5 good things and 2 bad

1. Good - The last two weeks have been school holidays here in NZ. All secondary schools were off from April 13th until tomorrow, May 1. The school system is great here (well...the holidays part of it anyway,) work for 10 weeks then break for 2.

The first part of the first week of holidays Jess and I paddled the Whanganui river. We started at Whakahoro and paddled to Pipiriki, 88km downriver. It was amazing, and not as much work as I thought. The scenery was beautiful - waterfalls, native bush and limestone cliffs surrounded us. The huts and campsites were really flash - flasher than I've seen on most of my tramps. And the best part was that you could "carry" a lot more than usual because you just threw it into waterproof barrels and tied it to the canoe! I would really like to do some more canoe tripping in the future.

At the end of the first week we drove to the Waitomo region to go caving and see the glowworms. We went Tumo Tumo Toobing and were underground for about 2 hours. It was amazing seeing the glowworms so close - you could get about a foot away from some of the glowworms. They are a pretty amazing creature.

The second week of holidays was mostly taken up with planning for the upcoming school term. It was really nice going in and getting so much done! It is amazing what you can get done with no students around!

2. Good - Jazz. The first weekend of holidays was Easter weekend and Tauranga has an annual Jazz fest that weekend. Like the Montreal Jazz fest, the Tauranga Jazz fest has heaps of free concerts. They close off a few blocks and you can get a drink and walk between bars and open air venues to listen to live music. We caught a few shows but Thrive was the one the impressed me the most. I mentioned it a few times to Jess - I don't really like the bands or trios that play the over-rehearsed, big-band, jazz favourites. I would rather hear a group play original stuff that they improv on the spot. That is jazz to me. Thrive was really good at this.

3. Good - Arrested Development. I love that TV show. The video store near Jess' house has season 1 on DVD [we recently found out] and we have been renting each DVD over the last 3 weekends. There aren't a lot of TV shows that I watch anymore (in fact the only one here is Lost...I know...it's cheesy, suspenseful crap but it's got me hooked) but Arrested Development is pure genius. David Cross can make you laugh without even saying a single word! If you haven't seen this show, rent the DVDs, if you have seen it, it can't hurt to watch it again.

4. Good - Outdoor Education. I am helping out as much as I can with the Outdoor Ed. department at school. Last term we organized a group to learn Slalom kayking and one of the students went on to participate in the NZ Secondary Schools Slalom Championship last weekend. We are trying to get a Sea Kayaking group started at school, and hopefully we will be doing some overnight trips by the end of this term. We are trying to get a Tramping Club up and running as well. Next weekend I am taking a Kayaking skills course which the school is paying for, and the following weekend I am taking a group whitewater kayaking with the Outdoor Pursuits Centre. I am organizing a 4 day white water rafting expedition for the end of the year and may be taking a group whitewater rafting in June as well. I don't have a lot of training in these areas but I'm keen to get out there.

5. Good - Neko Case. I bought her new album ("Fox Confessor Brings the Flood") last week on iTunes and was really impressed with it. She doesn't give her voice enough credit - I just read an article where she said if she was trying to make it in the 60's and 70's when the voice was more of an instrument she would starve. I really like her voice though - it's strong and edgy but tender and sweet at the same time. I really like her songwriting on this album as well. I have always found her lyrics to be quite quirky but now she is starting to tell more stories in her songs.

6. Bad - Spanglish. We rented Spanglish lastnight and it sucked pretty hard. I know, I know...I should have known. But look, I'm an Adam Sandler sucker. Honestly, I really like him in dramas. He just seems really truthful. But overall, don't watch it.

7. Bad - 9 weeks of school. I have to go back to school tomorrow and I'm not really looking forward to it. The good part about it (I guess) is that the weeks just fly by and before no time I will be on holidays again. Baby steps.

Anyway, that's about all I know. Check out my photo site. I just added some more pictures in the "Taupo" album and a new album "April School Holidays."