Less than two months to go...

In less than two months Titch, Ayla and I will be returning home to New Zealand. I am sure these last days here are going to fly - scary to think how much I need to do before we leave though.

It's quite amazing to see Ayla grow - she has only just started her 4th month and already we are amazed in the changes she has gone through.

First Flight

Hmmm, been a while....

Titch, Ayla and I are heading to Iceland on the 18th September - should be a nice test run for the longer trip in December...

Getting Ready...

We are getting prepared (quite early - but thats me!) for the arrival of our little girl!

Changing Table... Check.
Phil & Teds... Check.
Crib... Check.

New Contract - NZTE

I have finished my contract at Anglo American and I am now working for New Zealand Trade & Enterprise at New Zealand House on Haymarket. Its about 50 meters from my old workplace at Anglo.... very strange. Its only a short 6 week contract to fill in for someone from NZ who has a delay in his work visa....

Cinque Terra

The Cinque Terre are five coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in the Liguria region of Italy. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all encapsulated in a national park by the same name.

We stayed in the town of Vernazza which is the second town in the line of five (from West to East). Our hotel was run by the best restaurant in the town so we headed there first to collect our keys. We were directed up the back streets of the town as we climbed to our rooms located above and behind the main square.

The weather was good that evening but the waves assaulting the town’s walls were mighty. I have never seen such huge waves dwarfing sea walls and flying over to crash into the bay and carry on to the main square! The locals were milling around in a safe place enjoying the show. I spotted a little alcove which was close to the action. From this alcove we could watch the waves literally fly past the opening that we were standing in!

Of course we flirted with the waves by jumping out of the alcove and jumping back in just before they crashed down on us. How old are we? Without the risk of understatement - let’s just say that we were all stunned when a massive torrent came in sideways and completely flooded the alcove. Here we were - drunk and now very wet standing in the sea water - you could hear the local’s laughter echoing round the square! We had no choice but to erupt in laughter as well. Running out of the alcove I noticed Gummy laughing at me (He had somehow evaded the wave) - I was laughing so hard that I had no way to warn him that a huge wave was about to break behind him. He also ended up soaked through. We moved back to the safe distance that the locals had chosen and enjoyed a few bottles of wine while watching the ferocious sea continue its spastic little dance.

We were greeted the next morning by fine rays of sunshine bursting through what remained of the clouds and illuminating the terracotta colours of the town. With views like this it’s not hard to see why this place is so popular. Our planned walk today would take us first to the village of Corniglia - we climbed the never ending steps to walk high above the village and along the cliffs. This leg was the most challenging of the day and would take us about 1.5 hours. With Titch 6 months pregnant we had to take it easy and make sure her heart rate did not climb to high.

The next two legs taking us through Manarola and Riomaggiore were a lot easier and just as stunning. We enjoyed the sea views and consumed some ice cream (gelato) before heading back to our town for a siesta before regrouping for dinner. We had not booked anywhere so in the end we were forced to pair off and see what we could get (as no restaurant would take 10 people). Titch and I got lucky as we managed to get the last two seats in the best restaurant in town.

The next day we woke up to find an overcast day - we met up for breakfast and I was surprised to see Gummy in just a jumper and no jacket. After a lot of convincing Gummy finally relented and went back for his jacket. Good thing too because 5 minutes into the walk the storm hit us. It started as a slight drizzle and ended up as a constant fall. Not torrential but over a period of time you got very wet. This track is the hardest of the walks and it never ceased to amaze me to see steps disappearing into the distance when ever you turned a corner.

We were very wet by the time we arrived at Monterosso - Frankie found us a very nice restaurant which specialised in vegetarian food. We attempted to dry out over lunch and then we headed to a pub to watch Man United v Liverpool and Chelsea v Arsenal - the falling rain helped to justify our decision to watch football. I guess the less said about the results the better...

After the football we had to quickly get to our base town to meet up with the non-football watchers for our pre booked dinner. We enjoyed a fantastic meal and then headed to the bar up the road where we stayed till closing. The next morning Titch and I headed off alone to Pisa while the other guys heading to Lucas instead.

Pisa isn't the greatest city in the world although the leaning tower is quite fantastic to look at (if you can ignore the huge crowds and street hawkers). We found a really nice restaurant to eat in before finally heading back to the airport to meet up with the others and head home.

Fantastic little trip which seemed longer than it was. It was also the last flight Titch and I will make before the birth of our little baby girl!

Jeepers! Not long now!

Check out the photos here...

Val D'lsere - Snow Report

I met up with Jason in Feltham the night before we left as we had arranged a coach to pick us up and take us to Gatwick.

