Our Kiwi Christmas

Season's greetings!

It's so hard to believe that 10 months have passed since we moved to Christchurch, and now here we are celebrating Christmas in summer! Not having a clue what that entails, we asked Kiwis how they celebrate Christmas. More than one person told us that they spend it on the beach... hmmmm...I think I could handle that.

So here we are, Jon, me, Tatum and Sammy, on the west coast by a beach on the Tasman Sea, which separates New Zealand from Australia. To be clear though, we didn't need to drive 3 1/2 hours to the west coast to find a beach. We could have gone to the one at the end of our street. But the cool thing about having Christmas in the summer is that you can combine summer vacation with Christmas holidays. That's made all the easier because the University's closed from Dec. 21st - Jan. 3rd. CLOSED! And if that weren't enough, Jon's office is closed as well. That we both had time off at the same time was quite a new concept for us, but one that we could definitely handle.

Before leaving Christchurch though, we decorated our Christmas tree, i.e. the bush outside our front door with the welcome duck under it, naturally.

Then, we loaded up the dogs, bags, food, etc., and climbed into my little Yaris and headed westward.

All of the visitors that we've had, have visited the west coast and then reported back to us on how amazing it was going through the Southern Alps. I have to say though that my favourite description comes from our friend, Andy, who put it something like this: "We'd go around one corner and OMG, there'd be incredible views with crystal blue lakes and snow-capped mountains, and then we'd turn another corner and it would be OMG! More amazing views! And then we'd turn another corner, and it was OMG! And then we'd turn another corner and it was like ... are you f****ing kidding me?????, this is crazy!!" And yeah, it was pretty much like that.

Just past Arthur's Pass (the half way point), the eco-system suddenly changed. While the mountains  on our side of the mountains are relatively bare, on the west side they were suddenly lush with thick green vegetation. I regret not taking pictures but were we too anxious to get to where we were going and didn't want to stop. Next time...

On the west cost, we stayed at the Charles Court Motel, just south of Greymouth. From traveling in the US and Canada, most family-run small motels harken back to an earlier era, sometimes good sometimes not so good. Our experience with motels in NZ has been quite different and this one was even better than the last. It was modern, with a jacuzzi (didn't use), a kitchen with dishes/pots/pans/silverware (used to make Xmas dinner), a hot tub (definitely used), and best of all, it was pet-friendly. Sammy and Tatum were especially happy since they got to sleep in the big bed!

The motel was just a short walk to the beach which Sammy and Tatum loved to explore. The beach by the motel was full of smooth flat stones though north of the city,  there were miles and miles of sandy beaches. And like the one shown below, we could often have the whole beach to ourselves.

Sammy & Tatum by the Tasman Sea

On December 24th, we drove about a half an hour north to Punakaiki conservation areas to see the famous pancake rocks and do a bit of tramping (read: hiking). The drive was wow-inspiring as we followed the road along the coast with emerald blue water to the left and mountains padded in layers of green on the right (again, pictures next time :). As we found out though, dogs aren't allowed in the conservation areas, not surprisingly, so we opted instead to have a picnic on the beach. Hence, our official 2012 Happy Holidays photo!

The next day, Christmas day, Jon and I ventured back to Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks and walk the Truman Track.  Andy's words would again do justice to the scenery: "are you f****ing kidding me?????, this is crazy!!

Here's the evidence.

Jon on the Truman Track

A border of flax and ferns

Pancake rocks

Truman Track

After three warm sun-filled days, we headed back home. Despite the clouds and cooler weather, the drive back through the mountains was just as wow-inspiring.

The only thing that would have made the holiday better would have been to have our big kid, Zachary, along with us. Next time... :)

From our home to yours, we wish you a joyful, safe and healthy 2013.

If you had a shipping container, what would you do?

If you had a shipping container, what would you do?

You could store it in a yard with hundreds of other containers like these on Port Hills Road
 in Christchurch.

Or, you could do what we did: fill it with all of your belongings and let it travel for two months 

on a boat from Columbus, Ohio to Christchurch, NZ.

It turns out that this is a pretty boring use of a shipping container.

 Who knew that there are so many other things that they can be used for.  For example, they can serve as effective fences to block off entry to buildings that have been damaged by boulders jiggled loose by earthquakes.

 In this case, it is the former administrative office for the tunnel that connects Heathcote and Lyttleton.

Speaking of blocking things, you could also pile shipping containers on top of each other.  In this way, they serve as (hopefully) effective blockades for falling rocks.

