…Until things start going wrong”. Someone one said this and this past weekend is no exception. Not that anyone got hurt, or died. However we didn’t get anywhere close to what we had intended to do. That said you have to start with a plan and then move forward from there and have the flexibility to change as you go. This is especially true in the outdoors. And I have been leading people and facilitating long enough out there to know that all of the above is very true.

We did have a wonderful time and what else can you hope for… outdoors, hiking, sea kayaking, family not much better than that. I realized that all of my adventures have been with Robin or team mates therefore it was fun to share some of my passion with family.

We basically broke the 3 day weekend down into 3 separate trips. The weather was less than perfect and even required a few game time decisions.

We started on Saturday by collecting Louise from the plane to the sight of snow covered peaks all around us, there was snow already on these hills but the winter storm that was here friday brought even more snow. Its nice being 15mins from the airport too.

We travelled to Picton where i work as a guide to get into our sea kayaks and spend a few hours out on the water. It was really a good intro for my nephew and brush up for louise. We had already decided that overnight in The Sounds were off the table partly because on the very cold overnight temps dipping into the low 20’s F. And that most places have a fire ban year round.

Therefore on Sunday we headed up to the mountains to Nelson Lake National Park which is less than an hour from where we live. We spent the most of the day hiking. wanting to get up high above the tree line to enjoy some views. We hiked up and around part of Lake Rotoiti and took in some great views. We weren’t able to make it to a high alpine hut because of the incredibly high winds that we blowing. Probably around 100mph in places. Enough to blow us off our feet. Of course i was loving it, and really enjoy being out in challenging weather like that.

Monday we headed back to The Sounds to explore more in our kayaks. Were on the water early and paddling out of Picton to explore some islands. The weather came into play again and we were forced to beat a retreat with swells picking up and me not really wanting to have my family out in weather like that. We had a difficult paddle across a small piece of open water to be relieved when we got on the lee side of the land and have a calm paddle back into Picton. But a good few hours on the water none the less.

Each night we relaxed in the warmth of our house and cooked and ate good food. Introducing David to some good Mexican food then having breakfast for another night. The photos are from the 3 days of hiking and paddling.

This weekend we have whanau coming into town. Which translated means family in our native language. Namely our only nephew and one of my sisters, louise. The plan (which we made a long time ago) was to spend 3 days sea kayaking in the sounds, overnight, pack everything in our boats etc.

Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated. At this time of year the weather has 2 themes. Brilliantly sunny, mild temps with hard frosts in the morning, OR… really cold, wet, windy, and snow falling about 10 mins up the road. And needless to say this w/e is the former. But we will still create lots of adventures though. So look out for photos.

Part of the reason for this is… we are keen to take our nephew David out on the water as he has never sea kayaked before and it will be a wonderful experience for him. That said we don’t want him to have a negative experience and never want to do this again.

So we are scaling but the goal, but safety wise its better, the Marlborough Sounds can be really dangerous weather wise at this time of year.

Also on another note… connect with our good friend Jess Kennedy on WhatsApp today. That was a highlight of my day, & week.

Well winter has really arrived in NZ. The days are short, the nights are long and its cold. We have had a few southerly storms come through that shoot a lot of bad weather out of the Antarctic, yes i did say the Antarctic. While we haven’t had snow here in Blenheim we could drive 10 mins up the road and find some. Most of that has melted now but higher up there is a lot. That said it is very beautiful and enticing.

We have had a busy few weeks, and we have been here 6 months now. WOW how time flies. So naturally one takes a moment to reflect. I hope to do that over the come days and weeks. Firstly i will make no secret about it, it hasn’t been easy being here. While we are surrounded by all this beauty and wonderful opportunities for recreation etc. On other levels it has really slowed us down and allowed us to look inward and more at each other… not that either of us have a problem with that.

We brought over our TV, but it just sits here, we haven’t signed up for cable or satellite service and to be honest don’t really miss it. We have the internet and that more than allows us to get by. The TV sits there like a big ornament. We are enjoying spending more time together as we think, reflect and pray as to what is next beyond here, however still taking in the moment of here. A few weeks back i think i called it ‘exiled in paradise’.

