Maddy is famous

Recently, a friendly photographer we know, who specialises in pet photography, granted us a wish and came down to do a photo shoot with Maddy.

If you don't know, Maddy has suffered from a heart murmur for a few years. This has now got to the stage that she needs drugs to help her heart work properly. She rattles with the amount of pills she takes.

We're on borrowed time. So we were desperate for Tara to do the shoot. And our wish was granted.

The resulting photos are gorgeous, and we can't pick a fave. But I sent a selection to our local paper for their "Pet of the Day" spot. And today she's the star.

It is all the more timely because we thought we might have to make *that* decision on Tuesday. Thankfully the vet has changed up the drug concoction (again) and she seems to be responding well.

We've bought a little more time... But it's only a matter of time...

A new line of work for Annalie

Annalie has a new trade. In line with her new fitness status, she's trained to be a Group Power instructor. For those who don't know it, it's a gym class focused on using a weighted bar bell, working through different muscle groups to hone and tone.



She's been doing these classes for around 15 years - either Group Power or Body Pump (they're much of a muchness). So when she saw a poster at her gym asking for new instructors, she leaped at the chance. An "audition" was passed and she was accepted on to the gym's in house training programme. 



Three months later, she was let loose on her own. And now she's got three classes a week she calls her own.



For a taster of what she teaches, take a look at this...

Sky on fire

We've been treated to some amazing sunsets since we've been back in Welly. They are quite a common occurrence and really look like the sky is on fire. It is a truly special place to see the sun go down. Here's a couple of views from our house this week.

Dogs on tour

We think Maddy enjoys coming with us but it's hard to tell for sure. Now she's a bit poorly, we can't take her for huge long walks with us so she doesn't get out and about as much as we'd like her to.

But she gets to hang out with us still, and as she doesn't get car sick, she copes will with the travelling.

Here's a couple of shots of her from the trip, although admittedly not that many!

Nature's own beach spa

The following day was a visit to nature's own beach spa. Hot Water Beach is so named because it sits above some hot springs that we're left over from some volcanic activity many years ago.

The guide books tell you to simply head for the beach with a spade in hand and dig yourself your own little hot pool. It's not quite that easy, as the water from the springs doesn't cover the whole beach.

But armed with some guidance from some more experienced visitors, we soon had a fab little pool developed that had a great balance of both hot and cold water coming through. Unlike some of the neighbouring pools where only hot water was contained. Do hot it burnt your feet if you stood in it!

A couple of hours of soaking, and getting sand where you shouldn't ever get sand, the sun started to heat up meaning that the spa was even uncomfortable from a temperature perspective.

But what a unique phenomenon! It is a must visit. But get there early. It's an absolute zoo as low tide approaches.

A scenic cove

The first stop in Hahei was to aim for Cathedral Cove. This required us to find a parking spot and walk about 40 minutes.

Because the area is a reserve, dogs aren't allowed, so we were concerned not leave Maddy for too long. Especially as the weather was improving.

The downside was the car park for the cove is small and many people park up to spend the day at the beach there.

We tried when we first got to Hahei, but to no avail. There were just no cars moving. Stop we went for a walk on Hahei beach and went for some lunch.

We wanted to give it one more try and lucked out. We managed to nab a spot as someone left.

The walk to the cove didn't afford much on the way of views, but was still a nice stretch. And upon descending into the cove, the spectacle of nature isn't obvious. But then you find it. And you realise why it's probably one of the most photographed beaches in the country.

A trip to a NZ icon

After some rough weather and torrential rain that flooded some campgrounds the day before, we headed to the East coast of the Coromandel peninsula to visit some iconic destinations that usually adorn travel guides for this country.

We bad ourselves at a campsite just outside Hahei, keeping us within shorty driving distance of the main sites yet still allowing us to stay, considering we had Maddy with us. Many campsites forbid dogs in the height of summer so we have to do our best to find dog friendly sites.

We managed to get based at a campground belonging to a bird and animal park, which seemed a strange place to be dog friendly. But we were relieved to get somewhere.

It did mean that Maddy had some interesting neighbours to "observe"

The other Pacific Coast Highway

Heading around the Coromandel peninsula, the road is known as the Pacific Coast Highway. Considering we've driven the US version, and been wowed by it, we went sure what to expect.

The weather was staring to close in and we knew we were going to get rain, but it made for a slightly moody look to the sky!
It certainly wasn't quite as wow as the California highway, but it was still quite picturesque.

First stop, a familiar name

Our actual first stop was Auckland to visit friends and drop off a surfboard with them.

But when it came to hitting the road to the Coromandel, a vague plan had to be formed.

Armed with the NZMCA Travel Directory, we looked up an good place for a first venture onto the peninsular.

It looked like Thames would work for us. A perusal of local sites led us to a simple but cheap place right in the heart of the town.

An old WW1 memorial, set high up on a hill gives a great vantage point to look out over the Firth of Thames and across to the Auckland coastline across the way. As well as the town itself. What there is of it!

And we're off

So it's that time of year again when New Zealand breaks up and goes on holiday. And we're no different. With a week and a half off, it's the ideal time for us to make the most of the van.

This time we're off to the Coromandel, a popular holiday destination near Auckland.

Maddy assumes her usual position in the van while we're driving. We think she enjoys coming with us but it's hard to know for sure! We'd like to think she'd rather come with us than be left behind or at kennels!

She'll be coming round the mountain...

It seems that Annalie is seeking different ways to challenge herself physically as she continues running. So when a friend asked for volunteers to take part in the Taranaki Round the Mountain Relay, Annalie jumped at the chance.

The 150km circumference of Mt Egmont/Taranaki is split into 21 legs of various length and gradient. You just need at least nine other people to split the running with you. Not only that but the race starts at 2.30am! So you have to be a little bit mad, or keen.

