where did the last 4 months go??

Here are some samples of what has kept us busy:

Charlie has talked about going to the bird sanctuary on the island Tiritiri Matangi. Located 30km north east of central Auckland and just 4km from the end of Whangaparaoa Peninsula, Tiritiri Matangi Island is one of New Zealand's most important conservation projects.
We saw plenty of saddleback birds. Saddlebacks were first released on Tiri in 1984. At that time the species was severely endangered. The population on Tiri is now over 600 birds, with a total population of around 5000.

This is a Takahe, a massive moa-looking bird that is almost intimidating. It was thought to be extinct until the rediscovery of c. 250 birds in the Murchison Mountains of Fiordland in 1948. Since then their numbers surviving in the wild have declined, fluctuating between 110 and 160 birds. The low success rate in breeding is due partly to the high rate of egg infertility, about 40%. The total population on Tiri is now 10 birds.

This one was very friendly and curious. His name was Greg.

We also saw stitchbird. The Stitchbird was relatively common early in the European colonisation of New Zealand, and began to decline relatively quickly afterwards, being extinct on the mainland and many offshore islands by 1885. Currently the world population is estimated to be between 500 and 1000 adult birds.

The island is a haven for bird lovers and I would really recommend to go there. It is a brilliant way to escape the silliness of Auckland:

This guys is truly committed to reducing his environmental impact with his V6 with an 'eco-tube'. What a joke!

Nydia Bay Track:

It is a great mountain bike track (also tramping track) that passes through lush coastal forest, with rimu, nikau, and beech trees, and it climbs to two saddles with superb views. We have managed to do the trail twice during 2009. This was my first time and I wasn't sure what to expect.

It was a stinking hot day and I was struggling my way up the saddles across all the tree roots. On the way down, gravity helps you along and I told myself 'Speed is your friend'!

I found a furry friend on the water taxi back to Havelock.

Alexandra and Queenstown Alexandra is a mecca for mountainbiking, but only if you know where to go. We managed to hook up with some locals and they took us on three different rides. It was great fun: lots of rocks, steep and gnarly. I didn't bike all but most of it!

The picture below is from the Moonlight track in Queenstown. Annika took us on a ride as part of her half-iron woman training. I was struggling to keep up.

I don't think Annika managed to dell me the idea that clip ins are good since she fell off her bike at least twice trying to unclip. She managed to sprain her ankle pretty badly. Next time we visit, we can play chess instead...(not frisbee golf cause I really sucked).

Moving house to Mt Pleasant
Time for a change since our lease was running out and the owner wanted to move in. I miss our old home on Vernon Tce, but the views in our new place are pretty nice:

It makes a big difference to have a house you like to come home to. We don't spend a lot of time at home, but when we do, I love having nice views. Our new crib is about 12o m above sea level so it gives me some good training biking up the hill every day. I try to see it that way at least...