hayleyearth

For the peeps looking for road races close by.... http://dynamoevents.co.nz/events/ I am signed up for The Team Championships (all 7 races) and then a couple more like the Around the Lake (Taupo) etc .......... somehow I have been roped in to race with a ladies road team and our main sponsor is a tea company http://www.teatotal.co.nz/

There are just some Kiwi's I don't understand, and some of them don't understand me, like my flat mate - he asks me to repeat myself with every single sentence I say, now I have started to speak like a retard, well actually I just don't speak to him anymore - we are rarely home at the same time anyway. Thank goodness the Kiwi's I hang out most with/get along best with understand me and I them.

really like that seat!

Rode into work today again. What an awesome thing to do, too short though, only 10km, I think I will start to add some distance to it soon. Absolutely beautiful during sunrise this morning, my phone doesn't capture it so nicely though.. I feel so free here.

To work via the sunrise over the bay (Mellons Bay)...

Wayne's kids...

Perfect week to ride into work

Ya, very important point...hence why I used the "x52/12" calculation rather everywhere when working out monthly expenses...

Unfortunately not. Well that's my opinion by just being one person and comparing my salary to that. If your wife can work and maybe cover the house (rent) or your company can, then yes, but unfortunately food is just too expensive here (on top of everything else). I can't imagine what a families expenses are here (I'm still getting over the shock of what mine is only).

Yesterday after work I went to go chainsaw (yip actually cut some myself) fallen over trees on the farm to clear the fences and paddocks (for "the boys" = cows). I found it very cold the last 2 days here in Auckland (anyone else feel the same?), no jacket still though during the day. I am fine as soon as I get some farm clothes on, then I have no problem doing tasks out and about in gumboots I have always wanted to live on a small holdings/small farm when I was small (my cousins did/does and I saw it there and spoke about it lots when I was still small to my folks, but of course money wasn't available for them to give us that then) and somehow it looks like moving to NZ might just give me that opportunity, looking into a 3.26ha piece of land currently, but I don't think it will realize just jet (in the next couple of months due to me not knowing too much about bonds here yet and not having the time to commit to researching it now - money for deposit still in SA too). On top of that for as long as I can remember I have wanted to fly a helicopter. In the last few weeks I kept on hearing that add on the radio for that helicopter school open day (yeah, a sign right) and then I went to go do some research about it etc and I think I am going to get into it in the new year for sure (not now because I have other Universities studies starting in a couple of weeks)........ somehow what was life long dreams are becoming actual goals with time stamps next to them. In a way it feels like I was prepped my whole life for now/moving here (if that makes any sense).

We all know I am "stubborn and otherwise" and I am 'loved' in kiwi land

Lekker evening last night getting high on TIK (www.tik.co.nz) with the parents and Rad006+new wifey (oh and a random kiwi) Oooi Patches, I am in your neck of the woods for the weekend of the 17th September (no bike though), but if you there maybe you can go show us a highlight or 2 in Chch.... ??

I see there is a long weekend in October....we going to Rotorua for riding? I might just consider going the last weekend of this month as well...

Can not wait to get all the update later over coffee Man, moving to NZ has been such a blessing in my life. I am not boasting at all, I just find myself sitting shaking my head thinking about how it all happened (still having to pinch myself a few times) and I honestly never even dreamt for my life to be where it is now (not talking about the physical location on Google maps). Every aspect of my life here has been great; work, home, friends, personal - can't remember ever having all that all together. I am writing this now because my colleague and I made a breakthrough last week with our project and currently I am reading up on current patents our company and other companies own because we will be adding our stuff to one in the next couple of weeks, YES hard to believe - 8 weeks into the job. Far beyond lucky. Due to my knee I didn't get to go with to the slopes I tried a ride on Saturday, 4.8km was what it could do with great amount of pain and effort. But I got to spend some time just outside Auckland again (farm life) which included spotting some of these (taken with my phone through binoculars)... and also went to explore some black sand beaches yesterday.

