Gearing up for summer

The warm (-ish) spring weather we've been having around here has inspired us to get more active and get geared up for summer. One thing we've been looking to get for a while is bikes, so we checked out the classifieds of the local paper. We eventually bought one off some people having a moving sale - only $50 including a baby carrier! Sweet! It does run pretty good for its age (once I took the baby carrier off), so I think we got a good deal. Stephanie got her bike from the Warehouse (like a small walmart) on sale, so it was only about $125 new. Once we loaded up on all the necessary accessories - helmets, locks, a pump - we were ready to go. Our first trip was out to Lake Hayes, which is a nice little lake about 15 minutes away. I go by there all the time going to and from my riverboarding and had always wanted to check it out. There is a nice trail that goes around the lake and up on the side of an adjacent hill, providing good views of the lake and surrounding mountains. We also stopped by the lower Shotover River, walked around a bit, stopped to read, threw some rocks, and watched the jetboats go by.

Lake Hayes

We found a rope swing on the lake

Shotover River

A Jetboat on the Shotover River

Ideally as it gets warmer and warmer we'll be using the car less and our bikes more. We both should be able to bike to work, at least on occasion, plus we can bike to town and even to the grocery store (theoretically). I have my doubts on how much any of this will actually happen, but we shall see.

The other thing that I've been doing to get ready for summer is learning to fly fish. The local angler's club hosts an annual fly fishing course, which started last week. Over a total of four sessions, we'll cover everything from casting to picking out the right fly. So far we've had two sessions where we've gone over the equipment you need, the equipment you think you need, and the equipment you definitely don't need but must have anyways. We've also learned how to tie a few knots and started learning how to cast. I started out pretty rough, but after a couple accidental casts went farther than any cast I had made on purpose, I adjusted my "stroke" a little bit and am getting the hang of it. Whether I'll actually catch any fish is another story. After the course we can choose to go on an outing with the club to a hut they have set up somewhere in the backcountry, which should be fun.

Other than that, its business as usual. Steph joined a gym that is opening up about a mile away. They have a big pool too so we're planning to go over there for a swim sometime soon. I need to be going on more riverboarding trips to get to the magical 50 run number (I'm like 30 away), but the scheduling just isn't working out. They only have trips going on the occasional day that I have temp work, or the trip is too full to fit me on the bus (I literally got booted off the bus one time last week), or more recently I've had another stretch feeling a little sick and congested. Next week I'm hoping to make at least 3 or 4 trips (6 or 8 runs at two runs per trip). We are also hoping to get out of town for a night or two next weekend, probably to Milford Sound. We're hoping to do a little hiking on the Milford Track before it gets too busy, and of course see the sound, which is supposed to be amazing. Actually it is not a sound at all, but a fjord. And that's all the info I've got. I'll try to come back with something a little more than that.