Crate, crate...................

The travel crates for the girls arrived today. Now we will work on getting them used to them before they fly out at the end of Sept.

Kiwi seems to like hers!

Quiet day otherwise. Donna has had her massage permit approved so she had her first paying client at East Sac today.

Donna and the girls in the shade.

The logo on my new CrossFit NorCal T.

Turns out 20' was more than enough............

I spent the day making sure we didn't leave anything behind in Erik's garage.

Looks empty to me!

Our container is all loaded and ready to go to NZ. I guess we will see it sometime in Sept.

It all fits and there it goes.

Donna headed to Albany CrossFit to do some training with Matt and teach some classes. Thanks to Matt and Jason for all you help and feedback. You guys are a great example of CrossFit community.

Donna spotting Stacey at Albany CrossFit

Damn! I hope it all fits

We spent the day packing, getting the dogs checked at the vet and generally running around like mad things.

All laid out waiting for the container tomorrow morning.

In other news, the garage gym at Celeste's is ready for use. The pull up bar is in, along with the lifting platform and a section of rubber flooring. Now we just need Craigslist to come up with some weights. That said it is more than adequate for "Angie, Barbara and Cindy" or any other body weight workout like those listed here.

A Sunday in LA

It was a long trip home but we had a good time with J and Karen at lunch in Malibu. They took us to Moonshadows. This is right on the ocean with the dinning area open to the sun and smell of the sea. Food was good too.

Then we cruised the Pacific Coast Highway in the convertible before heading to Santa Monica. There we watched the beautiful people (or those that thought they were) on 3rd St Promenade.


Pimped out Trikes - one even had a boom box on the back!

Donna visited her first Lululemon store. Way too many things to choose from.

We got back to LAX in plenty of time to check in but sadly I lost a multitool going through security. I had forgotten it was even in my bag and it got through in NZ. Thankfully I have quite a few so I am not too heartbroken.

Now we are home and almost adjusted to the time change. Adjusting to the weather will take a little longer..........

Back in MA

Malibu coastline during our layover in LA yesterday

After nearly two days of travel we have finally made it back to Sheffield.

Now we are busy unpacking and bonding with the girls.


Oh and it is snowing outside :-(

Thanks for an awesome trip down under

I'd just like to say thanks to all those who made our flying visit to NZ a very enjoyable one.

Mum and Ralph - thanks for everything. Hosting and feeding us, as well as the pick up and drop off at the airport

Dan and Kat - thanks for bringing Esme' all this way and sharing her with the family

Darren and Taz - thanks for the workouts at CrossFit NZ and welcoming us into your home on day one. We look forward to having our own box in NZ soon.

Chris and Rache - thanks for putting us up and allowing us to use the place like a hotel. Thanks to Kenny too, for being nice to two dog deprived people.

Phil and Louise - always a good time when you are around.

Jim - thanks for dinner in Wellington and some great encouragement to help bring CrossFit to NZ.

Brent and Nicole - thanks for a great home cooked dinner and use of a sweet bike!

Briony and Geoff - we didn't get to spend much time with you but the trip centred around your wedding.

Mike and Vannessa - great to catch up with you guys for dinner, thanks for not talking too much Army, Donna was relieved.

Randal and Arna - good to see you guys again and catch up on all the happenings in the trade. Hope your second turns out as well as the first.

Trish - thanks for dog and house sitting, we couldn't have done this without you!

Jason - for helping us out with immigration and helping Trish.

If there is anyone else I have forgotten my apologies, thank you all!

View from Wainui towards the South Island

Iron Man Madness

Today was another early start as we made the drive to Taupo at 5am to watch the start of IronMan New Zealand and cheer on Phil, Louise and Rache as they took part.

1300 athletes hit the water.

For those who have never seen an IronMan it is worth the effort. The event is a long distance triathlon 3.8km/2.4 mile Swim, 180km/112 mile Bike and 42km/26.2 mile Run (a marathon). The winner this year Cameron Brown of NZ completed in 8:18:04.

Before you ask neither Donna or I are keen to compete in this event, I have set my limit at Half IronMan where the distances are all, you guessed it, halved. The marathon at the end really doesn't sound like fun.

That said if you are considering an event like this CrossFit combined with CrossFit Endurance workouts is the best way to maximise the results from your workouts. Check it out! Ask us if you have any questions, we both attended a Crossfit Endurance certification last May.

After our brief stint as spectators we headed back to Rotorua, where Donna proceeded to try something new. Hairdressing.

Before - After



Results from IronMan NZ

Phil: SWIM 1:11:40 - BIKE 5:54:30 - RUN 5:19:13 - OVERALL 12:37:26

Louise: SWIM 1:33:37 - BIKE 6:53:42 - RUN 4:55:26 - OVERALL 13:36:54

Rache: SWIM 1:29:09 - BIKE 7:32:26 - RUN 5:43:53 - OVERALL 15:08:36

Congratulations to you all on finishing an epic day!


