Windy Wellington

So this past weekend Leo and I travelled to Windy Wellington. The Capital of "The Land of the Long White Cloud", New Zealand. We headed down there for New Zealand Cross Country Nationals 2008. It was scheduled to be an epic time and it was.

Before I start to tell the tale of the weekends happenings I want to share a story with you, a coming of age tale. A few months back I was sent this forward, now I am not a big fan of these so called forwards but it was from Grandpa Lou and I figured I check it out. The subject line read FWD: Windiest Airport in the World...I opened the FWD and there was a link to a video. Sort of like this...

World's Windiest Airport

So I clicked on the link and it took me to a video. Not the video that I have linked you, but another one that was exactly the same minus the shitty music. O if you didnt know you can click that link above and it will show you a video. I would advise you turn the shit music off by muting your sound.

The video was filmed at Wellington Airport, the same place that I was to fly into on Friday Night and out of Sunday evening. With bad weather forcasted I could only replay those images in my head the whole flight.

Friday Day 1 Here We Come

It was a quick one so dont blink or you might miss this section.

I picked Leo up from work at four. We went and parked the car in a parking lot near the airport to watch some planes taking off and landing. We ate the homemade pasta salad I made for dinner. We then drove our car to the overnight parking service. We checked the car in and got a shuttle over to the airport. Checked our bags in and had an hour to kill to our flight at 7. We looked in the shops and with a half hour to go made our way to the gate. Went through security and waited outside the gate to board.

Our flight was slightly delayed and we didnt take off when scheduled. We left 20 minutes late. The flight lasted all of 50 minutes were they served us a cheese platter or crisps and a drink. The buckle up light came on and I braced myself what I thought was going to be a windy ass landing, instead it was tam and non adventurous. I was a little dissappointed but glad we landed safely.

Tim Hodge, a buddy from Stony Brook, was housing us for the weekend. We met him at the baggage claim, were we found our luggage and jumped into his mum's car to get out to their house. They live in a town called Tawa, just 20 minutes from the Big Wellington city. Got to the house met the rest of the family chatted for a bit and then headed for bed.

Saturday Day 2 Run, Run, Game, Live it Up, Sleep

Tim and I got up extra early so we could get our run done before we left for the big races. We did a little workout with some pick ups, in all we were out there for 80 minutes and it was a good solid run. Got home ate some brekkie showered and loaded into the car to go out to the races.

There was many different races going on, but I was primarly concerned with Leo's race and watching the Senior Men. Also Shaun Krawitz was going to be there and I had not seen him in ages, also Dana Hastie was to be there so it was a mini Stony Brook reunion at the race.

Leo race went well, she finished fifth and was happy with the race. Check out the video I put together here -----> Senior Women 8k Nationals

Then we stuck around and watched the Senior Mens race, If you want to check out the highlights then click this link --------> Senior Men 12k Nationals

All in all the races were highly competitive and awesome to watch. Even tho it rained on and off the whole time it was still a great day for some racing.

After that we drove back to Hodge House and had some dinner, we then got ready to go out to meet Shaun and Dana and watch the Rugby game. The All Blacks were playing Oz, it was meant to be a great game. We caught the train into the city, it was a 15 minute commute and we had Dana pick us up. (This is the traincar below there was two cars per train)We then hopped from one crowded bar to the other. This game was bigger than the Super Bowl, this was the Mecca of New Zealand Rugby. We finally settled on a place, but we had to stand and it was way over crowded. At half we left that place and headed over to Shauns hotel where there was a TV and Bar in the lobby that was less crowded and more viewer friendly. We chatted and watched the second half from there. It was great, the All Blacks kicked Aussie's ass up and down the field. It was great success... we then chilled there for a bit and talked... we then wore out our welcome and headed elsewhere. Again going from place to place...which was the cue for some to start peeling off and heading home. Dana left and then Leo and I soon headed back to the train station. Tim and Shaun stayed out and met up with some of Tim's friends.

Leo and I headed back to the train station to catch the 12:01 train back to Tawa, but then we saw this...

and thought maybe we can take the train to Hogwarts and visit Harry Potter.

The funny thing is I thought it was just a goofy sign trying to be funny, meanwhile Leo is talking about how she wonders if anyone has tried to run through the wall. I just laughed because I thought I was supposed to. I did not even know it was from Harry Potter. Well one thing led to another and she explained it to me.

So if we wanted to go to Hogwarts like Potter and his friends we needed to run through the wall and it would of taken us to the special terminal to catch the express to Hogwarts. Well I wasnt feeling adventorous and was tired so we opted for terminal 7 train to Tawa. BORING...
Sunday Day 3 Run, Take the City by Storm

So the last day was jammed packed. We slept in a little bit but then Tim and I headed for a two hour run. It was an epic journey that almost ended with us loosing our lives. We started out heading towards some paths, it was mostly flat and along the water. There had been so much rain that the water had overflowed into the paths and we were running along the trail that was under water. We got to some big opened farm land, where the cows were supposed to be but werent. We continued along and then turned and bend and there were all the cows. Eating grass and blocking the path. We slowly and quietly walked behind them until the path widened and would be able to go around them. Well before that could happen one cow went buck wild and looked like it was going to charge us but it didnt and then we got around the pack and I thought it was going to follow behind and stampede us.

We got out of that quick fast and headed for the hills, we were coming down a hill approaching the beach that had some wicked waves for surfing when Tim noticed that the beach we were meant to run along was all the way under water. We ran closer to see if we could get back but we wound up turning back and going around the long way.

While we headed back up the hill to go around we saw a surfer. He was trotting down the hill towards the beach, hair blowing in the wind, wet suit on and surf board under arm. It looked like a scene from a movie and then he bailed. Busted his ass, our first instinct was to help. We asked if he was alright and then we asked if he needed help. No response to either question so we continued on. To be honest I thought he was going to cry but that is my opinion.

We went around and came back down where we thought the beach was clear but it wasnt so we had to run along a ledge. My shoelace got caught on the bottom of a fence on the ledge and I almost fell to my death 3 feet below. I caught myself struggled to undo my shoelace and got back on my feet and continued running like nothing even happened.

Thats where the excitement of the run ended as we headed back for some breakfast.

We took warm showers had something to eat and then got the train into the city for a cram session of sight seeing. We walked the streets on the harbour and the main shopping areas. We headed towards the Olympic museum but that was closed, and then we went to Te Papa.

Te Papa is the museum of New Zealand History. It has everything that you need to know about NZ. When it was settled, the Maori's, major events etc. etc. etc. It was real cool and I got heaps of photos and video. We left that place and headed for the Capital building which looks like a bee hive. Seen Below

We checked out the grounds of Parlament for a bit and then Tim dared me to do Rocky up the steps. So here is a short film I made from the mayhem...

After that video we caught the train back to Tawa, had a quick dinner and headed back to the airport. For the flight back to Auckland.

Now crazy wind storms, nothing, I was a little let down. For a city to be called Windy Wellington I thought I would get some wind burn, but I got nothing. It was a great weekend and it was great seeing friends in different parts of the world. I hope that you enjoyed the craziness. Comment and respond