Friday, September 18, 2009
This past year
Okay, so maybe I'm not the blogging type. Its been over a year since I've updated this thing. Well it hasn't been a boring year, I've just been lazy about keeping it up to date. I guess dealing with computers all day means I'm not keen to do it outside work hours.
So what can I say about the last year? More fun stuff, went on a few more South Island roadtrips with various friends. I moved into a nice new flat in Petone, Lower Hutt with a couple of crazy Canadians from Canmore, Alberta. Paul and Heidi were fantastic, we did all sorts of crazy rock climbing trips, and even a 12 hour mountain biking race. I think that was easily the most fun I've had in NZ. They've moved to Tazmania for Heidi's PhD, so its a bit boring now.
I did a couple mountain bike races. The Porirua Grand traverse was great, its always nice when you place around people that look much fitter than you. I also raced the mountain bike section of the Crazyman, but broke my Shimano freehub (the ratcheting mechanism in the rear hub) halfway up the first hill. Words cannot describe how much I hate Shimano freehubs; they're 100% worthless. This is probably the 5th or 6th freehub I've gone though in 13 years, and the 2nd to fail me in the middle of a mountain bike ride. I decided to ditch Shitmano, and bought a wheelset with Hadley downhill mountain bike hubs. Wow, these things have the best machining I've ever seen, and they're light. After a bunch of rides, they seem excellent. Lets see if they can take my abuse.
So around 3.5 years after moving here, what are my thoughts? Like most people living a long way from home, its easy to get homesick. Unfortunately I won't get home this year, but I'll try to get back next year in the summer. I can't wait to get back in touch with friends and family, and my dog Abbey! I try not to make "5 year plans", so I don't really know what its store, but its easy to miss Canada. New Zealand is excellent, but Canada really is home; even with it's extremely long cold winters. Winter sports make it okay though.
My latest pursuits have been mostly water based. I bought a wetsuit in hopes of doing some windsurfing, and also got some snorkelling gear. I went snorkelling at Island Bay last week, which was excellent. This wetsuit definitely isn't made for diving, but it should be an excellent all-round wetsuit for all sorts of water sports. I really should have got one of these when I was 12, instead of getting hyothermic while racing small boats!
I'd love to buy a dingy sailboat like the Laser I used to race (brrr!), but I can't fit a dingy into my garage and don't want to mess with a trailer. Instead I'll try windsurfing tomorrow, and hopefully take that up as my next big sport. I can't wait!
Sorry, no photos this time.
So what can I say about the last year? More fun stuff, went on a few more South Island roadtrips with various friends. I moved into a nice new flat in Petone, Lower Hutt with a couple of crazy Canadians from Canmore, Alberta. Paul and Heidi were fantastic, we did all sorts of crazy rock climbing trips, and even a 12 hour mountain biking race. I think that was easily the most fun I've had in NZ. They've moved to Tazmania for Heidi's PhD, so its a bit boring now.
I did a couple mountain bike races. The Porirua Grand traverse was great, its always nice when you place around people that look much fitter than you. I also raced the mountain bike section of the Crazyman, but broke my Shimano freehub (the ratcheting mechanism in the rear hub) halfway up the first hill. Words cannot describe how much I hate Shimano freehubs; they're 100% worthless. This is probably the 5th or 6th freehub I've gone though in 13 years, and the 2nd to fail me in the middle of a mountain bike ride. I decided to ditch Shitmano, and bought a wheelset with Hadley downhill mountain bike hubs. Wow, these things have the best machining I've ever seen, and they're light. After a bunch of rides, they seem excellent. Lets see if they can take my abuse.
So around 3.5 years after moving here, what are my thoughts? Like most people living a long way from home, its easy to get homesick. Unfortunately I won't get home this year, but I'll try to get back next year in the summer. I can't wait to get back in touch with friends and family, and my dog Abbey! I try not to make "5 year plans", so I don't really know what its store, but its easy to miss Canada. New Zealand is excellent, but Canada really is home; even with it's extremely long cold winters. Winter sports make it okay though.
My latest pursuits have been mostly water based. I bought a wetsuit in hopes of doing some windsurfing, and also got some snorkelling gear. I went snorkelling at Island Bay last week, which was excellent. This wetsuit definitely isn't made for diving, but it should be an excellent all-round wetsuit for all sorts of water sports. I really should have got one of these when I was 12, instead of getting hyothermic while racing small boats!
I'd love to buy a dingy sailboat like the Laser I used to race (brrr!), but I can't fit a dingy into my garage and don't want to mess with a trailer. Instead I'll try windsurfing tomorrow, and hopefully take that up as my next big sport. I can't wait!
Sorry, no photos this time.