Perhaps Annalie is a bit of the former, agreeing to run the maximum three legs for the team.

She travelled up on the camper, the perfect support vehicle. With Ian working, that left room for our friend Dave to tag along. He used to run lots, before home ownership took over! But we knew he'd still be a secret weapon!

Annalie's first leg was number 5 and the start time we'd estimated was 6am. As we carbed up on pasta on the Friday night, we were told that the runner on leg 4 was super fast, so Dave and Annalie guessed it could be more like a 5.30 start. But we would get a text when the previous runner set off.

We stayed out in Stratford as it was just 5kms from Annalie's first start. She got a text at 4.50 to say Adam was off and running, so we got set to be at the start by 5.20. As it happened, she started her run at 5.36, nearly a full half hour ahead of schedule.

As this 5.1km run was in the dark, she needed to wear a headlamp and a rear light too. The good thing about running so early was she couldn't see the long straight road ahead. Because there's nothing worse!

Having 2 legs and 14.6kms still to go, Annalie didn't want to push it too hard so early. Still she ran faster than she intended and made up 3 minutes on her forecast time.

She had a 40 minute break while another runner completed the next leg, then she set off on her round 2, leg 7 and another 5.2kms. She managed to pass two other runners on the leg and maintained a similar pace to her first, conscious of the 9.4km leg still to come.

She was passing on to Dave after both her latter legs, and his encouragement towards the end, along with that of the rest of our team, spurred her on at the finish. Another 3 minutes gained.

This time her break was more like 1.5 hours. She took on some fuel and water to ensure there was plenty in the tank and hydration in the legs. Then all too quickly it was off again, this time on her longest, and what turned out to be her hilliest leg.

Plus, it was another dead straight road, which is mentally challenging when your route just stretches before you!

Dave perched at the halfway point to provide some more water and encouragement. But she felt strong and powered on. Despite having already run 10kms, she ran her fastest pace of 5:16 per km. Her next goal is a repeat of her first half marathon at Round the Bays, and she's gunning for a time of 1h 50. If she can maintain the pace from her last mountain leg, she should do it.

Tagging Dave again, Annalie then became part of the all important support crew, leap frogging around the rest of the course, dishing out encouragement and water.

We joined up as a team 70m from the finish line to cross it together, with Dave leading the way on the last leg. We completed the course in 14 hours and 30 minutes. We were 44th out of 50. But that didn't matter. We'd all entered it to challenge ourselves and just to say we'd done it. And what a fab event it was.

For Annalie, the best part was running as a team. It's a great feeling to have support driving you on when your feeling fatigued or you can see your leg stretch out in front of you, but you can't see the end of it in the distance! We could be back next year!

Back on the ladder

Today we became property owners once again. We completed, or settled as it's known here, on the house we've been living in for nearly three years!

It's not often you get to test drive a house before you live in it. And while it's not perfect, it ticks a vast number of boxes for us.

But it also marks the longest we've lived at the same address for. I think the previous record was held by our house in Derby, where we lived for 2 years and 8 months. We've been here 3 months longer than that already and have more to come.

So instead of paying off someone else's mortgage with rent, we're now paying off our own. Hello big debt once again. It was nice without you for a while!

Collecting personal bests

This week has seen a collection of running personal bests coming Annalie's way.

On Sunday she'd decided to pop over to Masterton in the Wairarapa to take part in a 10k race. It was only her second at this distance so she was confident that she'd beat her original time.

Her colleague is an experienced triathlete so she had a personalised plan written. It was only for three weeks, so rather a lot shorter than a proper plan would be, but it was something to focus on.

Although going in rested, Annalie made the fatal mistake of not taking her camelback and getting a bit dehydrated (it was hotter over there than in Welly). But she still achieved her goal of being in the 51s. Just. The watch said 55 seconds. But the official time was 59.

The second PB came on Tuesday night. Annalie had never taken part in the Waterfront 5k, mainly due to it clashing with football. But this week she was roped into it for work, promising to be running mate for the CE.

Turns out he didn't need it, as he flew off. But Annalie was determined to beat her Parkrun best of 24:41. She's been trying to surpass that each week but to no avail, getting within 5 seconds but not close enough.

The waterfront event is a faster course so she thought she'd be in with a good chance of beating out. With a few people to focus on, she was able to push herself through and shave a whopping 32 seconds off! The watch was off again, this time it was 4 seconds over. She was obviously too glad to finish to stop her watch in time!

The PBs just get harder to achieve now though. But it's probably back to half marathon training now. Round the Bays is looming in February. And there's a PB to beat there too :-)

From one extreme to another -adventures in hiring cars!

We had only pre-booked a hire car in Maui, but decided to rent one for a day in Honolulu too so that we could go shopping. We won't bore you with that post but it was a success!

Our on-the-spot rental in Honolulu was the cheapest option, but still cost a bit. Still, we managed to get a funky little Fiat 500 to run around in (and mainly to annoy our friends Jo and Tony who like them!).

Our pre-booked option on Maui was a similarly cheap option, however Annalie was given the chance to upgrade for a small fee. As Ian wasn't with her, she decided to surprise him with her choice...

What's S'UP Waikiki?

For this trip, we decided to try our hand at stand-up paddleboarding (S'UP!). After all, it's much easier falling off into warmer water!

We have been very lucky with the weather being stunning and very warm, so we've been glad to get on the water. Despite his surfing background, Ian lost the learning race to Annalie, who was off like a rabbit.

But Annalie managed to get better photos of Ian, capturing the Diamond Head landmark in the background.

Day two was slightly more choppy with both of us spending more time in the water than day one. But it could be something we persevere with. Only with wetsuits rather than shorts and bikini. The Cook Strait isn't quite so forgiving!

Wish you were here!