This is the end

Kia ora whanau,

Well, as Muse and the Doors said, "This is the end." I have less than 3 weeks in the country - the bags are packed, the tickets have been paid for, school is nearly finished... Now it's just a few classes to teach, an expedition to take, and a triathlon to complete.

Yep...next week I'm taking an expedition to Great Barrier Island. Myself, another teacher, and 9 students are leaving Saturday, taking the ferry across to the island, then walking and camping around the island for a week. It's the last place that I really want to see before coming home so I am really excited.

When I return from the expedition I am participating in the Taupo Half Ironman. I'm a little worried because I haven't been doing much running. My knee has been giving me grief for almost a month. Hopefully it holds out on the day... I hope to finish in around 6 hours. Wish me luck.

After the triathlon I have one more week of school (which I'm hoping will fly by.) Then it's up to Tauranga and onto Auckland, then home.

So this will probably be my last blog post from New Zealand. I hope that those of you who have continued to read it have been satisfied. I have enjoyed writing it. Anyone know how to make it into a photo album?

See everyone soon!

C

Good news and bad news

Bad news first - I suck at updating this thing. Not really news as most of you have noticed this fact lately. But I have excuses! (who doesn't!?!) The first is, I can't access Blogger at school anymore. The second is, that I have been really, really busy preparing for the end of the year - i.e. coming home, half ironman triathlon, etc.

Good news now - I am updating the blog now AND adding some pictures. My sister has arrived for her 2.5month working holiday and we did some travelling so I have some stories and photos from that.

My last post was in July, during the term 2 holiday. I mentioned that we were going to Tahiti during that holiday. We did and it was incredible. We were mostly on the island of Moorea. The weather was awesome, the scenery was great, and it wasn't as expensive as we thought it was going to be (it definitely could be expensive but our room had a kitchen and we drank duty free alcohol every night.) The place we stayed at was owned by two American guys who were some of the first foreign owners in Tahiti. (They bought/built the first Club Bali Hai in the 60's.) One of the owners hosts happy hour every night at 5:30 (BYOB) and he had some great stories. I would recommend Tahiti to anyone looking for a beautiful, relaxing holiday.

After Tahiti, we were right back into school. Term 3 is the longest and toughest term in my opinion - there are no holidays and it is packed full of academic "stuff" that needs to get done. Luckily I made it through with no scratches or bruises.

Shae arrived near the end of term 3 and we have been doing some travelling together. Last week Jess, Shae and I went up to Northland and toured around. Rain was forecast for the entire week, and we did get some, but not enough to put a damper on the trip. On the first day we went to the Auckland Zoo. It's not a big zoo but it is well kept. (There is a TV show here every Sunday on the happenings at the zoo and it was good to see it for real.) Then we went up the West coast, stopping at the massive trees in Waipoua Forest - Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere. We stayed in a sleepy little town called Omapere the first night. Day 2 saw us sandboarding on the massive sand dunes across from Opononi. It was great fun - like being on another planet almost. We crossed the ferry at Rawene and drove onwards and upwards to Kaitaia via the scenic route. We decided that since the weather was still cooperating we would go up the cape and try to stay nearer Cape Reinga. We made it to Pukenui, found a hostel and the weather was still good so we sped up to Cape Reinga. On day 3 we took our time down the east coast, stopping at cafes, wineries, cheese shops, and a confectionary. All were very yum. We made it to Paihia and decided to stay for 2 nights there since we had been going hard up until that point. That night Jess and I went fishing. We were wandering down to the water and a kayak rental guy yelled that we wouldn't catch anything with our setup. He gave me one of the kayaks with a lure and line attached and set me in the right direction. Long story short, Jess caught a small Kahawai soon after throwing her line in and I caught fish, after fish, after fish in the kayak. We kept 2 good-size fish for dinner. I think it was the highlight of my trip. Day 4 we laid low - kayaking, wandering, eating, drinking, general merriment really. Day 5 we had a long driving day all the way to Coromandel Town. We stopped at the Hundertvasser toilets in Kawakawa (they are these public toilets that a one huge mosaic,) Sylvia Park, and along the coast. Day 6 we went to Cathedral Cove and Whitianga and back to Tauranga. It seems like all our road trips end sooner than we plan for but it was still a great trip and Shae really enjoyed it (I think...)

This week I'm preparing to go back to school for term 4. It's another 10 week term but my seniors are only around until week 5 so I lose 3 classes and my tutor group. I'm also trying to catch up on some training this week. I'm planning on doing the Taupo Half Ironman on December 8th (2km swim, 90km bike, 21km run.) This sees me training almost every day (2 training days for each discipline per week.) And I'm reading heaps of graphic novels - I just finished the first 4 Y:The Last Man compilations and Torso. Both are great reads.

I'm counting down the days until I come home. (76!) The boxes have been sent, the tickets are booked, I just have to make it through 10 weeks of school and a couple triathlons. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

My pictures have been moved to Flickr since Yahoo! Photos is shutting down. The link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/laheychris/ and I will change it in my links section too.

Well that's about it for me folks. Hopefully another update will come soon.

Halfway there!

Howdy all!

Just a quick note to let you all know what's new with me.

We have just finished term 2 over here and now have a 2 week holiday. The term was a looonnng one, let me tell you, but I made it through relatively unscathed. Highlights included completing my first marathon (42.2km!) I ran the whole thing in 3 hours and 55 minutes. It was by far the toughest thing that I have ever done but I have recovered fully now and am looking forward to doing another. (maybe Ottawa next May?!?) Another highlight was booking my flight home. Jess and I fly out of NZ on December 19th so we will be home for Christmas. I bounce between thinking I should stay and being really happy that I'm leaving. So that means if anyone is still thinking about coming over to see me you only have about 6 months to do it! Finally, we went to see the All Blacks play Canada. Of course Canada lost (what do you expect when you play the best team in the world?) but it was an awesome experience.

