Fitness plans

The new year has turned into something of an activity fest. Jo has signed up to do a half marathon in April and Caitlin has enrolled in the Weetbix Triathlon . On February 24th, she will be swimming 100m, in the sea, cycling 4km and running 1.5km, somewhere in Auckland. Her friend Jess is doing it and, according to her mum, is completely obsessed with her training plan ( taken from the internet) and with eating healthily. Caitlin’s every third word is ‘triathlon’! She’s eating really well and exercising lots. So far we have done a swimming session in the creek and a cycling session on the school field. We managed to get her a free bike, courtesy of Freecycle in Auckland. We asked for a bike for a ten year old who was doing this event and minutes later had an offer of a perfectly good bike, which had already done the route three times…and it has the stickers to prove it!


Roo has decided that he wants to do training too. He has ventured into the creek though he hasn’t tried the current when the tide is going out. This is quite an advance since he usually sits on the edge and reads his book! He also ran two circuits around the field at school ( faster than Caitlin, but don’t tell her that!) when she was training, and was quite upset when he thought he wouldn’t get the chance.

Oh yes, and Roo is now able to do front flips and barrel rolls ( whatever they are) on the trampoline. I knew it was only a matter of time but he now spends every waking moment upside down.

To continue this ‘active lifestyle’ theme, Anton has had another midlife crisis and bought a new toy, a seadoo 3D. Apparantly it’s a jetski that you can stand on, sit on, wakeboard from. It hasn’t arrived yet. I’m sure he’ll have fun when it does.

Caitlin is doing rather well with her new ‘pot garden’. All her seeds are sprouting beautifully. Debs has recently given her some more lettuces, peas and cucumber, and Reuben is determined to join in so Caitlin bought him some carrot seeds ( to plant in organic compost of course). We shall soon run out of space on the deck.

The cats are growing well. They had their latest vaccination and the vet said they were in incredible condition. Teddy is a glutton and eats everything, whilst Tabitha, who is on my lap as I type, one handed, is an elegant supermodel who only curls up with you if she chooses to. They are either asleep or chasing each other around the house like whirling dervishes.

Roo and I had an impromptu trip to Anawhata Beach, Sir Edmund Hilary's favourite beach. My car battery was flat and once it had been jump started it needed a drive. So we took off towards the beach. We ended up driving along this unfinished road for miles and then discovered you couldn't get to the beach by car, but needed to walk for another half an hour. The view from the car park was fantastic and we are already planning a proper trip at the weekend.


The kids and I have been on a few trips organised by Ginny who lives up the road. When we first thought about moving to Laingholm, Sasha ( A real estate agent) said we would meet Ginny. She's married to a Brit, has been back in NZ for five years and has soooo much energy. She's up at 5 after a sleepless night with her youngest, Daniel, looks after William (4) and Megan (7) and organises all sorts of stuff.We've been walking and to Piha and to her pool and for dinner. She didn't bat an eyelid when Megan suggested we all stay for tea and in fact invited another family too!