Breaker Bay (a.k.a. Hurry Up, Summer!)

I know it is a bit strange to go from a post about snowboarding to a post about swimming at the beach, but spring has arrived in Wellington, if not yet up in the mountains. We're being rather picky and hoping for prolonged cold weather in the mountains and a very warm spring in our dear Wellington. So far, we seem to be doing well with both.

It is not, in actual fact, warm enough for us to contemplate swimming at the beach (although I'm sure some people are, and perhaps have been all winter), but I'm getting excited for warm weather!

These pictures are actually from last summer, from a completely glorious afternoon J and I spent at Breaker Bay, which is on the other side of Wellington. It must have happened during a particularly busy period when I had lots of other exciting things to share, because somehow it never earned a post. But I decided it would be a good way to welcome/encourage a beautiful spring.

We passed this just before we got to Breaker Bay, and I don't know if it belongs to someone or how it came to be here, but isn't it stunning? This is one of my current favourite vistas!

We strolled along towards Breaker Bay to find a good place to swim. Towards the left in the picture you can see a rock with a dark spot on it - that's actually a tunnel, which we walked through, and then where we swam is just on the other side.

We swam in our wetsuits, because even in summer, the ocean is freezing. I was freezing despite my wetsuit, and even J was a bit chilly. Meanwhile, there are people all around us swimming without wetsuits and not seeming cold at all! Wow!

Anyway, I was freezing, so after I peeled off my wetsuit, J buried me in the sunwarmed sand, and it was glorious. It baked me right back to toasty warm.

Oh yes, here is that tunnel through the rock I mentioned. It's quite a cool formation. We ended our afternoon at the beach when J announced he was hungry and headed off to find food immediately. I can't remember where we ate, but food after working up an appetite with swimming and sun is always the best.

And here is the tunnel from the other side. I think that is so beautiful and fascinating!

So, in summary, I'm ready for beach season again.

Also, we moved into a much nicer house this week, and so my plan is to share pictures of it in my next post, by which time we should be all unpacked and have it organized the way we'd like it. Moving has been unusually stressful (which is perhaps another prompt for my desire for time at the beach), but we are over the hump now and ready to enjoy our new house.

Snowboarding Videos

For my birthday last week, J gave me the wonderful present of a GoPro camera. I proceeded to attach it to my snowboarding helmet and to have a fabulous time recording our exploits on the mountain this weekend. It was less fun trying to figure out to upload them and then remembering that Blogger has still not figured out how to let me post videos. But anyway, several are ready now, so I thought I'd share them with you (by linking you to Facebook, which will allow me to post videos).

#1 - Magically clear track all the way down (on Mount Turoa) https://www.facebook.com/emma.l.mercier/videos/pcb.10156631957434395/10156631939274395/?type=3&theater
This almost never happens, as the slopes are usually very busy, so this was a special treat.

#2 - Big crash (on Mount Turoa)
https://www.facebook.com/emma.l.mercier/videos/pcb.10156631957434395/10156631955514395/?type=3&theater
I only had one crash this weekend, due to my increased balance. However, due to my increased confidence, the rare crashes I do have are more dramatic. No injuries from this one, but I was dizzy for a moment, and you'll see that I had to check my GoPro and clean my sunglasses, which got a bit wet as the snow hit my face.

#3 - Following J (on Mount Whakapapa)
https://www.facebook.com/emma.l.mercier/videos/pcb.10156631957434395/10156631956934395/?type=3&theater
All these videos are from my perspective, of course, but the focus of this one is J, of course. Doesn't he do a great job? We have similar skills in many ways, I just do everything faster than he does, as he tends to be more careful and focused on avoiding falls.

#4 - Last ride of the day (on Mount Whakapapa)
https://www.facebook.com/emma.l.mercier/videos/pcb.10156631957434395/10156631941614395/?type=3&theater
I went a bit faster than usual on this run, because I was cutting it a little close to catch the shuttle down the mountain. But it was super fun.

Hopefully these videos are fun. It's a bit weird watching them from my perspective, since you can't see me actually snowboarding (although sometimes you can see my shadow, which is cool), and they're very bumpy, especially on the icier parts, but still, they're kind of exciting. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

64 Trees

Since my last post, about being very busy snowboarding, we have not gone snowboarding, because instead, I've been busy trying to heal my shoulder after a bicycle crash. Which, to be clear, is way less fun than snowboarding. I have been trying to rest it, and have kept it in a sling for two weeks, but it's not really getting better, so I'm off to the doctor tomorrow to see what I should do. In the meantime, I will limit my typing today, as it aggravates my shoulder for some reason.

This amazingly beautiful creation was given to me by one of my children and her family, when she turned five and went to school this week. It was made by her grandfather, who likes to collect and classify wood from trees around NZ. There are 64 different trees represented in this chessboard, if you can believe it! I think it is stunning almost beyond belief, and can't believe such a precious gift was given to me! It was their intention, and is mine, that I will share it with the children and use it as a teaching tool, but I will also treasure it personally. I feel so honoured when families share such meaningful things with me.

I'm hoping you'll be able to read this; they thoughtfully included a chart to show which type of wood is which. Most of them have beautiful Māori names. I haven't had much of a chance to study them yet, but I fully intend to, and will hopefully write a post at some point with what I've learned.

Please do let me know if you can't read the names, and I'll try to figure out a better way to share them.

I'm going to go back to resting my shoulder and reading. Cross your fingers for good news from the doctor tomorrow!