32 things

Seeing I seem to be on a blogging roll at the moment (I'm "working from home"), it seems timely to put up the new list. The list of 32 things I want to do while I'm 32. If you're checked out any of the old lists, you'll notice that a few things have rolled over (some for the fifth time!). Hopefully, this year......


I will need help completing my list, so let me know if you want to come and play on one (or more) of my adventures. Or if you have any useful skills (like coding in Python) that might be useful or want to offer me a job! The more people that play in the list-crossing-off, the better!


Here goes......

1. Bike the Great Divide

2. Compete in the 12 hour Spring Challenge

3. Put my clipless pedals back on my mountain bike

4. Run 500 km

5. Compete in a triathlon

6. Photograph a snow petrel

7. Publish the remaining whio papers

8. Complete a half marathon

9. Go cycle touring

10. Make Albert Monkey

11. Publish an Antarctic paper

12. Compete in a road bike race

13. Knit/crochet a jersey

14. Compete in a mountain bike race

15. Climb a grade 17

16. Buy a macro lens

17. Ride a century in a day

18. Spend a night at the Sign of the Packhorse

19. Sew an item of clothing

20. Organise a clothes swap party

21. Present a paper at ICCB 2011

22. Empty out my storage shed of crap

23. Buy knee-high boots

24. Make bagels

25. Go back to Antarctica

26. Have a hot pool party

27. Apply for a post-doc position

28. Publish the shrub paper

29. Lecture in a university course

30. Do some volunteer work

31. Learn a new skill

32. Go on an outdoor adventure at least once a month (SONDJFMAMJJA)

A recap of 31 things

It's that time of year when another birthday has passed and it's time to start working on the next list.  So I'd thought I'd do a quick recap of how things went on the list of 31 things.  I am the first to admit that it wasn't a particularly good year for crossing things off.  Some of this was out of my control; earthquakes and the crazy year that has ensured since September 4 2010 has put a lot of things on hold or made them difficult.  As did going to Antarctica and missing out on most of a summer, although I'm more than happy to have this as an excuse.  Other things have just slipped off the bottom of the list without getting done for no apparent reason (or they were somewhat optimistic anyway!).  I've added in links to relevant blog posts in case you missed out on the details.

1. Go to Antarctica

This has to be the highlight of the past year.  What an amazing experience.  And even better I get to do it all again this coming year.

2. Ride Long Bays

I would have loved to have ridden Long Bays, a cycle route that follows the Port Hills and edge of the Lyttleton Harbour. But unfortunately the road was damaged, probably beyond repair, in the earthquakes. I did ride this instead, which is probably about as close as you can get these days.

3. Submit a sturgeon manuscript

Seven years on, this is probably never going to happen!  Unless somebody teaches me to code in Python.

4. Run 500 km
According to my Nike+ whatsit, I only managed to run 92km!  This is a bit dismal really, but I've been doing loads of other stuff and am probably about as fit as I've ever been.  So I'm happy.  This seems to have migrated on to the next list, so we'll see what happens.

5. Compete in a triathlon
Unfortunately the February earthquake got in the way of post-Antarctic triathlons.  Next list....

6. Photograph a leopard seal
Leopard seal found and photographed (although not very well)

7. Publish the whio HQ paper
After being rejected a mammoth seven times, I think we are almost there.  Just redoing some of the analysis.

8. Complete a half marathon
I obviously didn't do enough training (see #5), so this never happened!

9. Go cycle touring

I didn't really go cycle touring, although we did do an overnight trip recently on our mountain bikes up the Hurunui.  Which I think is close enough to count.  I'm crossing it off.

10. Compete in a multi-sport event
Once again the Mighty Midgets competed in the 6 hour Spring Challenge.  And we did pretty well, apart from a minor navigational oops near the end.  I love this event. In fact, so much that we are doing the 12 hour version next weekend!

11. Start a post doctoral position

I applied for a postdoc scholarship to look marine reserves in the Ross Sea but alas the powers to be decided that it wasn't worthy.  So I've continued to contract for Landcare Research and am involved in some pretty interesting work.  Maybe next year I'll get a proper job.

12. Compete in a road bike race
Once again, I'm blaming earthquakes.

13. Travel internationally>
I went to Antarctica, of course, but that doesn't really count as kiwis don't get their passports stamped in either direction as we never leave kiwi soil.  So I had to find another trip to go on.  And what better excuse than to visit Hamish in Perth, where he's busy drilling holes looking for minerals to dig up.  I also got to spend some time in Melbourne due to some freak weather in NZ.