I met some of the team of 10 at the "club" in Feltham that night and the rest the next morning on the bus. We arrived at Gatwick and snubbed the check in queues as we headed straight to our VIP check in agent. Once through security the whole team headed straight to the pub! It was 7:00am! I headed to "Eat" instead and had a sandwich and smoothie.

We were sitting in first class on the plane and the beer was still flowing! The team started to get rowdy....

Sitting on the transfer bus some of the guys pulled out the duty free Vodka and JD! They all started drinking.... the coach trip to Val D'Isere is 3.5 hours long... it felt like 7. By the time we pulled in to our hotel everybody on the coach hated us. I had not even taken a sip of alcohol but I was tarnished with the same brush. A lot of the guys the next morning could not even remember arriving at the hotel....

Things improved from here.

The much promised snow started falling and would not stop for three days. The first morning we met up with the guides in a huge group - they took us all to a slope and we had to go down one by one to be rated. There were four groups: Beginner, Advanced, Expert, Insane.

I was classified as insane as were three of my team making a total of 8 boarders in our group. A few of the guys didn't make the cut and were a little gutted - good thing though as our group was hard and you had to be quick! I was absolutely exhausted at the end of every day. Our guide was amazing and our time on the piste was almost non-existent. All day every day he would find untracked powder! I had some of the most incredible runs I have ever experienced in waist deep powder!

This hotel was amazing! Board-in, board-out and all drinks were free - Spirits, Wine, Cocktails, Beer, Coffee, Espresso. All food was free - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Bar Snacks - and we are talking gourmet here! The selection was incredible!

I somehow broke my ski pass and it cost me 5 Euros to replace. I paid 29 euros for a wax and edge for my board. All up - the only money I spent on the holiday (Apart from the inclusive package) was 34 Euros. If I was staying in the UK next year I would definitely never ever go independently ever again! Club Med all the way - you just cannot beat the value for money.

The last three days of the holiday was intense blue sky with no clouds and deep untracked powder (Although getting harder to find towards the end of the week).

One of the guys had a camcorder in his bag which was hooked up to a bullet cam attached to his goggles. We have about 3 hours of footage - once I get a hold of the DVD I will post some footage on facebook.

It was a fantastic way to say goodbye (for now) to the European Alps. The next time I board will no doubt be in New Zealand - something I am quite excited about...

Check out the photos here...

Val D'lsere

I am off to Val D'lsere on Sunday with Club Med (All inclusive 5* Package) for one weeks snowboarding. Europe has had an awful February with virtually no snow falling at all! I can now hardly believe my luck when you look at what has just fallen and what is about to come…



Just look at those conditions - Piste: Excellent, Off Piste: Powder. With 41cms forecast in the first few days... looks like I might be in powder heaven.

New Forest

I had booked a weekend away and Titch did not know where until she got in the car. She was delighted to learn that we were heading to the New Forest. After making good time we arrived at our bed and breakfast - the room was fantastic and it had the most comfortable bed in the world.

The forecast was for sun all weekend which was brilliant especially after all the rain the area had experienced lately.

Of course I had planned a few forest walks and one of them started down the road near Brockenhurst station. It led us towards a church with a large graveyard which had a huge memorial to NZ soldiers who died in WW1. Looking at the gravestones showed a lot of the soldiers were from Wellington. After a little bit of internet research it turns out the New Zealand World War 1 hospital was located in Brockenhurst - which I guess explains why the kiwi dead were buried here.

Soon after the church we had to leave the paved road as we headed down a bridle way. Mud Galore. My white trainers were shrieking in terror. After some nimble jumping and clinging to fences we managed to get past the worst of it. Throughout the day the mud posed various challenges and eventually we had to call of the walk due to a huge mud lake for about 100 meters just before the "Farm" on the map.

After retracing our steps and taking a few detours we managed to find a nice pub near Sandy Down and managed to have a quiet pint and sandwich in the glorious sunshine. After inspectecing my white trainers I decided that I had done miraculously well in keeping them clean. Good thing too as I had booked a surprise dinner for Titch at the Michelin starred Le Poussin restaurant at Whitley Ridge - I am sure the welcome would be anything but warm if we had mud caked shoes...

Whitley Ridge is quite grand and old, secluded in an isolated spot in the heart of the New Forest. The place oozes excellence and we would not be disappointed.

After being greeted we were escorted to the lounge where we enjoyed some fantastic canapés. After a short while we were led to one of the two small dinning areas.

I started with the Feuillete Of Roasted Scallop And Cep With Water Cress Salad and a Light Butter Sauce. While Titch went for the Winter Salad of Marinated Butternut Squash, wild Mushrooms & Baby Vegetables with a Truffle Dressing.

