Today, I was luckily enough to see Steve and Shanita on their last day in New Zealand before flying off to Argentina! They'd been in NZ (down in Wellington) just 1 month longer than I have, but I had yet to see them since I've been here! Luckily, I was able to catch them today for a couple of hours. They ferried over to Devonport and met Tessa and I in the park, then we came home, watched Tessa have trampoline sprinkler session and then had a chat down by the water while Tessa had her sleep. Then they ferried back to the city form Bayswater. It's actually kind of crazy to think that the last time I saw them was 5 years ago in Glasgow!! It definitely didn't seem like it had been that long at all!
Now we can rewind a little bit...Thursday night I had a major yoga session...stretched every possible muscle in my body and deeply. I stayed 2.5 hours in the studio and was the last one to leave. The door has a code entry lock thing so the instructor doesn't have to be the last one out, and people who go frequently can use the studio whenever they like, although I haven't learned the code yet...I was very sore Friday morning, but still went back for another session. I decided that I'd start taking the train instead of the bus because they run more frequently and each ride is 20 cents cheaper! Of course I had to get on the wrong train though...after getting the earlier ferry over so that I could take an earlier one back, I managed to get on the one of the two trains to Papakura that didn't go through Newmarket. There are 4 lines of trains running from Britomart and 3 go through Newmarket...so I really just had bad luck with that one. Instead I had to get off at the first stop in Orakei and wait for the train BACK to Britomart and then hop on the next one to Newmarket. At least the ticket people were understanding and didn't charge me for the two trains I didn't mean to take!
I also went for a swim that Friday and then out for after work drinks in town with Jacques and some of his friends that work in town, I didn't quite fit in with the "business" crew...and then we went to a flat-warming/birthday party for another friend and ate the absolute spiciest curry EVER!! Ordering hot was a huge mistake and even having just returned from India, Jacques said it was hotter than anything there...it was just not eatable at all! I used practically ALL the rice and had a sip of milk after most bites!
Saturday (oh and by the way all of these days have been seriously hot and humid!), I went on a run midday and felt like I was melting. I think I sweat out every drop of liquid in my body! Then Sophie and I cycled to Takapuna beach where we met some of the other girls into the late afternoon. Some stayed for a flat party/BBQ and then more time on the beach later that night. I went to one of Jacques' friends' leaving party at a Uni bar in Albany. I didn't have my passport, because we weren't going out in town and the bar was hired out for a the private function, still they almost wouldn't let me in with just my Massachusetts license. I showed them my temporary NZ one, with no photo on it and persuaded them that I was plenty old enough and it would be fine to let me in! Luckily, my NZ driver's license came in the mail yesterday so I will not have any more issues or have to worry about carrying my passport around! It almost feels like a fake ID, knowing I'm not from here but having a full NZ driver's license...strange!
Sunday, I went back to Muriwai for my 3rd surf lesson! It was amazing!! Really hot day and the water was really nice. I didn't actually need the instruction again, but this time the instructors were helping me progress to going faster and steering! I managed to stand up and ride in almost every wave that I caught! It was a lot of fun! Although we were just catching the already broken waves in the white water. Next time I want to learn how to successfully catch the bigger, unbroken ones. I did have a few attempts at that the last lesson I had, but you have to get to your feet a lot quicker or they throw you off the board much easier!
Yesterday, Monday, I had my MoleMap appointment. Basically, a dermatologist skin check, but the woman who does it, isn't the dermatologist, just a qualified mole spotter in a sense. She takes photos of your entire body and then close ups of a whole bunch of freckles and moles of concern and normal-looking ones just to have a baseline. They are then sent away to be analyzed so hopefully the results are all fine when I get them back! They even gave me a special mole-measuring ruler with different sized circles and other mm measurements down the side and even a color spectrum to keep track of spots myself! After school I took Libby and Reuben swimming at Takapuna pools and didn't get home until 5pm they were having so much fun in the pool! Libby even went in the big pool willingly which was a first for her! After dinner, I cycled back to the pool and did my swim training.
Today was just a regular morning until meeting Steve and Shanita, which was a nice treat to have a mini Hilltop reunion and catch up, and then it carried on to be a regular afternoon. I took Reuben to his first Karate lesson tonight and it was pretty amusing watching and listening to all the little boys learning the moves. Then I cycled down to Narrow Neck and cycled around the actual race course for the triathlon and then cycle the run course, ran 1 lap of the run course and then cycled home. So far training seems to be going pretty well. So I haven't been neglecting to post because of a lack of things going on, more because of a lack of time to do the summarizing! Soon that time will be even less when I start teaching swim lessons this Friday and then start my bar course Monday-Thur, 6-9pm for 2 weeks. Keeping busy, but also have to save for another adventure/sight-seeing trip sometime!
And Happy 60th Birthday Daddy!! I hope you continue to get excellent skiing conditions...but maybe not as much on the driveway to have to clean off.... :)
