Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP)

This Saturday I had been roped into working a Coastguard night shift, 7pm-7am. I suppose I can't complain too much as I get paid for it, and it's pretty easy money (nobody ever seems to boat at night!). I was planning to have a nap during the day on Saturday as I figured that it would prepare me for staying awake for the full 12 hours overnight. I also decided that the best way to make me sleep during the day would be to tire myself out in the morning. 

I got up at about 5am and went to the apartment complex gym, and did a bit of rowing and swimming. When I returned, I found a text message from one of my new housemates (yes, I found a place to live, but don't move in for a couple of weeks yet - will keep you updated!) asking if I would like to go Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) with her and some friends. What a perfect way to wear myself out a little bit more! 

I got picked up by my friend Isabell and her partner Gigi (also a new housemate) at about 9.30. We drove to Point Chevalier and stopped outside a local surf shop. I remember the layout of Point Chevalier well as this is where I first stayed when I arrived in NZ. We popped in the shop and started loading the boards onto the roof-rack of the car, and as we did so, some of Gigi's friends arrived to join us. Gigi is French and so were his friends, so there was lots of cheek kissing and nattering in French going on as we continued to load the boards. After everything had been secured we drove a short distance to Point Chevalier beach and got ready to get out onto the water. It was an absolutely glorious day, but a little windy. Isabell had loaned me a wetsuit top as I figured that I would probably be spending a substantial amount of time in the water, and didn't want to get cold. It was also excellent protection from the sun, as despite slathering myself in suncream I thought it would probably get washed off if (I really mean when) I fell in.

We had rented the boards for 2 hours, and decided to start off with the toughest part of the journey - heading against the wind and the tide. I started by kneeling on the board, to get a feel for the water, but eventually plucked up the courage to stand up. It's a bit like surfing where you have to do it in one swift movement, rather than one foot and then the other. I had thought that this would be the point where I fell off.... but so far so good.

Isabell had brought the dog (Spyro) along with her for the paddleboarding. Apparently he hates being left on his own, and would rather stand/sit on the paddleboard for a couple of hours than be left on the shore. I was very impressed with how well behaved he was, and look forward to having lots of cuddles with him when I move to the new house.

We continued paddling for about an hour and half up towards the harbour bridge. It was really tough going, but I enjoyed the exercise. I managed to get all the way without falling off, apparently an impressive feat! Once we had reached the hour and a half mark, we decided to stop for a brief rest and a photo opportunity. Unfortunately, as we lined up the boards Spyro thought that this was a good chance to 'abandon ship' and go and visit everyone else on their paddleboards. I was right at the end of the line, and he took great delight in wandering across all the boards to say hello, stopping at everyone on the way past. It was quite funny when a slight gap appeared in the boards and he plopped his bum into the sea. After that experience, he decided that it was probably sensible to just stay on Isabell's board!

After having our photos taken we decided to turn back. It was MUCH easier paddling downwind and downstream! There were a couple of occasions where after getting too close to Isabell's board I gained a passenger in the form of Spyro, but he just stood there and wasn't much bother. By this point though I was getting pretty concerned that I would probably fall in soon, so decided to give Spyro back to Isabell. As luck would have it, I managed to make it all the way there and back without going for a dip so when we got back to the beach I was nice and warm and dry. The same couldn't be said for a couple of the others though who had lost their balance and ended up in the water. We took the boards back to the shop, and Isabell and Gigi dropped me back home. After a brief shower, a bite to eat and a short cake-baking session (I had decided to make a chocolate orange cake for myself and the other Coastguards) I went to bed and slept like a baby for several hours.

I had an absolutely fantastic time, and Isabell and Gigi have promised to notify me again the next time they go. I was a little bit achey in the shoulders on my night shift, but managed to survive through consuming copious amounts of food. The duty officer had brought in a lovely home made moussaka, one of the other personnel provided a delicious salad with feta cheese, and I of course had brought in a chocolate orange cake. Needless to say none of us went hungry overnight!

Right, time for me to go and have a few hours sleep before planning what to do with the remainder of  my Sunday. 

Kelly Tarlton's

Since my last weekend was so uneventful and boring, I had made a deal with myself to get out and explore a bit more this weekend. So I got up early, got the chores out of the way, and made my plan. I decided to use my voucher for Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter Underwater World, and perhaps (if it was a nice day) do a bit of cycling in the area. I packed a rucksack with some supplies (all edible of course), and set off on my journey. The cycle out there was great (it took about 10-15 mins), it was a really nice day, and the cycle path wasn't too busy. When I arrived I was a little aggrieved that there was no special bike-parking area, but managed to find a decent fence to chain it to. Luckily I had brought the old rubbishy bike anyway, so knew it would probably be more trouble than it was worth to attempt to steal it!

