This is the eve of a very special weekend. Morgan said I could leave work at noon to get to Auckland in time for the supercross race. I’ll be getting fully packed ahead of time to rocket off from the cafe as soon as the clock strikes 12. This post will be short, but I need to write down what I did this week before I forget. I have a hunch that by work Tuesday my memory will be obscured by the weekend’s adventures.
Tuesday: I met chef William at work on Tuesday. He was returning from a 5 week vacation to visit family in China. Solid guy. Looking forward to continuing to work with him. It was quiet in the morning but really picked up when Gary showed up at 10. I ended up working until 3:45 that afternoon which was my longest day so far. At this point I’ve tried most of the menu that I’m not allergic to, but I’d been holding off on the rice and beans. That’s what I’m forced to eat, so why on earth would I have that for my free meal. Well, I finally did. It was good too, but not nearly as interesting as the other food we serve. Worth trying once.
After work I drove up to Blue Lake for my usual walk. There are always people running on the track around the water, and I wanted to see if I could even do it. Back in PE I always had to walk because of a impact-affected knee injury which had fully healed since. My cardio is decent from all the climbing I do, so I figured I’d make out OK. Boy was it hard. I wanted to stop after the first few minutes. Then my circulation caught up and I was alright for a mile. Closer to the end it took serious willpower to keep running, but the feeling of accomplishment at the end was worth the pain from my calves. It came to 3.5 miles with 300 some-odd feet of elevation gain in 32 minutes. Not bad for a first attempt! My inspiration to try this comes from Mike, who makes me want to find out what I don’t know my body is capable of.
Wednesday: Rainy day 😦 I squeezed in a walk around the lake to get my muscles loosened up and the endorphins flowing. Luckily the precipitation held off just long enough for me to make it around. There wasn’t much else to do, so I checked out the third (and final) major grocery store around, new world. They have the only organic chicken in Rotorua, and many of their prices are comparable to Countdown, with similar quality produce.
Thursday: The forecast said it would start raining in the morning and continue all day, but it turned out for the better. I went for my morning walk as usual. The trails were too wet for riding. A local would probably tell you otherwise, but this California boy has standards. Frankly, I was quite homesick and went to Zippy’s to surround myself with people I knew. Around lunch I realized all my food was up at Mike and Kath’s house and I still had business downtown. Gary made me a salad with some greens, cucumber, tomato, and avocado. I topped it off with a can of Louisiana hot sauce. Good improvisation. I was planning to check out the library next, but Gary invited me to come over to his place after work. He showed me a park called the “Tree Trust,” which has some beautiful gardens, fountains, and pathways. It would make for a great place to come read when I have some quiet time to fill. On the way back we stopped at the Polytechnic school’s library to take a look. Gary went to cooking school there, so he knew his way around. Back at his house we watched some Punjabi music videos and hung around for awhile. He and Soma invited me to have dinner with them. The authentic Indian home cooking was a real treat. I was so grateful. I felt really loved.
After dinner I went to the Thursday night market to check it out. I parked behind Bike Culture and ran into the Tagues who had unknowingly parked next to. The market has a bunch of food and crafts, but not much in the way of produce. There was one vendor selling big bags of apples for $2. I didn’t have any cash, but I’ll be back next week for sure. The live music was comforting.
Friday: Kath’s leaving for 6 weeks soon, and we decided I should leave for her and Mike to have some time for the weeks leading up to her departure. I spent the day getting ready to go. After breakfast I started my clothes in the washer and continued weeding the driveway, which I wanted to finish before clearing out. I took a break to hang my clothes out before resuming work. The UV index was 9, and although I was wearing sunscreen, I needed to come in after awhile. I made lunch and caught up on emails/chilled out a bit. Next, I took my bike bag into town to leave at the shop. Then I went back to New World on my way to the trails. It was sunny and gorgeous today, so even though I felt crappy I knew I should ride, especially given next week’s rainy forecast. My legs took forever to warm up. The climbs were strenuous. I descended well and cleared Te Mounga without crashing for the first time in awhile. All of the sudden, the foxgloves are in bloom. Now this place really makes me feel like I’m in Canada. It’s a beautiful nostalgia.
Now that I’ve written all of this I can rest easy knowing I won’t have to recall it all after the weekend. Dayton sent me a text saying he had my pass ready and to text him when I was outside the stadium. Woohoo!
My happiness is a sine wave, and the weather often corresponds to the inflection points.
Anders
My adventure in New Zealand 