Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
February 2008 | Blog home | April 2008
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Last Saturday night I did Nelson's version of the Relay for Life -- a 24-hour walk a thon to raise money for the Cancer Society -- to support my friend Kate and raise money for the NZ version of the Cancer Society, all of which (unlike the States) stays in Nelson.
Also unlike the States, I didn't have to be up for 24 hours. It was a 4pm start on Saturday and ended at 8am Sunday morning. Not too bad. And because I'm a wuss, I spent many 
hours in a hotel room across the street from the event, sleeping in between my walking shifts. Joined, thank goodness, but my hardy walkmates and friends, Kate and Jade (right). What a great idea that hotel room was, for bed and toilet! We were all so glad we bucked up the cash, the best money I've spent in a long time!
I also thought of my other friends, survivors of breast cancer and very important women to me, Vicki and Wendy. I bought luminaries for them for the candlelight ceremony.
Unfortunately, the weather didn't do us any good and the candlelight ceremony had to be moved to a tent, and I was never able to get there to see it.
That's because the rain poured down in bucket-fulls and made the reserve (park) one big mud pit and so the walking track was a mess, a pool in some areas knee deep mud pools. It was not very pleasant, and our tent quickly became a mud fest. The rain, thankfully, eased about the time the sun set, but the damage was done by that point. Sad for our walkmates who slept in a muddy tent, we were dry and warm and so glad.
Our group was named the Disco Divas and the tent was decorated with a disco ball (see above) and the girls dressed up in their 70s garb and then even won a prize for the best party tent, I'm sure due to the fabulous costumes. Many of the costumers were knit by our #1 diva, Rachael, who organised everything from the beginning to the very end.
I was able to manage through the night with about 4 hours sleep, so not too bad. Then I stayed up most of the next day and even went cycling to meet my Bikewise challenge, before crashing hard in bed at around 10pm.
Suffice it to say that next year, I'll make my contribution in the form of a check! But I did raise some money from friends and co-workers and donated myself. It was a good night and the Cancer Society was expecting to raise well into the 6 figures.
Well, Bikewise week ended on 2 March and participants had two days following to get their cycled kilometres logged on the site. I spent a long weekend up walking (see prior blog entry) and managed only a handful of kms on Sunday. I wanted to reach a goal of 250 kms over the 2 weeks and land a top 10 spot among all Nelson City Council employees. It was a tall order, and there were many competitors--including my own husband! As it turned out, I did my part and met both my goals!!
Don cycled his buns off as well, clocking in a whopping 654 kms over the two weeks and securing 2nd place. I did 254 and landed in 9th place. WOO HOO!
Last weekend we got away for Fri/Sat/Sun to Tata Beach in Golden Bay. It was a wonderful weekend in a very teeny tiny place and we'll blog about it shortly. Given all our cycling of late, you might have thought we went there to participate in the World Naked Bike Ride that ended in Pohara, about 5 kms from Tata Beach. Well, guess again. We were not naked upon our bikes, but many others were!
Record numbers bare all for bike ride
Nelson Mail, 10 March 2008
by Hayley Gale (also took photo)
Golden Bay's World Naked Bike Ride has become a tourist attraction.
In one of the biggest turnouts since the event began five years ago, more than 100 people bared their bodies to cycle the 3km along the coast road from Tarakohe to Pohara's Totally Roasted Cafe on Saturday.
Visitors hailing from as far afield as Spain and Canada joined local residents to "reclaim the streets" for bikes. A global event, other Naked Bike Rides took place simultaneously in Brazil, Sydney and Brisbane.
Spectators lined the route, cheering as cyclists went past. None protested against the ride and at least one passing female motorist drove topless, waving to the riders to demonstrate her support.
While many cyclists wore nothing but body paint and helmets, other participants took part in fancy dress, which ranged from a recycled bubble wrap bikini to a full-length purple ball gown.
People of all ages took part, with one "young at heart" participant wearing the slogan "Give Way to Elders". Other body-painted environmental slogans included "Bi-cycle your plastic" and "Burn fat, not oil".
Cyclist Lynnda Moore, from British Columbia, Canada, said riders wanted to send out a clear message which was as applicable in Canada as it was in Golden Bay. "We should be getting out of our cars and start using our bikes," she said.