We treated ourselves to a bottle of the delightful Martinborough Pinot Noir "Te Tara" 2004 - Titch could only have a small glass and I limited myself to two small glasses as I had to drive. Shame.

I went for the MeadowBrook Sirloin raised in The Forest On Rich Clover And Rye, Water Meadow And Barley Soaked In Beer. Titch went for the Venison which was cooked to perfection.

Desert was delicious - Titch went for the Coffee & Chocolate option consisting of Valrhona Chocolate Fondant, Tiramisu, Sweet Potato Bark & Espresso Ice Cream. Whereas I made a move towards the Hot Passion Fruit Souffle With Passion Fruit Sorbet And Passion Fruit Curd.

Once desert was done we retired to the den where I then ordered a fine port - Churchill’s Vintage 1991. Fantastic drop to end the night with.

The next day we started a walk (Taken from the book entitled "Short walks from good pubs in the New Forest") at a small village called "Bank". As we pulled up we had the bizarre sensation that we had been here before - it turns out that this is the very pub that we stopped at for lunch many years ago; when a big group of us hired bikes and went cycling through the forest.

The walk was a short 3 miles and once finished we had a light lunch and a pint of beer (Ringswood Bitter) at the reminiscing pub...

We thought we would drive through the new forest and head up towards Stonehenge. I have driven past it so many times with barely a glance so I thought it deserved a visit (Especially as it might be one of the last opportunities I get before I leave the UK). The drive through the new forest was stunning - it really made a nice change from the sometimes drab views of London.

Arriving at Stonehenge we pulled into the carpark , as we approached the ticket booth I was under no illusion about the £12.60 that I was about to waste. As we walked through the tunnel under the road and came up next to Stonehenge I was not surprised to find that the view was just as good from the side of the road (cost £0.00).

You walk around a large circle with some rocks in the middle and then you leave - I guess all I can say is "Tick"...

Battersea Beer Festival

Would you believe it! No sooner have I sent two of the rarest beers in the world to New Zealand for Sam and Stu... I then attend the Battersea Beer Festival and there in the corner is one crate of Westveleteren 8 & 12 !!!!

At £8 each it would be rude not to! They did have a limit of one per person and they even managed to say "Do you realise how rare this is?" - No shit sherlock!

Will let my Westveleteren 12 settle for a few days and might just crack it open to celebrate my new flat in two weeks time....

Homeward Bound

I wish I was...

Well, I am. Titch and I have booked our one-way tickets to Wellington and we leave on the 10th December. It's still quite far away but with the baby born in July I am sure this year is going to fly.

No doubt we will find it hard to do everything that we want to before we finally leave Old Blighty!

Looking forward to Wellington - I love it.

Chamonix - Video

I have uploaded a "short" snowboarding mix of the recent trip to Chamonix... Check it

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=9806016905

Chamonix - Snow Report

I met Simon on the train at Clapham Junction and we made great time to the airport. We were the first people to check in and we then leisurely strolled through customs. Was disappointed to remember that there is no Starbucks at Gatwick South Terminal…

With the Youngs pub being refurnished we had no choice but to sit down for a quiet coffee. This was where we played our first hand of Euka. Simon lost and would continue to loose every time for the entire trip. I stopped counting after the score was 10-1.

Our Easy Jet flight was on time and we landed in Geneva – We tried to pick up our hire car but we were in the Switzerland part of the airport and we needed to be in the French part. Made our walk through some checkpoints and we eventually found our car.

Now in the past – I normally pickup and drive my car to Chamonix from Switzerland – when you pick the car up from France it’s a little bit tricky with the navigation… Long story short we took a motorway turn which pointed us towards Leon. If you look at a map Leon is in the direction of Chamonix from Geneva. Well, apparently you can go West or East to Leon! After about 30mins Hurtling down the motorway towards Paris we realised our mistake. We managed to turn around at a toll – the only consolation was it looked like we would not get charged a toll for the use of the magnificent French motorway. We were wrong here as well – its time based and we had to spend an unnecessary 19.10 euros.

We eventually arrived about 12:30am, found our minimalist apartment and bedded down for the night. The rental place opened at 8:15am and Simon would be there to greet them.

With all our gear sorted we made our way to “Brevent” – This ski resort sits on a plateau above Chamonix town. This resort is quite wide with rolling hills, fantastic resort to warm up on for the first day. We boarding from 9:30 – 4:00 with a short 30min lunch break. We were shattered at the end of the day but with La Tour beckoning the next day we set our alarms to 7:10 to ensure we hit the first lift at 8:30.