The road that runs from Christchurch to the beach town of Sumner is flanked on one side by the Pacific and on the other side cliffs. 

Unfortunately, some of the cliffs gave way during the earthquakes sending rocks (and some homes, see below) tumbling down. Shipping containers have been piled two high between the cliffs and road as a safety measure. The shipping containers look so small because, of course, the cliffs are so high and steep.

 

In their natural state, shipping containers are not particularly attractive, especially when you have lots of them lining your roads. So why not turn them into an art gallery?



Design them, paint them or .... cover them in a handmade quilt! Who'd have thought that one could use a shipping container as a place to display quilts? In Sumner, there is amazing knitted/crocheted quilt artistry draping one of the shipping containers positioned to break rock falls onto the main road.



Other functions, you ask? Well, shipping containers have a lot of space inside that can be filled with whatever you want, not just personal items to ship around the world.  So, you could turn a shipping container into a fish and chip shop, like this one in Sumner. The hotel (backpacker) behind it is closed due to earthquake damage.

You could also turn it into a very cool espresso bar like the Upshot in Heathcote.

Or, if you had a few shipping containers, you could paint them red and turn them into a pub,
like the Port Hole in Lyttleton.

Or if you felt really inspired, you could create a whole mini-city out of shipping containers! 

Witness downtown Christchurch where a container mall has sprung up as a temporary replacement for the many buildings destroyed by the earthquakes.

If you had a shipping container, what would you do?

My Life as a Community Hockey Manager

Life as a Community Hockey Manager is one where I never seem to be surprised because in the world of six degrees of separation, everything that I never thought would be in my current job description is something I've done before.

Starting with our office situation. For the first two months of my job we had two floors of an office space around the corner from the primary turfs in Christchurch that we had on a month-to-month lease. On September 23 we were told that the property manager had someone who wanted to lease the space long term and we needed to be out by the end of the month. Half the office moved to a smaller unit. The other half has been relocated to a trailer on the site of the fields for the next two months. The situation is temporary. We actually have our old offices that were at Porrit Park (which is where the brunt of the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes hit). The land will never be built on again, but the building is intact and they'll load it up and bring it by truck by the end of December.

Let me tell you about our trailer. It’s been kindly donated to us by the folks at Just Hockey (THANKS!!!) and it’s really nice. And cozy. The trailer (affectionately known as Nunweek Suites) houses the offices of Planning and Development Manager, the director of Hockey Academy South as well as the Community Manager and all their equipment. Cozy. On the plus side, the weather has been spectacular and it’s pretty cool when your offices are between two turfs and you can park next to your office.

Now, a little about my job. Representative hockey is huge in New Zealand and in the world of youth rep hockey we're currently hosting the Hatch Cup, the boys primary (under 13) provincial tournament. This is the first age group that regional teams compete in and there are 24 teams from
around the country competing. This is the first tournament Christchurch has hosted since the quakes and the first time that a lot of teams from around the country have actually been in the city to see where we are as we recover. Many of the teams have gone down to Porrit to see the damage and where the city is in the rebuild process and it's pretty impressive.

Nunweek Pavilion

I got to my office/trailer on Monday and was told all hands are on deck to get ready for the tournament. Nunweek Park is our primary turf and has two sand-filled (what they call wet-dressed here) fields. It was once a grass facility with an old pavilion that has been expanded over the years so that there are two turfs and a third one that will be done by Christmas.

Monday was spent converting old goals into football/soccer style dugoutswith tarps laid over the top, back and sides. We have a groundskeeper who is a nice enough guy, but high tech and him are two words that have never been used in the same sentence. Where in the modern world cable ties are the easy, efficient fix to securing things (plastic zips), we have buckets of old pieces of hemp rope that are used to tie everything. After an hour of watching this go on, I suggested a trip to our equivalent of Home Depot (Mitre Mega 10) and bought zip ties and got black nylon cord. He watched me work for about twenty minutes and then walked away. I was very competent and was left to do nets for the day.

Tuesday was opening ceremonies and I was brought back to the days of Futures Tournaments and Buckeye All-American Camps. Last minute choreography, whoever is closest does what needs to be done. Hatch Cup is a tournament of traditions and one of the first comes with opening ceremonies, ribbon swapping. Each of the teams exchanges 24 ribbons (one for everyone on the team) with the other team, so effectively each team brings 24 bags of ribbons and gets one from each of the other teams. Sounds simple enough but throw in the fact that it’s 13 year old boys and nothing is as simple as it sounds. Four days after the opening ceremonies teams were still trying to get their ribbons sorted out.

