The emotion itself and the concept behind it are those that make you stop to think. Whether it’s a spider, dark hallway, or the idea of failure, fear can define us and cage us if we let it. As a senior we fear the unknown; where we are going to live and who we will work for when that bittersweet commencement speech is finally given. We fear letting our families down, not meeting expectations, living in our parents basement or a box under some overpass with a bum named Jimmy. As a halfpipe skier, we fear failure, loss, and, among other things, injury. Yesterday was a weird/ gut-wrenching day for the women’s ski halfpipe world; two iconic women shared their worst day of the year. Jen Hudak (USA) blew out her knee on a jump at the base of the halfpipe at Breck, and Sarah Burke (CAN) remains in a coma at the University of Utah hospital following an injury sustained at the Park City halfpipe earlier yesterday. Women, role models and ambassadors of the sport, performing routine tricks that changed the fate of their seasons in the blink of an eye… Fear.
I’ve had a couple rough crashes, bumps, bruises, and tweaks in my short career (thus far) as a pipe skier, but never have I sat back and wrestled with the idea of fear in this sport. We see and hear about traumatic crashes that alter the lives of their victims, but today struck a nerve. This concept of fear alone is mind-boggling… Fears may protect us from being reckless in action or decision, but overcoming them can be liberating beyond any fathomable feeling, where’s the balance? Perhaps the most terrifying part of this whole thing is blind fear… not knowing what to be scared of until it has beaten you down and stands over you, reminding you that anything can go wrong at any time. Maybe this causes people to board up their homes and lock themselves inside, but it can also be the blessing that pushes you to “live like you were dying”.
Coming into this year (all 10 days of it) I came into to the new chapter of this adventure, Fear. I am moving beyond the chapter of straight airs in the pipe or thoughtless spinning onto an airbag and find myself face-to-face with the reality of competitions and stringing together physical and mental concepts this sport has taught me thus far. On a day like today, the pain and bruising on both sides of my hips seem miniscule in the grand scheme of the sport and what we as female athletes are pushing ourselves to do. I feel a sense of growth… acknowledging what any rational human would deem as insane and continuing to embrace my love of the sport and innate competitive drive to make me feel calm, prepared, controlled… at peace. I am still learning how to trust the walls of the pipe and the muscle memory I am continuing to build every day, remain patient with my take-offs and trick sets, and finally come to terms with the fact that this journey is/ will be a process (and a delicate one at that).
I’m finding the positives that come from the feeling and acknowledgment of Fear … by overcoming it we learn about and trust ourselves; we feel empowered even if we don’t succeed on the first try. I am grateful for the achievements and set backs in this seasons training (so far), the trials and tribulations remind us that we can do it (whatever that “it” may be) but sometimes patience and perseverance are the key to growing as an athlete and person. I am coming to respect the difficulty of this sport and the process. My goals remain high (lets be honest), but my timeline has become flexible, sometimes you can’t rush things…. I am slowly learning to accept and respect that.
I head to Whistler for the North Face Open this coming weekend, and could not be more anxious. Between feeling unprepared and over pressured (all self-inflicted) it has been CRUTIAL to continue broadening my perspective for the season/ my career. I am stoked to cruise Canada and push myself as a freeski athlete by finding that perfect balance between fear and fearlessness (that wasn’t as eloquent as I had hoped). I am so grateful for the continued support, the people I am meeting, and the fact that I get to wake up and click into my skis every day. Sometimes fear is stepping outside of what’s expected and doing what is right for YOU. I fear not amounting to anything, and that fear alone pushes me to test my boundaries everyday.
Enough mindless, cheesy banter, things are going well up here; ups and downs as usual but I’m learning something new everyday whether it’s a trick, grab, friend, or worthless riddle. Hope everyone is having a WONDERFUL New Year and living everyday to the fullest; New Year, new perspective, new life lessons. Updates will follow this competition weekend, I am ssoooo stoked to see lax season start up! Sending positive vibes as usual.
A∞W
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Sunday, December 18, 2011
One Down
Officially back in the mountains for the winter and contest season has officially started!!