We drove the 15mins to the base of La Tour. We were in the parking lot getting our boots on when an attendant approached us and let us know that the gondola would not be running today. Not a problem for us as we had a car and were able to drive 15 mins around the mountain to a small town which also linked to La Tour (My Favorite in Europe). The good thing here is the Chamonix bus service would not come to this gondola – result being virtually the entire mountain to ourselves! Boooyyaaaa!

We were on the first lift of the day (Actually about 15 mins late – but not our fault). The runs in La Tour are so varied and the tree lined runs are truly spectacular to board on! The off-piste at the back of La Tour is truly incredible as you can basically go anywhere for what seems like miles and you always link up with a track further down. You have to see it to believe it. We found a nice area to practise our jumps and Simons first effort seemed to have him doing a double spin in the air before he hit the deck. We boarded from opening to closing and had no choice but to leave the mountain when they closed the lift on us.

At this point our bodies were in surprisingly good shape – although my back did start feeling the strain by the time we got back to our apartment. Out came the deep heat and I thankfully became blissfully ignorant of the pain.

The next day was the insanely hard Grand Montet (90% black runs) – we were there for (you guessed it) first lift. It is great feeling when pulling in to the empty carpark in the poor morning light – gazing up at this so imposing mountain! I love it.

We jumped on the Gondola and headed up – at the top we jumped on another Gondola and headed up again. When we reached a height of 3800 meters we strapped on our boards and attacked the mountain. We hurtled down, parallel to the gondola and quickly made our way to the mid station we then vered right and started our descent on the “Piera-Ric” – my favourite individual run in the Chamonix valley. This run hugs the cliff and descends all the way to the town of Argentiere. We then headed straight up the mountain again but this time taking a chair to the other side of the mountain.

After a few runs my back was starting to ache a lot and the pressure of holding the turns on the steep runs was starting to get me down. So we boarded down the Piera-Ric and headed over to La Tour for the afternoon. Once again – brilliant conditions and another long day.

On our final day we slept in and only made it to the mountain for a late 9:30am start – we headed to Brevent and for the first time on the trip we had clouds! By mid-afternoon you could barely see 5 feet in front of you! Not a problem though as our time was up and we had to return Simons gear and head back to Geneva.

This time we did not make a wrong turn in getting to the airport but we did try to check our car back in to the Swiss side of the airport instead of the French. After some bizarre directions we managed to find the correct location to return our car.

It was a brilliant short holiday and the boarding was fantastic! I have posted a few photos on Picassa Web Albums’.

http://picasaweb.google.com/richardgnz/Chamonix2008

Chamonix Tomorrow

Simon and I head off to Chamonix tomorrow for five days!

The winter has been very kind to us and with recent storms the base is now 260cm/40cm !! The forecast for the next 5 days is SUN SUN SUN! Really does not get much better than that.

Time to move...

You might think it to be a knee jerk reaction to move house immediately after an attempted break in. Well, you would be wrong.

With the baby on the way a bit more space would not go amiss ! Add in the lack of a door anywhere in our flat and you might understand the need to move.

A little bit of hunting around has landed us the flat below - no outdoor space but it makes up for it by more than doubling our house size!

The bedroom picture below does not do the room justice as its actually over double the size of what you can see... Probably going to move in on the 16th Feb - will be sad to leave Chelverton though and I dont even want to think about selling my BBQ! Any buyers?

Pictures:

Location:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=sw15+2lf&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=0

The Bill

We went out last night for Todd and Nicks leaving drinks. When we came home we were surprised to see the lights on in our lounge as we walked down the street (Titch was sure she had turned them off).



The communal front door was also open so with some feelings of unease we walked up our staircase and as we turned the corner we noticed our flat door was wide open! At that moment the Bill walked out of our flat to greet us. They told us our flat had been broken into and the lock on the door had been busted open.



They asked us if it was our flat and then asked us not to touch anything.... Well at this moment I am thinking the worst and had visions of a cleaned out flat ! We walked in and had a quick scan and there was nothing missing! The Bill thought that our bedroom had been ransacked but I had to explain that it was actually my wife's mess.....



The funny thing is - these guys kicked open our door which must have been propelled the guy back against the upstairs flat door which also opened with the impact. Obviously a mistake and the upstairs neighbours (who only moved in 2 days ago) were home and immediately called the police and came down the stairs and scared them off.



If the burglars had taken just one minute to look in the flat they could have easily taken a clear bag with 500 Euros, Passports, 2 ipod nanos, Titch's Wallet, PSP, Camera.... All within easy reach.



Little bit scary and we will now start using the extra dead lock that was already fitted on our door (Which we never used in the past)... Quite funny really!