BACK IN NZ..........HAPPENINGS!!!..................

Hello all!  Sorry about my lack of posting, - I still felt soooooo frustrated at losing my Thailand post as that was a fantastic holiday!  I THOUGHT if you saved stuff, (such as my blog post every five mins) that I wouldn't lose it!  Hmmmmm.

Now I have been back in NZ, Edendale for three weeks and three days.  I would go and post up a heap of photos and descriptions but have done that on facebook.  :-)  House is BEAUTIFUL, the colours came up better in real life than they did in photos.  I live on the edge of a small town, (Edendale, population of about 580 people) and my section is 1300sqm.  The average size block in NZ towns is a quarter acre, some bigger, not many smaller.  Edendale is located 38km from Invercargill, (NZ's most southern city with a population of about 50000).  Gore, - another rural town of about 8000 people is 26km up the road, - therefore all necessary facilities, (except lotsa warm sun haha) is available close by.  Lots of green grass here haha!  Lots of dairy farms nearby.  Edendale has NZ's biggest cheese factory in town.  A processing Fonterra plant which exports dairy products across the world.

Invercargill and Gore are both known for their sporting facilities with both centres having a large multisport complex, good swimming pools, gyms, sports groups, clubs etc with a good velodrome in Invercargill and iceskating rink in Gore.

I have to say vege gardening is the way to go here!  I am eating lots of them from Mum's tunnel house, (she lives 4.5km away).  She has a big one!  I even cooked and ate beetroot for the first time last night, - was damn good too!  I have planted silverbeet, spinach, spring onions, potatoes in my vege garden, - the birds look to have eaten parts of the silverbeet and spinach but will see how it goes, seems cheap to grow veges, - of course one would need to buy some compost and blood&bone as well as the plants but these seem to go a long way.

The weather is what I expected!  Since returning the best daily high has been 22, (it hit 20 or above twice in 3 ,1/2 weeks) and the coldest daily maximum was 12 degrees, - that day was still 7 degrees at 1.30pm!  YES, this is SUMMER and what summer is here!  Average maximums seem to reach 15-17 degrees, - am craving a bit of scorching relaxing heat, - 30 plus lol!  But I accept that doesn't happen.  Although yesterday only hit 16 degrees I did sit outside reading for a while when the sun came wearing shorts and singlet which I don't think I ever comfortably would have done on the coldest Perth winter day, (which hit about 16).  Quite strong wind is a big part of here along with rain, - sometimes constant rain, - and other times where you get 4 seasons/even 8 seasons in one day!  Night time lows have generally been between about 5 and 12 since I returned.

Training is something I have gotten back into, (10 days ago).  Between the time my 29 day challenge finished, (mid August) and the time I left for Thailand, (mid October), - I did stack on about 8kg.  I didn't weigh myself officially before Thailand but going by my clothes, - they have felt about the same level of *too tight* since.  I weighed in 10 days for first time since mid August, - ouch, - but I expected it!  I went from 76.something straight after that challenge up to 84.4kg Monday last week :-(
The usual, - overeating!  Although Thailand etc was very active I did overeat etc on the leadup to Thailand and thoughts of returning to NZ.  I did hurt my back for a bit, - but then didn't get back into serious butt kicking training.

So have been back to running, (slow slogs outdoors/different climatic conditions to get used to), mountain biking, (my old mountain bike remained in NZ) and resistance work such as pushups, lunges, plank, tricep dips etc.  The steps have been useful on my deck for agility work as well.  But seriously, - am SO unfit compared to what I have been.  My best 5k running time has been 33:20, - a long way off my 26 mins I used to manage!  I have pretty much cleaned up the diet, - only thing is I am having a few more starchy carbs in the evening than I used to when on track.  Such as a boiled or microwaved new potato with skin on alongside the rest of my veg/salad and protein.  (I used to only really have starchy carbs in the evening if I had a big race or training session planned the next day).
But am loving having lots of salad and lean vegies from the garden.  I did weigh in today, 82.5 so 1.9 down in 9 days.  I have been invited to coffee and cake tomoz, - so have to work out ways to balance such stuff out without feeling snobby and declining every offer of cake etc, - but on the other hand not let it turn into a binge and lose training momentum and all else.  I actually find it easier aiming to eat totally clean, say no to cake etc than practise moderation.  But if I get into cake/sugar eating zone, - I have to fight hard not to have it ALL and NOW.  But if I decline what's going constantly, - I just feel fussy, very self absorbed, not open to fitting in with others and that I don't fit in around here, - then create attention!  Cause I have been on track this week, - I was given 3 after dinner mints after a meal out one night by the waitress last Saturday, - and they are still in the fridge as sugar hasn't genuinely interested me at all this week and last!  I have entered a couple of events in the next couple of months, - will update you soon!

Will be working for the family business starting first week of next year.  Horticulture it will be.

Over and out for now but will return very soon!

Pip :-)

LOST THAILAND POST :-(

Sawa Dee Ka! (Hello in Thailand).

Just a quick check in today.  I WAS in the process of writing a huge Thailand post/story/day by day, happenings etc.  I had put over 6 hours of work into it, over a few days.  My goal last night was to finish this post and I had put several timeslots in front of the computer.  I also spent precious time writing travel notes some days while away to go toward this story.  I was saving my work on my blog about every five minutes when typing.

But alas!  I was working last night, on a comfy chair, laptop on the knee, somehow I tilted my laptop while typing and managed to wipe/lose the whole thing while typing.  I cannot find it ANYWHERE.  I never type documents on 'word' as I have never figured out/remembered how to cut/paste stuff.    Talk about being absolutely gutted!  I wanted to f**k*n SCREAM!  Whenever I wipe something accidentally such as an important document, I am sooooo mad and can never make it as good the second time round.  Am contemplating whether to try and re-write this, but just feel frustrated when I lost it the first time!

It was an AWESOME trip.  Packed, energetic, cultural, fun, some pics with descriptions are on FB, - may have to go with that for memories in the future!  I would have preferred it if leaner, (feeling fitter on the trekking, not worrying about clambering in/out of kayaks etc)

Will soon get onto my NZ arrival post!!!  Anyway, will talk soon.

Pip :-)