USASA was this past weekend, and while its a small competition it was awesome to get a competition under my belt especially before the RevTour on Wednesday!!! I walked away with my first (hopefully of many) 1st place finish and a little gold medal to top it off! We were given 2 runs and after throwing down an OK first run I was antsy to try the cork 9 that I was convinced I could pull off even after a 72 hour hiatus finishing finals and NOT sleeping. Long and the short... it ended horribly and have attached a video.
But no need to dwell on the negative, today was another day of training. Started at Copper then headed over to the bag jump (referred to as the BJ/ Air Boob) and ended up having the whole thing to myself with Elana/ "E". Still felt off from the fall yesterday and left a bit frustrated but overall still learning things I need to tweak and continue to push for. I ended up chilling in Vail with E and two of the kids who are living with here so they don't have to make the commute from Aspen, one of which is my "good luck charm". Made smoothies and waffles with them and watched ski videos from the pro's at Xgames, to the US olympic aerials team on the water ramps in UT. The take-off is EVERYTHING in this sport, everything else comes with practice and a better understanding of the territory but the take off is KEY so def. will be locking that down to stomp a sick run for Wednesday!! Its been so nice getting some time to get to know the boys on the team; both they and the coaches are awesome (understatement of the year), so supportive and positive and talented its not a bad deal skiing everyday with clones of my little bro. I'm so happy to be back in Colorado but really looking forward to a bit of down time to sleep and catch-up from a hectic semester and demanding training.
Back at it tomorrow with the rest of the crew, don't go out until 11:30 so I get my first day of sleeping in!!!! Ah its the small things, hope everyone is having a wonderful winter break, all I want for Christmas is a WINNNN, RevTour here I come!
Sending Positive Vibes per usual :)
A∞W
USASA was this past weekend, and while its a small competition it was awesome to get a competition under my belt especially before the RevTour on Wednesday!!! I walked away with my first (hopefully of many) 1st place finish and a little gold medal to top it off! We were given 2 runs and after throwing down an OK first run I was antsy to try the cork 9 that I was convinced I could pull off even after a 72 hour hiatus finishing finals and NOT sleeping. Long and the short... it ended horribly and have attached a video.
But no need to dwell on the negative, today was another day of training. Started at Copper then headed over to the bag jump (referred to as the BJ/ Air Boob) and ended up having the whole thing to myself with Elana/ "E". Still felt off from the fall yesterday and left a bit frustrated but overall still learning things I need to tweak and continue to push for. I ended up chilling in Vail with E and two of the kids who are living with here so they don't have to make the commute from Aspen, one of which is my "good luck charm". Made smoothies and waffles with them and watched ski videos from the pro's at Xgames, to the US olympic aerials team on the water ramps in UT. The take-off is EVERYTHING in this sport, everything else comes with practice and a better understanding of the territory but the take off is KEY so def. will be locking that down to stomp a sick run for Wednesday!! Its been so nice getting some time to get to know the boys on the team; both they and the coaches are awesome (understatement of the year), so supportive and positive and talented its not a bad deal skiing everyday with clones of my little bro. I'm so happy to be back in Colorado but really looking forward to a bit of down time to sleep and catch-up from a hectic semester and demanding training.
Back at it tomorrow with the rest of the crew, don't go out until 11:30 so I get my first day of sleeping in!!!! Ah its the small things, hope everyone is having a wonderful winter break, all I want for Christmas is a WINNNN, RevTour here I come!
Sending Positive Vibes per usual :)
A∞W
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
VIDEOZZZ
Again I am in the white patterny pants for and dark top for the airbag video. The dub 12 is at the end at around 5/6 mins? And the cork 9 was the first attempt, so close!! ENJOY!!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Bag Jump Footage!
Here's the footage of the bag jump with the French team from Saturday! I am (the only girl, it shows) wearing a black jacket with white patterny pants, Kevin Rolland (#1 halfpipe skier) is in the blue jumpsuit, kid rips. ENJOY!!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Letting Go
Back up in Breck!!
Jumping back and forth for school has proven to be a test for my focus to finish up, but being back in the mountains is AMAZING! I barely made my flight back Friday morning, thank you Emily, and from the second I touched down in Colorado its been non-stop.
