Chasing a rainbow

Driving back to Christchurch after paddling this weekend we saw a vibrant rainbow spread across the sky. The cool thing was that it seemed that the end of it was only a ways up ahead on the road. We joked about finding a pot of gold and a leprechan but as we got closer, the end kept moving so now it was still just ahead and now it ended in the river. It made me think how it would look to be standing in the end of the rainbow bathed in all the colors. It also made me reflect a little about how it can sometimes be way more rewarding to sit back and enjoy the "rainbow" rather than racing ahead to try to find the pot of gold.

Anyway, enough philosophy. Here are a few pictures from the past few days:

A view of Diamond Harbor from the farm in Purau where we

WWOOFed for 4 days. Not a bad sight to look up to as you're weeding.

Surfing in New Brighton (suburb of Christchurch). That's not actually either of us but since we couldn't take our camera while we were surfing Meg snapped a picture of someone else's lesson. Meg did way better than I did and even got to standing up a few times. At the beginning she got pounded by a big wave and I was worried she was done but nope - she toughed it out and even ended up having a good time. I spent most of my time trying to paddle and catch waves and ended up with the nose of the board diving into the water!

This is really us (no stunt doubles for this shot) in

front of the surf shop where we took the lesson.

The stands erupt after Canterbury scores a try at the rugby union finals.

The campground at Pelorus Bridge (NE of Nelson) where this last weekend's trip was. There were 24 paddlers on several of the trips which is quite a big group to keep track of. Several had just finished the beginners course that the club offered but they all did smashing! It was a great opportunity to meet some more paddlers, tune up some skills, and have a good time. I paddled the Pelorus, the Rai, the Buller (Owens to Claybanks Creek), and the Middle Matakitaki (favorite by far). Also got to watch a group do the lower Matakitaki which I wished I would have asked to paddle on but with the new boat and unfamiliar rivers I'm still trying to get a feel for when I should and shouldn't paddle.

Some of the kayakers paddling on the Rai river near Pelorus (NE of Nelson, NZ). The Pelorus river is in the same area but the Matakitaki and Buller are by Murchison (SW of Nelson).

Myself, Stuart, Colin, and Meg (behind the camera) who all carpooled on the trip together. Meg didn't do any paddling but was the shuttle bunny which is always appreciated (saves on driving cars back and forth). Colin graciously let us stay at his house Sunday night after we arrived in Christchurch late so that we didn't have to find a campground. He's training for the "Coast to Coast" which is a big race over 1-2 days in February where participants run, bike, and paddle from Kumara to Sumner (~110 miles). And this isn't Minnesota so there are plenty of altitude changes along the way!

In Diamond Harbour we watched lawn bowling and met the local "mayor" - Morris. Morris explained the game to us and even let us have a bowl afterward. We're hoping to go back this Tuesday to play a full game and take Morris and Christine (shown in photo) up on their offer to let us stay at their place.

We went to a bee club meeting (Sat, Nov 7) where they were taking apart hives to check the bees. Very fun to watch and realize beekeeping is a whole lot more involved than we thought. We're hoping that we can be involved in more of it.

Watching fireworks for Guy Fawkes night on the
beach in Christchurch (Nov 5). It was cold and windy.