This past Saturday was National Crate Day. National Crate Day is the first day of summer in NZ and it is where you take a crate of beer to your mates and get on the piss to celebrate the end of winter, the upcoming summer and all your mates. It was a pretty mint day and im sure many a crate were drank around NZ. There are the 10 commandments of Crate Day. Let me share with you:
COMMANDMENT #1:
Thou shalt not drink and drive.
COMMANDMENT #2:
Thou shalt support the “Crate Of Origin” – drink the beer where you came from (e.g. Dunedin – Speights, Auckland – Lion Red)
COMMANDMENT #3:
Thou shalt open thy crate bottle with anything but a bottle opener.
COMMANDMENT #4:
Thou only beef that shall attend National Crate Day is thy beef for thy BBQ.
COMMANDMENT #5:
Thou shalt not turn up to thy hosts as a free loader, you must bringith thy crate and platith of meat.
COMMANDMENT #6:
Don’t bring thy mates to the big day i.e. fighty mate can stay at thy home.
COMMANDMENT #7:
Thou shall make sure thy mates get home safely.
COMMANDMENT #8:
Thy host shall keep thy mates well fed off the BBQ
COMMANDMENT #9:
All shall don thee attire of National Crate Day – black singlet and stubbies.
COMMANDMENT #10:
Thou shalt always keep rules 1-9 top of mind, to ensure we continue the National Crate Day legacy for years to come.
I think this is a day that Canada should embrace and make their own. What do you think?
Recently I went to Rotorua for a weekend of riding which started with carnage and ended with carnage. The plan was to get their early sat morning and make the most of the our time in mountain biking heaven. I was picked up around 630am and was on SHWY1 by 7am, which meant on the trails by at least 10:30am. A quick breakie stop in Matamata and we were on the shuttle by 10:30am as planned. With the bikes loaded on the trailer we were sitting on the bus with anticipation of the trails to come, when a rider approached the bus driver with the news that a young kid hurt himself on one of the trails.
Luckily for the young fella one of my mates has pre hospital first aide, so we got dropped half way up the hill to go find him. About ¾ way down the jump track there he was with his older brother just watching helplessly. He was curled up, crying and in a lot of pain. My mate quickly accessed the situation. It seemed he could have fractured or broke his hip – not good. We knew we had to get him down the trail and to where an ambo could pick him up, so we ditched the bikes and scooped the boy up. The first thing you notice is how steep some of the tracks are when you are walking them with someone in your arms. On a bike, your moving fast and roll through much of it, but when you are walking it is a whole different story. About 15-20 mins later we walked him out of the bush and laid him down against a tree to wait for the ambo. Ive got to say he was a pretty brave little guy as he seemed to be in a lot of pain, but sucked it up while we took him down the track. Another ½ hour and the ambo arrived. They did their own assessment and loaded him on to a stretcher. We put him in the ambo and that was the start of the trip.
Another ride on the bus and we were at the trail head. I must say it was unnerving having your trip start with an injured rider. It doesn’t really make you feel at ease with what you are about to do, as you know it could easily be you laying on the ground in agony. After a couple of runs you loosen up, forget about the recent carnage and just enjoy the trails. Saturday was pretty mint, other than starting it with the kid’s crash. No one from the group bailed and we all headed to the hotel stoked on the days ride. From my memory we did 7-8 shuttles – not to bad when the first 1.5-2hours were spent dealing with an injured rider.
The hotel had hot pools so we soaked our bones in the geothermal activity of roto-vegas. A couple beers later, we hit the sheets as we had a big day of riding a head of us.
Up early, quick breakie and right to the bikepark. Everyone was flying. Maybe the rust was shed on Saturday or everyone was trying to make the most of the day, but everyone was hitting it. Instead of just shuttling we peddle up to corridor where we repeatedly hit that trail nailing the table tops, hip jumps and massive berms. I must have rode that track about 4-5 times. After that we headed towards the shuttle pick up to do have some more gravity assisted fun.
We hit everything and even a couple sketchy secret tracks. I think the best combination of the day as jumps, to corners to jumps for the last bit of downs, which is where the end of day carnage happened. As always it was the last run that claimed one of my mates. He was behind on the way down and on the last of three jumps when he came out a bit too hot, which sent him over the bars and slamming into the ground. I didn’t see it as I was in front, but that is what he thinks happened. Me and another ride made it to the bottom and were hive fiving, discussing how much fun that was all while waiting for our other friends to arrive. 5mins, 10mins, 20mins.. we knew someone had an off. Finally he managed to walk out with the assistance of our other mates, but was def worse for wear. He initially thought it was a broken wrist, but it was much more. After an x-ray he was diagnosed with broke his wrist, collar bone, shoulder and thumb. Shitty! His riding will be done for this summer, well before it even began. It sucks seeing one of your friends get hurt, but in a sport like this it happens and that is just part of it. You know it can happen, you see it happen and you then pray it doesn’t happen to you!