Friday was moving day/ dry land training to prepare for the hectic weekend. Being back in the Breck house is so nice but I forget how lonely it can be living up here alone! I guess the good thing about this season is the insanely busy schedule I have. Saturday was jammed packed with a 9-1 bag jump session at Vail followed by an afternoon riding the pipe at Copper until last chair at 4:00. The bag jump is this crazy looking feature that looks like two halfpipe slices side by side, with a huge airbag at the base of the walls they share. Really confusing but its amazing for training as you can simulate your first hit and throw any crazy trick without the fear of absolutely obliterating every bone in your body. The Saturday session was my first day with the team and we were joined by the French National Freestyle team and arguably the best men's pipe skier in the world Kevin Rolland. As if that wasn't intimidating enough it was also the first day Elana (my god send of a coach) saw me ski. Long story short my first hit I just went as high as possible with a nice tweaked out mute grab to get a feel for the feature, second hit was a cork 9.... Now I realize this is all a different language to most who read this but a cork 9 is an off-axis 2.5 spin trick that most of the pro women are still attempting to perfect. I wrote it off to beginners luck and after watching the boys throwing doubles like it was no one's business, I went for my third hit. Cork 10... I landed a little bit disoriented but was met with some insanely excited cheering from my coach and when I got to the top/ drop-in point I got some smiles and approval from both the kids on my team and the French boys. Its cheesy but pushing that hard and going that far out of your comfort zone makes for a indescribable feeling; chatting with the french men made for some entertainment as well, I felt like I was talking to gods you would not believe the tricks they can throw.
That afternoon was predominately focused on my "pipe mechanics". Hitting a feature as hard as you can because you know there is no way you can get hurt gives you some confidence that the ice walls of the pipe have no problem shutting down. I did NOT throw the spins at Copper, but instead worked on remembering how to ride and air out of the 22 ft monster that is my new BFF. A couple of the US kids were there in the afternoon, typically the morning is a mad house since Copper is the only halfpipe open in CO at present. Of course every one of them knows Elana so I was shaking hands with halfpipe gods and trying desperately not to start hyperventilating and screaming like a preteen at a Justin Bieber concert.
Sunday was a long day at Copper. 9-2:30 doesn't seem like a long day but hiking/ skiing the pipe/ making laps to keep your legs warm in what felt like antarctic climate def. keeps the heart pumping. It was another day of lifting out of the pipe and breaking me of the bad habits I accumulated after only one season of riding pipe. I felt my amplitude continue to grow along with my confidence and occasionally frustration. The halfpipe is the therapy I have always needed because most of my Type A character flaws just won't cut it. Patience, trust, and "letting go" seem to be recurring words of wisdom difficult for my crazy personality to wrap any understanding around... but I am getting there.
Today is Day 1 of the Grand Prix competition which I opted out of so the pipe is closed for competitors only. The weather gods must like me though because we keep dipping in and out of the negative's and I would rather go on a date with Rosie Odonnel than brave that kind of cold. Sooo, today is dedicated to dryland and a desperate attempt to study (currently failing more than a penguin attempting flight). Tomorrow is a dryland and tramp morning followed by either another bag jump session or some quality time at my fav place Woodward. I'm hungrier than ever for that RedBull helmet and the spot at the Xgames so its pedal to the medal, I've kissed my final grades goodbye and come to terms with reality, this is where I am supposed to be and I could not be happier. Can't wait to see everyone one last time over finals week, best of luck to everyone studying!! Sending positive vibes.
Love,
A∞W
PS. Sponsor update!! Had a great meeting with Icelantic over Thanksgiving Break and I could not be more excited to work with the company. They hooked me up with some sweet gear and some new sticks on the way and are so supportive of my goals and coming season schedule. They have some sweet projects in the mix as well including a documentary I hope to get some sick shots to contribute to! They have photographers and filmers on deck so anytime I need help putting some shots on the desks of future sponsors, they are there backing me up! The company is sick I highly recommend checking out their skis and keeping an eye out for my debut on the "TEAM" tab!! Everything is falling into placeeeee :)
Jumping back and forth for school has proven to be a test for my focus to finish up, but being back in the mountains is AMAZING! I barely made my flight back Friday morning, thank you Emily, and from the second I touched down in Colorado its been non-stop.
