Hello All!
Hope things are all going well with everyone back home and wherever else this letter may find you. I finally have to stop gloating about the gorgeous weather we've been having here because it's started up with strong winds and lashing rain. I honestly thought it was going to break thru our living room window it was coming down so hard the other day! But at least it's not snowing... :P
Last weekend my friend Laura and I went to Paraparaumu and Kapiti Island, which are about an hour south of Palmy on the way to Wellington. Kapiti is a wildlife reserve for the native and endangered birds of New Zealand, and all rodents and mammals have been eradicated from the island. They even check your bag before you board the boat for any rodents that may have snuck their way in. We said to the guy, "Well we'd be pretty upset if you found a rat had taken up residence in one of our bags!" We made the 521m, very steep trek up to the top of the mountain stopping along the way to watch the birds and also catch our breath! My favourite bird on the island was the weka, which is a ground bird about the size of a chicken. It roots around in the leaves and dirt for food, and is really really friendly. It will come up to you and steal just about anything it can get its little beak on, including cell phones, lipglosses, tramping gear, you name it. We were reaching our fingers out to one of them and it bit Laura. Hehe. The next day we just spent at Paraparaumu Beach, which was so nice and relaxing, then headed back to Palmy.
The next day, Sunday, I went with my friends Jackie and Rachel and did a triathlon in Fielding. Jackie and I entered as a team, with me doing the 350m swim to start, then the 4km run at the end, and her doing the 12km bike in between. We came in with a final time of 58:59, so just under an hour, which I was pretty stoked with considering I hadn't spent too much time training. Today we did another tri again in Fielding. We did it separately and I completed the 3km run, 12km bike, 300m in just barely over 1hr (1hr 35s)....just gotta be quicker in those transitions! It was absolutely pelting down rain, almost hailing at one point, and we could literally feel the wind shoving us around down one of the stretches...yikes! And then there was the part where I almost got run over in one of the roundabouts. But overall it was so awesome!
Yesterday we had a St. Pattys day bbq at our flat. My flatmate Luca made up the invitation, and it features the four of us wearing an assortment of St. Pattys style hats drawn on, proclaiming that the Ashford Ave Avengers we're holding a flatwarming/bbq. It was really fun and well attended by a variety of people, Americans, Canadians, Swiss, and of course Kiwis. We went out to the Celtic pub after that and enjoy some dancing, music, and general Irish good humour. Lots o' fun...but so hard to get up this morning for the tri! Good thing it was daylight savings for us last night.
Next weekend we're renting a car and going on a biking wine/cidery/brewery/chocolate factory tour in Napier/Hawkes Bay when Jess is here visiting. The weekend after that will probably be Taupo and the Tongariro crossing, then it'll be reading break! Gosh time flies when you're having fun eh.
I'm also headed off to Australia for reading break for 2.5 weeks in April to travel with my friend from home Andrea, and her other friend who's visiting from Vancouver. We're most likely going to be heading up the E. Coast from Sydney. I'll be happy to get back into the sun again, and am so stoked for the Great Barrier Reef.
I think that's all for now. We're off to the SPCA to get another cat because Bob (our cat now) has been chewing up telephone cables, scones, collar, sponge cake, and had been getting into the garbage....we figure he just needs a friend.
So, e-mail me with all your exciting newses! I love hearing from you guys. Oh, and the address I sent out before was incorrect, I forgot the postal code and area which are Manawatu, 5301. Stuff still seems to get here either way tho, so it's all good.
Take care and miss you guys!
Cheers, Jill
P.S. Oh yes, there are pictures posted on Facebook, and for those of you who don't facebook, I will try to put more up here soon. I keep forgetting to bring my camera along tho!
P.P.S. We got our new kitten! She's a silver tabby, 10mos, and as yet is nameless. But so cute!!! Really spunky, and hisses at Bob everytime he comes and tries to make friends with her.