This is similar to Phil's Avanti Chrono
Check out the Kiwi and Flag on the top tube, great graphics!

More riding and a visit to the zoo

We started early this morning with me, Donna and Ralph hitting the trails before 9am. We were out for over 3 hours on a lot of new and different trails in Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua.

Ralph and Donna ready to rip

Donna on Pondy New. Matt on Old Chevy

Then it was home for lunch at a local cafe and off to visit the lions at Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park.

Ben - the last time Donna and I saw him, two years ago, he was much smaller and we could pet him. Today we were not really tempted to try petting him.

Dan (my brother), Kat (Dan's wife) and Esme' (my niece) joined us at the park for lion feeding and a look at some local wildlife.

Mmmmmmmmmm babies taste good! (Esme' my niece)

A Wallaby - these are indigenous to Australia but they live in the wild in NZ after being introduced in the 1800's

Boris the Kune kune pig and a Pukeko

Now we are home for a quiet night in.

Back on schedule.........

Today started in Taupo with a beautiful sunrise and then breakfast with Phil, Louise and Rache.

Donna watching IronMan NZ competitors overtraining in lake Taupo.

After that we hit the road for Rotorua. We looked at Planet Bike for a rental for Donna but they only had Scott hardtails so we pushed on to Bike Vegas who decked Donna out with an Iron Horse 6.8 All Mountain bike, with the brakes already set up for her US style. It also sports pink Danger Boy levers and bar end caps, I think it was just meant to be.

Donna on A Trail.

Matt trying out the Iron Horse on a steep roll down.

Donna thinking of Trish and everyone else while out in the redwoods of Rotorua.

We hit the trails (A Trail, Tickler, Be Rude Not Too, Mad if You Don't, Piglet and Pig tracks, Soak Hole, Turkish Delight and finally the Exit Trail) Good times, great trail conditions.

Then it was home to grill and relax in the sun while the washing machine cleaned all our clothes.

Update

A quick catch up before we get back to a decent connection in Rotorua tomorrow.

Sunday was a recovery day after the wedding night, we didn't do too much but did manage to catch up with friends for lunch and dinner. Thanks Liz, Brent and Nichole.

Monday we headed out on the bikes again, this time to the trails in Wainuiomata. I had not ridden these before but we had a blast. The trails almost all single track with a nice gradient to the top then some technical rooty stuff coming down.

We also managed some souvenir shopping before heading out to dinner with Jim. Jim is an American working as a swim coach on the Kapiti Coast. He is also a CrossFitter and he CrossFits his swim team. We met for dinner at Leuven the Belgian Beer Bar in Wellington. Great food, drink and conversation. It was good to hear about the experiences he is having using CrossFit with his team. We hope the rest of the swim meet this week goes well.

This morning we hit the road for Taupo where we are aiming to catch up with friends doing IronMan New Zealand this weekend.

On the way we stopped at the quarantine kennel where Ginger and Kiwi might have to stay in the future. It all looks good and we think that they would be fine there for the 30 days they would have to stay.

We also managed to collect some pumice so those with CrossFit callouses we have something to keep them in check.

Another dinner with friends tonight. Weather is great so we have been making use of the pool at the motel :-)

Sorry to those who are experiencing more of the cold white stuff. Thanks Trish for shovelling out for the girls. More to follow soon.................

Wedding Day

We managed to fit in a workout in the morning before the wedding. Ralph joined us for, four rounds for time:

Run 400m, 50 squats

I subbed push ups, dips and pull ups so as to save my patella tendon. That said, it is getting much better.

Matt: 13:33

Donna: 12:43

Ralph: we are not sure of his time, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

THE MAIN EVENT

Then it was time for the big event that we travelled all this way for. My sisters wedding.

We made it on time (just) despite the best efforts of the taxi driver to take us somewhere different. The speeches were unique, to say the least, my Dad has an interesting turn of phrase.

Dad, Briony, Brian (the preacher) and Geoff

Briony (my sister) looked lovely in white (yes white) and the pink and orange gerberas went with the whole Dr Seuss themed wedding cake.

Food was great! Very paleo except the cake which was a dense moist chocolate creation.

Music was very Priscilla Queen of the Desert, think ABBA and 70's and 80's disco straight out of the juke box.

Pre wedding beers and the other happy couple.

We spent some time out on the deck over looking the ocean before heading home full of food and drink.

Now we are free to enjoy the rest of our trip. We will slowly head north, riding as much as we can and enjoying the scenery.

It's all a Blur............

Yesterday we managed to get out and ride some local trails. My friend Brent from Burkes Cycles in Wellington hooked Donna up with a nice Santa Cruz Blur Lt and we headed to Makara.

Donna on the Blur

Matt's SS and Donna trying it out.

Matt trying the Blur

The skills area there is much improved since we were there last and we had a blast on the tight windy trails.

Donna using her Chawel, works well!

Then we headed back to the apartment for another family dinner before the wedding today. Weather is not the greatest but rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck. We shall see.