Thursday, December 20, 2007
Lands with long white clouds...apparently!
Ok so here I am in Auckland, and have been here for a couple of weeks (working mostly) now I am just bumming around for a couple of days before I fly home!
Its taken me all this time to discover that Auckland does actually have a soul (albeit a small one), first impressions definatley lend the good kiwi capital to being a smaller, less stuff to do version of syd. However, today, I have cruised around and had a good look at the thinks that be here, and I am convinced that somewhere deep below the cult like consumerism, there may be something else. I have wandered the entire city today, looking for something to do (my cycling plans got destroyed by the rain) and if nothing else, me and another million kiwis have done some shopping. Yesterday, I headed out to Waiheke Island, hired a bike and went me for a ride. My god there were some massive hills out there, so much so, that I voluntarily jumped off the dogdy mountain bike (I didnt name her) and sat for a bit. I figure its ok for me to do that though, right? Cause I am on holidays....And tommorrow I am planning to hire a bike and ride around the city, my very tourist guide tells me its 50k so lets just see huh? The drivers in this fair city are far from cyclist friendly, and there are very few bike lanes anywhere....maybe then a little trip out the volcanic island for a bit of a look see. Its meant to take an hour to walk up...I might just try running i think.
The camp that I came on with the NZ CanTeen was awesome, and as with all of my work, I met some amazing and incredible people. Unfortunatley, I did learn a couple of days ago that a friend had passed away from Breast Cancer in Australia last friday, whilst I was over here. Very shocking. it does just highlight how fragile life is though (even though I am reminded daily) she ran the bridge to bridge after she was diagnosed and was up the day after major surgery. An amazing woman.
Anywhoo...have been doing a bit of training over here, but not much, just a couple of runs, and the cycling yeaterday. I have decided that if I dont run under an hour for the 10k in Melb in Feb, I am going to start focusing more on cycling, and looking to be a bit more competetive in it!
Merry Christmas all.
T :)
Its taken me all this time to discover that Auckland does actually have a soul (albeit a small one), first impressions definatley lend the good kiwi capital to being a smaller, less stuff to do version of syd. However, today, I have cruised around and had a good look at the thinks that be here, and I am convinced that somewhere deep below the cult like consumerism, there may be something else. I have wandered the entire city today, looking for something to do (my cycling plans got destroyed by the rain) and if nothing else, me and another million kiwis have done some shopping. Yesterday, I headed out to Waiheke Island, hired a bike and went me for a ride. My god there were some massive hills out there, so much so, that I voluntarily jumped off the dogdy mountain bike (I didnt name her) and sat for a bit. I figure its ok for me to do that though, right? Cause I am on holidays....And tommorrow I am planning to hire a bike and ride around the city, my very tourist guide tells me its 50k so lets just see huh? The drivers in this fair city are far from cyclist friendly, and there are very few bike lanes anywhere....maybe then a little trip out the volcanic island for a bit of a look see. Its meant to take an hour to walk up...I might just try running i think.
The camp that I came on with the NZ CanTeen was awesome, and as with all of my work, I met some amazing and incredible people. Unfortunatley, I did learn a couple of days ago that a friend had passed away from Breast Cancer in Australia last friday, whilst I was over here. Very shocking. it does just highlight how fragile life is though (even though I am reminded daily) she ran the bridge to bridge after she was diagnosed and was up the day after major surgery. An amazing woman.
Anywhoo...have been doing a bit of training over here, but not much, just a couple of runs, and the cycling yeaterday. I have decided that if I dont run under an hour for the 10k in Melb in Feb, I am going to start focusing more on cycling, and looking to be a bit more competetive in it!
Merry Christmas all.
T :)
