The Past Few Days

Instead of boring everyone with the past few days in words I will share the events through photos.

Day 1 - Went and saw Rise of the Guardians with Kaylee, Danielle and Eveline.

Day 2 - We went to the dunes in the middle of the woods at Bethells Beach

There  you go sledding down the dunes. Top-Granddad going head first. BL-Kaylee on the flying disc.
BR-Danielle swimming down on her stomach.  

Day 3 - We went strawberry picking with Danielle, Sasha, Erin, Cindy and Bart. Leo and I left with 3.5kg for $24

That 3.5kg doesn't include all the ones that we ate. L-R Sasha, Leo & Erin

Day 4 - We met up with some New Zealanders that we know from Stony Brook. Hayley, Lucy and Holly.

Today was the last full day that Eveline Kaylee and Danielle are here so we did some shopping. We even went to a Thrift Shop or 2 or 7. Hope everyone is finding 2013 to be great so far. Got 8 more days here so keep on the look out for some more updates.

Happy New Year

Last I left off was with the drenching of the sheep, well that has gone well. Here are some pics of the sheep.

Other then that nothing really exciting has been going on. Well that is not exactly true. We have been doing some work around the farm, running and eating ... a lot! We have gone to 2 very distinct restaurants that have been outstanding. 

The first was for an early dinner the other day. We call it Yum Cha and it is a Chinese food restaurant. The way that it works here is that the wait staff walks around with trays and carts of food and you choose from their selection of food. If there wasn't anything you liked you waited till the next tray came around. There was tons to choose from, even chicken feet (not to my choosing). I left completely stuffed and busting at the seams.

Chicken Feet

For New Year's Eve dinner Uncle Philip and Aunt Robyn treated us to Valentine's. This was an all you can eat buffet. They had a ton to choose from but they specialized in their seafood. I don't know if it was because I was so hungry or not but the food was delicious. I especially saved up some space in my tummy for this meal, just to make sure that Phil and Robyn were getting their money's worth out of me.

Earlier in the day, the men started building a new fence and gate on the property to help control the sheep a little better. It started with a big gate that seemed to lead to no where, hence its name for a short time "the gate to nowhere". After 2 days of hard work the fence and gate are complete and the sheep are ready to graze a new plot of land.

The Gate to Nowhere 

Adam and I with the Gate

The fence that leads down the hill to the gate.

Man I seem to be jumping around a little. In my mind we haven't done a ton of stuff but when I go to type this out it is so much more and takes a little longer then anticipated. So I am sorry in advance for confusion or jumble mess.  Back to the dinner that we had on New Year's Eve.

After the dinner we basically chilled out on the farm. The sun set and we awaited the arrival of the New Year, 2013! We knew that fireworks would be going off in the distance so we waited patiently for those to go at the strike of midnight. Here are some shots of the moon and the fireworks from the Auckland Skytower. (Not the greatest, you could probably YouTube Skytower fireworks)

Shot of the Moon, using over exposure method by Leo

Fireworks from the Skytower, using over exposure method by Mike (Sorry its so blurred)

Well I hope that 2013 greeted you very well. Leo and I want to wish you a Happy and Healthy 2013! Here is a video up close of the fireworks.

Christmas 2012 in New Zealand

We arrived safely in New Zealand on the 22nd, surviving the apocalypse and landing on solid ground. We were met at the airport by Lynette, Julian, Uncle Phil and Aunt Robyn. From there we made our way home to have a pretty relaxing rest of the day. 

Part of that day we went hunting for our Christmas tree with brother-in-law Bart, his wife Cindy and Nieces Sasha and Erin. The photos above show us in the backyard heading out on the hunt and Leo with our very nice find.

On the 23rd Leo and I had to go shopping for each other. While at home we did all the shopping for the family, so we decided it was a good idea to get our gifts to each other in New Zealand.  We went to the mall and it was a mad house. We set our limit to 90 minutes and were in and out as quickly as possible.

On Christmas Eve the day was pretty relaxed. Sister-in-law Eve, her husband Adam and Nieces Kaylee and Danielle flew in around 6:30 PM. So most of the day was spent preparing for that. Most of us went and greeted them at the airport. I went in my Santa t-shirt and hat, it was very festive and easily spotted. 

In the photo above Leo and I stand next to our decorated tree, with the help of Sasha, wearing part of the Christmas pajamas that mom got us for this year. We prepped for Santa by leaving some Christmas cake, a banana and some ginger beer (is non alcoholic, like ginger ale). Then we headed off to bed for the early rise.

The next morning we were woken at 6 AM by the little nieces, mostly Sasha. Santa had come, ripped his pants on the fireplace and left ash throughout the house. He ate most of the food and washed it down with 3/4 of the bottle of ginger beer. Everyone was excited and we started opening the gifts at 6:30. About an hour in to gifts we stopped to have breakfast, bacon and eggs. Then continued for another 90 minutes. It was a marathon session! 

After the presents were opened we relaxed while the little ones played with their new toys. Leo and I headed out for a run around mid day. Below is the elevation map of what most of our runs look like. A little more difficult then the south shore of Long Island.