15 March: Day tramp in the Abel Tasman National ParkOver New Year's we went off to the Abel Tasman National Park for a day and did a quickie tramp and sat on a beach.
See the map I've provided for more info, sorry about the blur but it's taken from a company that does day treks and such so I blurred it out (thank you, Photoshop!).
You can start off toward the Abel Tasman from a few locations: Kaiteriteri (pictured right), which requires a water taxi to take you out there; Marahau, from which you can water taxi or leave on a multi-day tramp; or on the north side of the park beyond Totaranui (which isn't probably due north, but I'm terrible with sense of direction!).
We picked up the water taxi at Kaiteriteri (pictured left) and had them take us all the way to Onetahuti Bay because we planned to walk down to Bark Bay, by-passing Mosquito Bay for what seems like obvious reasons!
Summer at Kaiteri are something all by itself, with caravans parked there for months at a time--and sometimes all year long. The caravan park was chock full on 2 January, probably the worst day of the year to go tramp on the Abel Tasman (we decided after further reflection on the crowds all around that day).
Off we went to Onetahuti mid-morning, luckily our taxi was not very full and we only had to make one or two stops beforehand. This stop (picture left) was at Marahau, a frequent stop, where we picked up a couple of people in the traditional fashion: by tractor dragging them out to us! Too funny to see the tractor thing.
Marahau is very shallow, so when the tide is out, you can walk for days practically to get to water. So, the tractors take the water taxis out to the water with passengers loaded (see 
left) and drop them off when the water is deep enough to take off.
The people in our party were taken out on a tractor trailer of some sort, backed up to where our boat sat, and passengers crossed over to our boat as we treaded water.
Here are some photos of our travels along the way.
Finally we landed at Onetahuti Bay and we de-boated and headed off for our approx 2 hour tramp. I could be exaggerating that, I know it always feels longer than it really is, me not liking tramping at all. 
But a good wife makes sacrifices for a husband who LOVES tramping, right? Right.
We got onto the beach, found the trail, and nearly ran into these baby ducks making a resting place pretty much on the 
path beyond the beach. Not smart ducks! But they were adorable and peaceful, until I watched the next walker stumble off the beach toward the picnic area and nearly crush one of these guys.
We headed up pretty quickly to walk amidst the trees above the water, and had amazing views along the way. Check out these pictures, they almost don't look real, eh!
We passed through a couple of other little bays, of course necessitating that we descend from the terraced track, only to have to go right back up again. 
Blast! I'm not one to dislike physical activity, but I did have a bathing suit on under my clothes and it was very warm that day, couldn't they make this a little more steady!! I jest, of course.
We finally landed at the mouth of a river (I think?) that moves out into Bark Bay, which we had to cross to get to the beach. We found a spot, and proceeded to eat and sit for several more hours, relaxing and swimming alternately.
We picked up our taxi at about 4.30 that day, and got a ride back to Kaiteriteri and drove home. It was a great day, can 
you see Don in the picture below on the edge of the shade? Yes, though you haven't heard from him recently, he still exists! And we'll be going back to Abel Tasman National Park to tramp all of the trails over time. Many people do it all in one trip, taking about 3-4 days, but why rush it! As we say to ourselves, WE LIVE HERE now! :)
Several weeks ago a 33-year old woman attempted to hijack a flight between Blenheim and Christchurch. The flight landed safely, but she was arrested for charges of threatening to kill, possessing an offensive weapon, and taking a dangerous weapon on an aircraft. She had actually stabbed one or both of the pilots, though not fatally.
Since then there has been much talk about what to do about airline safety considering how someone could get onto a flight in small Blenheim and not be checked for weapons. People are in two camps: it's nice to be able to just hop a flight because, for the most part, there are no serious threats. But others think that we should change the safety standards to do away with the potential of any threat at all. I've talked before about what it's like to travel in provincial airports (they don't even check ID at check in, just take your name and mark you off, for one).
From the NZ Herald, 25 February (edited for brevity, and interest):
Pilot safety focus of aviation security upgrade
Security at regional airports will be strengthened by training staff to pay close attention to passengers, Transport Minister Annette King said today. Another measure she announced was that the Civil Aviation Authority has been told to speed up a study on fitting barriers between pilots and passengers on small aircraft.