Friday was moving day/ dry land training to prepare for the hectic weekend. Being back in the Breck house is so nice but I forget how lonely it can be living up here alone! I guess the good thing about this season is the insanely busy schedule I have. Saturday was jammed packed with a 9-1 bag jump session at Vail followed by an afternoon riding the pipe at Copper until last chair at 4:00. The bag jump is this crazy looking feature that looks like two halfpipe slices side by side, with a huge airbag at the base of the walls they share. Really confusing but its amazing for training as you can simulate your first hit and throw any crazy trick without the fear of absolutely obliterating every bone in your body. The Saturday session was my first day with the team and we were joined by the French National Freestyle team and arguably the best men's pipe skier in the world Kevin Rolland. As if that wasn't intimidating enough it was also the first day Elana (my god send of a coach) saw me ski. Long story short my first hit I just went as high as possible with a nice tweaked out mute grab to get a feel for the feature, second hit was a cork 9.... Now I realize this is all a different language to most who read this but a cork 9 is an off-axis 2.5 spin trick that most of the pro women are still attempting to perfect. I wrote it off to beginners luck and after watching the boys throwing doubles like it was no one's business, I went for my third hit. Cork 10... I landed a little bit disoriented but was met with some insanely excited cheering from my coach and when I got to the top/ drop-in point I got some smiles and approval from both the kids on my team and the French boys. Its cheesy but pushing that hard and going that far out of your comfort zone makes for a indescribable feeling; chatting with the french men made for some entertainment as well, I felt like I was talking to gods you would not believe the tricks they can throw.
That afternoon was predominately focused on my "pipe mechanics". Hitting a feature as hard as you can because you know there is no way you can get hurt gives you some confidence that the ice walls of the pipe have no problem shutting down. I did NOT throw the spins at Copper, but instead worked on remembering how to ride and air out of the 22 ft monster that is my new BFF. A couple of the US kids were there in the afternoon, typically the morning is a mad house since Copper is the only halfpipe open in CO at present. Of course every one of them knows Elana so I was shaking hands with halfpipe gods and trying desperately not to start hyperventilating and screaming like a preteen at a Justin Bieber concert.
Sunday was a long day at Copper. 9-2:30 doesn't seem like a long day but hiking/ skiing the pipe/ making laps to keep your legs warm in what felt like antarctic climate def. keeps the heart pumping. It was another day of lifting out of the pipe and breaking me of the bad habits I accumulated after only one season of riding pipe. I felt my amplitude continue to grow along with my confidence and occasionally frustration. The halfpipe is the therapy I have always needed because most of my Type A character flaws just won't cut it. Patience, trust, and "letting go" seem to be recurring words of wisdom difficult for my crazy personality to wrap any understanding around... but I am getting there.
Today is Day 1 of the Grand Prix competition which I opted out of so the pipe is closed for competitors only. The weather gods must like me though because we keep dipping in and out of the negative's and I would rather go on a date with Rosie Odonnel than brave that kind of cold. Sooo, today is dedicated to dryland and a desperate attempt to study (currently failing more than a penguin attempting flight). Tomorrow is a dryland and tramp morning followed by either another bag jump session or some quality time at my fav place Woodward. I'm hungrier than ever for that RedBull helmet and the spot at the Xgames so its pedal to the medal, I've kissed my final grades goodbye and come to terms with reality, this is where I am supposed to be and I could not be happier. Can't wait to see everyone one last time over finals week, best of luck to everyone studying!! Sending positive vibes.
Love,
A∞W
PS. Sponsor update!! Had a great meeting with Icelantic over Thanksgiving Break and I could not be more excited to work with the company. They hooked me up with some sweet gear and some new sticks on the way and are so supportive of my goals and coming season schedule. They have some sweet projects in the mix as well including a documentary I hope to get some sick shots to contribute to! They have photographers and filmers on deck so anytime I need help putting some shots on the desks of future sponsors, they are there backing me up! The company is sick I highly recommend checking out their skis and keeping an eye out for my debut on the "TEAM" tab!! Everything is falling into placeeeee :)
Monday, September 19, 2011
Forgot how to College...
