Cossgrove course

I went on a scout camp this last weekend. It was a Cossgrove course, about which I knew very little, other than that it was about winter camping. I didn't have high expectations and Duncan had to pull out as he was sick so I seriously thought about pulling out, but I had to deliverthe tents so I made the trip anyway and decided to stay.
Friday
We arrived at 8:00 p.m. and did registration etc. I had ticked 'Leader Patrol' on the form, not knowing really what that meant. What it did mean was being in a patrol with Mike and 4 others, doing what the kids did, which turned out to be a really good way of learning, and also having fun. Everyone got involved in setting up camp, which was a little challenging as it was completely dark, but we got it done. The kids were given supper and put to bed, but it was after midnight before the camp was quite. The leaders had a meeting to confirm what was happening the next day, and a bit of socialising, so we only got to bed around 1:30.
Saturday
It was quite cold overnight, but not too wet although there was a bit of rain around. Some of the kids were up around 6:00, but officially wake up was 7:15 so we stayed put until 7:00ish. We had breakfast and got straight into the days activities which included rope work, axe work and fire setting amongst others. We then got some cooking fires lit and the kids (and the leaders or 'Pink' patrol) cooked our dinner in dutch oven, really a flat bottomed potkjie. Once we had eaten we took a bus trip to the Parakai hot pools and spent the evening there, then back to camp. Kids were down by 11:30 and I was down by 12:30 although some of the others did a bit more socializing.
Sunday
Woke up to the sound of rain while warm and snug in a warm sleeping bag, a great feeling. However the pink patrol (or Pink Cadillacs as we called ourselves) were first to strike camp so we had some very wet tents in the trailer. But the sun came out mid morning and another pleasant day of activities and learnings was had by all. The happy, and tired campers were able to set off at 4:30ish.
Camp photos here

In general I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, a combination of low expectations and then enjoying the activities, organisation and company. Also learned many thing that we can take back to our scout troop. Well worth the effort.

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Ripleys

Duncan was a bit tired after the Dreamworld trip on Sunday, so we had a lazy start to yesterday. I originally thought about going to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, but Duncan did not seem interested. So instead we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not in Surfers Paradise. As I thought he was fascinated by the exhibits and bits of information all through the museum, it took us over 3 hrs to go through.

Well, its back to NZ today, a drive to Brisbane airport with Erin, then a flight to Sydney, and then back to Auckland Airport to be picked up by Alison. We are going to be stuffed tomorrow.

Dreamworld

Yesterday Duncan & I went to Dreamworld. He had been looking forward to this visit for some time as he had visited their web site and liked the look of the rides. Unfortunately when we got there te rides proved to be a bit much for him, I think he was a little under the weather too which did not help too much either. We did go on one of the roller coasters, bumper cars and a log ride, but his favourite area was the wild life experience where he got to cuddle a Koala and have his photo taken. He also enjoyed some of the games in the amusement arcade.


In general I found Dreamworld quite poor value for money, it was expensive to get in and then I seemed to be constantly reaching for my wallet as most of the things Duncan was interested in cost extra. It may have been a different experience if we had been able to do more of the rides that were available.

However Duncan enjoyed the day which was the prime reason for going there.

We finished off the day by going to a restaurant with Phil for a meal. Good, simple food, but absolutely massive portions, each portion, including Duncan's kids meal, could have fed at least two people.

Water world

We went to Water World today. It was a bit cool and there was a wind blowing that made things a bit chilly, but Duncan & I enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Plenty of time on various water slides and a good play on the wave pool and in the buccaneer area saw 6 hours slip by.

And dad really enjoyed himself too.

Over to Aussie with Duncan

I used up all my airpoints on tickets to Brisbane for Duncan & I. We left yesterday at 9:00, fairly civilized but the family was still up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport. The trip to Sydney was pretty uneventful, as was the stop over and next trip to Brisbane. We caught the train to the gold coast, caught it by the skin of our teeth, saved a 1/2 hour wait. The traveling was getting to Duncan by this time and he managed to catch a few minutes kip on my shoulder

We were met by Nikki and went back to where she stays with Phil who I met for the first time, nice guy, doesn't say too much. We also met their neighbour Erin, a very vivacious 24 year old. Dinner was roast pork and I sampled a fair bit of Phil's home brew, I also had a bit of red wine with Nikki, which proved a mistake, I am no longer able to drink lots of booze, I don't think I made too much of a fool of myself, but I was not feeling to bright when I went to bed, and the head was a little sore this morning.

This morning we took Nikki to Brisbane airport as she was heading over to South Africa for Dieter's (her son) wedding. She's a bit nervous as she has not seen the family in SA for a few years now. After dropping her at the airport, Duncan & I were going to go to the Brisbane museum, but the traffic getting into Brisbane city was so bad we gave up and drove back to the gold coast and spent some time at Surfers Paradise. Tomorrow were planning on going to Wet 'n Wild, a water based theme park as the weather here is really warm.

Birthday

Wednesday was my 45th birthday, not too much of a big deal, I went to toastmasters in the morning and swam after work.

I did get myself a 12 inch sliding compound mitre saw (Ryobi) and am looking forward to playing with it this weekend.

Mid winter dip

On Sunday we did a mid winter swim at Mairangi Bay beach. There were 9 swimmers, more than I anticipated which may have been because of the weather. The weather, and the forecast, leading up to the swim had been universally grim, a series of cold fronts moving up the country and gale force winds. Queenstown had to cancel most of the winter carnival due to bad weather!

But on Sunday morning we had a glorious day, the sun was shining and the wind was much weaker than I had hoped for. I'm not sure we would have had quite so many swimmers if it was raining and blowing a gale.

Just to add to the occasion, a small pod of dolphins swam past the beach, inside the buoys that Vic & I had put out, just 10 min before we started out. A lovely sight, what a pity we were not in the water when they went past.

The swim went very well, the water is cold (13 degrees celcius Geoff said) but not too bad after a few minutes. Most of us got out to the sailing buoy straight out from the club house, maybe 600m out.

Afterwards we went to a cafe' in Mairangi bay for breakfast & coffee. Vic & I had made up some certificates and Vic had brought some spot prizes from work which we handed out. I ended up with a collapsible walking stick, very nice with a compass & whiskey in the handle, but I'm not sure what Vic meant by giving it to me!!

Sunday on the water

Yesterday I swam with some other at Takapuna, but it is getting really cold now. We only went to the third buoy and my feet were seriously cold afterwards. Good company made it worthwhile.

After that I finished the deck outside out bedroom door, I think it looks quite good, but my back felt all the bending over.

Today we dropped Megan off at the twins in Devonport, and the Alison, Duncan & I caught the ferry over to Auckland. Pam had given me a family pass to the maritime museum and it included a ride on the Ted Ashby (a replica turn of the century sailing scow). We had a great time sailing on the Ted Ashby, it was cold but clear and a steady breeze, good sailing weather. Duncan got to sail the boat under the harbour bridge and the captain was patient and answered all his questions. We saw some boats involved in a race come past and a couple of people bungy jumping off the harbour bridge.

We went through the museum after that, an interesting place, and then caught the ferry back to Devenport, all in all a very plesant day.

Bedroom deck

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.

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.