Opening ceremonies

Tradition two is the Supporters Award. At Hatch Cup there is an award to the province with the best supporters. Being a good supporter means positively encouraging your child’s team and being a positive influence around the field. It also includes costumes. Not every supporter comes in costume, but significant groups of parents at least wear something that contains provincial colours. A common motif is coloured wig and hats. For Wairarapi that means green wigs and red bowlers. Folks look like Oompah-Loompahs. Wairarapi wins the supporters award hands down. With colours being Green and red, these people go nuts. Middle age men dressed as Christmas trees (notice I say men, meaning multiple), Robin Hood (complete with matching tights and boots), and assorted other variations on the themes. Some of the team’s supporters are into it more than others, but it provides a great perspective for all, especially as you realize this is the first time some of these players have been out of their province and that it’s about the traditions and the experience.

On the hockey front, it's been amazing watching the level of skill by 13 year-old boys. Canterbury (my boys) is in the finals against North Harbour. For Canterbury to reach the finals is huge, they beat Auckland in the Semis. Auckland is our Michigan.

More on déjà vu and Buckeye Dayz. Tournament hosts are expected to provide a Kookaburra game ball for each game. No ball boys, just one ball for the game. The field is surrounded by fencing so not having ball people isn't a huge thing but finding a white ball is. Sand filled turfs will turn a white ball green by the end of a match and after three days of hockey, all our Kooks were green. Sound familiar?

Once again, previous life experience comes in handy. Deja vu from my Spring break adventures in Columbus after winter hockey. As I'm getting ready to leave Friday afternoon the tournament director, who is our Association board president and is this sweet old lady who has to be at least several kids’ grandmother asks if I can help, we need white balls for the remaining games and she has this bucket of at least 30 dirty balls soaking. In comes Community Hockey Manager, yours truly. On the really good news, I can know tell you there is a product that is amazing for cleaning called Chemico (hopefully it's not toxic). Take a scouring pad and a good dose of Chemico (it's a pink paste) and scrub away and in 5 minutes you can get a Kook mostly white.

Saturday afternoon is the finals, North Harbour versus Canterbury and it’s pouring rain sideways. Welcome to Christchurch. I still don’t know whether their called Southerlies, Westerlies or whatever, all I know is when they roll in (and it’s usually within an hour of the sky going ominously dark) prepare to be cold and wet. 12n the sun was out, by 2pm the third place game had to be suspended because of flooding on the pitch and the final was moved to Nunweek 1. Blown over dugouts had to be uprighted and tables organized for the trophy presentations/closing ceremonies. Can you say Community Hockey Manager?

Once everything was set up, both teams played an awesome final. Canterbury had most of the play but couldn’t score and the teams were tied 0-0 after regulation and extra-time. The game savvy, composure and execution by 13 year-old boys was totally impressive. Canterbury won the stroke off 3-1, but only after North Harbour put two strokes off the post. And I had the best seats in the house, front row, ten meters to the side behind the goal. Just another day at the office.

Hatch final

I've had some brilliant coaching opportunities here in spite of the fact that this is not my primary responsibility. My role as Community Hockey Manager is to service all the regional hockey associations in the Canterbury Province which includes West Coast, South Canterbury and
Mid Canterbury. A high performance academy has also been set up for the province and the guy in charge is Chris Leslie the women's under 21 national team coach and an assistant for the senior women's team. He's asked me to run goalkeeper training for the keepers in the Academy and
it's been alot of fun. I'm working with a group of five, three men and two women, our Senior guy has been invited to trial for the expanded men's senior squad, my club keeper has been invited to the women's senior goalkeeper squad, one of the other guys just got back from national u-21 squad trials and u-18 squad trials are going on right now and we have a boy and a girl at them.I had asked Chris for more information about the NZ style of goalkeeping and the big highlight for me was that he arranged for me to go up to Auckland as an observer at the women's Black Sticks goalkeeper camp. Mark Hagar and Greg Nichols (the two primary coaches) were there and Helen Clark (who played for the team as a keeper in the 2004 Olympics) ran the camp. I went there completely with the mindset of learning and after about a half an hour of observing, I asked Mark a question about something they were emphasizing in stance. He was awesome, he considered it and gave a well thought-out answer.