I do miss coffee shops being open after 5pm, while there are numerous here in Blenheim, after 5pm… FORGET IT!!! But if thats the worst it gets then so be it.

Since i wrote we have continued to have many adventures. We just got back from Christchurch. Robin was down there for a conference (funnily enough at a camp i use to go to with my family for church family camp) I was out for about 9 days straight guiding a school group for 4 days then a 5 day guided walk on the queen charlotte trail. After that i flew from Blenheim to Christchurch (my home) to meet Robin and spend a few days with family. Yes i said flying. Blenheim airport is quite the experience. i honestly have to say that it is the smallest airport i have EVER flown in or out of. Then compare this to my diet Atlanta/Hartsfield-Jackson where last week i literally showed up 5 mins before my flight and got on my plane, no security, no annoying TSA, no long lines and only 2 gates. Now as for the actual plane, i felt as though they wound up a rubber band and pointed the plane and away we went. i’m quite certain i have jumped out of bigger planes. This part of our life i enjoy.

We had a great time in CHC, Cora came with us (who is settled and loving it here) she especially enjoys chasing sheep and the neighborhood cats. Robin & I had a day in the mountains while in CHC, running etc and also took in a big Super Rugby game where my team the Crusader dealt to the Chiefs (the current champs) right before the playoffs. woo-hoo.

More soon.

My Parents are in town this weekend. They arrived on Thursday this is the first time they have come to visit us in Blenheim so the pressure is on, not really.

On friday we had to leave them to entertain themselves as i had to work with 57 people on a short kayaking trip. This group was so large we brought in reinforcements Aka… Robin to act as a guide and make up #’s. She did brillant. Of course she wanted to go in my group and did but had to paddle a double for the 1st time with her sitting at the back. It all worked out well and she would make a wonderful sea kayak guide. This was considering the weather also. We had a southerly change come through early friday morning and this brought almost gale force winds to the marlborough sounds. While we weren’t paddling in Queen Charlotte Sound, which bore the worst of it, where we were in Kenepuru Sound, it was still really bad. But we mananged and go these people on and off the water pretty safely.

Saturday was the highlight of the weekend. I had arranged with the water taxi company we use to take all 4 of us to the top end of the Queen Charlotte Trail (that i walk so often and know so well) My parents have never done any of it, and robin hasnt seen the top end or in reality any more that a really small section. So we took a 2hr boat ride to complete most of what would be the 1st day for my groups. We hiked for 3.5hrs and my parents did AMAZING. They are not big hikers or outdoor people for whatever reason. And by thay i dont mean they are couch potatoes either. They just haven’t had the same opportunities in life that i have. So this was going to be a real treat for them. It was a wondeful day with lot of our native indigenous birds out in full song. we saw some wonderful original old growth forest and of course the views were amazing. We ended our hike with late lunch at Furneaux Lodge which is where i spend the 1st night of my 5 day hikes. After that we got back on the water taxi and enjoyed a wonderful trip back in the fading afternoon light. I was really proud of my parents for completing this (not that i didn’t think they could) but to be able to share with them some of what i do right now.

Then today… Sunday, Mother’s Day of course. I got up early and left to drive over to Nelson to compete in a race. A off road duathlon of trail running, mountain biking and more running. It was a short race, but really intense and was basically red lining the old heart for about 1.25hrs. These races are hard for different reasons that adventure racing, and while they dont always hurt like adventure racing, they hurt in a different way.

Back home now, and we will celebrate mothers days this evening, and then talk with Robin’s parents tomorrow am which will be Mother’s Day for the USA.

One of the things I am constantly trying to bring to Robin’s attention are many of the traditions and goings-on that make NZ, NZ. Cannot find it anywhere or not to many other places. Well today was one of those days. Living in a valley surrounded by farms and wineries its not to hard to find examples of that life.

This week Blenheim is hosting the South Island Dog Trails. Dog trails are VERY serious competitions where sheep farmers race the clock to herd sheep up an hill or over/around a series of obstacles using their dog to push the sheep in a certain direction.

