Action Packed Weekend

Thought I would put a little vid together of last weekends fun as there was so much happening!

River Surfing:

We started out with doing a river surfing/boarding trip down one of the local rivers here (Kawarau River), crystal clear in a gorgeous canyon! We spend a few hours on the river floating down, riding waves (well attempting!) and some cliff jumping. Water was so refreshing and it made me realize how long its been since I have spent some time in the water (although we still needed wetsuits, it still felt amazing!)

Fruit Picking:

We got in a cruizy ride around a local lake and went fruit picking and got full backpack loads of fresh plums and apricots. We had that much I ended up having to make some plum jam and sauce.... and first attempt ever, it turned out pretty well!

Sweet Big mountain bike ride:

Also got in a bigger mountain bike ride with a huge group of locals where they got permission to access some private land up one of the local mountains. The views up there were spectacular and was a real fun unique ride.

Paragliding over Queenstown:

And last but not least, I got my first flight from Todd flying out over Queenstown, soaring higher then our take off at the top of the gondola and then after a few tricks and crazy maneuvers I wasn't feeling all that well. He then had to do some other manoeuvres to get us down more smoothly and keep my belly safe. Amazing paragliding pilot he is .... although I do have to get back up there and redeem myself - I can't handle being the wimp and have to teach my stomach a lesson or two ;)

Salsa Dancing:

Oh and to top it off we headed straight for the bar for some drinks and salsa lessons at one of the local bars. Some entertainment that was. Why can't every weekend be like this!! Well I guess it can ;)

Todd got in a kitesurf too!

Life in New Zealand

Well I have been here for 2.5 weeks now and settling in. Todd and I are living with another couple in Arthurs Point, just out of Queenstown. It took a bit to get into the swing of things on the mountain bike and road bike, but have found some people to ride with, and starting to find some good places to ride. I thought I was just feeling pathetically weak and unmotivated but then realized that the hills here are just extra steep then what I am used to.... or at least thats what I am telling myself!

What really kicked me into gear and got my motivation back was a race I did here on the weekend. It started in the mountains at 1500m near Cardrona and took us to the finish line in Wanaka. 1300m of climbing but 2600m of descent - yep my kinda race! So the forecast was super strong winds and cold. The cooler temps I was happy about as I hadn't adjusted to the heat yet and it ended up being the perfect temp for me, but the wind was another story. Our first climb up to 1950m wasn't that bad, we had the wind on our backs helping us and then hiked through a bit of snow that fell from a few nights before. But then we reached the peak and changed direction to now get crosswind - wow, I could barely keep the bike up right!

The descent was rocky, loose, and big ruts, and at one stage, I got blown 5 meters off the trail going 35+km/hr, and was so close to bailing and my glasses went flying off. Ok it was time to slow down and brace against this wind!! The long descent was a lot of fun despite the wind, with magical scenery. We arrived at the bottom and had 15kms of more flatfish terrain, but now straight into the head wind. This 15km felt like it took forever! Arrived at the finish line, first female and 7th overall out of the 100+ entrants. After a beer and food and presentations, we went to a local river and I layed in the sun and relaxed while watching Todd fish!

3 more weeks in Queenstown before all the family arrive and I head to Christchurch/Ashburton/Mt Cook and Hanmer Springs with the family for a few weeks.

Life is grand….