He and Greg are completely hands-on. Both were international forwards but obviously know a lot about keeping from the scoring perspective. Greg actually played goal for two years in his 20's so he could get a better understanding of the position. Bottom line, we started talking and Mark said to me, "we don't pretend to be experts about goalkeeping and I'm welcome to provide any input."  There were ten keepers at the camp and it was run over a weekend. By the Sunday, I was working with some of the group. There is a second weekend that I'll be going to at the end of the month and I'm working on presenting a think piece for the coaching staff about elements of ice hockey goalkeeping that are applicable to hockey.

Community Hockey Manager is about development and that’s been a lot of work, but good work. I’m learning how clubs and communities and those entrusted to them work. I’m learning the processes involved in securing funding and those sources. I’m learning how to present to groups. Now I’m starting to see some of the rewards. We’re getting funding, we have schools signing up for Small Sticks. I’m speaking to club presidents and learning their issues because a third of their club members left Christchurch post-earthquake. How do we get more people playing hockey? It’s funny, I think I’ve had half my life to get ready for this job and I can’t think of a better place to be. Life is good….

Company Car - Play Hockey!

August Showers Bring September Flowers

Spring has sprung in Christchurch! The blossoms are everywhere, as are the sweet smells.

Particularly impressive are the towering rhododendrons. If they don't call them trees here, as opposed to bushes, they definitely should.

This rhododendron is about as tall as a two story building and the blossoms look like 

the puffy kleenex flowers we used to make to go on cars at weddings.

Here are some more photos I took while out for walks around home and on campus.  Unfortunately, I just had the camera on my phone so the photos aren't as good as they could be. I'll have to start walking around with my camera in my backpack! 

I'm not familiar with the plants above but I definitely recognize the azaleas below. 

I think Kiwis must sneak plant steroids into the soil. :)

 

Below is a row of (what I believe are) cherry blossoms, lining the road that 

runs next to Hagley Park in the center of the city.

Next blog: My first kayaking adventure in New Zealand. 

(Hint: It was amazing. :)

Mary had a little lamb, fries and a coke

Here are some more additions to my list of observations that now make up my new normal:

- there are no squirrels for the dogs to chase, and no coyotes to get the dogs

- McDonalds serves lamb burgers. Their most recent ad: "Mary had a little lamb, fries and a coke." Very, very clever.

- campus wear is *not* mostly jeans, especially for female students who dress very individualistically. While most individualism is quite stylish, it can also be just individualistic. Example: The 25-30ish year old staff member who gave me a tutorial on how to use the online student management system was dressed in a new dress that was somewhat of a cross between a square dance dress and a traditional German dress, but with lacing on the back. It was quite lovely and very unique.

- some folks walk around barefoot (or in the winter, in flipflops)

- style, even in college administration, is less conservative. Example: one of the 30ish year old staff members in the dean's office has her hair died very bright pink.

- the water from the tap is the best water I've ever tasted, and it's free.

- prepositions can differ from what I'm used to. Example: 1. "Just give a call and we can talk on what's needed." ( I'd say 'talk *about* what's needed'). 2. Sign on bus: "Not on service" (I'd say 'not *in* service')

- I have even more of an accent now than I did when I lived in the States (not that the way I speak has necessarily changed much :)

Cheers,
Beth

For your amusement (from Jon)

It's been quite a bit of time between entries and it's not that anything hasn't happened, there just hasn't been time to write.  That, and I'm lazy.

One of the highlights for me in the interim has been a guest appearance in the Canterbury Premier Hockey League.  One of my big hopes in coming to New Zealand was to find a hockey (field hockey here) club to play for.  While I have found a coaching job, I've been hard pressed to find a team to play with.  During one of the recent university holidays I got an e-mail from my American colleague Todd Robinson to tell me that their goalkeeper was going to be away for the weekend and their replacement wouldn't be back on a flight until after their upcoming game on the Saturday.  He asked if I was interested and my thought ran along the lines of "Does a bear s**t in the woods?"  Of course I was interested.  Able, is another matter.

As I've previously written, I've had a huge issue with my feet (plantar faciatis) so I won't even pretend to be fit.  As a goalkeeper, not a huge thing, but from a comfort perspective being fit helps.  I've been standing in goal with my girls for training when we don't have a keeper but it's not the same as playing against Premier men.  The week of my premier debut I had an opportunity to train with the University Men's club before the match and I don't know what they thought when I turned up.  Part one was probably relief because the other option was to have a field player dress up and stand in goal (something no one wanted to do) but part two must have been, "WTH, where have we got this guy from?"

