Update

P spent last week at horse camp and loved every minute of it:

I went to horse camp it was fun!!
On the first day I went to see the horse magic show.
These are the people who trained all of the horses from The Lord Of The Rings.
I got to see and pet Shadowfax Gandalf's horse.

And on the second day we went on a treasure hunt on our horses.
My horse is Kenny. I cantered for the first time.
It was fun except Kenny almost bucked me off.

We had a disco party!!! the music was way loud though
but it was fun.

Today we had a Gymkhana and I won first place in jumping,
and another first place because Kenny was the prettiest
there (grooming skills).

Camp was so much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

B skippered a sailing race. He and his crew can be seen in the boat on the far left.

I finally got my registration and will begin working next week! We are shifting (moving), yet again. This time to the burbs. I feel like we just moved and here we are at it again! P started her new, new school this week and we move in Friday! Wish y'all were help to help! Bring your trucks and dollies!

A Sailing Update: The Winter Series, Fast! Furious!

As I have posted on in the past, I've taken up sailing and sailboat racing since moving to NZ. It's been a while since I posted on the races so here's a pictorial update from the fast! and furious! action last Sunday from the racing vessel Hot Prospect.

The competition astern, while not unheard of, is too rare. This seems to be Casco, a comparably sized boat just behind us after a good start. It was a rare westerly and the start was downwind. With 25-35 knot winds and storm conditions predicted the course was kept in the inner harbour. The reality was much more pleasant - 10-15 knots with calm seas and sun. This is the winter series in Auckland. Light jacket weather.




Here's the fast! and furious! crew making a hummus and brie sandwich (not to mention the documentarian). Who's sailing this boat?


This boat, Flojo, takes this rather seriously (and wins the A division, mind you, on gun). Here they are gybing the spinnaker and taking a flyer in hopes of riding the ebbing tide and a reaching course to an advantage. It didn't work. Nonetheless I'll note that they were the fastest boat on the day regardless.

Oracle and crew, I believe, as they passed us. Note the lack of sandwiches.

The Bl**k B**ch.

The crew of the Hot Prospect around the same time, note the presence of fast! and furious! racing stances coupled with hummus and brie sandwiches.

Here's wintertime Auckland. It goes from downright partly cloudy with rain to partly cloudy with rain. The monster (upper left, obviously headed to Remuera for an attack) in the photo did not factor into the race results.


And so it goes: that spot of antifouling on the rudder might well have been mine. Alas.


We were 2nd to last on line and last on handicap. Which means... Progress! We're clearly not the slowest boat around anymore! Right on! I'll also note that Flojo was not at the awards drinking "Lion Red" as were we, the fast! and furious! crew of the racing boat Hot Prospect.

White Rim Blues

As some of you might remember, I (B) used to bike a lot. Quite a lot, in fact. Compared to my merely daily biking now I was fanatical. I wrote a (true) story about one of my more harrowing rides and got it published in DirtRag, a highly respectable biking magazine (also true). An excerpt is in Issue #136 and the entire story and a photo I took was also published on their website. Cool!