14. Knit/crochet a jersey

I did knit a jersey.  And then I undid it.  I really need to learn to read and make the gauge swatches before I get all enthusiastic about knitting the whole thing.  Hopefully next year I will knit (and keep knitted) a jersey!

15. Compete in a mountain bike race
Blaming earthquakes.  Actually more, general unfitness coming back from Antarctica.  This year I really need to do some exercise when I'm down there!

16. Buy decent binoculars
I never got around to doing this but they are still on my wishlist.  Did get to try out Hamish's twitcher-goggles (his term, not mine) while in Aussie.

17. Climb a grade 16 on rock
There has been a distinct lack of climbable rock in Christchurch recently.  What with all falling down around your ears everytime the earth moves.  Which it does frequently.  But I have started climbing inside on the wall and will hopefully be able to tick this off this coming year.

18. Submit the final whio paper
I need to publish the other ones first.  And given that this hasn't happened yet, I can't cross this one off.  Soon, hopefully.

19. Learn to ride my mountain bike clipless
I put my pedals on.  Went for one ride.  And promptly took them off again.  Scared shitless would be a good description of my mental state.  But I've done a bunch more riding since then and am way more confident.  So, after the Sprin Challenge, they are going back on and staying on.  Be prepared for stories of pedal-induced falls!

20. Buy a macro lens
Same story as the binoculars really.

21. Buy a tripod
I bought a really nice tripod before going down to the ice and I think I've only used it once.  No, twice.  I really need to do LOTS more photography.  And play with my tripod.

22. Re-instate my blog
Check!

23. Ride a century in a day
Pen and I had great plans of biking from Cave Stream back to Lincoln and I'm not really sure why we never did it.  We mapped it out, we flew it in Google Earth but we never actually rode it.  This summer, right Pen!

24. Spend a night at the Sign of the Packhorse
Did you know that this has now been on four lists and has never been crossed off.  How ridiculous.  It's all of two hours walk and should be super-easy to do.  I debated whether to add it to the list of 32 things, given that it hasn't happened yet.  I'm giving it one more year.  Surely we can make this happen in year five!

25. Learn to do Bayesian statistics
Done.  I'm definitely no expert but I have almost finished a nifty analysis trying to figure out how many birds live on some islands in Northland.  Pretty fun (if statistics can be fun).

26. Crochet a sunhat
This is another one of those cases where I finished the task and then promptly undid it again because I wasn't really that happy with the result.  But I did it!

27. Make gallstone jewellery
Unfortunately (although some may say fortunately), these got lost when I moved.  Oh well.....

28. Make marmalade
Yum.  I need to make some more.

29. Take a polar plunge
There is something a little mad about jumping into -1.9C water, complete with icebergs, penguins, leopard seals and orca.  But you have to do it.  Sorry, no photographic evidence - it would have needed censoring anyway.

30. Make sour dough bread
I managed to keep a batch of sour dough going for most of the time we were on the ice.  Although I'm not sure the little beasties were that happy about the cold.

31. Go on an outdoor adventure at least once a month (SONDJFMAMJJA)
There were lots of outdoor adventures this year.  Antarctica, for one.  Lots of tramping trips, mountain bike trips, rogaines, adventure races, skiing ......  It's been a fun year.

I always come up with a few things to add to the list.  Things that I never thought I'd be doing but they usually turn out to be a lot of fun....

32. Compete in the national rogaine champs
Michelle and I carved up a storm at the National Rogaine Champs in Blenheim, coming in 7th in the Open Women.  An entertaining 24 hours of wandering around trying not to get lost.

33. Sign up for the 12 hour Spring Challenge
Oh dear, what have we done!  Will report back in a couple of weeks with how we went.

34. Compete in TWALK
Another 24 hour rogaine event, this time with Maaike and Elizabeth.  More fun, getting lost in the dark.  This time in costume.

35. Compete in Heights of Winter
A 12 hour event, getting lost in the dark.  There seems to be a running theme here!

36. Go cross-country skiing
A fantastic girl's weekend (and then some) cross-country skiing down in Wanaka.

So it's been a pretty busy year of being 31.  I've managed to fit in a lot of fun stuff, do some work and generally have a great time.  Here's looking forward to crossing off 32 things!

