Nice view over Pandora ponds on the outskirts of Napier. If you look very closely you can see an orange buoy in the distance. Just in front of the orange buoy is a white buoy. That is the first part of the course I swam today. And yes the water was as freezey cold as it looks. 
There I am waiting to start, with my feet getting used to the water. I should have got the rest of me used to the cold water too, it was a hell of a shock to the system when I did plunge in.
I am the one in the water behind the girl still standing in the gray and black top. At first it was chaos. There were people everywhere going in all directions swimming in various styles. Would you believe that some people did the whole course back stroke. For the last two years I have been teaching myself to swim front crawl or freestyle as they call it here.
Unfortunately the shock of the cold water and the fact that I can not swim in a straight line meant all that training was a waste of time. I ended up doing 80% of the course breast stroke. 
There is a bit of satisfaction being able to keep up with and pass other swimmers who were able to do freestyle. 
Above is me rounding the last buoy. This is one of the better pictures there were some hilarious ones of me grimacing and attempting to breath at the same time, but I will keep those to myself.
Even thought I was exhausted and staggering out of the water, I still seem to have time to make sure my swim top was pulled down so my bum was not showing! Thanks Peter for snapping all these shots. And can I just point out all those other swimmers in the background who started at the same time as me still with a long way to go.
And there I am triumphant at the end, very glad that I have finished. Oh and by the way my eyes look that wrinkled because of the goggles, honest.
But this triathlon was not all about me, really! I had two other team members, Linda walking and Vicki cycling. They both did a brilliant job. Above is Linda fixing the timing tag to Vicki's leg and below Vicki looks really happy to be finished.
I don't know where we came, I only know we did not come last. Which is what we were aiming for. I will update you when I find out. Would I do it again, hmmm I am not sure. It was tough, but the actual sense of achievement was incredible. I have also learnt next time start slow, don't get panicked into a rush and have fun.
For a daisy reaching up for the sun.
The Carter Observatory in Wellington mentioned that at them moment you can see Venus, the Moon and Jupiter in alignment. Peter and I thought we would see if we could spot them.
Finding the Moon and Venus was not to difficult.
Then very faintly in the top right hand corner of this photo I think this might be Jupiter. Just might be, because frankly it could be any other star. We really have no idea, but it would be nice to think they all lined up for us.
Today I just sat around feeling a little bit sorry for myself. I have a bit of a virus, infection, rashey, swollen neck thingy. So I was told it would be a good idea to sit still for a day or two. I am not that good at sitting around. It seemed like a good idea to do a bit of messing about with my camera, trying out different settings and attempting to read the really boring manual. Here are some of the results.
Sometimes I feel a bit like this daisy all swamped.
Found this tiny little pansy with what looks like cat whiskers.
Messed about with the big long lens to pry into the live of a couple of butterflies.
Nice view over Pandora ponds on the outskirts of Napier. If you look very closely you can see an orange buoy in the distance. Just in front of the orange buoy is a white buoy. That is the first part of the course I swam today. And yes the water was as freezey cold as it looks. 
There I am waiting to start, with my feet getting used to the water. I should have got the rest of me used to the cold water too, it was a hell of a shock to the system when I did plunge in.
I am the one in the water behind the girl still standing in the gray and black top. At first it was chaos. There were people everywhere going in all directions swimming in various styles. Would you believe that some people did the whole course back stroke. For the last two years I have been teaching myself to swim front crawl or freestyle as they call it here.
Unfortunately the shock of the cold water and the fact that I can not swim in a straight line meant all that training was a waste of time. I ended up doing 80% of the course breast stroke. 
There is a bit of satisfaction being able to keep up with and pass other swimmers who were able to do freestyle. 
Above is me rounding the last buoy. This is one of the better pictures there were some hilarious ones of me grimacing and attempting to breath at the same time, but I will keep those to myself.
Even thought I was exhausted and staggering out of the water, I still seem to have time to make sure my swim top was pulled down so my bum was not showing! Thanks Peter for snapping all these shots. And can I just point out all those other swimmers in the background who started at the same time as me still with a long way to go.
And there I am triumphant at the end, very glad that I have finished. Oh and by the way my eyes look that wrinkled because of the goggles, honest.
But this triathlon was not all about me, really! I had two other team members, Linda walking and Vicki cycling. They both did a brilliant job. Above is Linda fixing the timing tag to Vicki's leg and below Vicki looks really happy to be finished.
I don't know where we came, I only know we did not come last. Which is what we were aiming for. I will update you when I find out. Would I do it again, hmmm I am not sure. It was tough, but the actual sense of achievement was incredible. I have also learnt next time start slow, don't get panicked into a rush and have fun.
The last daisies of summer are still flowering happily in the garden, despite the fact that March has roared in with a full winter blast.
The lower part of the North Island was hit by a weather bomb yesterday. We got off very easily with just one broken branch on the Acacia tree at the bottom of the garden. I heard it crack as it broke but could not spot the damage at first. I am hoping that March will creep out like a lamb and somewhere around the corner there is an Indian Summer just waiting to heat us all up again.