After a few minutes of adjusting to ball speed, I started to get comfortable and it helped that the boys were being sympathetic.  Eventually things moved on to full tilt and I know I'm not a kid anymore, but I felt pretty good.  I got a good workout in and then got ready for our big game against High School Old Boys.  University is a fairly strong club and Old Boys have had a tough season so on paper we should have been fine.  I allowed an early goal off a corner, a drag flick that I tried to do too much on my save and ended up putting one to the inside of the post and into the goal as opposed to out of bounds.  That was the extent of what I had to do in the first half as we ended the half trailing 1-0.  Mercifully we got a goal early in the second half and while I only had two more touches, we got a second and won 2-1.  Not quite a Hollywood story, but a lot of fun.

Winter is coming to an end and Summer Hockey is soon to start.  Summer is Master's hockey season and while I don't know that I'm a master, I'm certainly masters aged (over 35).  I'm looking forward to playing.  53 going on 15; I just need to remind my body.

Cheers,

Jon

A day trip through the mountains

I've been itching to get out of the city. I'm in the middle of a two week break between terms so the opportunity is definitely there. I've been working on a paper which I'm dying to get done so it's tough to determine what I need more: to get the paper done or to get out of town. The sunshine this morning provided the answer. The pups and I were heading west to the mountains.

We got underway around 10:30 a.m. The idea was to drive to Arthur's Pass, about a 2 hour drive, do some hiking, and then head back to Christchurch. A wonderful thing about driving west is that the car's windshield frames the snow-capped Alps the whole time. It didn't seem to be too long before we were in the foothills. Sammy and Tatum hung out in the back seat, their quiet cooperation encouraged from time to time with bits of carrots.

About an hour out we passed amazing rock formations jutting from the mountains at Castle Hill. I just looked it up on the web to understand what it is that I saw. Apparently they are "water eroded remnants of limestone formed during the Oligocene age 30-40 million years ago when much of present day New Zealand was covered by the sea." (http://www.castlehill.net.nz/castlehill/castlehill.php). It looked like a spot I'd like to discover without the kids, so we continued on our route.

As we continued westward, I was on the lookout for dog-friendly paths. Many of the ones I saw were wildlife reserves so dogs were not allowed (understandably) but there was a good candidate near Broken River, which we would come back to.  First, however, the driver needed  lunch.  Unfortunately, the road to the west coast is not very populated. It winds up and around mountains, and over lakes and basins. There are few buildings, let alone gas stations or cafes. There are several opportunities to turn off the road and head towards ski areas but "we" decided to stay on the main road until something presented itself.

And it did. The historic Bealey Hotel/Backpackers/Bistro/Cafe/Family Bar. *Family* bar????? hmmm... That aside, I have to say that the historic venue was a bit underwhelming. Neighbour Jeff described it as a "has-been" and I'd have to agree that it's probably seen better days. Nonetheless, the cook made me a good sandwich which I enjoyed while admiring the scenery.

From there we headed back to Broken River. The sign on the gate said that entry was prohibited in November and December because of sheep and cattle grazing. But it's August so the kids squeezed between the chain-link fence gates, and I climbed over. From there, the kids were off leash and we were all free to explore!! The landscape here and throughout the mountains/valleys is a really interesting mixture of alpine and desert: there are evergreens but also lots of tall grasses and other vegetation that I could imagine seeing in a desert. Broken River proved fascinating. (By the way, they must have fixed it; the river looked fine.)

Back in Christchurch, I have two pups sprawled out exhausted on the couch while I watch the All Blacks vs. the Wallabies.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. It looks like working on that paper may just have to wait until Monday. :)

Cheers,
Beth

The New Normal

Not sure I can believe it but this week is our six month anniversary of living in New Zealand.  It's been interesting to notice how things that seemed so new six months ago, just seem normal now. Here are some examples:

- I look over my right shoulder when I cross the street.
- If the 'r' in 'Kia Ora' isn't pronounced as a flap, it sounds weird.
- The weather is warmer in the north.
- When taking the dogs for a walk in the upper reserve, I need to be careful not to step in sheep poop.
- Saturday morning means going to the other side of the hill to Lyttleton Market for fresh fruits, veggies and bread.
- Weekly hikes along the Banks Peninsula involve evaluating coves as potential kayak launching sites.
- Buildings that existed last week, may have been demolished by this week.
- Most cyclists are super conscious about being seen; lime green high visibility clothing and backpack covers are everywhere.
- When a bread recipe calls for flour, you don't use a measuring cup; you weigh it.
- Noon is a good time to call folks back home.
- I know what experiencing a mild winter really means.
- The weather report goes from north to south so I can ignore the first part.
- The recycling bin is bigger than the garbage bin.
- PVC = College Dean, VC = University President
- When they say 'hockey', they mean 'field hockey'.
-  Going for a walk usually involves climbing hills.
- Compost is picked up every week but garbage and recycling alternate every other week.
-  On a clear day, you can see the Alps on the other side of the country out the living room window.
-  Excellent and inexpensive sauvignon blanc is easy to come by.
-  If you want to hear American news, NPR streams well online.
-  El Paso refried beans are priced as an exotic food.
-  What you see is what you pay: taxes and gratuities are included in the listed price.
-  I'll know the words, but need to turn to Wikipedia to understand the phrases, e.g. "It quickly turned to custard" (no custard is involved).
- You can always negotiate a price.
- You watch "American Idol" a day late, but "The Voice, Australia" live.
- The All Blacks vs. the Wallabies is like OSU vs. Michigan (though OSU really needs a haka).

And that's a taste of the new normal. :)

Cheers,
Beth

Akaroa hike pictures

Here are some additional pictures from the hike in Akaroa, thanks to Darcy Rose. 

Right below is one showing the jetski-powered above-the-water ride. It was pretty amazing to watch!

A view of the pier.

Walking up the trail.

A view from near the top.

Darcy, visiting from Colorado, and Beth.

Happenings

Last weekend: Had a great day trip with two visiting students, Darcy (Colorado) and Dan (Arizona). First stop: Lyttleton's Saturday morning market to pick up fruits, veggies, fresh fish, and most importantly, picnic supplies. Next stop: Akaroa, about 1 1/2 hours from Christchurch to go hiking/tramping.

First things first though: a winter picnic. We had quite a feast on our table-clothed picnic table (not to mention cloth serviettes!).  What was really amazing though is that while we were sitting there, a scene that will probably be in a future James Bond movie was taking place. There was a person driving a Jetski and coming out of it was a thick hose that powered a space-like contraption that raised another person upright out of the water into the air. I'm hopeless at describing this and definitely need to get one of Darcy's or Dan's pictures to illustrate. Next blog, I hope!  I really felt like I was in a dream as I watched this so I think I also need to see the picture to prove to myself that I actually saw what I think I saw.

Next up: hiking. We got information about a hike that would take about 3 hours. Perfect since it would get us back home in time to walk the dogs. Heading through town to the start of the trail, it became apparent that Dan had a keen eye for identifying potentially misinterpretable signs, e.g. the sign saying 'waterfront' pointed towards the hill even though the beach was 6 steps away in the opposite direction. (Turns out the sign is for the route that cars need to take. :) We passed another one put up by some kind soul encouraging folks to enjoy their garden.

And then there was the garden of eclectic art with, among other things, lots of old boots overflowing with plants.

Then it was to the trail and a good three+ hour hike up and down the hill. First exclamation at the top of the hill: you can get here by car!!! Yeah, but then I wouldn't have been able to sleep in until 11 a.m. the next morning to let my poor muscles re-energize. :)

As for walking Sammy and Tatum when we got back...thanks, Darcy and Dan!

----

Another hike today: Tatum, Sammy and I headed up our street and followed Mount Pleasant Road up, up, up to Summit Road which goes along the top of the hills and gives wonderful views of the ocean, hills and valleys. Along the way, we passed lots of sheep who stared at us with great wonder. The one in the picture below wouldn't let us out of his/her sight.

Then there were the cows. This time is was Sammy and Tatum who were staring. They sat on the safe side of the fence and just watched. An older gentleman walked by on his way down the hill and smiled at the pups, and then told me about his two dogs that he would walk up the hills; one was 13 now and found it a bit tough. They too enjoyed watching the sheep and at home, they sat and stared at the birds. The cat, who unfortunately didn't survive much past the earthquakes despite being 20 years old and blind, wasn't much interested in birds. Then he continued down the hill.

 

Other sightings: hardy cyclists plugging their way up the hill; invigorated cyclists speeding down the other way; skate-boarders crouched low on their boards trying to coax as much from gravity as possible as they zoomed down the hill.

Next adventure: Navigating my way down our road (brakes on all the way), through the city and to the university tomorrow on my bike.

Cheers,
Beth

Going home

I'm sitting on our deck in Mount Pleasant, Christchurch with the sun beaming down on me. It's so beautifully warm; I have to remind myself that it's winter. Jon tells me that it wasn't always this nice  the last few weeks. I wouldn't know since I was doing my whirlwind northern hemisphere tour of homes, visiting Thornbury/Meaford/Hamilton in Canada, Columbus and Rochester in the States, and Paris (the one with the amazing croissants).