Cross-country skiing

A few months ago one of our friends moved down to Cromwell, and it was decided before she left that we would have to have a girl's weekend down there at some point in the future.  Now it should be noted, before you start conjuring up visions of us sitting round getting manicures and having pillowfights in our pyjamas, that we aren't particularly girly girls.  No indeedy.  In fact, it was decreed that our girl's weekend should consist of something adventurous, and so we set off on a cross-country skiing expedition.

After a pleasant Friday exploring the sights of Arrowtown and Cromwell and celebrating Clare's birthday, we set off up the mountain to the Snow Farm.  After getting fitted out with skis and leaving our overnight gear in a pile for the skidoo, we ventured outside for a few pre-skiing photographs and a lesson.

Now cross-country skis aren't anything like downhill skis.  For starters, your heel isn't attached to the back of the ski.  And then, more scarily, you don't have any edges on your skis.  Which means that everything you have ever learnt about stopping and turning instantly goes out the window.  When asked about how to stop, our helpful instructor offered the following wisdom: "Just keep going until you run out of hill.  Or failing that, fall over" Helpful!  Thankfully there are grooves along the tracks that your skis fit into which mostly takes care of the turning bit.  Except when the grooves randomly stop and your legs do their own thing, usually in different directions!

Here Rachel demonstrates a perfect racer's tuck, and then the grooves run out.....best watched with the sound on for the full "chicken" effect.

After our lesson, we were let loose and it was on to the Bob Lee Hut - our overnight destination.  It was an absolutely amazing day.  Perfect weather and great company, interspersed with hilarious skiing moments.

Happily skiing along the trail in the glorious sunshine

Lunch stop at the Meadow Hut

Maaike demonstrating her seated stopping technique.

It might look like I'm in control
 but all goes wrong very shortly after this photograph!

The Bob Lee Hut was reached without too much drama and proved to be a cosy place to stay the night. Our gear had kindly been delivered by skidoo, so we had been able to pack some tasty treats.  We cooked up a storm (it turned out, quite literally) and were treated to a stunning sunset before retiring to bed to rest some weary (and newly-discovered) muscles.

Preparing a stunning dinner of green curry and mulled wine

Maaike proudly showing off her multitude of stripes (and sexy pink slippers)

The next day we woke to snow.  Of the falling variety.  In fact, of the blizzard variety.  We hastily packed our gear and set off into the gloom, trying to get out to the carpark before the storm really set in.  There was quite a bit of fresh snow on the tracks, making it difficult to find the grooves for your skis, let alone stay in them!  It was cold and windy and we were rugged up in all of the clothing we had with us.  I was even wearing my Antarctica balaclava that I never wore on the ice.  It was cold. But it was still great skiing and a lot of fun.  In fact, I think the contrast in the weather added a lot to the trip and gave us some stories of epic skiing missions to tell for years to come.

Check out these happy ladies (at least I think Michelle & I are happy - it's a bit hard to tell!)

Now it turned out that this was not the end of our adventure.  The heavy snow meant that the roads were somewhat treachorous and we had an interesting drive down the mountain, followed by a mad dash to get to Queenstown before the road closed.  Even in a 4WD, the roads were nasty with almost 10cm on the ground and more falling rapidly.  Dave managed to get us to Queenstown, just.   And then get himself back home again.  Checked in to our accommodation to find that Rachel's flight had been cancelled, so four hungry skiers headed into town for dinner.  The next morning woke to more snow and more cancelled flights, so it was off to book a bus and then explore the sights (or at least the open ones) of a very snowy Queenstown.  Having not seen any men for a few days, we built one of our own.

Tuesday bought us more snow, a cancelled bus, two trips to the wool shop, another cancelled bus and then, finally, a bus home to Christchurch.  Via Dunedin!  Let's just say that this is not a very direct route and not one I would recommend (unless desperate).

So another epic adventure and one that I would totally recommend (maybe without the snow storm and getting stranded bits).  Cross-country skiing is definitely something i enjoyed crossing off my list and I'm keen to add it to another list sometime soon.

Speaking of lists, it's time for new list of 32 things.  Check back soon!

Crochet yoga mat bag

A REALLY long time ago, I was bored on a plane and ended up crocheting a yoga mat bag.

I was looking for a quick, easy project to use up some cotton yarn in my stash the other day, so I decided to make a bag for my yoga mat which was languishing untidily in the bottom of my cupboard. Searching on the web failed to find a pattern that I liked, so I ended up making one up. The following is my attempt to put my random pattern down on paper. Please let me know if you find any mistakes or need clarification.