Below is a very brief sequence of how the day went. Top - Dishing out the individual presents to everyone. Remember it took 2.5 hours. Middle - Our afternoon feast, baked ham with some salads and sides. Then we had some grilled ham sandwiches for dinner. Bottom - Even the adults got out to play with their new toys, Eli Manning football jersey and a vortex football.

All in all it was a long and pretty exhausting Christmas Day, but a lot of fun. It is a bit different having Christmas in the Summer, something that takes a lot to get used to.

The day following Christmas is called Boxing Day and it refers to an old tradition where tradesmen and craftsmen would receive gifts from their superiors. That tradition has turned into massive sales at all the shops, something that we were sure to stay away from. We got a visit from Adam's parents for a left over ham lunch that was accompanied by pasta salads and sides. We continued to relax for much of the afternoon. Adam and Eveline plus the girls went to a family friend's house for dinner while Leonora, Julian, Lynette and myself went to dinner with Uncle Norman and Aunt Margaret who were over visiting from Australia. We went to a restaurant called the Bar and Baa, it had a mix of kiwi cuisine with a touch of Greek. The meal was delicious and we all left full and satisfied.

That brings me up to today the 27th, where there was a few chores to be done around the farm. We got up, had our brekkie, went off on our run and when we returned got down to the chores. We needed to round up all the sheep into the barn area and drench them. Drenching is something that is done to sheep every 3 months to help keep them healthy and bug free.

Here is the gang rounding them up.

Kaylee feeding them the drench.

and me giving 2 thumbs up for a job well done.

After the sheep are drenched they are released back into a small grazing area so they can be looked after for a day or two. This is to make sure that none of them fall ill from the drenching and they are nice and healthy.

Well I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that all is well with your families. Check back for more updates. 

The After Math

After the race on Sunday nothing much happened. Some Athletes started to pack and go home others went back to the hotel and relaxed. That night was the athlete banquet which was non eventful.

The next morning we got up and caught a bus up to Seville, Leo and I were staying an extra few days to do some sight seeing. I figured instead of describing every tourist thing I would post some photos with a minor description. Click on the photos to make them larger, click on the links to gather more information from Wikipedia on the sights.

1. Plaza de Espana where people gather for street vendors.

2. The Sevilla Tour Bus, double decker.

3. Basilica de la Macarena, during Roman Times this was the only way to enter and exit the city of Seville.

1. View of the Courtyard of La Giralda.

2. The tower of La Giralda, the oldest Cathedral in Seville. You can also find the tomb of Christopher Columbus here.

3. View of Seville from the tower of La Giralda.

1. View inside of a bull fighting ring, built in 1794.

2. Outside of the Plaza de toros, the bull fighting ring.

3. Nat, Leo and myself with the bull ring in the background.

1. Torre del Oro, a watch tower constructed in the 13th century. Constructed for military function along one of the largest rivers in south Spain.

2. View from the watch tower. You can see La Giralda in the background.

3. Leo coming down the stairs in the tower, 91 stairs to be exact.

This is a collection of cool things that I wanted to share but only had one photo of each and didn't fit in the above sequences of photos.

1. Watch tower over the Plaza de Espana.

2. Duff Beer, world famous in Spain.

3. Leo and I in front of a monument in the Murallas del Alcazar park.

The one thing that we didn't get to see inside of was the Alcazar Castle or Royal Palace. We saw the outside of it, but when we went to go in it was closed. Since it is off season for tourists it has limited visiting hours, which we were unaware of. Here is a link to the castle anyway.

Alcazar Palace

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Seville, Spain.

The Race

The Call Room

Lining up to head out to the starting line. Checking our numbers, bibs and timing chips.

Starting Line

Moments before the gun goes off, all the athletes stand motionless.

100 Meters

Into the race everyone is battling for ideal positioning.

Hurdle Jumps

On my second lap through the second set of hurdle jumps. These were not fun.

Beach Cool Down

After the race the Women's team cool downed to the beach for a refreshing swim.

Overall Leonora had a great experience and learned a lot from it. She was 86th overall, 1st New Zealand Woman to finish. She looks forward to getting another chance to represent New Zealand and perform at a higher level. Thank you for all the support.

We have just arrived in Seville, we will be here till Wednesday when we fly home. Keep checking back for some more updates.

FOOD!

Salad Bar

Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions, beet root, carrots, and corn.

Antipasto Bar

Cold cuts, cheeses, and dressings.

Grill

Meats (Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pork and Beef) Pastas, Pasta sauces, potatoes and other stuff.

Sides Bar

Cole slaws, pre made salads and sandwiches, pickles, fruit, bread and much more.

Dessert

Cakes (cheese and danish) Jello, puddings (chocolate, caramel and rice) and ice cream (varied flavors).

Stuff

Thursday Day 4 was stuff day. Leo got her race numbers, credentials and invite to the after dinner party. I even got stuff too. My credentials are below. Other than that it was training as usual for the athletes with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner mixed in there. O yeah card playing as well. Just living the dream!

Invite

Leo Bib and Credentials

My Credentials