As I mentioned, we are on holiday for 2 weeks now. I have been nursing a cold for the last few days but I am going up to Jess' today. On Friday we leave for Tahiti! We are staying on the island of Moorea at Club Bali Hai. I don't really know what to expect but it will be nice to leave the cold, wet weather of Taupo behind for a little while. We plan on doing a tour or two, and basically eating, drinking and being merry. Everyone says that it is really expensive ("Did you take out a second mortgage?") but hopefully we can do it for somewhat cheap - bring some food with us, duty free alcohol, lots of lazing around on the beach, etc. Anyway, I will put some pics up when we return, along with some of the All Blacks-Canada test.

Well, that's about it from this side of the Earth. Look out for those pics in a week or so!

Good news or bad news?

Well everyone...I've got some good news and some bad news. Good news is I'm doing well. Bad news is I can't access my blog at school anymore so I can't add updates as frequently as I said I was going to.

Yes...we are halfway through term 2 now and life is cruising along finely. I'm busy as ever but it makes the days feel short. I'm training for my first marathon (Wellington: June 24th) and it is having it's ups and downs. I'm doing anywhere from 40 to 60km a week and the kilometres are taking their toll. I have been hurt the last two weeks! But I just got some new shoes and I'm going to change my training plan to give me more recovery days. I'm also doing another couple half marathons in the next couple months as well. Hope my legs hold up!

Not much else really Just thought I would drop everyone a line and let them know I'm still alive.

Take care of yourselves.

Wa Wa We Wa!

Holidays have arrived...thanks be to the great hawk!

The last week of term 1 I was lucky enough to help out with this year's Kiwi Forever program. I attended last year, but only the first 3 days. The idea of the program is to teach senior students about conservation and sustainability, within the context of the Kiwi. We stayed at the Tirorangi Marae outside of Ohakune and did our work in the Karioi Rahui. We set traps and did a study on the plants to see if anything was eating them - all with the goal of checking the health of the forest. We tagged along with Kerry Oates from Enviro Research and did a health check on a Kiwi chick. We even released a Kiwi into the wild. It was a great week - great kids, great weather, great food, beautiful scenery. A good recharge before term 2!

I attended the first Iron Virgins meeting a couple weeks ago. I'm thinking about doing the Taupo Half Ironman this year and then seeing how I get along before I decide if I want to do a full Ironman. The group was started about 7 or 8 years ago by this guy, Steve Jacobs. He's a very, very, very enthusiastic person so the meetings are always fun and eventful. There is another meeting this week. I'll let you all know how I get along.

As I mentioned, holidays are upon us here in NZ. I'm laying low this week until Thursday - doing school work and hanging out at home. On Thursday Jess and I are heading to Auckland to see The Magic Numbers. We are staying in town that night too so it will for sure be a good night. This weekend we are heading to Waikaremoana to do the tramp. I'm looking forward to it - hopefully the weather cooperates! Then back to Tauranga and onto Auckland to pick Randy and Alicea up on Friday April 20th. It's great not having to worry about school and students!

That's about all for now. Just picking away at school work, training, and relaxing. Happy Easter everyone!

Almost there!

So I'm one week to holidays and I can hardly contain myself. It's been a long term.

Since the last time I updated you all I: completed my first triathlon (goto http://www.smileclick.co.nz/gallery/index.cfm?dir=/content/gallery/Triathlons/Bayfair%20Tri%2011%20Mar%2007 and search for race number 181 for proof!) in 1 hour 17 minutes, took a school group tramping into Whareorino Forest Park and got soaked, made it through dozens of painful classes, and planned my holidays. Pretty busy.

Next week I'm away from school with a group in Tongariro National Park for the Kiwi Forever Programme. It looks to teach students about conservation and environmental issues within the context of saving those loveable flightless birds, the Kiwis. We actually get to release a chick into the wild! I'm excited about being around for that.

Then holidays are upon us. I'm going to see the Magic Numbers in Auckland on April 12th, then walking the Waikaremoana great walk, then back to Auckland to pick up Randy and Alicea. It will be good times.

The weather is turning cold here - daylight savings has ended and the nights are getting longer and cooler. We certainly don't have the winters to worry about here that we do at home, but it's still a drag to have to worry about winter coats!

That's all for this update. Hope everyone is well.

Just tri me

Hey all, halfway through term one I am. Holidays are looming large on all us teachers' minds I think. Mine anyway.

It's going well, my second year here. Well and busy. I have one more class than last year and have taken on more responsibilities - I'm the teacher in charge of the environmental committee, the teacher in charge of recycling, and I'm organizing a tramp and a kayaking course for this term. Add on meetings, duties, marking, and reports and that makes Chris a dull boy.

Still staying active. NZ Ironman was last weekend here in Taupo and I was inspired. It's pretty awesome seeing these people exert themselves like that and then get a heros welcome when they make it down the chute. I will do an Ironman someday. So anyway, I did my first triathlon this week. It was only a short one - 200m swim, 11.1km bike, 2.5km run - but it was good fun. I'm doing another this weekend in Tauranga. It's about twice as long though - 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run. It will be good. My flatmate is trying to convince me to do the half Ironman here in December but I really need a road bike for it. 90km on a mountain bike would be too painful.

That's about all for now. Take care. Wish me luck.