I should be back on mine next weekend ...you guys should join I am going to go check out Riverhead most probably

My house is 3.6km from my NZ parents place....find them, and you basically have found me

Another awesome weekend. ...accept maybe for the fact that I'm limping around now, but how does the saying go "break a leg"....well I think maybe it's just tons of inflammation. .. Started again with beers after work, which was awesome because of a long hours at work last week (I'm presenting my project status in front of the big bosses this week). Then my new flatmate stopped by to drop some stuff incl his bike (temporary helping a colleague out with accommodation while he renovates his house). Then Saturday i ride into work again to go check up on some tests. On my way home I had a 'front wheel wash out move the handle bars' bail. Damn it happened so quick and full impact on my knee.. Then I nursed my way home to try and get to my next plans on time which was to go watch club rugby (where my friend tossed the dog's ball into the tree and went climbing to get it out) and a braai (SA style) on the farm. I even chopped the wood myself for the braai. Haha. Fetched this mornings eggs from the chickens too and had raw milk in my coffee. How I love farm life (and just 30 min from Auckland)! And once again, the okes did All the cooking incl salads (and cleaning). Today i was trying to get some rest for my knee. Eish. Tomorrow I'm going to get it looked at at the work clinic. I'm a bit worried cause i can't bend it and the whole leg looks blue. (The last pic is from work, it's an application of the kind of equipment we develop and manufacture. There's loads more of course.) In the labs I test in we have 'fake lungs' to simulate breathing and I must say it's very scary to be in that lab at 12am! Loads happening all the time, but yet I feel at peace

Dream... https://www.outsidevan.com/van/van-awesome-awe/

http://www.coromandelclassic.co.nz/

Yip, the one standing next to him. Kitted out with torque wrenches etc etc (even a rivet gun). I would LOVE something like that! Holden Camaro...

I think they chose the wrong colour for this bike, they were starting to do well with their Spiders and then this....quite a few changes they have made - I see them all as 'needed to happen' from things I discussed with some okes at Intense as I was finding them on my own bike. This is something I don't know if I like: Then some other general stuff/changes.. Hopefully for them this will solve the issue they had of that rear pivot bolt giving issues all the time: Damn it is an ugly colour:

I've had such a cool weekend a typical weekend in NZ busy busy It started with me having blue and red fingers from playing with food colouring at work: Then I went too hang out with my brother and sister (the little pirate herself): On Saturday I rode in too work too go check up on some testing I ran over the weekend. It was super windy at the start, it even rained, but on my way back I went along the coastal routes and it was beautiful: Then I had the family over for coffee and cake: I then drove down to the farm lands just outside Auckland for a dinner which I didn't have to lift a finger (It felt SOOOO strange)...that was some good venison I must say: This morning I went for a run...damn my area is hilly...serves me right for wanting to live in an area with cliffs. Then I went to support a colleague with his car show (it is quite a big thing here in NZ),he won 2 awards and the prize was a flippen huge kitted out tool box! #jealous: And tomorrow is back to work. ..which I'm also excited about. Learning new things every day and in 4 weeks I'm going back to university again, this time going more into the medical field/side of it all.

This is the 1st company I work for that has other female engineers - at times at my previous jobs there were one other, but then they were in a different field (like industrial or electrical) and we didn't really do the same job or work on the same teams. Here however there are plenty of other lady engineers. This place is soooo big, sooo many engineers and it's pretty cool because we get to do everything ourselves, build rigs, work with the cnc machines (even the programming we do ourselves), I have been extruding tubes by the hundreds of meters and the whole extruding machine and molder my one colleague and I run by ourselves. I really love the variety of tasks here. So back to the ladies that works here...........relationships within the company is a normal thing. It has been so weird for me seeing couples here at work, odd I tell ya, odd. So I now have learnt not to spend too much time by myself in the kitchen etc because you then get a random guy popping up asking many questions...hahaha

Random thought for the day.....since I have moved here I think it is the 1st time in more than 4 years I have actually spend some time with people that don't know what "the hub" is. So last night I took some time in explaining to someone what it is (showing him actually) and I don't know how many times I can do that ...haha... it feels like 'they just don't get me' (even the okes at work). I went on the "top posters for the day" page under forums just to try and indicate that this place can become an addiction, and there Gen was at the top with more than 130 posts for the day. He went like "WOW, who can post that many in one day" - then I tried to explain more how many of us here either have been addicted (me incl) or still are and like most of the world will check facebook, or twitter, or what ever else, we check the hub (and I showed him that it is my internet 'home page' on all my devices) .........this thread came up obviously too.... I feel like I just cant hang out with someone that don't know what I am talking about if I say in conversation "I saw on 'the hub' that....bla bla bla...."

I have tons of fun around them! I almost wet my pants in the car on Tuesday eve! Flip she needs to go do drama or acting or something, she is SOOOOO entertaining! And each boy should be sent to Wayne to be taught the lessons on how to be a gentleman, their son is far ahead of kids his age I think regarding that.