A happy Friday

One week to go until retirement. Today I rode down to Mataura and joined some school children on a ride to Gore. It was lucky that Dana put the time forward an hour because it was hot enough at 10 am. It was a great relief to have the Fire Brigade waiting at the race course to douse us all. And again when we reached the trout. Thanks also to the people at South Gore Dairy who supplied ice blocks and cold water. It was good to have a police escort. Thanks to Sally and Fenton.
And then I managed to bike up Johnson and Thistle Streets without stopping!

         

The cows gathered at the fence with great interest in this crazy old lady on a bike.

The thunderclouds were growing and this reminded me of a flying pig.

It was hot and luckily I got home before the clouds decided to cool us down.

32.5 kms today around Waimumu, Stopped off and called in to see friends on the way.  Almost bit off more than I could chew I think.

25 November

Early in the day it was overcast again. Just right for a ride in my book. So off down Broughton St. No traffic. Just lovely! And then out past the cemetery and onto Terrace Road and then right to Friend Road. The first hill as Friend turns into Humhrey Road is a stinker. By the time I got halfway up it ws time to get the jacket off and be thankful that the sun was not out yet. It was lovely though. A skylark sang it's way down to the paddock. A duck burst out of the long grass in front of me. The trees on either side of the road made a cool tunnel with only the crunch of the gravel under my tires to disturb the silence. Down Lady Charlton Road and then comes Newton's Law - the one that says for every down there is an up - or similar anyway. In places the tar on the road had been running nad left ripples. Nearly home and a blue heron flew across in front of me and then landed in the water table. Unfortunately my camera was in my pocket on the back of the bike. I passed Ron too and he told me later he had seen the heron too. I wsn't fast but I enjoyed my 27 km.

Next stage

I am starting to get quite excited.  Only three weeks to go until I retire. We have booked a trip to China,on to the UK, and back via Sri Lanka and Melbourne in time to look after Simon and Rosa's children.  There is so much to do between now and Christmas and I am sitting watching Say Yes to the Dress.

October 29

A lovely day for a ride today.  The sun was shining and just a gentle breeze. The trees are flowering and riding past the hawthorn brings a lovely perfume. I started out down Broughton St and felt my hair lift as I built up speed. Damn! No helmet. So I had to turn around and bike up the hill. Managed fine then. But the hill beat me coming home an hour and a half later.

Back again

Again weeks have passed. I have not been well but seem to have got over the worst of it and am looking up again. However I have lost any fitness I had. We took 10 days and went to Twizel for the school holidays.  We biked a bit, did a jigsaw, read books and ate the local cheese. The cheese came from a lovely spot up Ben Ohau Road. Isabella loved the Aorangi Tangy. It was lovely to have Simon,Rosa,Taia and Isabella come and join us. Also Peter and Clare. 

When we rode the upper part of the A2O the mountains were spectacular.  It is quite deceptively flat looking. There was a head wind too so heading up alongside the Tasman RI've was a bit tough for the unfit. However the views made it worthwhile. 

Oh my Goodness

Oh my goodness, it is such a long time since I have been here. The black dog has been following me all year and finally caught up with me. My happy left. So I have had time off work, given up training, had no interest in writing. But now my medication has been doubled and has finally kicked in and I have my happy back.
Next week I will go back to the gym and get into it again.

I did do some travelling during this time. I took two of my grandchildren and we went on a road trip to the North Island. We were so lucky with the weather. It was just lovely all the way up. beautiful views through the Arthur's Pass area and down the Shenandoah Valley. A perfect crossing on the ferry. We left Wellington in blue skies and sunshine. By the time we got to Mamaku that night the ferries were no longer sailing, the Desert Road was closed because of snow and accidents. Obviously mayhem followed in our wake. to say nothing of the mayhem in the car with children fighting. Why can't sisters get on?
The rain caught us in Rotorua so we went to the Polynesian Pools for a swim and got caught in a hail storm. Fortunately there is cover so we were able to luxuriate in the warm water and watch the children scooping up balls of hail. Then it snowed and we nearly got stuck in Mamaku but luckily we managed to get to Minginui Forest to stay with my eldest son. And it rained! All day! Like a waterfall! The following day dawned bright and clear so it was off to Waikite Valley hot pools where we stayed most of the day. Glorious.
The Desert Road was still closed when we left but it had reopened by the time we got to Taupo. It is really magical driving the road with the snow piled up either side and the volcanoes glowing with their fresh white blanket.
Fine days in Wellington saw us go to the zoo. The girls were actually more excited by the Capital Food market where we went for dinner each night. They couldn't quite understand why the young man was in his sleeping bag on the footpath and why he was so quick to eat my left over food.
Another beautiful crossing.
We had a reasonable day to travel south and stopped at Hanmer Springs. Much fun was to be had on the water slide and the superbowl.  am so glad we went. As we got closer to Christchurch it began to rain steadily.
We stayed with son number 2 and it rained heavily all night. Next morning we went to visit my neice and drove through quite a lot of water. When we returned we drove through quite a lot more water. My poor little car was nearly drowned when a truck passed by. We had only just got back when the road closed.
So there we were. Stuck in Prebbleton for the foreseeable future. we finally managed to get home the day before work started again.

Tara was obsessed with bras.

Two little posers at the Wellington Zoo.

Ruapehu looking fabulous.

The Minginui waterfall.

Fun and games on the Edwin Fox at Picton.

Bit of a scrubber here.

A perfect day in Picton. And there is our boat coming in.