't get any easier from there, the more I swam, the more I felt it and the slower I went. I needed more short little breathers but Jim was always most encouraging, although he did tell me that 3 successive buoys were the '1km to go' buoy! The shore seemed to take ages to get closer, but eventually I was in the surf off Pipipai beach then walking over the sand spit and a final, painful, swim over the river to the finish, all in all it took me 3hr 46 min, but I finished.
One of the most rewarding parts of the event was the number of texts, phone calls and comments I received before and after the event. It was that support that kept me going in the last hour when I was not having too much fun.
I was up bright and early (5:30) and ready to load kayaks and be briefed at 6:30. Whale island was hazy in the morning behind the statue of Wairaka, but 9.1 km is a long way. But as with many events like this is was a case of "hurry up and wait". A combination of large swells and a very low tide meant that the harbour master had not opened the bar at the river mouth for general traffic and the coastguard was not prepared to take us out until it was 'opened'. It was fine for swimming as there was very little chop, but the briefing was delayed until 8:30. This did not really help my growing anticipation and nerves.But at 8:30 it was all go, so the kayaks were loaded up and off to the island we went. My kayaker was a great chap called Jim Robinson (so there was a lot of "Hey, Jim", "Yes, Jim", "How are you, Jim", "Good, Jim") who is a multisport enthusiast. He had swapped his normal kayak (which he was told would be too fast) for a sit on one so it was easy to access the bag of powerade and water he was carrying for me.
The swim started at about 10:00, and was quite enjoyable, the water was a tremendous blue colour and as there were not that many swimmer (< 40) and kayaks it was not crowded. The first half or so was plain sailing, I went past the half way marker at about 1:35 but after about 2 hrs of swimming my shoulders started aching. Unfortunately it didn't get any easier from there, the more I swam, the more I felt it and the slower I went. I needed more short little breathers but Jim was always most encouraging, although he did tell me that 3 successive buoys were the '1km to go' buoy! The shore seemed to take ages to get closer, but eventually I was in the surf off Pipipai beach then walking over the sand spit and a final, painful, swim over the river to the finish, all in all it took me 3hr 46 min, but I finished.
One of the most rewarding parts of the event was the number of texts, phone calls and comments I received before and after the event. It was that support that kept me going in the last hour when I was not having too much fun.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Campsite rain blog
Well, we came to Mangawai for some restful camping and a surf club competition. The weather report did not look too good on Tuesday, but Wed was better and we made the plunge. It's now Friday, and the rain has really set in. The kids are in the pool, as they can't get any wetter,
and I have been putting up more tarpaulin to keep the rain out of the 'porch' area of the tent. We made a decision that we are going home tomorrow if the weather does not clear up, and the forecast does not provide any hope.
I have decided that this blog will be very random, and will be thoughts of the day if they occur at a time I can get them down. I originally thought it would be more of a diary, but I am too inconsistent.
and I have been putting up more tarpaulin to keep the rain out of the 'porch' area of the tent. We made a decision that we are going home tomorrow if the weather does not clear up, and the forecast does not provide any hope.
I have decided that this blog will be very random, and will be thoughts of the day if they occur at a time I can get them down. I originally thought it would be more of a diary, but I am too inconsistent.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Golf with the kids
Yesterday I took Megan and Duncan to Takapuna and played 9 holes of golf with them. We had a great time, lots of hacked shots from everyone, and a couple of good ones too. Megan managed to par a par 3, but in general no one counted any shot. General concensus that this was someting to do again. I think the next trip will be to a driving range or maybe lessons for the kids.
I'm feeling quite relaxed after a few days off, hopefully I've broken the cycle I was in. Started to build the shelving at the back of the garage today, the first step to getting both cars in the garage. I don't want to be one of those people with a garage that has a lot of things in it, but not cars. The expensive things get left outside in the weather!
I'm feeling quite relaxed after a few days off, hopefully I've broken the cycle I was in. Started to build the shelving at the back of the garage today, the first step to getting both cars in the garage. I don't want to be one of those people with a garage that has a lot of things in it, but not cars. The expensive things get left outside in the weather!
Thursday, October 05, 2006
On leave for a few days
Its really good to be away from work for a while, the project I have been working on has been running for a long time and is so big that it is easy to get lost in it. So I have taken a few days off to try and re-enervate myself.
But outside of work the surf season approaches and we are getting ready. On Saturday we did a big clean out and re-organisation of the equipment at Mairangi bay, and then on Sunday went with Dave Vos to Papakura and did an outboard maintenance course on mercury engines. We need to see if we can get a better maintenance program going at the club this season.
Speaking of the club we now have a general manager, Ross Pounds who should be taking us forward to the clubs vision of patrolling all the east coast beaches of Auckland. I met him at the launch of the Harbour Crossing swim organised by Scott Rice. Ross seems a nice guy, let's see what comes of this.
Slowly getting back into some good swimming, I am still going to the physio, Gretchen, for my shoulder and it seems to be improving. Fingers crossed there.
But outside of work the surf season approaches and we are getting ready. On Saturday we did a big clean out and re-organisation of the equipment at Mairangi bay, and then on Sunday went with Dave Vos to Papakura and did an outboard maintenance course on mercury engines. We need to see if we can get a better maintenance program going at the club this season.
Speaking of the club we now have a general manager, Ross Pounds who should be taking us forward to the clubs vision of patrolling all the east coast beaches of Auckland. I met him at the launch of the Harbour Crossing swim organised by Scott Rice. Ross seems a nice guy, let's see what comes of this.
Slowly getting back into some good swimming, I am still going to the physio, Gretchen, for my shoulder and it seems to be improving. Fingers crossed there.
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