With
a dip in temperatures the leaves have started to change colour quite
dramatically and we now have a great show put on by nature, all around the
countryside (sorry you will have to take my word on that as I still have
problems uploading photos. Just look up last year’s blog entry, as the trees
just look the same!). We have a grandstand view from our house, of the rows of
vines that change colour on a daily basis. Our view is even better now as our
very kind neighbour cut down some trees which had started to block out the ‘vineyard
view’, we named our house after. Autumn
has still a way to go, it is still warm enough to wear shorts and we have only
started to light the fire in the evening about a week ago.
Lisa and I managed to escape over to Blenheim
the other weekend to do one of the biggest bike rides in NZ (or at least in the
South Island). The Graperide is in its 9th year and has 2500 participants. It
starts and finishes at a winery which is the main sponsor. To mark its 10th
anniversary next year, we will get a magnum of wine each as part of the goody
bag. It is a sportive type event with
age group prizes etc. It also celebrates post cancer survivors as they get
their entry for half price and they also have a category for prizes. We went
with a group of 8 others and 3 were cancer survivors. One of them won a prize.
The event takes you around the Marlborough Sounds, which is very hilly and
scenic if you had time to look. I would have liked the route to have been
hillier for more of the course, as I found that I passed most people when I was
climbing or descending. I had set myself a target of going under 4 hours with 4
weeks of training. I finished in 3hrs 47mins. Lisa is getting faster and faster
on the bike and even though she had a slight mechanical problem she finished in
3 hrs 15 mins. The older people are scary fast. An 80 yr old man finished 10
mins after the elite in 2 hrs 41 mins! It was our first taste of a big event (as
participants) since we moved here and it was good to take part in something
that was not just a local club race.
There was also the option to declare yourself
a graperide virgin and you would then get picked to tramp or fall into a large
bin of grapes which are supposedly used for next year’s vintage. We didn’t
volunteer.
We
then all sat around afterwards and plotted our next event. We hope to have a
Wheelie Fantastic team(s) for a few events later in the year as well as next
year’s Graperide. There is also a stage race called the 40/50 tour (for over 40
and 50 year olds) which some of us may have a go at in December, but that might
have just been the adrenalin talking. It would be a 'good' way to celebrate my
50th birthday which, I think, will fall on the first day of the event! I could,
on the other hand, repeat my 40th birthday bash and have a
‘Champagne Sunday’ party. Where have 10 years gone? The last two have been
lived out in New Zealand. We will have been here two years as of next week. This blog has been existence for that long and is very close to its 2000th viewing (not bad for only having 3 official followers)
The
day after the Graperide, I went with Garin College to Wellington on a Geography
fieldtrip. I enjoyed being in Wellington and I enjoyed thinking about
geographical things again. The students were also really good and it was a very
well organised trip. The boat trip back to the South Island was also beautiful,
as it goes through some of the Marlborough Sounds. All of this made me realise
that we need to make the most of our autumns and winters and head off to other
parts of the country.
In
this beautiful country we also have the harsh realities of life. Lisa and I
attended our first funeral, since our arrival. A local guy, who was an estate
agent and who had shown us quite a few houses when we arrived here, died last
week of cancer. He was mid 50s and leaves a partner and two young daughters. He
was also a keen cyclist and we had got to know him and shared cyclist chat. His
order of service finished with this quote;
‘When
spirits are low, when the day appears dark…when hope hardly seems worth having,
just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin on the road, without thought on
anything but the ride you are on.’ (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I
was also given a poem that was written by a local man who also passed away
recently, after a battle with cancer. I didn’t know him, but he wrote the poem
last year when he was healthy, fit and active. The poem is called Autumn and
this is the last verse;
‘And
it’s O.K. that Autumn’s here.
It
is the nature of all things.
So
let’s enjoy these fruits of life,
And
face that Winter when it comes. (Doug Simpson 2012)
Today
I managed to get out on my bike for a couple of hours. I have not managed that
for almost 2 weeks due to work, weather and shorter days. I had been thinking
about the shorter days of winter over the last few weeks. I then realised that
the winter here is good and not as depressing as a winter on a latitude of 55
degrees north! I also realised that I should enjoy Autumn for what it is and
not fast forward to winter before it happens. Today I cycled and enjoyed the
show that nature puts on at this time of year.