It was great going home to the peacefulness of the cottage. Of course, it would have been even more relaxing had I not had a couple of "little" deadlines to meet (according to my brother, I always seem to have those...hmmmm...not good.) Nonetheless, I managed to temporarily tame the forest in the backyard, have quality time with the original Humes of Meaford, sister-in-law Karzi, cousin Kim, the aunts and uncles, and others. Having dinner with dad, just the two of us, and going out onto Georgian Bay in his friend's sailboat were special times.

I also went home to Hamilton, my stop between Paris and Rochester (naturally). Had a brief visit with Jen & Lou at their home away from home ... er, cottage. What a treasure to have friends who you may not see for long stretches of time (sometimes 25 years!) and just start where you left off. Next visit is in NZ, right?

Then it was back to my American home, Columbus, for work and for play. I arrived two days after a horrendous storm tore through the city. There were huge trees uprooted and many homes without power. This also meant many suffered with no air conditioning in the 100F plus temperatures. Fortunately, I was staying in a hotel that didn't lose power. It's hard to stay inside all the time though and so I got practice using sun & heat avoidance strategies, like walking behind Zachary to stay in the shade.

Speaking of which, I swear Zachary must have grown in the 4 1/2 months since I'd seen him last; when did he turn into a man?!?! Music producing seems to be on the verge of switching into high gear with one of the musicians he represents about to go big time. You go boy! (I could feel his eyes rolling as I typed that.) Besides hanging out with my "boy", other highlights included visiting with Kitty & Oliver, Deb, Julie, Claudia, Jen & family, Monica, Kathleen, Peter & Diane and, of course, Jeff, Robin & friends at their wedding.

Finally, it was back to my new home, sitting out on the deck enjoying sunny, warmish winter days. :)

A First Season

Today marks the fourth month since our arrival in Christchurch, somehow a season but to be honest, I’m not sure which one.

We arrived in Christchurch in February, technically the end of summer, but all we heard was what a crap summer it had been.  Having said that, coming as a follow up to February in Ohio, it was more than pleasant.  Autumn started and there didn’t seem to be much change.  There’s nothing like the change of colors in the leaves but nature let’s you know winter is coming in other ways.  The days get shorter, the nights get colder and most noticeably, you feel the winds.

My first season coaching has provided me with ample exposure to the winds as well as an intimate view of sport in Christchurch.  First, allow me to continue on the joys of our new weather.  The adage of don’t like the weather, just wait an hour, is more than an adage, it is Christchurch.  People talk about the weather in terms of layers of clothing, I’ve come to be a three layer man.  

Most of our training sessions are in the evening, typically between 7-9pm.  As soon as the sun sets, the temperature starts dropping.  On a good night, that means we go from 12 to 8c (mid 50s to mid 40s for you farenheiters).  On a not so good, we go from 5 to -2c (40 to 25f) with the wind and rain element being unpopular features.  So you  start in one layer and if you’re standing around like me most of the night, you keep your layers handy.  This concept of hockey as a winter sport is a new wrinkle, but when in Rome…

As to the actual coaching part, I can’t say enough how fortunate I’ve been to have the opportunities I’ve found here.  Sport is different here.  Coming from America and a Big Ten collegiate environment you take so much for granted, starting with the fact that what I did in the States was a full time job.  You have your own facility, prime practice times, equipment, resources, etc…   Here, we have our game on Saturday and a one hour training session Monday and Wednesdays.  Our Monday slot is on a half pitch at a high school and we share a full field with our Men’s team on Wednesday.  There are only three full field pitches in all of Christchurch and more than 4,000 players.  Training slots are hard to find and we’re fortunate to have two, regardless of time and weather.

I came to the Selwyn club via a string of e-mails and persistence, mostly on their part.  When we arrived in February I was particularly keen to play, not necessarily coach.  The trouble is, the season starts in February and most clubs have their trials for their teams in January so I missed that boat and having said that, most clubs have their coach well in place.  On that front, my ship came in with Selwyn.

I had been warned we would be young and inexperienced and naively thought, I’m old and experienced, we’ll be fine.  We had our first couple of trainings and I thought we were a bit rough around the edges, but we’ll be ok.  I took stock of our strengths, hashed out a game plan, had my game board and pre-game notes ready and we went out and lost our first game 9-0; so much for old and experienced.

