One Week And Counting...

Sun-blinded, Craig and I try and pose for a self-potrait. Look how PALE we are!



It has been an exceptionally beautiful past three days here in the city of Christchurch, but other than that, it seems as though things are uneventful. We went hiking in the hills two days ago and then out for a tasty bakery lunch. Yesterday was spent basking in the sun with our french doors open, playing chess (and pouting as it were) until I had to leave for work.





Today was another strangely sunny day which I took every advantage of to go for a little tramp, solo except for my ipod. For some reason it feels more like spring that winter right about now. There is water rushing everywhere, little streams all over the hills and MUD. Oh the mud that is out in full force right now made for an interesting hike up the bowenvale track today. My usually very grippy boots did not make many good connections with the earth, rather I ended up doing a dance that looked something like the uphill running man. Going out at 3:30 allowed for nothing but the most dazzling sun, setting behing the silouhetted southern alps. And I grew so warm on the climb up that I (as I had hoped) was able to strip down to my tank top and let my pale-as-a-dead-fish skin soak up some of the delicious (and sadly harmful) rays of the New Zealand sun.


View of Christchurch from the Hills...you can see the smog. Ugh.


Probably the best part about getting up into the hills is the breath of fresh air it affords me. Literally. The smog of this city is stifling. It burns your lungs and sears your nostrils. But the hills are like breathing the fresh air of Clinton New York or even Brotzman Road. Like cleaning out your entire respiratory system. The air is cool and damp and fresh and it floats through your nostrils like some sort of natural remedy; some nature-made baked good. In the hills I cease to feel like a smoker and begin to breathe like me again. So much for the movie biz---I could never live in LA.


SHEEP!!!


And all in all, if this is winter, I think I can handle it. But judging by the sight of our breath inside the house most nights, I think all this sun is a just a tease.

And speaking of handling things, next week is going to be my last week of teaching at the swim school. Which is great and sad at the same time. I'm sure I've gone over this before, but there always seems to be a mix of emotions when making almost any changes in life. I'm glad to be moving on to something new, closer to town, more "legit" I suppose you could say. But I'm sorry to be leaving the kids. The kids who have taken to calling me adorable versions of my name because they can't pronounce "Nicole" properly. Kids who push themselves to the very limit to achieve what are, to them, quite extraordinary feats. Why this week I had 9 different kids swim the entire pool length, something none of them had even thought possible. Times like that are very rewarding. But the headaches I come home with (both actual and metaphorical) have just become too much to handle.

But now it's the weekend. And hopefully the warm weather will continue on to allow for bike rides and walks and simply warmer bodies.

-NMK