Well, I have been madly getting around and catching up with all the work I have on. At least I haven't got time to get bored.

I will admit to the odd Siesta to try and keep up.

As I didn't have my BA back, I whipped into the BNZ Tower this morning and did 2 quick ascents. 3min49sec and 4min26sec, then back to work for contracts and meetings.

Carol, Bob, Angela, Deb, Elise and Molly have all returned this afternoon. So I spent some time playing with Elise on the deck, before taking Molly for a walk.

I am really looking forward to my long week-end. I am just in the middle of trying to schedule my next lot of travel.

Ciao

Well, I was lucky enough to be invited (as seats are all gone) to celebrate Carol's birthday lunch at the Yellow Treehouse. Which was a surprise for her. I think she was suitably shocked and impressed.

It is a temporary restaurant 10m up a 40m Redwood tree. It is open from 9 Jan to 9 Feb with 18 people, twice a day. It is a marketing exercise by Yellow Pages.

The day was a beautiful 26C and blue skies, food, service and location were wonderful. I doubt they could have done a better job of this venture.

Enjoy the photos. I'd say you should go, but you are already too late. It's a sell out.

Well, not really. But her first time getting her cute little mug in the press.

So my new Digital camera arrived today. Yeehaa. So I went off and got the SD card, Camera case and spare battery package that Carol got for hers.

I wasn't too motivated to climb today, but Roy emailed me and asked if we were. So I did. A new record time! 5 minutes 04 seconds for the first ascent and 5 minutes 49 seconds for the 2nd ascent. I felt like crap both times going up, obviously I must be getting fitter though.

The entire tribe have returned home for a few days. Tomorrow's entertainment will be blogged afterward, as it is a surprise for some.

I've spent 2 days in Hamilton this week.

That's about all from me.

So I have just done the maths. I have 8 weeks today until the climb.

It motivated me to get up and go and do something. I did the Kohi stairs 7 times, 595 stairs in 10m51s.

Here is a video to show the next silly event I have decided to attempt.

   

   

I have just weighed my current climbing kit. 23kg right now. And Matt has suggested that I use flexible leg weights. He has a very good point, changing from sneakers to Fire boots was definitely tougher. Actually lifting your foot up each step is harder, it is more than just the thigh strenth required to lift your body once you have placed your foot. That foot needs to make it to the next step. So I have found that I can get 0.5kg and 1.5kg weights for each leg. I didn't buy either. But I guess I could do it later on in the week when I get back from Hamilton. Sometimes I wonder about my sanity.

So, I have come home to get ready for work next week, after having my phone ring regularly Mon/Tues/Wed, Murphy's law, it has rung 3 times for work in the last 2 days. So I did get some stuff done. Although that effort is all for nothing now.

I managed to flog a steel cylinder from work to slip onto the BA, I got it filled and went for a climb yesterday. I couldn't find the security guard in the BNZ Tower so could only do 1 ascent. Which I wasn't too upset about as I was carrying another 9kg (approx) and man did my thighs feel it. I did get up in 5m22s. I went back today and did 2 ascents and managed 5m20s and 5m53s. So I am kind of happy about that. I did feel like a glacier at the 2nd attempt, but I guess most of it is in my head as the time was quite good in my opinion. And I had a meeting this morning at Skycity and will be able to train in the Skytower each week. So my aim is to do that once a week and use the BNZ 2-3 times on other days in my lead up to Seattle.

No idea when everyone else is coming home. Before the 16th is all I know. I'm off to the Waikato for at least 2 days next week. Still waiting for my new digital camera to be delivered.

Ciao