As usual my consistency in posting is not the best; however things have been quite busy!
I am back at Cal now for what will be my last semester on campus. There are still units I will have to compete in order to graduate (what was I thinking Freshman and Sophomore year) so Hello Online classes/ a summer session! As if life back up in Breck won't be busy enough!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR SNOW!!
In so many words being back at Cal has been good. Its nice to be back in the Bay Area among the people who really contributed/ are the epitome of an amazing college experience. That being said my focus on school started out strong but is being weaned away by the thoughts of snow and all of this year's ski movie releases!! Not to mention the wonderful email update from Keystone alerting me that opening day is in approx. 7 weeks, how is anyone supposed to focus with yet another season right around the corner!? I have ssooo much work to do!
Being back in the school swing has been a difficult adjustment especially with a course load of 2 full-time students... but hey its all worth it; and when I hit the podium we can all laugh at the 5 finals and 2 thesis papers I will have had to write in order to get there! TOTALLY NOT that funny right now but the classes are interesting and I am continuing to gain more perspective. The past ski season, summer in New Zealand and time back at Cal has helped me to step back and reflect on the path I have chosen. Its actually quite astounding how quickly the "best 4 years of your life" have flown by; but more shocking has been the personal growth.
I've been hitting the tramps at least 3 times a week and working to get my core strength back along with the air awareness I will need once I sack up and start trying doubles!! I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break and FINALLY dropping back into the pipe but I am also trying to see this time as a lesson in patience and mental strength to remain steadfast in the belief that this goal is going to happen because I can make it happen. Most of the frustration comes from seeing and hearing about all of the training/ resources the pros have access to; but keeping my focus set in the here and now is the next step in preparing for the career ahead. I am so happy to be among friends again, and have come to realize that I have officially fallen in love with this sport and the crazy/ frustrating/ rewarding process that comes along with it. Even though it has pushed me to a very jam packed final semester people go to crazy lengths for the people/ things they love.. and I am crazy, soooo I'd say that's about all the explanation necessary! Cheesy way to end a Monday night but my procrastination needs an outlet so maybe there will be more blogging?
I am also taking any bored volunteers to come up and video me on the tramps! Should put a little edit together so that Red Bull can start sizing the helmet and drafting up the contract they don't yet know they will be handing to me :)
God growing up is scary... that's it for now, nothing too interesting to report yet but midterms are around the corner and I have 5 all in that one week. Survival of the fittest? Sending out positive vibes to everyone as usual.
A∞W
I am back at Cal now for what will be my last semester on campus. There are still units I will have to compete in order to graduate (what was I thinking Freshman and Sophomore year) so Hello Online classes/ a summer session! As if life back up in Breck won't be busy enough!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR SNOW!!
In so many words being back at Cal has been good. Its nice to be back in the Bay Area among the people who really contributed/ are the epitome of an amazing college experience. That being said my focus on school started out strong but is being weaned away by the thoughts of snow and all of this year's ski movie releases!! Not to mention the wonderful email update from Keystone alerting me that opening day is in approx. 7 weeks, how is anyone supposed to focus with yet another season right around the corner!? I have ssooo much work to do!
Being back in the school swing has been a difficult adjustment especially with a course load of 2 full-time students... but hey its all worth it; and when I hit the podium we can all laugh at the 5 finals and 2 thesis papers I will have had to write in order to get there! TOTALLY NOT that funny right now but the classes are interesting and I am continuing to gain more perspective. The past ski season, summer in New Zealand and time back at Cal has helped me to step back and reflect on the path I have chosen. Its actually quite astounding how quickly the "best 4 years of your life" have flown by; but more shocking has been the personal growth.
