Gym...

There are gyms in New Zealand.  Mostly smaller gyms, I believe I have seen "Anytime Fitness".  Certainly nothing like LifeTime or Xsport.  Plenty of personal trainer type offerings.

Below are a couple shots of a group training class.  It's the type of training my last trainer, Nick, would enjoy to do and teach.  The people were on some type of circuit... it's explained more/more pics at their website.

If you can't make out the pics, there is 1 person between the cars using the big heavy ropes (upper body/full body, move the ropes in patterns); 1 guy in shorts with a sledge hammer about to go at it on a big tractor tire (or tyre as they spell it here); and 1 lady in a white tanktop kicking and stepping on another big tractor tire.  I believe they work at each station for about 30 seconds, a whistle blows, and they change to next station.  I have also seen several of the class members doing crab-like crawling on the grass out front.  I walk by this place on my way to work.  The gyms are not large buildings like in the US, but they make better use of the outdoors.  They've also advertised classes wherein the participants run up the hills & mountains nearby.

A good morning workout needs a good sunset at the end of the day:

No, I have not joined a gym.  It's all I can do to walk the 1+ mile to work Mon-Fri, and sometimes walk it home.  But I have started jogging some... slowly... but it would still be categorized as jogging :-)  
I am surprised the jogging has gone well since my hips and knees don't always cooperate (having tortured them enough carrying too much weight for too long).   All my daily walking must surely have helped prepare my body parts for jogging.

I will try to keep up the jogging habit but it sure rains a lot here ... not exactly easy to go jogging in the rain especially when you need glasses to see.  Jogging in the rain might actually be enjoyable IF you didn't need glasses.

Enjoy your New Years resolutions, long may they last.

Cruisin...

The next time I watched a cruise ship leave, I watched from the nearby wharf (perhaps more of a large dock).
It is very interesting how the big ships leave port.  Usually 1 or 2 tugboats rope on and pull the ship straight out SIDEWAYS.  yes, sideways to pull it out into the harbor a bit before the tugs assist in spinning the ship to aim it out into the harbor...

the tugs assist well into the bay ...

the tugs let the ship go as they near Mount Maunganui which is at the entrance of the bay (on the other side is the pacific ocean).

 

The Mount is really quite large.  It is a heck of a workout to get to the top...

and it gives you a really good perspective of how massive these cruise ships are.  and yet the ships sail silently and smoothly out of the bay...

amazing.

Thanksgiving

Hi all,
Yes, it is almost Christmas and I am posting about my last weekend in November, well, technically it was also the first weekend in December so I'm getting closer to current :-)

Also, there is no concept of Thanksgiving here (makes sense, it is US history, not world).  No turkey, no stuffing.  Well actually, those do exist but they don't have a special holiday.

The beginning of December is well into spring here so a warm adventure was called for.  My friend had some free time so he took me on a drive along the coast.  It was a day of beautiful sights - beaches and ocean and towns and sunshine all day.

Even the moose and friends came along:

and there was time to enjoy my first New Zealand ice cream.  A popsicle type on a stick, but with jelly on the top/tip.  Sounds strange doesn't it?

It's called a "Jelly Tip".  It is vanilla ice cream on a stick, with a section of raspberry jelly at the top, all coated in chocolate.  I did not like the idea of jelly and ice cream, but it was not like Jello, it was more of a jelly one would put on toast.  It was surprisingly yummy and had a great raspberry taste.
Here is a closer picture of a "Jelly Tip"

Much like the US, we do have Christmas decorations, specifically the kind you find on street poles/lights.  What would be more appropriate here in summer/Christmas time than a surfing Santa theme:

It looks like it will be a "Beach Boys" style Christmas, eh?

The Ships are Coming.... The Ships are Coming

It is summer and the cruise ships are coming and going.  I watched my first cruise ship depart in early November.

The ship in port....

going...

going...

gone... around the mountain...

The size of the ships is amazing.  They are huge but move so swiftly in the water.  More photos to come, there are plenty more cruise arrivals/departures.

Moosie wants to go on a cruise, says he's ready to hit the sun deck:

December... but... Halloween

Boy oh boy, procrastination is not a good thing most of the time. 
I put off updating the blog, thinking that I have to get organized and send a pile of printed entries to mom & dad via snail mail, and yet, i keep taking pictures which then don't get posted because I am looking for an appropriate 'cut-off' point to do a print for mom and dad.... so the pictures pile up and eventually ... well... it's a vicious circle isn't it?

So here we are in December already and I am giving you my one and only shot from Halloween.  Halloween is not a big deal here but I did see some influence creeping in.  They do have a less commercialized holiday on November 5 called  Guy Fawkes Day which is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.  I didn't see or stay up for any bonfires (probably something monitored by the police for safety sake) but I may have heard some fireworks going off.  Not sure if New Zealand has a big fireworks day like the US July 4th.

Anyway, back to Halloween.  While it's a big event in the US, it's not so much here although it is picking up some steam from immigrants and of course kids loving candy.

The most excitement I had on Halloween was watching a bit of news coverage that showed Halloween gaining ground.  The below picture is my only Halloween shot....  full moon from my front door balcony as I left for work that day.  The building in the shot is the hotel next door and the mountain in the distance is Mount Maunganui (aka 'the mount').

Happy late Halloween.

 

Old Car Show

On a Saturday at the end of October (weekend before Halloween), there was an old car show on the main drag.  They shut down the street and all these cool cars were on display.  My brothers would have loved it.  I think mom & dad would have too.  They'd probably have some good stories to tell about old cars.  I took a lot of pics to share with family back home....

coming back down the other side of the street....

a side street had motorcycles and other old cars like this woody...

back to finish off the main drag...

and a little something from Minnesota of all places :-)  ...