Using only their mouth to whistle and some verbal commands these dogs are so well trained working dogs that they rise to the occasion and move these sheep in quick fashion too. Partly b/c they are working dogs they crave the work, but also b/c they have such a bond with their master. Don’t forget they are working animals and if they don’t perform they would be sold or even something worse.

its not all about the competition either these dogs do this on a daily basis its a way or life. Many of these farmers or musterers as they are called have to muster sheep in some very remote and inaccessible parts of the NZ high country. And so a dog is a necessity. Too steep for a bike, even a horse so often just the musterer and the dog.

Here are some photos from today. Also glad to have allowed Robin to have seen and experienced this. check out the color of the sky also.

Interesting title huh? And to think I could add more to that. I will start with tonight and work backwards.

We bought a new bed today! Backstory is we didn’t bring our bed from the USA we figured we would find one here and didn’t want to our bed across the world… meant we could fit another bike in hahaha. Anyways we have had a bed for the past few months, don’t worry we haven’t been sleeping on the floor. But might as well. The bed we have been using… SUCKED- putting it nicely. You know, roll together etc. But we had roll together on all sides in every direction. So each night we would essentially feel like human taco shells. Well happy to report today we took care of that  and looking forward to a good night sleeps. That said with outdoor guiding and being in the back country I am use to sleeping in different places and often not the best of “ground” beneath me.

Floods… It rained here the other night, in fact all most all of NZ got hammered with a big low pressure system that spat out of the Antarctic, yes the Antarctic not the Artic. Lots of rain and flooding, wind and snow it higher levels. We had our own little rain event. That is caused our basement/garage flood. At worst there was about 5 inches of water down there. This all went down at 2.30am and at first I was trying to battle in and keep the water out then finally went and woke Robin and got help only to quit and let it do its damage. Our freezer is down there of course and I was certain it had been fried. I turned it off and cautiously turned it on again many hours later, expecting it to not work, blow sparks and smoke or at worst fry me. But low and behold it still works. Which is good considering all the stuff we have in there.

This weather even was very significant and around town that day there were stories of a similar fate. I dropped Robin off at church the next morning and took a wee drive around town and the valley to check out the rivers and streams that make up our valley (Wairau Valley) which translated in English means valley or many streams and rivers. Fun to see but also humbling to see the power of creation. I did think about putting a kayak in one stream to have a bit of fun, but didn’t.

Now we fast forward and my parents are visiting this weekend. Another reason for the new bed. Yes before you ask they will get the crappy bed. Don’t judge me! We are looking forward to a day of hiking on Saturday, nothing huge but a ride on one of the water taxi’s I take often, a couple of hours hiking then lunch at a lodge and back to Picton on the water taxi.

Robin and I are getting excited that Cora (our dog) will be here soon. She is having her final shots and check with the vet this week and will be here in NZ the last week of may. We will be driving to Christchurch to collect her and bring back here to her new home.

Oh and finally I almost forgot. 2 weeks ago I was on the trail for 5 days and on day 3, our long day of 8-9hrs of hiking and one of my clients was complaining of chest pains. YIKES. As I checked him over he was demonstrating all the symptoms of having a heart attack. So there we were on a exposed ridge line, sunny but very windy day and I have a guy having heart issues. Long story short I have to call in the medi-vac chopper and because there was no where to land I had to tell them that they were going to have to winch down to him and then up and out. Yikes. that was a fun experience and a little nervy as I stabilized this guy during the 20min wait for the chopper.

Never a dull moment.

Yeah i know its been while. So to bring y’all up to speed.
Have had quite a few adventures in the past few weeks. Before that though. I have been really busy at work with lots of school groups. One such group was a all girls high school group of 30. YIKES. 30 H/S seniors for 3 days & camping out with them. All started on a sunday, meeting them off the ferry then taking a water taxi to our location/base for the next 3 days. Julie (Co-guide, who is from Canada) and i were with them the entire 3 days camping out. Then with various other guides coming in to make up the safety ratios.

