Stephen Fry sparked a bit of outrage recently when he complained about the state of broadband in NZ on Twitter. Here, in a rather extended blog piece, he rants quite a lot about the influence he appears to have developed on Twitter and is incredulous about why that is so.
But about half-way down, he goes on to talk about what NZ has to be proud of and appreciate. Have to say, quite a lot of this resonated here.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Going round the bays
Late last year, Annalie signed up for the annual Wellington 7km "fun run", so named "Round the Bays" because it hugs the coastline from the city centre, round to Kilbirnie, taking in the likes of Oriental Bay and Evans Bay along the way. This would be the longest distance she'd ever run, having only ever done the 5km Race for Life events in the UK before.
So she duly set about training and even managed a few runs while in the UK over Christmas.
With two weeks left to go, Ian won a free race entry himself, but he had done no training whatsoever to this point. Cue a mad scramble to get at least a few runs in before the 26th February run.
And so race day came. We were desperately hoping that the wind, which has been showing its strength a lot over summer, was not on show. Or if it was, that it was a northerly, considering that our general direction was heading south. View a map of the route here.
Luckily for us, it turned into a still morning with bright blue skies. A perfect day for the run.
Our friends Toby and Jo gave us a lift to the start and watched us get increasingly nervous. Us and 12,000 other people! The event sold out for the fist time in its history. We like to think it's because people heard we were taking part for the first time ;-)
To give you an idea of the size of the event, here's some photos of the start.
Despite his lack of training, Ian surged past a lot of people early on to get in the clear while Annalie maintained a steady pace throughout the race. Ian was intent on beating 60 minutes and Annalie had a goal of 45 based on her training.
We'll leave the race results to tell their own story. You can see the stats for Ian and Annalie individually, including where they finished and where they were percentage-wise. There are also photos of Ian and Annalie online.
It was a good event all round and gave us both something to think about/aim for next year. Although there is now talk of a potential half marathon appearance...
So she duly set about training and even managed a few runs while in the UK over Christmas.
With two weeks left to go, Ian won a free race entry himself, but he had done no training whatsoever to this point. Cue a mad scramble to get at least a few runs in before the 26th February run.
And so race day came. We were desperately hoping that the wind, which has been showing its strength a lot over summer, was not on show. Or if it was, that it was a northerly, considering that our general direction was heading south. View a map of the route here.
Luckily for us, it turned into a still morning with bright blue skies. A perfect day for the run.
Our friends Toby and Jo gave us a lift to the start and watched us get increasingly nervous. Us and 12,000 other people! The event sold out for the fist time in its history. We like to think it's because people heard we were taking part for the first time ;-)
To give you an idea of the size of the event, here's some photos of the start.
Despite his lack of training, Ian surged past a lot of people early on to get in the clear while Annalie maintained a steady pace throughout the race. Ian was intent on beating 60 minutes and Annalie had a goal of 45 based on her training.
We'll leave the race results to tell their own story. You can see the stats for Ian and Annalie individually, including where they finished and where they were percentage-wise. There are also photos of Ian and Annalie online.
It was a good event all round and gave us both something to think about/aim for next year. Although there is now talk of a potential half marathon appearance...
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Half way round the world
Even half way round the world, some things remain the same.
Like fish and chips eaten from paper wrapping. Still unbeatable thousands of miles from home.
But the view whilst eating those fish and chips might differ somewhat. This was our view the other night, just down the road from Island Bay.
Like fish and chips eaten from paper wrapping. Still unbeatable thousands of miles from home.
But the view whilst eating those fish and chips might differ somewhat. This was our view the other night, just down the road from Island Bay.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A tight squeeze
Our camper was a supposed 4-berth, with an additional "mezzanine" level where 2 adults can allegedly sleep.
It's obviously not designed for Annalie-and-Ian-sized adults though...judging by the tight fit for just one of us!
It's obviously not designed for Annalie-and-Ian-sized adults though...judging by the tight fit for just one of us!
Our weekend "vanning"
So we headed up north after picking up our campervan on Friday. Auckland is a good 8-hour drive so we broke the journey up with stops in Taupo and Rotorua.
We had most time in Taupo and had an intention of visiting Huka Prawn Farm again. We went here on our holiday to NZ in '09 for a bit of fishing. Annalie won that time 2-0 so Ian was keen to redress the balance.
Ian won 4-2 on this occasion, but he 'stole' this monster from Annalie, who'd spotted his claws lurking in the shallows!
The drive up from Rotorua to Auckland took us through Matamata, otherwise known as the home of Hobbiton, for all you LOTR fans ;-)
We had most time in Taupo and had an intention of visiting Huka Prawn Farm again. We went here on our holiday to NZ in '09 for a bit of fishing. Annalie won that time 2-0 so Ian was keen to redress the balance.
Ian won 4-2 on this occasion, but he 'stole' this monster from Annalie, who'd spotted his claws lurking in the shallows!
The drive up from Rotorua to Auckland took us through Matamata, otherwise known as the home of Hobbiton, for all you LOTR fans ;-)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Our home for the weekend
We're currently considering buying a campervan. We loved it on our holiday here and reckon we'd get out an see so much more of the country if we had one. And we wouldn't have to worry about Maddy as she'd be able to ride shotgun and sleep on the floor.
So we're test driving this weekend. Much like the car trips we've done before, there are free one-way campers available too. So we snagged one to take from Wellington to Auckland, via Taupo and Rotorua.
Say hello to our house for the weekend.
So we're test driving this weekend. Much like the car trips we've done before, there are free one-way campers available too. So we snagged one to take from Wellington to Auckland, via Taupo and Rotorua.
Say hello to our house for the weekend.
The blogger
Annalie has recently been offered the chance to become published in the PR world following an offer to be the Antipodean Correspondent for the new blog, PR Examples.
She has been in touch with the guy who founded the blog over the years to contribute to his weekly "Good and Bad PR" column a few times, so he thought of her when looking for someone to cover the Australasian end of the world for the new blog.
So today she is a published PR blogger! Isn't that exciting?!
She has been in touch with the guy who founded the blog over the years to contribute to his weekly "Good and Bad PR" column a few times, so he thought of her when looking for someone to cover the Australasian end of the world for the new blog.
So today she is a published PR blogger! Isn't that exciting?!
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