I've been hitting the tramps at least 3 times a week and working to get my core strength back along with the air awareness I will need once I sack up and start trying doubles!! I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break and FINALLY dropping back into the pipe but I am also trying to see this time as a lesson in patience and mental strength to remain steadfast in the belief that this goal is going to happen because I can make it happen. Most of the frustration comes from seeing and hearing about all of the training/ resources the pros have access to; but keeping my focus set in the here and now is the next step in preparing for the career ahead. I am so happy to be among friends again, and have come to realize that I have officially fallen in love with this sport and the crazy/ frustrating/ rewarding process that comes along with it. Even though it has pushed me to a very jam packed final semester people go to crazy lengths for the people/ things they love.. and I am crazy, soooo I'd say that's about all the explanation necessary! Cheesy way to end a Monday night but my procrastination needs an outlet so maybe there will be more blogging?
I am also taking any bored volunteers to come up and video me on the tramps! Should put a little edit together so that Red Bull can start sizing the helmet and drafting up the contract they don't yet know they will be handing to me :)
God growing up is scary... that's it for now, nothing too interesting to report yet but midterms are around the corner and I have 5 all in that one week. Survival of the fittest? Sending out positive vibes to everyone as usual.
A∞W
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Exploring!
Hello!!!
Long time, no update?? Sincerest apologies its been BUSY around here!!! Where to start...
Right now we are preparing for this HUGE expo event so efforts in PR have been on hyper-drive and meetings have been abundant but educational. I am ssoo excited that the south island is starting to get DUMPED on.. skiing ssoo soon I cannot wait!!
Last weekend (I guess 2 weekends ago) we did the touristy stuff around Wellington, touring around parliament and getting some history on the city and LOTS of walking/ hiking. We live at the base of Mt. Victoria and hiked it Sunday morning to get a glimpse of the spectacular view over the city and all of the bays... breathtaking, so worth the hike and the chilled wind at the top, NZ has some of the coolest landscape I have ever seen and getting a bird's eye view was nothing to complain about!! Later that day we did this 8 mile hike/ walk along the red rocks at Island Bay!! Again the scenery was too beautiful for words!! The walk was much longer than we had initially planned but what else is there to do on Sundays!?
This weekend was a blast too. Friday night we went out and I honestly don't even know how to explain the "going out" scene. The bars are an eclectic collection of Irish pubs, jazz clubs, Electric/ Boogie night, and Dubstep. Of course we hit as many as humanly possible and danced to 90's alternative rock with people who couldnt dance (let alone stand) but were having a blast feeling the music and just being happy (I guess thats the recurring theme here... weird concept :) Then we'd cruise over to MJ and Spice Girl throw backs and then over to a dark and PACKED upstairs club/ bar that was cranking dubstep so loud the bass might as well have been the city's heartbeat. So much fun, what would life be without music?? Its hard not to have fun when your dancing... no complaints on my end, we all had an absolute blast!!
Saturday was a nice lazy day, a couple of us went to breakfast at another one of Wellington's unique cafes (there are so many its awesome) and ended up staying for 3 hours just gabbing (oh gal pals!). The sun was out so I napped on the deck and we recovered from a late night with Harry Potter movies (getting ready for the big one Thursday morning at 6:30 am).
Sunday (yesterday) was great because we went to the South Island!!! Took a morning ferry/ cruise ship over to Picton/ Marlborough area where in this 4,000 person town there are around 160 vineyards!! We did a wine tour for the day and enjoyed the country side and obviously the wine! At the last vineyard two of the girls bought wine (never before had they liked any wine) and for the World Cup they did a promotion where you could try to kick a rugby field goal and win their Savignon Blanc (awarded the best in the country, and NZ is known for is Sav Blanc). Sooo, about a 35yrd rugby kick given to me by one of my friends ended with a free bottle of wine for me!! I think the woman as just as shocked as I was when I made it, you only get one shot, no warm up and I guess only 5 other people have made it, none of them girls. Sheer dumb luck is what is came down to but she gave me a little certificate and a free bottle of $75 dollar wine... #WINNING!!
The ferry ride back was calm, the way there was sunny and GORGEOUS (i feel so retarded saying that over and over again so from now on lets just assume that everything here is beautiful). Some parts reminded me of Colorado... can it be winter again now? Anyway long story short things are still going swimmingly down here! the winter weather has started to settle and I can't even begin to put into words how excited I am to get my ski on :) I'm sick of hearing about all the summer stuff going on in Hood and Whistler, I have a LOT of work to do in the next 6 months, this coming season is a HUGE. Thats about it! Still no Kiwi man friend but we have made friends with this crazy guy who owns a pizza/ gelato shop and hooks us up with free pies when we go in "as an appetizer", so funny he's the man. Hope all is well with everyone else!!! Fingers crossed I get outta here without any big natural disaster, we had an earthquake Tuesday it was terrifying.
