I arrived in Australia

Vancouver to Auckland, NZ was an OK flight. It was not as bad as I thought - being in a seat for 14 hours that is. We had a late dinner shortly after we took off, I watched a movie, and then went to sleep for the night. I tossed and turned and woke up every hour but before I knew it breakfast was served. Man, if I could eat a breakfast like this everyday I would be very happy! I then watched another movie and we landed. 

We arrived in Auckland and headed to the Air New Zealand lounge. I had a wonderful shower and another latte and then we got to board our plan to Brisbane. My ankles were quite swollen by this point (despite the compression socks - this is because I kept crossing my legs) and I did not want to sit any longer. I tried to focus and read Triathlete to pass the time.

Finally! We arrived! We cleared customs without incident and were off to Carole's house. There was alot of screaming and hugging! We explored her house and then had to walk her to school for her final class of the day. After we dropped her off I was dying to go check out the outdoor pool so we went and saw that and the track. Two high priorities on my list of things to do when I am here.

After Carole's class we came back home and went for a big walk into the city. The pathways are crazy here and Carole keeps having to remind me to walk on the left of the pathway. Don't eve get me started about crossing the street - let's just say I make Carole hold my hand cause I can't figure out which ways the cars are coming. It was a wonderful 28 degrees and I was in shorts and a tank top. So much better than that darn Calgary snow. We walked till we finally hit a Starbuck's! Sweet! But holy cow is it ever expensive here. I didn't mind though as I love Starbuck's! We then wandered over to the CityCat (the catamaran that is the river bus) back to Carole's house. The novelty that the bus was a catamaran was very cool and if we had these in Calgary I would actually ride city transit.

Then a few of Carole's university friend's came over and we hung out I layed against the wall with my legs up trying to get my ankles to return to normal size. We finally went to bed and I had a fantastic sleep and am now fully adjusted to the time change. And, my ankles look normal again!

Ok, I am off for a run!!! Not only do I finally get to go for a run (even if it is only for 1/2 hour - as I promised Ang I would go easy for my first run) but, it is already 24 degrees so I am off for a warm run in shorts and a sports bra! No darn tights, mitts, toque, jacket, neck warmer, etc!

I will try to keep updating as we have an excited few days ahead of us. 

Off to Australia

I am sitting in the Maple Leaf Lounge in Vancouver airport, leisurely and very happily drinking a latte. In just under an hour I will get on an Air New Zealand plane to head off to Auckland and then on to Australia. I just talked to Carole and she is getting excited for us to get there.

This morning before I left, we at Tri It had a spinathon to benefiot some local professional traithletes. I had a great time teaching and got to talk to Sam McGlone again. Angie and I asked for a picture, and she is so kind she happily obliged.

I unfortunately got the 4th hour teaching slot - and that is when most people decided that 4 hours on a bike trainer was their limit! So needless to say if I hadn't know people were planning to leave, I would have been thouroughly insulted as they left. Ha! Ha! The spin-a-thon was great fun though and we will definitely do it again. I hope we were able to raise enough money for some of our local tri heroes like Jordan Bryden.

I will try to keep blogging as the trip goes on! I seriously can't belive this trip is finally here!

Chaotic Life

I am not complaining. For those who know me, I can't sit still. I come by it honestly (for those of you who know my parents! Mom and Dad start to go crazy when they have even a second of down time. And yes, I am like that too - even though I swore I never would be!).

In any event, work is going great. Who knew you could have a job that you go into everyday excited to see everyone and get at the task at hand for the day! I am definitely Living the Dream! For those that never got to see the Impact Magazine shot, here it is. (Mom and Leslie - I am mailing you both copies).

I am still not running but will attempt my first run next week. I am also off to Australia next Sunday to see my dear friend Carole, and I cannot wait to spend some quality girl time with her. She has promised we will get a bit of training in while we are there. Yes, I am dying to do an ocean swim, get a swim workout in an outdoor pool, run in warm weather, and try to get a short bike there too (it may be hard as Carole says there is not much biking near her). We also plan on heading to Port Macquarie to watch Ironman Australia!!!! It will be a blast. I also plan to surf! It should be a great trip and I will blog along the way when I am there.