I used:

1 ball Cleckheaton cotton

5mm crochet hook

1 large button

a length of cord (I used an i-cord made with 4 mm needles)

This pattern is written to fit a yoga mat with a rolled diameter of 11 cm. I don't do gauge, so you may need to adjust the pattern a little, depending on the size of your mat, yarn and hook.

Chain 6 and sl to first chain to form a loop (or make a magic circle)

Row 1: Ch 3, 11 tr into circle, sl to join to chain (12 stitches)

Row 2: Ch 3, 2 tr into each tr, sl to join to chain (24 stitches)

Row 3: Ch 3, tr into first stitch, *2tr, tr, repeat from * until end , sl to join to chain (36 stitches)

Note: This should be the diameter of your mat. If not, you may need to add another row or adjust the size of your hook. Check out this guide to crocheting circles if you need help. You need to make sure that the number of stitches in the finished circle is a multiple of three to make the pattern work

Crochet into the back of each stitch for Row 4.

Row 4: Ch 3, tr into each tr, sl to join to chain (36 stitches)

Row 5: Ch 3, *skip 2 stitches, tr into next stitch, ch3, tr into same stitch. Repeat from * until end. sl to join to third stitch in initial chain.

Row 6: Chain 3, *tr into next stitch, ch3, tr into same stitch. Repeat from * until end. sl to join to third stitch in initial chain.

Repeat Row 6 until bag is 1 inch less than desired length.

Finishing rounds:

Row 7: Ch 3, 3 tr into each stitch, sl to join.

Row 8: Ch 1, sc in each stitch

Thread the cord around the top of the bag and tie or sew a small loop in the end. Thread the free end of the cord through this loop and either sew to the bottom or attach using a large button threaded through the starting circle at the base of the bag.

#13. My unintended stay in Melbourne

My trip to Australia was not without its travel-related dramas, proving once again the benefits of having travel insurance.

On the way there, my flight was delayed because the plane was broken.  Meaning I missed my flight from Melbourne to Perth and ended up spending a night in a hotel.  On the way home, my flight from Melbourne to Christchurch was cancelled because the Christchurch airport was closed due to snow.  "Oh dear" said the grumpy lady at the checkin counter, "the next available flight is not until Wednesday evening".  Given that it was 5:30am on Monday and I had just flown 4 hours from Perth after leaving my better half behind, I wasn't all too happy.

I must have looked a little forlorn because I was promptly adopted by a lovely family from Bahrain, currently living in Rolleston.  They dragged me along to get some breakfast,  sorted out my flights, booked me into a swanky hotel with them (an indoor pool was on their "must-have" list) and rented a car to drive us all into town.

I hadn't been to Melbourne before (one night in the airport hotel on the way over doesn't count!), so I spent Monday wandering the streets and marvelling at the quirkiness of the city.  A pleasant change from the almost industrial feel of Perth.  Then it was down to the information centre to figure out how to spend the rest of my bonus holiday.

I'd heard a bit about the Great Ocean road and found a small company that did tours.  So we set off on Tuesday morning to see the sights of the Great Ocean Road.


View Australia in a larger map


The first stop was Bell's Beach, one of the world's best surf beaches.  There wasn't a whole lot happening with the surf that day but I can just imagine those big ocean swells rolling in all the way from Antarctica.  Certainly put the piddly surf we'd been seeing in Western Australia into perspective.

This tour provided a few new species to tick off my list of Australian things.  Including crimson rosellas, king parrots and kookaburras.

  

After winding our way around some stunning coastline, we stopped for lunch at the Ottway lighthouse.

where they were a little concerned about the one's proximity to the cliff edge

and had a few problems with the bicycles.

While in Perth, Hamish and I had dutifully stopped and taken pictures of koala in an inclosure, so that I could say that I had seen some.  Well, it turned out that we shouldn't have bothered.  The trees around the Ottway lighthouse were full of koala.  All looking quite sleepy and a bit stoned on gum leaves.  They didn't really do anything but they were quite cute.  Koalas - check.

The penultimate stop of the trip was the twelve apostles. These are giant limestone stacks that have been eroded out of the nearby cliffs by the action of the waves.  I'm not really sure why they are the twelve apostles, there are currently only eight (they periodically collapse) and apparently there have never been twelve, but they were pretty spectacular.  

And so ended my unintended trip to Melbourne.  Not somewhere I had planned to go but definitely a place I'd like to visit again.  Thanks travel insurance for a great extension to my holiday!