[The government] will make decisions about whether more extensive and costly measures are needed after a full review of domestic aviation security, which it will receive in late May. "The Government constantly reviews aviation security threats, but following the recent events we think it is prudent to conduct a thorough review."
Ms King said an important issue raised in the report prepared by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Police and Aviation Security was that on-line booking and ticket machines at small airports meant there was "quite minimal" contact with airline and ground staff.
"What's been suggested is that there be further training and heightened awareness of ground staff at the gates so they are actually taking a closer look at passengers boarding planes," she said. "That point of contact is really important. With training, they could be much more alert about passengers entering aircraft."
Ms King said there were problems with fitting flight deck barriers in small planes that carried 19 passengers or less, because there were no cabin staff and the pilots had to see what the passengers were doing. "Just closing the door with no staff is not an option," she said. "Part of the feasibility study will be what sort of barrier passengers couldn't get through."
Aircraft with 20 or more passengers have cabin staff. Ms King said the Government was aware of the need to carefully consider any further measures which would impact on airports and passengers.
"We take airport security very seriously...but we're mindful we ought not to over-react," she said.
Ms King said the risk of a terrorist attack was considered to be "very low indeed" and the risk profile for "opportunistic episodes" like the one on the Blenheim to Christchurch flight had not been changed as a result of the attempted hijacking.
Earlier today National's transport spokesman, Maurice Williamson, told NZPA the Government should be cautious about introducing costly security measures.
He said there should be "safety at reasonable cost" and ministers should not over-react.
Following on the incredible Eliot Spitzer debacle in New York about this man -- once Attorney General and now Governor -- who fought to put away prostitution rings but decided to take part in same said illegal activity on the sly, it's interesting to note that sex work in New Zealand is legal. Isn't it more sane this way, for pete's sake??? C'mon, will prostitution ever stop? Will police really ever clean out cities from sex workers, male or female? I think not, it is as old as time and why don't you just freaking accept it, make it safe for everyone involved just like you license restaurants and bars, and move the f**k on already, puleeze!! You can't legislate morality.
In New Zealand, the Prostitution Reform Act was passed on 25 June 2003 after a three year Parliamentary debate. The Act is designed to:
Under the old laws you could be fined or imprisoned if you:
Among many other aspects of the law,
**Warning** This blog will not be anywhere close to as interesting as the previous one on prostitution - reading that last blog, I might just look to make a bit of extra income and pick up an "operator certificate." 
Anyway, on this 4 day Easter/ Good Friday weekend - I finally have a vague idea what these 2 days commemorate...somewhat interesting but the best part is we get 2 days off work - 
I thought I would reflect back to our last 3 day weekend where we headed out to Tata beach for a bit of rest and relaxation. Angela mentioned this trip briefly in her 10 March blog but I'll supply you with a summary..
An ex-employee of mine let us use this bach for the weekend as a thank you (because I was such a great boss, yes, I get that all the time). Here's a picture of the place and the view from the deck. A nice beach sits just beyond the native brush. 
The beach was even popular with the local horses - unfortunately the beach was also a personal pasture (and toilet) for these horses. 
After we watched one of these horses take a crap on the beach, we decided we wouldn't spend much time there (no biggie since the weather turned a bit the second day).
Rather than kick it at the beach we spent our time on the deck reading, watched a movie (Rocky Balboa - 
not as bad as you would think but bad none-the-less) and took a nice hike to Wainui Falls. The hike was a nice one hour trip that ended in a spectacular waterfall. 
The best part was the suspension bridge as we approached the falls (that and the licorice we brought along). I know this bridge looks like something out of Indiana Jones and with the end not even visible from the other side, we just didn't know what to expect. Of course the fact that this "bridge" was only capable of handling one person at a time we weren't sure if we'd ever make it back.
I really thought the sign should have been larger with a warning like this. I just thought it was cool that you could see right to the river below.
We did survive and got a couple nice pictures of the falls, here's one. So that's about it - Angela finished a couple books and I got through one myself. It's just nice to get away and not have to do any housework or run any errands. Plus, amazing as it might sound, we took the time away from cycling but seems like we should have brought our bikes and participated in the naked ride.