This past friday night I went to see Xavier Rudd at the Kings Arms in Auckland. This was the first time in 8 years he has been in New Zealand and he didnt disappoint. This guy is an amazing musician and showman. The Kings Arms is a small rock bar in Auckland and being able to see an artist like Xavier Rudd there is a pure treat. It was a very intimate show and he he played for roughly 2 hours and put his heart and soul into the show. I managed to be right up front for the entire show taking in the everything. Upfront everyone was into to it, dancing and carrying on. The man is amazing; whether he’s rocking the didg and playing the drums/guitar/singing he doesnt skip a beat. Thanks Xavier Rudd for the great show and I hope it is not another 8 years before you retrn back to New Zealand.
A interesting fact is that he spends his time between Australia and Northern Ontario… Yah Northern Ontario representing! Ill have to invite him by the cottage when I return back to Canada.
It has been way to long since I have blogged. I guess I fell off of the blaggon (blog +waggon).. bad joke eh! I kind of felt I really didnt have much to write about, which is a lie i guess. The biggest thing that i has happened in the past couple months is that I have been issued New Zealand residency. It took some time and a lot of patience, but I finally got it. Over the past year I’ve had mutiple medical checks, visa applications, police background checks (all of the came out clean) and lots of money lost or invested depending on how you see it, but in the end I am working towards becoming a New Zealand resident. I have to spend six months of each year for the next two years residing in New Zealand and then I can come and go from this beautiful country as I please. So if I want to return back to Canada to work and live I can without worrying about how to get another work visa for New Zealand. I feel lucky to have the ability to live and work in either Canada or New Zealand… two amazing countries.
So what is in the cards for the next couple of months… trips to rotorua, savings for a flight back to Canada for my bro’s wedding, a few work side projects and some beers eheh of course!
So Michelle and I have been using our stand up paddleboards (SUP) in our spare time and love it. We manage to get out on the weekends and in the evenings. I’m loving riding my bike in the morning and then paddling around in the avro. It’s a bit more balanced lifestyle, compared to just being on the bike all the time.
We purchased these inflatable paddle boards (Red Paddle Co.), which I know sounds suspect but are really good. Michelle researched them online, but I was very skeptical until I saw one when we were down in Raglan. To be honest if you saw them blown up you wouldn’t realize they were inflatable. They are made of heavy PVC and are incredibly strong. It only takes 5-8mins to blow up. We purchased both a 10ft and 11 ft board.
They are perfect for us! You can rip around a shoreline and surf them in small swells.. pretty sick! They come in a bag you can wear as a back pack and with a pump. The size of them is perfect for a city dweller – you can pack them into the bag and store them in a closet. I don’t have to worry strapping them down on the car when we head out, or theft from the top of my car if I want to do a shop after paddling. The paddle is adjustable so friends can give it a go without having to buy a paddle to fit them.
I would highly recommend these to anyone! We love them and you would too! It’s gotten us out to new bays and beaches around Auckland. When pumping them up I get an odd look from most passer by, but once we hit the water with them people are mostly impressed. It’s a great product… go get one and enjoy the sun, sand and surf.
Ive just returned from my Christmas vacation and it was great. I think the only downfall was that it was too short! I guess like any vacation. In total I had 11 days off of work – sweet!
Ill start with the weather, Christmas in New Zealand is all about the beach and bbq’s. It is the kick off to the warm summer weather. Unfortunately this year a cyclone and heaps of rain put a bit of a damper on that. It has been pretty much off and on with rain and strong winds. Not just your run of the mill showers, we’re talking buckets of rain. That is how NZ remains so green, heaps of rain with the chance of cyclone.
Christmas was spent at Michelle’s family’s house where like in Christmas fashion we ate heaps, had a couple drinks and spent the majority of our time watching little ones entertain the family with their Christmas enthusiasm. This year Michelle and I decided to get each other Stand Up Paddle boards… pretty amazing present! Now I ride in the morning and paddle in the avro. Not a bad lifestyle eh!