On the 1st day we sea kayaked a little, to get them use to their boats etc. Day 2 was mtn biking. We spilt them into 2 groups. I took the advanced group and we biked the Queen Charlotte Track. John took the slower group and Julie drove the SAG Vehicle. Julie and i shared the logistics for the whole trip and it wa sfun to work with someone so professional and we complemented each other well. Our mtn bike day didnt go without a hitch as i had one girl endo over her handle bars on her descent to bump her head etc. We have a rule at our job that if you bump your head… its game over, no matter what. Of cours we were all wearing helmets. its the law here, makes sense too. So we had to get her off the track, one of the teachers, walked her out with another student and i radioed Julie to come get her. Then another girl (not with my group) ate the gravel road really bad, and after a while the work truck Julie was driving was rather full. But considering it all everyone was ok, and the girls i was with did outstandingly well. They rode for a total of 7 hours that day… breed em’ tough in NZ.

The 3rd day was spent paddling back to Picton and base… IN A GALE!!! no joke perhaps the strongest weather i have paddled in the Marlborough Sounds. A little scary at times, but everyone survived, a little chilly at the end, but happy and great sense of acomplishment.

That has been the work adventures, or some of them, lots of other school group, and off to do another one thursday and friday. Before heading off to the mountains and Nelson Lake National Park this weekend. Which is BTW about 60mins up the road to complete in a 25Km trail run race. Forecast… SNOW. should be fun. These lake are high alpine lakes and winter is coming, had a few falls up there already, and here comes the next one. Robin and i are both looking forward to going up there, as she has never visited this NP before and saturday night i think we will camp out in the weather somewhere… love it. Now that all our stuff is here, we are ready to go and that is what we have been basically doing. Any opportunity we can get we are out there.

About a week about i went on a massive run up one of the peaks in the Richmond Range to the west of us. I was at the trailhead in 45 mins and running shortly after. This range of mountains, while not high, rises quickly from the valley in which we live in. Check out these photos. Pretty much ran the whole way to the summit. Got there in 2hrs 10mins, when the sign read 6hrs to the summit. So my mtn running legs are feeling good.

Then the best advenuture recently was just this past few days. Robin and i took 3 days and explored the outer edge of Port Underwood, which is a south facing bay (which is strange b/c most here in NZ face, North, east or west) it connect to form the eastern edge of the Marlborough Sounds. So after church sunday we bolted to Robin Hood Bay to put in for our adventure keen to explore the outer edge which is basically the open Pacific Ocean, next stop Chile South America. This coastline is very rugged and wild and desolate. But for the few people who go here the speak of the wonderful huge sea caves that you can paddle into. So you guessed it, when i heard about these i was planning this trip.

Sunday afternoon was a little rough paddling across Port Underwood into a really strong Northerly. We were paddling a double with Robin at the front constantly getting swamped by big waves. We found a somewhat sheltered place to camp. Well not really all the sheltered spots were on that rugged coastline with massive sea cliffs and so no where to camp. We struggled to put the tent up, ate, and went to bed. The wind rocked the tent all night, and there were a few moments when i thought we would take off.

After waking early Monday & getting the marine forecast on the radio we set off around the southern edge of Port Underwood to find these elusive caves.

WOW… and what caves they were, huge, and numerous is the best way to describe it. One after another and then another. i will let the pictures do the talking. Some so huge we could fit an entire 2 person sea kayak in there. We also saw some albatross, and of course lots of seals. The coastline was amazing and absolutely no one there. Then to our south the hills that surround our home and the high peaks behind them… our next adventure.

hoping to post more now work has calmed down some. But check out these photos… ENJOY

Yeah i know its been a while, but we are back. No excuse really. Busy with work etc. Have had some school groups that have meant several nighs away at a time. Also some big time discernment going on right now as far as some oportunities that have come my way. Really taking this Easter weekend to stop, discern and hope something will rise up… bad pun i know.

When asked about faith and religion in NZ I often have described it as somewhere between a pagan country and very secular. Relative to living in the South of the USA that is. Sunday is not the day one attends worship here, but rather be with your whanau(Family) and be in the outdoors. That said this week i discovered a big oxymoron as far as NZ goes. Wait for it, i am about to point my finger at my home, the country i love so much. The same level of criticism usually left for the USA.

