We went out to Piha, a surf beach about 45min out of the city, for Josh's birthday (far right). His girlfriend Jess (middle R) and I are really good friends and she is just wonderful. Dave (behind me) is just Dave...I live with both these boys and have Jess over as much as possible to mix things up in the flat. We are in the process of finding a new flatmate but its not easy with us all being so busy with activitites to be home at the same time. So far...no luck :(
Recently I have been rock climbing as a team building/reward with work. It was so much fun and I seriously surprised myself with how well I was able to do. Only myself and my yoga instructor, Nikki, were able to get up this wall because you had to spread out and use the wall as well the the foot/hand holds to get up it. CRAZY! Nikki is the one in the group picture climbing up the wall with me. I take her iyengar yoga class every monday and wednesday night. It is more alignment and perfecting your poses so you are able to do other types of yoga correctly and be able to have better posture and skeletal system in your every day life. I, believe it or not, love it! Three hours a week is sometimes not enough for me so I try to squeeze in some Bikram or original yoga as well.On Tuesdays I play touch (rugby) with a couple girls from work. It is a tough game because I am so use to being ahead of the ball and this game you have to be behind it. I feel like I am being lazy but thats just the way to play the game! It is a workout though and I am running solid for 30 minutes with is more then i was doing a few weeks ago.
I am also going paddle boarding. It is so cool and a real workout! I love being out on the water and there is no better way right now then stand-up paddle boarding. We rent the boards and head out on the water for about a hour. It is a major workout because you need all of your balance and then paddling against the current and the wind to get somewhere. In the bottom picture, Cassy (a fabulous girl from Billings, Montana) and I made it around the bouy that was 200m from shore. It doesn't sound bad but it was rough and the wind was fighting us the whole time. Today, Kat and I went out and it was a real struggle to get back in. I ended up paddling ahead of her then going back to get her all the time. My arms right now are refusing to type (but I will prevail!!). When we finished our paddle the guide told me that I should be competing if it was only my second time and I was such a strong paddler. I thought I owed that to canoe races on Halgrave Lake (Jenna xx). I doubt that I will start that next week but I really do love it and the water isn't that cold if I fall in :)
Work is going really well otherwise. I am working hard to move up the ladder so I can get my visa renewed but there is no confirmation on that. I am now planning on moving to Australia (Perth) if my visa doesn't come through for NZ. It is unbelievable that a year is quickly coming up and I have been home for 3 weeks.
Please know that I miss you all of course and I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and warm. Sending you all the sunshine New Zealand has to offer,
Please know that I miss you all of course and I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and warm. Sending you all the sunshine New Zealand has to offer,
Much love xx