The first exhibit in Kelly Tarlton's was about Captain Scott and his failed attempt(s) to be the first man to reach the South Pole. There were a couple of videos to watch, and some interesting exhibitions of how the cabins would have looked, what equipment they would have used on their journey. The most exciting bit for me though was the skeleton of a King Penguin they had placed in the 'scientific laboratory' area.

After the Scott exhibition, I walked through a small corridor and reached a large open-topped tank. It was full of several species of sea fish (trevally, kingfish, kahawai) and a GIANT stingray. The stingray was definitely the star attraction in the tank, and the children loved nothing more than chasing it around and banging on the perspex. I did consider pushing a couple of them in, but managed to stop myself (luckily the shark tank was just around the corner). 

After having a look at the fish, I took a bit of a detour to the penguin enclosure. When I saw it I was quite disappointed as it was very small, and I felt a little sorry for the penguins. I then read that this was a temporary enclosure as they were in the process of 'revamping' the old one, so felt a little happier. There were two types of penguin on display, the King Penguin and the Gentoo Penguin. I was excited to read that the original Gentoo colony was born and raised at Edinburgh Zoo, I have probably met some of their ancestors! The one thing I found really funny about the penguins was that the two types didn't seem to mix together and kept to their separate groups. I thought that they would just mingle with each other, but the two colonies kept themselves to themselves.

After the penguins, I arrived at the rock pool exhibit and had a look at some starfish and some crabs. I then walked down a corridor with a giant squid on display (8.23m long with 5m tentacles - caught by a trawler just off the West Coast of the South Island in 2006), and made my way to the shark tank. The sharks were quite exciting, but very difficult to get a good photo of as they moved so fast!

After the shark exhibit came the tropical tanks. I think this area was my favourite of the whole place. I love the different colours and the magnitude of variety you get with tropical species. The first tank I arrived at had a scorpionfish inside. Apart from being butt-ugly, the scorpionfish family apparently contains some of the most venomous fish in the world. To be honest, after one look at it I wouldn't mess with it!

The next tank had a few hermit crabs inside, which were very willing to pose for photographs, and came right to the front of the tank for me. I also got a good snap of a pufferfish (believed to be the second most poisonous vertebrates in the world), a lionfish and a red-bellied piranha (not all in the same tank of course!).

Next to the fish tanks was another large tank containing an octopus. The display had an 'Olympic' feel to it, as there was a hockey stick, badminton racquet and shuttlecock, and frisbee in there. I didn't see the octopus using any of the equipment though, I was very disappointed. 

The last part of the tour was the Seahorse Kingdom, which I really enjoyed. There were several species on display, and like the hermit crabs, they seemed fairly happy to pose for photographs.

Once I had finished at Kelly Tarlton's I decided to continue on up the coast to St Heliers where I stopped and had my lunch (smoked Kawahai salad - no I didn't steal the fish from the open-topped tank!) in the glorious sunshine. Considering that it is winter/beginning of spring here, the sunshine was lovely and warm, and I sat out in T-shirt and shorts. This is an area I am considering moving to when our lease runs out, so may have all of this to look forward to!

After an hour or so of relaxation I cycled back home and did a bit of work. In the evening I went to a birthday party in Glen Innes, and used the Auckland train system for the first time. I was absolutely stunned - the train was EARLY, left ON TIME, had PLENTY of seating, and was both CHEAPER and QUICKER  (around £3 return) than the bus. After my experiences of UK public transport I have always been reluctant to use the Auckland system, but will definitely be happy to get on the trains here again!

Coastguard

Last weekend was a fairly busy Coastguard weekend so I didn't have time to get out and explore like I normally would.... so this is going to be a pretty boring post unless you like Coastguard stuff! On Saturday I completed a 'flight following' course, which basically means that I am qualified to handle radio calls from Westpac Rescue. Westpac is a bank that sponsors one of the rescue helicopters that is based by the Coastguard Operations Room. The helicopter is basically a flying ambulance, and is run by the hospital. We just look out for them when they are flying over the water in case they get into difficulty. After passing my exam at the end, we all got to go and have a look at the one of the helicopters.

We were all climbing around on them and playing with all the gadgets, when all of a sudden an alarm went off. Fortunately it was just because they were being called out to a job, and not because we had touched something we shouldn't have! The helicopter got taken out to the helipad by a small tractor, and then took off a few minutes later. The picture below shows it sat by Deodar, the police helicopter.

In addition to the helicopters, one of the rescue vessels from Maraetai was visiting and so I took a picture of that. It's apparently one of the newest in the Auckland fleet.

I'm afraid that's all the news for last weekend, pretty boring really. I hope to have more exciting stuff to tell  this weekend. I'll probably be doing a bit of flat-hunting (as our lease runs out in September), and will try and get to Kelly Tarltons too (Auckland's aquarium). I will make sure I get loads of photos!