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As you've seen from previous posts, we've been getting clobbered to death with some rough wintertime weather. Well finally a change of tune. Today was one of those rare days where the fury of mother nature subsided just long enough for the surf and wind direction to come together. Titahi Bay is not known for its awe-inspiring surf by any stretch of the imagination, but today was quite fun. I'm still on the upswing in recovering from my knee injury back in December, so this was just right for getting out and testing out the ol' left paw. It eventually got crowded (by New Zealand standards) and there was even a bit of vibe in the water. All in all, no major complaints...except for some goatboaters.
I also ran into Luke, an Aussie friend that Bobby and I had met on previous occasions out in the Wairarapa. He'd also been off the surfing radar for some time due to a repeat blow out of his knee. He had done in his ACL some time back but then reinjured it and had to get yet another ACL reconstruction. We surfed together for a bit and then decided to do a joint surf mission to Paekakariki in hopes of getting some good surf with no one around. Strong winds with too much south in it spoiled it, so we decided to give it a miss.
The following photos were snapped just before I paddled out. Nothing epic, but fun nevertheless. Click on each photo for a larger image.
In all the time I've been in New Zealand, I've seen some pretty chilly days. I mean, yeah, I've had a few of those cold-enough-to-see-my-breath kinds of days, but this morning threw me for a loop. I had to be up early to go train some subjects in my study. Now bear in mind the sun doesn't come up til after 7am or so, so imagine my surprise when I got in my car this morning and went to wipe away what I thought was morning dew on the windscreen. All I heard was a crusty scraping sound as the wiper blades grinded across what turned out to be frost! Ironically, all other windows were covered in liquid dew, but the windscreen bore the brunt of it. I was running a few minutes behind so I had to look for something to scrape off the ice. Nothing. I haven't touched an ice scraper since I lived on the east coast in the early 90s. I was able to get the car heated up quickly which then melted the ice, but it was still a little rough seeing out of only part of the windscreen whilst the remainder defrosted.
I think Noah must have conjured up the idea to build an ark whilst on holiday in New Zealand. Sure, we're all about clean and green in this part of the world. It rains hard and frequently enough that dust and dirt don't have a chance to settle on anything. And well, I think the green part you can figure out for yourself. These photos were taken on two separate days from my bedroom window. Scarcer a place you'd rather be when the sun is shining in a cloudless NZ sky(photo on left). But come the gale forced onshore southerlies off of Antarctica and rain blasting in sideways (photo on right), well, that Air New Zealand package to the islands doesn't sound so expensive after all! Click on each photo for a larger image. See video on left.
Bob once told me one time that doing a PhD is the most isolating experience I'll ever do. Now that I'm neck deep in the thick of it, he was right. Very right. And although there is a social component to the work I'm doing with the participants, the isolation really hits hard during those long hours when I'm either glued to the computer or stuck in the office on a late Friday or Saturday night doing some sort of menial (albeit necessary) grunt work. However, I was deeply humbled by Bob's orchestration of putting together a birthday dinner for me. It offered a welcome respite from everything and gave me a chance to just "be" for a little while. Thank you all for making my birthday special and memorable!!
While I confess Titahi Bay seldom turns on the goods in the surf department, I can't complain about the natural beauty it has on offer on a regular basis. There were microscopic knee to waist high remnant of a windswell and not enough to entice me into the water. Instead I took a run up to the top of the hill this evening and, like usual, I brought my camera to capture some of those special moments.
As you've seen from previous posts, we've been getting clobbered to death with some rough wintertime weather. Well finally a change of tune. Today was one of those rare days where the fury of mother nature subsided just long enough for the surf and wind direction to come together. Titahi Bay is not known for its awe-inspiring surf by any stretch of the imagination, but today was quite fun. I'm still on the upswing in recovering from my knee injury back in December, so this was just right for getting out and testing out the ol' left paw. It eventually got crowded (by New Zealand standards) and there was even a bit of vibe in the water. All in all, no major complaints...except for some goatboaters.
I also ran into Luke, an Aussie friend that Bobby and I had met on previous occasions out in the Wairarapa. He'd also been off the surfing radar for some time due to a repeat blow out of his knee. He had done in his ACL some time back but then reinjured it and had to get yet another ACL reconstruction. We surfed together for a bit and then decided to do a joint surf mission to Paekakariki in hopes of getting some good surf with no one around. Strong winds with too much south in it spoiled it, so we decided to give it a miss.
