December 2009 Archives

Woke up to an overcast morning here in Mt. Maungaui after a well needed night of sleep. My morning run was short and very difficult. I made a quick tramp to the top of the mount. I've posted a photo of the mount along with other photos I took this a.m.

            Today Liz and I will walk down to the local coffee shop and meet up with some of her sporty friends. I have a mountain biking trek planed with Gram today, not sure where we are going, but I'm sure it will be a complete work out. Gram is a world durathlon champion, which is held in Germany each year. Durathlons are competitions consisting of two events (run, bike, run), unlike triathlons which are (swim, bike, run). Long story short I hope to not slow him down to much. This afternoon Chris is going to teach me how to surf on a long board.

            New Years is approaching fast here in New Zealand, today is Dec. 29^th and according to Liz it's my job to make plans for the evening. I believe I've decided to attend a native Moriori celebration and meal. Moriori's are the original inhabitants of NZ over 1000 years ago. This celebration will be fallowed by music and dancing on Mt. Maungaui's beach.

Long flights from Minnesota, delays in Denver, and fourteen hour flight from San Francisco equals a very tired Jeff. I landed in Taungrura NZ at 7:30 a.m. December 28^th. First activity was watching a local triathlon with several hundred participants. Shortly after that I was kayaking around the Mount which is a landmark in the city of Taungrua. Learning to skate board was the afternoon activity fallowed by dancing to the music of a local jazz band brings me to a close for my first day in New Zealand. Oh, to explain the "no tipping in New Zealand," It means just what I said, waiters or waitresses do not accept any tips. Tomorrow will start with a run around the Mount then learning to surf in the Bay of Plenty and local beach.

here is a link to the UMC homepage!

e-mail me at