1st Wave of the Summer

Last night, with the surf pumping, and the wind dropping, I decided it was time for my first swim in the ocean for the summer of 07/08. I was plesantly surprised at the temperature of the water, not nearly as cold as I had anticipated. I thought it would have been cold enough to freeze the toe nails off a polar bear, but not so, I stayed in for 40 minutes. It's such a great feeling to catch the first of many waves to come in the next few months.

Might even go for another wave tonight if the surf cam delivers good news.

Josh

Full day....

Josh here, yet again....

What a cracker day Taurnga put on for us today! Great weather for party hopping. We started off having brekky this morning with a good mate of ours from Auckland, before heading to Misty's work Christmas party. Misty has built some solid friendships with her workmates, and they're a pretty tight bunch, it was great to get a view into that world, and hang out with some of the people she spends a decent amount of time with. Quality people. Incredible would be an understatement for the house that we congregated out....wow. We finished the afternoon having a fun time at friends 18th birthday party. Good times!

I'm definitely feeling the effects of yesterdays bike ride, the ol' legs have got a mind of their own at the moment, can't get them to do too much! Should be right by tomorrow.

Here's a pic of us before I punished myself. Cheers.

Addictive!

I reckon cycling is addicting! If you haven't really given it a go, you won't know what it feels like. But, cruising down hills at 70+km/p/hr on a bike, wind screaming at your face, with a bunch of other riders is one of the most adrenaline rushing feelings you'll ever have.

I had, arguably, one of my greatest individual experiences yesterday down at Lake Taupo doing the Cycle Challenge. There were 9,500 riders participating at all different levels.

My 80km ride didn't seem as far as I thought, all though it's still a long way, especially on undulating terrain. My goal was to finish in 3hr 30mins, and I finish bang on 3hrs! I was stoked.

Taupo Challenge

Well tomorrow just plain makes me nervous....yet excited. I'm heading out on a 80km bike ride along with about 10,000 other crazy kiwis and a few internationals who are embarking on the annual Taupo Cycle Challenge. Basically the challenge is this: Do one lap around Lake Taupo - 160km. I've decided that I'm going to do the relay race which means you can race one or a combination of 4 x 40km legs of the course which make up 160km. I'm doing the first two legs of the course, which is the hilly part, and my relay team member (Spin instructor) will polish off the other half.

Why am I a little nervous? Because I have never ridden 80km's straight, never mind the hills! I've done a few 60km rides, and handled that ok, but wasted! We'll see how it goes, I'm sure you'll get a full report in a day or two.

Cheers

Josh

Christmas Tree

I thought it was time to get into the Christmas season, it's never too early! SO....about 10 days ago, our tree came to life. We won't be here in NZ for Christmas this year, so we thought it would be appropriate to set up the Christmas tree now, so that we can enjoy it while we are here.

We've had a great weekend, good walks, good friends, good food, great weather, exercise, family, a little bit of work and quality time with each other. One of the most entertaining parts of the weekend was watching the netball finals with our guests, we all took the position of being arm chair critics, it was fun. Another accomplishment was polishing off one of those snapper Josh caught last week, it easily fed 6 of us. Lovely!

In 23 days, we're getting on a plane to Austin! Can't wait!

It's Official

Yes! Finally, after a long wait, i receved my passport back in the mail today from NZ immagration. I am officially a Perminent Resident of New Zealand, and have a nice big blue sticker in my passport to prove it. It's a true relief after a long wait, a lot of paper work, hours on the phone, money, and just plain stress. Let me tell you....it's a pretty sight.

This has been a huge week so far, Josh and I both have a lot on, we have come back from our few day retreat and hit the ground running! Josh is teaching on the THOP internship this week, along with meeting with various people, and doing a whole bunch of communication wraping up Fiji. I've been flat out at work for the last two days with our plate full at the Urban Lounge right now.

And I just have to say again, I feel to refreashed after our few day break up north in the Bay of Islands. I would recommend anyone to go there, it's a true treasure on earth. Was great to see Anna and Nika and Matt and Korah too.

Bland Bay

Well Bland Bay, in the Bay of Islands, is probably the furtherest most place from bland that we could possible describe. It's unreal, it's one of those places where you feel like you just stepped inside a postcard. Unbelievable! And....the place we were staying at, immaculate. You could hardly call it a bach! Beautiful place right on the sand dunes. We were in the place probably closest to the water, walk out the door and bang you'r on the beach, a gorgeous one at that.

A much needed week or realxing and enjoying each other, reading, writing and long walks down the beach, not forgetting kayaking and fishing of course! Josh pulled in a huge snapper and a few others as well. Good fun. We felt so blessed to be able to go to a place like this.

Here's a few pics.

Romantic Getaway.

Well Last night, at the last minute we were surprised by a gift of a free night at The Sebel Trinity Wharf Hotel. It's a new hotel in Tauranga situated right on the wharf. It was a refreshing getaway!

Today we are heading up to see Anna and Nika, and then up to the Bay of Islands for a few days to catch our breath at a friend of ours beach batch....a romantic getaway for sure. Should be good! Watch this space for pics next week.

THOP

Just thought I would throw a picture up here of the Tauranga House of Prayer in action this morning. We are using a small building on the side of one of the larger churches here in Tauranga.

Steak

Last night, I had perhaps the largest, most tasty steak I have ever had in my life, along with what I would call the worlds best salad. We've had visitors over the last 4 days, and we decided that last night we'd fire up the BBQ. I've been all around the world to countries and places that claim they have the biggest and best steaks, but I'm pretty happy with what we have here in NZ, in our "own back yard". Only 1 out of 5 of us actually finished, and it wasn't me. That's unheard of!

Thanks for the experience Matt.

Steak and eggs for Breaky!