The Chinese Lantern Festival in Auckland is worth a visit. There was lots of lanterns.. though this is the only photo i took as my camera battery died...argh!
It was another great weekend in NZ! I had drinks after work at the office. I find that there is big difference between Canada and NZ office culture. Back in Canada a lot of the time everyone just wishes each other a great weekend and they all head there different ways come Friday. Here in NZ everyone will get together for a few drinks. It just seems a little friendlier.
Saturday I was up early to go to Rotorua. I wanted to get down early to get in as much riding as I could between 9:30 and 2:00. On the road by 6:30 only stopping for a flat white in Matamta I was on the trails by 9:30. Instead of just hitting the shuttles I decide to ride up (for a change) to get to Hot X Buns. It’s a fun, steep, flowing track that has a couple drops.. but nothing to scary. I hadn’t ridden this since last year and it is def worth the effort of the ride up. Coming out of that track I rode Pig ______. It’s a nice short track that takes you back to the road so I could start doing shuttle runs.
First run down after riding the shuttle up I rode corners. Just a super flowy, bermy track with more corners that you can count. It criss-crosses with the jump track so there is lots of options when riding. I haven’t started back on hitting the bigger jumps. I’m still doing phyiso once a week trying to get my shoulder back to full strength. It’s only been maybe 6 weeks, so it will most likely be another 2-3 weeks until its fully healed – so i am told. First run pure enjoyment.
At the bottom I meet the shuttle and toss my bike on the back of the trailer and like always make sure I secure the tye. On the bus I chatting with a few other riders, discussing other tracks in the area.. nothing unusual. At the top I jump off the bus and go to grab my bike… it’s not there. WTF. I take a double look.. confused.. worried.. where’s my baby ahaha. I look at the tye and it is now frayed and broken. My bike is somewhere on the road! So i jump back on the bus and started down the road looking for my bike. Well there she was half way the road, some other cyclist must have moved her to the side of the road. I jump off the bus, give it a once over. The handle bar and break levers are scarred with rock gashes. It is functional, just not as pretty as she once was. Not a big deal.. I can eventually part it out later on. I was just glad I could continue riding and that it was only cosmetic. I was able to ride another couple hours before having to head home for the rugby match that night.
Once at home I hit the showers and then grab a beer. We caught the train to Eden Park at 6:00. The train ride is free with your ticket – sweet deal. Plus we got tickets for the Canterbury Fan Zone – 2 tickets for $16! Score! Yes we are in the opposing teams fan zone, but it really doesn’t matter to me. I decided that I would cheer for Canterbury. It was a great game and Auckland ended up winning.. which is a huge surprise after seeing them last year. It was definitely the best game I’ve seen live, which made the atmosphere even better. 8 beers later the game is over and it’s time to go home. So much fun and I am hoping to score some more tickets for the Super 15.
Sunday was chill. Groceries, lounge around the city and that was pretty much it. Ive been trying to edit some video and I have been struggling. Hopefully I will have something up soon. In the evening we went to Chinese Latern Festival at Albert Park for the Chinese New Year. It is was pretty cool! A lot of people would be an understatement! I am not one for huge crowds, but I was totally worth it. The latterns were pretty amazing and looked great amongst the huge trees of Albert Park. Unfortunately my camera died pretty much as soon as we got there. Note for next time.. check the battery before leaving the house. I got maybe 2 pictures ahaha. There was heaps of yummy food stalls. After a bite to eat it was back home and to bed as I have a busy week at work.