Its Easter, a Christian celebration, one that is practiced somewhere between 3 days and the whole week, also known as Holy Week. With Friday and Sunday being the 2 big days (the best way i can describe it at least) that said you would you would expect for a country that doesnt acknowledge God too much to not be paying a lot of attention to this very special time of year. Well, not true, as far as the holidays go at least. For most NZers friday is a holiday AND… MONDAY, yes Monday, don’t recall Jesus doing to much special on the Monday after her rose, well i’m sure he did. But being raised from the dead is quite an acheivement, so a rest day on monday might be good for old JC.

Bottom line is this. Its because of the Christian celebration of Easter that NZers get a 4 day weekend. However ask the average NZer to come to church on Sunday and celebrate the resurrection of Christ… You have got to be kidding. I’ll take the 4-day weekend but as far as sitting in a church, forget it. Would be the response of most NZers. The 4 day Easter weekend off is so sacred that the government has laws that fine shops and retailers if they even open on a Friday & Sunday.

Yes, it certainly has, when i look and see when the last time i posted on here was. Icould very easily categorize that time too. And so i will.

Bombs over Blenheim…
i guess i’m thinking of bombs over Baghad. However here in Blenheim we are in the season where the enormous grape harvest is about to be picked. About 79% of NZ’s wine production is here in the Blenheim/Marlborough region. Ripe grapes also means lots of food for birds to eat, and over the years wine growers have adopted numerous ways to keep the pesky birds away. One such is a cannon/artilery gun sound that goes off at regular intervals during the daylight hours. Its not uncommon for each winery to have numerous of these cannons that sit on a pole several meters about the vines. And being surround by wineries means that these cannons are firing quite often. Took me a few days to figure out what they were but now the sound make me sense like i’m in a war zone. The sound isn’t that annoying and life carries on. Speaking of sounds, we are certainly in the burbs’. As we took a nap this afternoon almost certainly we heard the sound of a dog barking, someone hammering away and the all to familar lawn mower. Which of course was the loudest, and had me rolling my eyes at its wonderful timing as i tried to take a quick 20min nap. That same lawn mowers’ timing happily reminded me of Mr. Eddie from camp and his uncanny ability to start the mover &/or leaf blower at the most inconvienient time…haha.

Sea kayaking
I was away on the Sounds for most of the week this ast week sea kayaking. I paddled 4 out of 5 days. Which included a 3 day overnight trip with 5 women who were all good friends and wanted to take a guided paddling trip. They were amazing. The average age was 60, and the oldest was 74. These women did great, each of the 3 days paddling between 4 and 6 hours. We saw lots of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Along with staying in some wonderful lodges at night.

Health…
I finally ran this morning for the 1st time in 13 days. My fall off my mountan bike really set me back. I literally sat for 3 days and did nothing to give it a good opportunity to heal. Kayaking was still quite painful this past week at the beginning but got easier. I didnt realize how badly i had bruised them, especially after i somehow managed to bike home right after i did it. But all good now and really have some catch up to do with some races coming uo that i want to de well in.

Drought…
I try to avoid talking about the weather on here, because that often what many people only talk about. But its REALLY dry here right now. In fact the whole of NZ in bad. The entire North Island has been declared a drought zone. Its the worst drought in 30 years they say. It hasn’t rained here in Blenheim since early February. That said the grape growers are loving it and saying this might be a vintage year. We are supposed to get some later on this weekend and into next week, which also means i will be outdoors hiking and paddling in the rain this week with school groups coming to do outdoor education with us.

Robin is famous…
Its official, Robin is famous. The local newspaper (yes we still have them here) did a story on her today. Mostly accurate… wouldn’t be the media if it was entirely 100% accurate, would it… ouch that was mean
Here is a link to it.
http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/iphone/homepage.aspx#_article49f64aa1-daac-4325-87ad-9ca9eaefcba9/waarticle49f64aa1-daac-4325-87ad-9ca9eaefcba9/49f64aa1-daac-4325-87ad-9ca9eaefcba9//true

And Finally…
Our Stuff… FINALLY arrives this coming week. After 4 delays it will be here in Blenheim at our house by the end of this week. Woo-Hoo. It will feel like Christmas seeing all this stuff again. Also a good lesson on, “Do we really need all that STUFF” after getting by just fine this past few months. That said now many of the fun adventures will really start as many of our toys arrive. Stay posted