Boxing day we headed to a batch on an olive orchard where we once again ate well, had a couple bevies and just relaxed. It was a pretty cool spot south west of Auckland near Helensville out in the middle of nowhere. We stayed there one night and then headed back to Auckland to prep for the next part of our holidays, Waiheke.
I just heard that New Zealander’s based in Auckland experience some of the top rated quality of life in the world! Oh yah.. no wonder I love this place so much. (Don’t kid yourself though, Canada always ranks near the top too!) NZ held 3rd spot on the Mercer 2011 Quality of Life Survey for the 4th straight year and taking the highest ranking in the Asian Pacific region… take that Australia. The researches considered 39 pieces of criteria including economic environment, health, education, transport, housing, personal freedom and recreational factors like restaurants, sports facilities and cinemas. Out of 221 cities Auckland took third place… suck that Wellington! If you don’t know there is a bit of competition Wellington and Auckland… not really surprised to hear this as NZ has a pretty chill lifestyle. If you don’t believe, come down and give it go!
This past weekend was Michelle’s Birthday weekend, so we headed down to Raglan for a little R&R! We scored a deal from grabone, which is an online discount site where you can get deals on everything from clothing to weekend getaways. For $150 we got 2 nights accommodation at Solscape and surf lesson (board and wetsuit included)… pretty good deal.
Upon arrival to Raglan we had some fish and chips and then headed out to check out Bridal Falls – a 60-meter waterfall just outside of Raglan. There are three viewing decks; top, middle and bottom. It only takes about 10 mins to walk to the waterfall and another 10 to walk to the bottom. Very picturesque, def worth the walk. It is here I realized that I didn’t charge my battery for my camera, even though I had thought I did… oops! After Bridal Falls went back into Raglan to get some food and pick up a disposable camera – who knew they still made them! Finished shopping we headed out of Raglan to Solscape an eco hostel part of the YHA chain.
Solscape is nestled in the hills mount Karioi which over looks the tasman sea. They have a variety of accommodation 1) Cabooses – 12 NZ rail cars that have been fitted out for a good nights sleep, which offer singles, double and dorms. 2) Tipis – 3 different sized tipis that are outfitted with beds and are located a short 5 minute walk into the bush – def want to go back and stay in them 3) Camping – 6 camper van and 8 tent sites that overlook the ocean. All of the accommodation have access to the two kitchens and lots of shower facilities and we cannot forget an eco reading room… yup this place is run by hippies! It is a great little hostel and I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a unique hostel in Raglan. The staff was very friendly and helpful and even provided a bit about the history of the hostel.
We stayed in the caboose which was a new experience for both Michelle and I. It was outfitted with a double bed, a couple shelves and a heater to keep that tin can warm! It was really cozy! After settling in there we went into Raglan for a nice birthday dinner at the hotel. There isn’t a lot of choices for restaurants in Raglan but the hotel did put on a mean feed! After dinner we picked up some beers and chilled back in our caboose ahaha that just sounds funny eh! The next morning we went to the beach, collected sea shells and drift wood (michelle’s choice) and then toured the touristy shops of Raglan where we scored some sweet xmas presents from some family back home.
Our surf lesson was at 2pm so we had a quick lunch and headed back to the hostel to chill before our lesson. There were only 4 people in the lesson, which was way better than the last one I had at another hostel in Raglan (40 ppl in that) We did a bit of a briefing at the hostel and then squeezed into our wetsuits and headed down to the beach. Once at the beach we did a couple more practice paddles on the sand and then it was straight into the water. I did so much better this time around! I got up the majority of the time.. I loved it! Michelle on the other hand wasn’t enjoying it as much as me. After a few attempts she decided it wasn’t for her and called it a day.
Once back at the hostel it was a quick shower and then off to a mates place down the road for a BBQ. Their batch was sick! It had a hot tub and nice private deck – super chill! Here we had a couple beers and a good feed. I didn’t get carried away as i usually do since i was driving..yup i had to behave. We were sitting around on the deck when we heard a rustle in the bush. At first we thought it was a Tui bird, but it seemed a bit loud for that. All of a sudden a shadow emerged and started coming towards the table. I thought it must be a possum and as soon as i said that one of the girls at the table screamed. Just after the scream emerged a dog. Im guessing it smelt BBQ and was hoping for a treat. It hung around for a while and then wandered off. We stuck around a couple more hours and then headed off to our caboose to call it a night.
The tracks in the morning were closed since it rained last night, which didn’t really bother me. After riding a full day prior a half day up the hill was sounding pretty good. The morning consisted of eating day old Indian for breakie, cleaning and checking my bike and finishing my book. Nice chill way to start the day – let the body rest before thrashing it again!