First, I need to say I love my team.  They were selected before I came on board so I have nothing to do with that.   I had this glorious plan of goal setting, positive reinforcement, you know the story.  We have one player with previous Premier league experience, everyone else is completely new to this level.  Most of our players are students in Christchurch at university or just recently out of school teams in the area.  Our first three games we had 13 players and struggled to get more than ten players to training as many had commitments with school, work and family.  Life gets in the way of my master plan yet again.

The master plan for our season has had many revisions.  As a competitive person, I like to win.  This season has not been about the result, but the process.  We are now twelve weeks into our season and we still have yet to win a game.  There are five other clubs in the Premier competition and the league consists of playing each teams three times.  After our first five games, we had scored four goals and conceded 29, losing all five.  In our second round of games, we scored five goals, conceded 18 and tied one and lost four.  In our first two games of this last round, we’ve scored one goal, allowed two and lost one and tied one.  Our hardest games are still to come but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

One of the greatest parts of this experience has been getting to know the players.  While my master plan was all about success on the field, that life obstacle has provided me a window as to so many things New Zealand beyond hockey.  What it means to be a student, a young person, a part of a family, a part of a club, a part of a team, these things are somewhat different here and I’ve learned to appreciate and respect what our players bring to our team.  We do the best we can and that’s the only thing we can control.  One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this season is that you never stop learning.  Things that may have worked in one place, don’t always work in another.

With three games to go, we won’t be playing for a championship.  We’ll be playing.  This season will end and another will come.  The good news, after winter comes spring.

Cheers,

Jon

Winter

Last week I learned that it was winter in New Zealand. Normally, I can tell that it's winter by the freezing temperatures and snowbanks by the side of the road. But it was sunny, there was no snow, and it was 55F. Not really like my past winters, but one that I certainly don't mind getting used to.

Classes ended last week for winter break so Jon and I decided to get out of town to celebrate our anniversary (11th, for those who are counting). After hearing about the wonderful time that Andy and Adam had had visiting the west coast, we decided that that's where we'd go. We looked forward to driving across the plains, over the Alps and into the sub-tropical forest -- all in a little over 3 hours! It wasn't meant to be, however (this time at least!). The weather forecast was calling for heavy rain so we decided that we'd go to Hanmer Springs instead. This is Christchurch's resort town, located about 2 hours northwest of the city. The town was built up around hot springs that the Europeans re-discovered in the 1800s, after the Maori had discovered them centuries before. 

We arrived Tuesday afternoon and spent a couple of hours exploring the hot pools. There are about ten of them, some 35C - 37C and then the sulphur pools at 40C. Finding the hotter pool became kind of a quest. At first 35C felt wonderfully warm. Until we tried the 37C one. After we'd been in the 40C pool, the 35C one felt almost frigid! Our favourite though was the one with the large faucets spraying water from the sides of the pool with various intensities. If you'd like a gentle massage, try the one over there. A stronger massage? Try that one.  This was all totally up my alley. Massage, hot pools, pampering. Yes, please!!!!

Jon, not so much. Generally, that is. The pools may have done the trick though. I think I even heard him say that it was good. (It really was. :)

When we arrived at our hotel earlier in the day, the desk clerk mentioned that they were expecting snow. Cool, no big deal. Wrong. It snowed and snowed and snowed. So much so that the town lost power and the roads were closed. Now this is the kind of winter I'm familiar with! It brought back fond memories of being at the cottage in Thornbury two years ago and being snowed in for three days.

The snow was magnificent. It draped the trees and mountains, and glistened in the sun. Being snowbound in Hanmer for an extra day, we decided to go for a walk up the hill along the snow-covered roads. A man in an SUV stopped along side us to ask if we needed a ride into town. We let him know that we were just out walking and then reflected on how nice it was to have been offered a ride. A few people further up the road eagerly accepted the offer and hopped into the truck.

We ended up heading back to Christchurch the next day. It had apparently been a record snowfall. The university was closed for a day and a half to allow maintenance workers to clear the snow and clean up the many tree branches that had sadly broken from the weight of the snow.  People were out clearing sidewalks and driveways -- with rakes and brooms. Love it, love it, love it. A very good sign that snow is not a common occurrence.

55F today. Back to the winter I'm looking forward to getting used to.

******

p.s. A few shots of a trail at Governor's Bay, just a short drive from where we live. We took the dogs for a walk/run the week before the snow arrived. In the one shot, Jon is drying Tatum off before she gets into the car. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the area. Will try to get better shots another time.