Sending out positive vibes as usual!!!
Love,
A∞W
Long time, no update?? Sincerest apologies its been BUSY around here!!! Where to start...
Right now we are preparing for this HUGE expo event so efforts in PR have been on hyper-drive and meetings have been abundant but educational. I am ssoo excited that the south island is starting to get DUMPED on.. skiing ssoo soon I cannot wait!!
Last weekend (I guess 2 weekends ago) we did the touristy stuff around Wellington, touring around parliament and getting some history on the city and LOTS of walking/ hiking. We live at the base of Mt. Victoria and hiked it Sunday morning to get a glimpse of the spectacular view over the city and all of the bays... breathtaking, so worth the hike and the chilled wind at the top, NZ has some of the coolest landscape I have ever seen and getting a bird's eye view was nothing to complain about!! Later that day we did this 8 mile hike/ walk along the red rocks at Island Bay!! Again the scenery was too beautiful for words!! The walk was much longer than we had initially planned but what else is there to do on Sundays!?
This weekend was a blast too. Friday night we went out and I honestly don't even know how to explain the "going out" scene. The bars are an eclectic collection of Irish pubs, jazz clubs, Electric/ Boogie night, and Dubstep. Of course we hit as many as humanly possible and danced to 90's alternative rock with people who couldnt dance (let alone stand) but were having a blast feeling the music and just being happy (I guess thats the recurring theme here... weird concept :) Then we'd cruise over to MJ and Spice Girl throw backs and then over to a dark and PACKED upstairs club/ bar that was cranking dubstep so loud the bass might as well have been the city's heartbeat. So much fun, what would life be without music?? Its hard not to have fun when your dancing... no complaints on my end, we all had an absolute blast!!
Saturday was a nice lazy day, a couple of us went to breakfast at another one of Wellington's unique cafes (there are so many its awesome) and ended up staying for 3 hours just gabbing (oh gal pals!). The sun was out so I napped on the deck and we recovered from a late night with Harry Potter movies (getting ready for the big one Thursday morning at 6:30 am).
Sunday (yesterday) was great because we went to the South Island!!! Took a morning ferry/ cruise ship over to Picton/ Marlborough area where in this 4,000 person town there are around 160 vineyards!! We did a wine tour for the day and enjoyed the country side and obviously the wine! At the last vineyard two of the girls bought wine (never before had they liked any wine) and for the World Cup they did a promotion where you could try to kick a rugby field goal and win their Savignon Blanc (awarded the best in the country, and NZ is known for is Sav Blanc). Sooo, about a 35yrd rugby kick given to me by one of my friends ended with a free bottle of wine for me!! I think the woman as just as shocked as I was when I made it, you only get one shot, no warm up and I guess only 5 other people have made it, none of them girls. Sheer dumb luck is what is came down to but she gave me a little certificate and a free bottle of $75 dollar wine... #WINNING!!
The ferry ride back was calm, the way there was sunny and GORGEOUS (i feel so retarded saying that over and over again so from now on lets just assume that everything here is beautiful). Some parts reminded me of Colorado... can it be winter again now? Anyway long story short things are still going swimmingly down here! the winter weather has started to settle and I can't even begin to put into words how excited I am to get my ski on :) I'm sick of hearing about all the summer stuff going on in Hood and Whistler, I have a LOT of work to do in the next 6 months, this coming season is a HUGE. Thats about it! Still no Kiwi man friend but we have made friends with this crazy guy who owns a pizza/ gelato shop and hooks us up with free pies when we go in "as an appetizer", so funny he's the man. Hope all is well with everyone else!!! Fingers crossed I get outta here without any big natural disaster, we had an earthquake Tuesday it was terrifying.
Sending out positive vibes as usual!!!
Love,
A∞W
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)