The West Coast

We started Tuesday morning with a walk along the Heaphy Track. This is one of the most unbelievable places I have ever seen. It is a coastal walk along steep mountains covered in palms, ferns, and dense forest. You can walk on it for 5 days or so, but we only spent an hour. The only downside is the sandflies. After walking the Heaphy, we headed south down the West Coast. It is listed as one of the best drives in the world. I can see why. There are hours and hours of dramatic scenery. It reminds me a little of Hwy 1 in California, but much more remote. We finished the day at Franz Joseph Village at the foot of Franz Joseph Glacier.

Trip to the South Island

My dad always says the difference between a vacation and a trip is the kids come with you on a trip. The day after we returned from our "vacation", we picked up the kids from Mama and Pa and set off for a family "trip" to the South Island. We drove down to Wellington, the capital, slept in the car, and caught the ferry to the South Island. Going through the Marlborough Sounds into Picton is gorgeous - lush, steep mountains plunging into the sea. We drove from Picton to Riwaka, where Mark's family first settled in NZ. We came across an old cemetery and found some family names. We went on from there to one of New Zealand's "Great Walks", the Abel Tasman. It is along some beautiful beaches. Then we had a long drive and spent the night in a really remote part of New Zealand called Karamea, which borders my favorite place in New Zealand, the Heaphy Track.

The Australian Open

Mark and I have spent the last few days in Melbourne, Australia at the Australian Open with Mark's brother, Greg, who generously gave this to us as a Christmas present. We went to the US Open together a few years ago, and it is turning into a little tradition for us. We have seen some phenomenal tennis. I am so impressed with the talent and athleticism at the top levels of tennis. It's a great experience to sit in the stands with Greg and Mark. They give me a much greater insight to the nuances within the game that an average person, like me, would miss.

Auckland Half Ironman

Many of you may not know I have signed up to do a half ironman at the end of March before we come home. Several people have asked me how the training has been going. This distance will be a real challenge for me because it is a lot more than I know I can do. The swim is 1.2 miles, the bike is 56 miles, and the run is 13.1 miles. As soon as we got here I bought a bike on Trade Me (an ebay equivalent). I started out riding on the roads, but after a few days of riding on treacherous, narrow, busy roads, I borrowed a bike trainer from one of Mark's friends. It is mind-numbing when you ride it for 3 hours, but it is a lot safer, and it makes Mark happy. My plan is to go out to the race course once a week when the kids get back in school. I have come across a few people that are eager to get out there and show it to me, so I will probably take advantage of that. I started the swimming at Christmas. The water was too cold for me before that. There is a cold current that comes through here, so to be honest, it is still too cold for my Texas warm blood, but I do it anyway. The beach where I swim couldn't be more convenient. The truth is, I will probably miss this most when I am gone. I have been trying to get in twice the distance of the race each week in different combinations. It works out to about 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours per day. It is a lot more exercise than I am used to, but I think it is good for me and I am driven because I know I will never finish the race if I don't put in the hours. The early morning 5:30 jet lagged workouts are long gone, I'm sorry to say, but I have had amazing support from Mark and Mark's parents in taking care of the kids when I am selfishly out on my own running or something. Good luck to all those out there doing the Austin Marathon in a few weeks. It's almost time to start tapering. I'm thinking of you.

Sarah's first day of "Kindy"

Sarah started her first day of Kindergarten today. It is actually preschool, but they call it Kindy. She has been sooooo excited. She is going to a place called Small World. Kids in NZ start Year 0 as soon as they turn 5. It is a real school year where kids feed in at their birthday, then they all start Year 1 the following February together. Sarah will just miss out in taking part of Year 0 because she doesn't turn 5 until July. She was feeling a bit left out. I'm happy for her to be able to make some friends of her own and feel like she is having this experience, too.

Auckland War Memorial Museum

This past week was the Heineken Professional Men's tennis tournament. We spent most of this week either going to that, or watching it on TV. We saw some really good players and an American, Sam Querry, made the final. It has just whet the appetite for the Aussie Open next week.

On Friday, Mark and I took the kids to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. It has some excellent exhibits on Polynesian culture and Maori (native New Zealanders) culture. They migrated here from Tahiti about 700-800 years ago. I am including a picture of a Maori with traditional facial tattooing. They also have a war dance, called a haka. The national rugby team, the All Blacks, have adopted the haka as a little pre-game pick-me-up. See for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRiOmg3ZhJU&feature=related .

Pakiri

Today Mark took the day off work and we went to Pakiri. Pakiri is a surf beach about an hour north of Auckland. This beach is on the east side of the country and Piha is on the west side. One of the beauties of surf beaches near Auckland is that you can usually find good conditions on either the east coast or the west coast and they are both easily accessible. The beaches on the east coast are lovely, clear, and white sand beaches vs. the rugged black sand found on the west coast.

Russian Women

Yesterday, I went with my father-in-law to the women's tennis final. It was between Elena Dementieva and Elena Vesnina, both Russian. What I want to know is-how have the Russians become so good at tennis, especially when their summer is about 1 week long? They were amazing, both phenomenal athletes.

Sky Tower

Friday, Mark took Hannah to the tennis tournament. The rest of us went to Sky Tower. You get some amazing views from the tower. They say a trained eye can see 48 volcanoes. I could only see about 12. We got to see someone bungy jump from the top of it. I guess that's one way to get down. We also got to see someone do a Sky Walk. I thought it seemed like a good place to get my run in. It would only be 100 laps or so. I wonder if you have to pay by the lap or by the hour.

Piha

This morning Mark took Emma to the professional women's tennis tournament that is going on in Auckland now. They got to see Elena Dementieva play (#4 world ranking).

After that, we went to one of Mark's favorite places on earth. That honor belongs to Piha, a rugged surf beach on the West Coast of Auckland. It is about an hour away, but totally worth it. It is right on the edge of a mountain range with steep, lush hills surrounding it. The beach is covered with fine, black sand. It has big surf and ferocious rips. It is a fantastic place. Julie and Buster went with us and Buzzy was tearing it up on the boogie board. It was another great day.

Kohimarama Beach

After church today, we spent the afternoon on Kohimarama Beach. This is the beach across the road from our house. The tide was in, the sun was out, and the water was calm. It was one of the best days we have had at the beach. Conventional wisdom here says the weather gets really nice after Christmas. I have to agree because today has been great! The volcanic island in the distance is Rangitoto. When the tide is out we like to visit some rocks to collect mussels, pipis (clams), hermit crabs, and periwinkles. Esther and Sarah then want to take them home as pets. When the tide is in, the scenery is more beautiful and we like to go for a swim. I have become a "tide-watcher" so I can swim at the optimal times. I am training for a triathlon at the end of March and swim 2 kilometers twice a week. I'm not breaking any world records, though.

Kelly Tarlton's and Auckland Zoo

Mark's mom made the most of a rainy day and took all the kids to Kelly Tarlton's, which is a nice aquarium in Auckland. The next day she and I made the most of a sunny day and took the kids to the Auckland Zoo. I got a good picture of the monkey exhibit. We now know everything we need to know about all the living creatures around.

One of Mark and Greg's friends has allowed us to use his tennis court and pool while he is away on holiday. Mark and Greg have had a few good hits on the court. It's been fun to watch them, because they get a little competitive (as only brothers can) and they are on a very similar level.

Today we went to see the qualifying rounds for the professional women's Auckland Tennis Tournament. It's a pretty big tournament leading up to the Australian Open. We went because the qualifying rounds were free and that's the way we like to do things. Mark ran into a number of old tennis people there. It's good to see him in his element.