At 11:30am we headed into Queenstown to grab a lunch at Bob’s Weigh – my favorite café in Queenstown. You will also get a good coffee and feed at Bob’s! All fuelled up off to the skyline to huss some tracks.
We got out first ride in around 12:30 and managed to get 12 runs in throughout the half-day. Same as the other days; we rode everything. I did manage to have a pretty good crash on Rock Garden. Somehow I went over the bars and head first into the ground. I was pretty lucky not to hurt my neck and am now considering getting one of those neck braces for riding DH – probably a smart move. Our plan was too meet up with a mate at 5pm who was willing to show us a bit of the Fern Hill Loop. You can access it from the trails with a bit of pushing the bike. We met at the bottom of the track at 5pm and hit up a couple of runs together. There were 4 of us, which was pretty sweet. On a couple of tracks we all broke off and headed different routes which pretty cool seeing all these guys rolling together and then all of sudden they flick off in different directions – it reminded me of a bike movie. We waited until the last run up the skyline to head up the Fern Hill Loop. This way we would have an extended day of riding, which is always good!
The push up was about half-hour and being that it was the end of the day it felt like an hour. There was even a river crossing in the middle. The track was steep, rooty & rocky – similar to craigieburn. It was all native bush so lots of beach trees, which means a tonne of roots and slippery ness. Walking up it and seeing what I would be riding back down left a happy/nervous feeling in my gut – it will be fun but there is potential for a good crash ehehe. The thing with roots is they can spit your bike out from underneath you very easily. To ride them you want lots of speed and to be light on the bike so you sort of just skip a long the top of them. Fun eh! After the exhausting push up we had a bit of a breather taking in the amazing view and then it was time to ride. Helmet on, goggles in place, drop in and start hussing. All the apprehension that I felt walking up was instantly gone. My bike was just skipping a long the tops of the roots and the suspension was getting a full work out as I tried to keep up with my mates. A couple of times the back of my bike went sideways, but I always managed to stay on it and keep rolling. Exhilarating! What an amazing trail. I think it is better then some in the park. Definitely worth the push up.
Once back at the car it was time for a beer and then we headed off to Fergburger for a feed. This time I got the Cod Burger… good as! Definitely give it a go! After the feed it was back home for a couple more beers and then bed. Another exhausting, but epic day!
Before I even arrived in Queenstown I was a little apprehensive when it came to camping. When I flew into Queenstown there was a cold front coming through and it was snowing/raining, but thankfully that first cold night I was in a hostel. Last night though was my first night camping and luckily I managed to stay nice and warm in my tent. I had the thermals and was rocking a toque as well, which kept me nice and cozy all night long.
I first awoke at daybreak to the chirping of birds – as you do when you are camping! I grabbed my ipod and tossed on some tunes allowing me a couple more hours of sleep before getting up for good! I crawled out of my tent at 9 am ready to go. We cleaned up the bikes, loaded the car and went into Queenstown for breakie. After a quick bite to eat we hit up the skyline at 10:30 am to start a great day of riding.
The weather was a bit overcast and there was a chance of showers, but the rain seemed to hold off for the most part and when it did rain it just made the tracks sticky! There wasn’t a track we didn’t ride! I ended up hitting some tracks that I didn’t really mean to hit. I thought they were a bit above my ability but I pulled through. Basically I was just following my mate and then all of a sudden it was drop after drop after drop through narrow trees… there nothing I could do but ride it out. There was no where else to go but down so I just rolled with it. When I came to the end of that track there was definitely a smile on my face – I survived ahah! After that it was game on for all the tracks; Vertigo, Hammy’s, Shit Sandwich, Thingymajig, Armageddon, Rock Garden, Drop Garden, Ants, Grundy.. it was steep and gnarly. Fawk yah!
We had a lunch break at 1pm and then back up the skyline. We rode until the days end and managed to get in 20 runs and we weren’t even going that hard. It was a casual 20! Everyone we spoke with thought we were completely mad for doing so many runs in one day. I would say on average people will ride 8 runs… smoked them all. When you are visiting from out of town you def want to make the most of your time.
At the end of the day we definitely deserved a beer! We headed into town to grab some Indian for dinner and then out to the house to drink some beers and play some ping-pong. My body was feeling pretty good; the only thing that was sore was my hands. It was an early night to bed as I was rinsed. The rained and wind picked up throughout the night, but it didn’t matter I managed to keep warm and sleep through the lot! Another epic day of riding! My riding has improved ten-fold… man I love this place!
