A Break from the Brotzman Adventures

Although there are still two days left in our chronicles of the Brotzman Road three, I have recently had a plethora of thoughts, experiences, and other sorts of interesting things going on that deserve a bit of notice. Don't worry, the Adventures will return for their stunning conclusion in due time, but for now let's focus on the things at hand.

I am on holiday. Yes, holiday as in, I don't have to work this coming week. This is not the same sort of holiday as when my Father came, however. It is a time for relaxation, lazy sleep-ins and reading late into the days. It is for home-made breakfasts, sipping tea and taking time to get ready for a hike or a ride. There is little rush, little worry about the day ahead, and little tiredness due to long work days and busy schedules. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing when my visitors came...but when people that you love come so far to see you, the last thing you want to do is relax. You want to spend every possible minute with them, bypassing extra rest and betraying the true exhaustion that encompasses you. It doesn't matter if it pains you to open your eyes at seven or eight in the morning on a day you'd typically have off...you get up to go to breakfast with them, not because you HAVE to...but because you CAN. When else will I be able to go breakfast with my father this year? When else will I be able to converse over coffee and eggs with Karen? It would be like going to Hawaii and staying in the hotel all day because it's raining. It just shouldn't be done.

But that being said, this is my true holiday for rest and relaxation. We plan to travel, but Craig has become the designated driver of the trip. I just can't bear to drive another kilometre that I dont have to. All trips aside, a lot has been going on in life and in my head.

I have had a lot of time lately to explore new things, new books, new ideas about what to do with myself in the upcoming weeks, months, years, etc. The most recent development has been my newfound ability to knit. And I must admit, I am quite the natural knitting talent. As Karen and I believe, I will someday be the Knitting Champion of the World. I've just started my first normal-sized scarf. A cream-coloured alpaca wool, so soft to the touch and warm as anything. I've even managed to put tassels on the end, and it is just so lovely. Bear in mind, most of you will be receiving various knitted accessories for Christmas, birthdays, holidays, etc. So if you have any requests, send color preferences, wool-types, etc along.

Along with my new knitting habit, there has been a lot of reading going on. And I'm tearing through books like never before. One I've recently read is called "The Dogs of Bedlam Farm". A book about a man from NJ who moved to upstate NY, bought a farm with fourteen sheep and couple of donkeys. He brought his three border collies up with him and experienced what it was like to live a rural lifestyle. In a country so full of farming and sheep and many of the similar things this man wrote about, it was rather fitting. And it makes me think, maybe someday it would be fun to have a little farm with sheep and dogs. Who knows.

But now I am reading a book titled "Savage Summit", which has proven an amazing, terrifying, and saddening account of the five woman who have summitted K2, the world's second highest and probably most difficult mountain in the world to climb. All five of these woman are now dead, whether having died on the mountain or afterwards. And in fairness, there was recently a sixth woman from Spain who made it to the top after the book had been written. And she is still alive. But this book, these statistics, the stories about climbing are simply unbelievable. There is a quote in the book which states "There is no other sport which requires that its players die." After reading just about a quarter of the book it is abundantly clear that death is one of the well-accepted side effects of climbing mountains. And strangely enough, as I woke this morning and turned on the television to mindlessly eat my breakfast in front of, there was a national geographic documentary following Sir Edmond Hilary's son Peter and his own expedition up Mt Everest. Sir Edmond Hilary (for those who don't know him) was the first man to summit Mt. Everest...with only one other man...and he's from NZ. In fact, he's on the five dollar note I believe. Fitting isn't it? The US had presidents on their money....NZ has men and women of high life achievements.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if this was some sort of pleasant coincidence or a sign (which I highly doubt) or some sort of Princess Karen-type luck, but I watched with wide eyes and full enthusiasm as these men worked, through exhaustion and altitude sickness, inch by inch to the top. Simply amazing.

That being said, I doubt that I will start climbing mountains in my life...on the contrary, I value my life quite a bit. Not to say that mountaineers don't, but I just don't want to risk it THAT much. But, that's not to stop Craig and I from going for a good long tramp today either.

Other news from the Nicole front here in NZ...my job is going alright, but I am hoping to start interning at some sort of local media company, be it in TV, Newspaper, Radio or Photography. If that becomes impossible, I would like to get another job on my off hours in order to a)make more money and b)get more experience in something other than swimming.

Another object of my time has been the Canterbury Film Society, of which I hope to become an active volunteering member. We've been watching a lot of films that most people will never see in their lifetime...a lot of films that I would have watched in my Art of Cinema class back at Hamilton. And my appreciation for movies continues to grow through them. Incidentally the guy who is at the head of the film society is a young kid from Indiana who moved here after a semester abroad at Canterbury University. He's been here nearly five or six years now. Go figure eh?

Last night we watched Secret Window...and I would just like to say for all who've seen it, I so totally called the plot twist the first twenty minutes into the film. Thank you very much.

And Easter is right around the corner. How fun. Craig and I have been munching happily on the little cadbury hard-shelled eggs...definitely not good for the wasteline, but you know what, that's ok. It's Easter. Yum. And I've been running a lot lately...to my happiness my knees have been holding up incredibly well and I hope to continue this little streak.

Winter is also right around the corner down here in Southern Hemisphere World and the nights continue to get colder. Thank goodness for Mums who send goose-down comforters half way around the world to their little girls (aka Kathryn Knapp.) It never felt more like home than it does beneath those sheets.

Finally, we are off to Hanmer Springs tomorrow, the geothermal hot-pool resort of the South Island. Completely shouted by Craig's boss Hamish. (To Shout=to pay for). We're renting four wheelers, doing dinner, hopefully going out to the hotpools and the spas. It should be a fun, raunchy, rather inappropro weekend.

So this has been a rather random account of the past few weeks, the upcoming holiday and basically all that has been going on in my head and in my life. I'm sure it's not that interesting, but I hope that at least one of two of you can find some sort of interest in some of the things I've been doing. So now it's off to get ready for our tramp through the hills.

-Nic :-)