Sunday, October 17, 2010

Mountain Biking NE1?

So some new friends asked us to go mountain biking in the beautiful port hills behind our house.  The plan was, girls go first while the guys watch the kids (4 of them).  Girls return and boys head off.  We said yes because why not but then I started to wonder if I was crazy because:

1) the last time I sat on a mountain bike was 15 years ago and I wasn't very good then
2) the mountain bike I had to ride was circa 1995 (to it's credit, it had an old front shock that flexed slightly).  Who needs dual suspension?
3) the trail was rated expert single track and ran along a terrace above a valley with significant double digit drop-offs on one side

The start of the ride was a little rough.  After scaling 100 feet of stairs with my bike and clumsily navigating through a gnarly rutted out single track section with what I deemed to be significant boulders, I thought I was in for it.  I think Emily was trying to be encouraging when she said, "The rest of the trail is no more difficult than this." Gulp!  Well, I'm happy to report we survived, and it was more fun and exhilarating than scary.  The views were amazing and the company supportive and fun--thanks Emily, Chris and Hillary.  What more can you ask for?  I think I might even go again.
Dave on the 2nd ride- 


Scrum on the pitch
Our friends, Rick and Lynn Vandertie, invited us to our first Rugby Match--Canterbury vs Counties Manakau.  Lynn was kind enough to volunteer to watch Ella and Gillian, so we enjoyed a rare evening out together at ami stadium.  The game was lots of fun.  We learned about scrums, tris, crisp passes, and penalties and how to open ketchup containers without splattering our neighbors (oops--a little late on that one).



Ella and Dave feeding the neighborhood donkey, Daniel 
Ella started music class at a church down the road from our house.  Frances the "doorkeeper" greeted us warmly and then informed me there was a waiting list, said they would call me when a spot opened up, and then welcomed us to join class whenever we liked.  New Zealand waiting lists rock--wish preschool admission in SF worked the same way.

Gillian has started to sit up on her own a little bit. She's still smiling like there is no tomorrow and loves to swing with her sister at the playground.




hiking with Gillian : )
Our town of Sumner is in the valley below

Dave and Ella

1 comment:

  1. Giants are in the Worlds Series!!! Last night's infield: Huff/Sanchez/Rent-a-wreck/Uribe and Javier Lopez gets the W! Who are these guys?

    Dave, are you checking flights yet from AKL to SFO?


    Godspeed,

    Cooper T. and family.

    ReplyDelete