Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park

Drum roll, please.... We have Internet! Yay for technology going back to making our lives easier!

We have actually had it for a couple days now, but I have been focused on preparing for a rather intense and involved interview, which I had this morning. I don't want to go into any details about it, as I am firmly trying not to get my hopes up too high, but please cross your fingers that I get the job!

I have been coping with unemployment pretty well lately, after a rather hard few days after I didn't get the first job I applied for in Wellington. As you may well remember, I detest being unemployed, because I miss teaching so much and can't stand not contributing. But I am keeping busy with lots of productive things and maintaining tight control over my thoughts, so as not to let them spiral into unhelpful themes.

One thing I have enjoyed doing over the past couple weeks is walking and biking in Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park. You can see it in the beautiful views from our house, and one entryway into it is about 15 steps from our door. Pretty lucky, we think!

The park was created for the dual purposes of providing mountain bike trails to Wellingtonians and of supporting native animals and plants. There are many kinds of native birds, trees, and insects in the park, and they are thriving under the continued support of the City Government and many volunteers. They have to work hard to keep pests such as rats, stoats, goats, and destructive plants out of the area, but they are obviously succeeding, because it is pristine and beautiful in there.

Some parts of the trails are out in the open...

... and some are through these beautiful wooded areas.

There are some paths that are big enough for 4-wheelers, but I have yet to see one out there.

This is part of the "Skills Area" where people with much more skill on a bike and disregard for the sanctity of their bones than I will ever have practice all kinds of amazing tricks.

I love these wooded paths, but if you get up any speed, it's easy to not be able to see what's coming quickly enough to avoid it, so I'm being very careful. As I get to know the trails better, I'll go faster, but I'm not interested in crashing!

Even on the "easy" trails, which are all I've done on my bike, there are hairpin turns where you are expected to ride up on the slanted side in order to maintain your speed while turning 180 degrees. I don't think of myself as a hesitant person, but I do these turns at a crawl compared to other people on these trails! I'm sure I'll build up some speed, but I don't think I'll ever lean over nearly as far as they do!

J and I are planning to hike to the summit of Makara Peak sometime, but haven't gotten there yet. We've been told that the views are absolutely stunning, and that you can see Wellington Harbour, which seems like a long way to me. We want to wait for an crystal clear day so that we can take full advantage of the view.