Dragon Boat Nationals

Race Day

The day dawned cold and cloudy but we were warm and bright with enthusiasm and high hopes.
We set up in our allotted tent then looked over the surrounding scene.The Blue Lake is a beautiful spot  but today a chill hung over the place making us shiver. After a lovely summer, the icy feel to the air came as a shock.  

My 'cool' team

Some of my favourite team names were there. 'Random Jaffas' and 'Fresh on the Boat' are two dragon boat team names I really love though they probably only carry significance to New Zealanders and their sense of humour. The breast cancer survivors division names I like are 'Boobops' and 'Simply the Breast' 

 I marvelled at the young high school girls as they prepared for their first race in shorts and singlets. About half an hour later an ambulance arrived and two were driven off suffering from hypothermia. Thermal clothing may do nothing for your looks but certainly help with the job of keeping wet bodies warm.

A lovely, if cold place to race

Our first three races were 500 metres. Fresh water is always heavier to shift and our first run seemed sluggish, though the start was well organised and the boats got off together with minimum fuss. Once back in the tent we felt the next one would go better. We added layers and grabbed quick snacks and drinks before once more warming up and heading out again after hearing our team called out on the loud speaker. 
Once in the line-up tent we sang, chanted and jogged to keep warm and inspired until we again climbed into the boats. 

Getting into the boats

Getting into position

A team heading up to the start as our heat gets ready to race

Lining up for a 500m heat - we are number 5.

The starting line was more difficult now as a wind had sprung up pushing the boats about. It is not an easy task getting six dragon boats in a line for a rolling start. We had had our win in Auckland removed from us as three boats were moving on the start line and one was static which the starter deemed unfair. As we jockeyed for position I was sure this was in our minds as we tried to comply with the starter's constant instructions of 'come forward - go back- stay in your lane - angle your boat into the wind - hold water - one stroke forward' and so on. I listened out for our sweep to interpret these instructions and call them out to us. 

BC 500m heat - start

500 metre heat

When the boats are all in position the start happens in a hurry. 'We have a line - paddles ready - attention' then a blast of the hooter sends us off. Five big strokes gets the nose of the boat up, twenty quick strokes gets us flying, then it is into a steady reach to propel the boat forward, hopefully everyone working in unison and sharing the load. Halfway down a power call rings out and we dig deeper and harder before settling back into the reach. Near the end the power call comes again and we use the last of our energy to get over the line. 
After cheering the other teams we paddled in to shore once more.
We were doing our best times ever - but so were the others in our division. Getting food and drink down and keeping warm became the priority before our next race which was the big one - the final of our division.

Our team's warm up is not as rigorous! 

We warmed up in plenty of time and set off to the line up tent. Once stationed there we sang our chants and listened to others while jogging on the spot to keep warm before heading once more up the course.

It was harder again to get lined up but we got away finally with no false starts. We paddled our guts out but it was not our day. Boobops came first easily and the rest of us finished within a second of each other. 

500 metre final finish - Boobops ahead by a boat length from the pack

BC 500m finals

Crossing the finish line

500 metres over and done for another year

Rafting up for the flower ceremony

The Flower ceremony

There was no time to fret however as we had to raft up for the flower ceremony to honour those paddlers that had lost their fight with breast cancer. A haka rang out from shore causing intense emotions within me as I thought of friends I had lost to this dreadful disease. 

Paddlers getting ready to haka

We threw our flowers on to the water and came into shore, walking through honour guards of people holding their paddles high. As I reached the end I joined in and lifted my paddle for the others still coming through, congratulating teams for their efforts.

Ready for when we come off the boats

Finally we got back to our tent to be told we were to be on the water again shortly for the 200 metre sprints. As the competition was not running to time one race was cut so it seemed no time at all before we were back racing in the final. The 200 metres is a mad dash - pretty much hard out all the way with no time for anything but paddling. Where we came at the end was a blur and it was only  back on the shore that I heard we were second. Pink Dragons were first - their first gold ever. They were over the moon and I stayed to congratulate them.

200 metre start

200 metre final - ready to start

200 metres

200 metre final

Keeping warm in the tent

Again the turnaround was quick and we found ourselves heading to start the 2 kilometre race. This is a completely different race. Each boat has a staggered start with 15 seconds between. You have to paddle up gently to hit the starting line then get up to speed. We managed this just fine then settled in to a long reach with steady paddling. We made ground on the boat ahead but never quite managed to catch them. The tricky part of this race is the fact you have three turns as you head up and down the lake. We managed our first two turns with aplomb - most of the team paddling hard while three paddlers at the back held water to help the sweep swing the boat round in a narrow arc. Our third turn alas was our undoing. As we came round once of the control boats called out to our sweep. She called back and by the time she could refocus our boat was heading off on a tiki tour all on its own and straight towards the control boat. We madly tried to get back on course with me paddling pretty much at right angles to help out, but we had to halt then start again. For the last four hundred we upped the rate and put in a good showing but we knew our time would not be good and     maybe we could even be disqualified.
Never mind, racing was over and we had no time to ponder our 'what ifs' as we had to get back to the hotel for food and a clean up before prize giving. The hot spa pool had never felt so good!
We also had had one of our paddlers affected by the cold. She and a support person had come back to the hotel early and it was good to find she had suffered no ill effects from becoming chilled.

We had won four silvers over the season and gold remained elusive but no doubt we will do our best next year to make it happen.

Yes, its silver

Boobops  - the team to beat next year!!

Setting up for the National Dragon Boat Champs.

A trailer load of dragons' heads

The dragon boat season is nearly over. We had our last practice on Wednesday in a rough and tough sea and handed in our paddles to be boxed up for the trip to Rotorua were Nationals are to be held.

The next day a couple of us set off a day early to help prepare for race day..
We arrived at our hotel late in the evening after a pleasant drive, had a meal then settled for an early night.
The next morning we visited the room where the breast cancer survivors teams were to have their celebratory breakfast the morning after the competition was over. One of our jobs was to blow up a large quantity of pink balloons. The task was completed with only a couple of ear ringing explosions.

Blue Lake or Lake Tikitapu

We then set out to Lake Tikitapu or the Blue Lake where racing was to happen the next day to help out. The place was a hive of activity with tents being erected, boats being unloaded and fencing being put up. A caravan had been strategically placed to become race headquarters, and holding pens where competitors wait were in place.

Up go the tents


The race headquarters caravan

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Up goes the scaffolding for the race callers while the Boobops captain checks out a few things

The boats travelled down from Auckland

Slowly things are coming together

Out on the lake people in boats were laying out the race lanes which consisted of long lines of buoys. It was cold and crisp, but once the sun came out things warmed up a little.

We then went back into town and hunted down an emporium type shop to get a few more decorations for the breakfast tables. We had blown up a stack of balloons in the morning to make everything bright and cheerful and now we returned to tie them in place and decorate the tables. It was looking good, we thought.
We had a rather delicious fish and chip dinner then returned to our hotel to meet up with the rest of the team who had just arrived. One final team meeting and we were all ready to rock the next day. Hopefully some of those elusive gold medals might at last be ours!!

                                

Head, chair, and drum in place, ready for race day.

Kereru in the Garden

The kereru in the cabbage tree -top left

The kereru hanging from a spray of cabbage tree seed heads.

Today one of the neighbour's children came over and asked if he could collect grass for his guinea pigs as 'we don't have much grass, and you've got lots.'

The beautiful colouring of the kereru

 I decided it was time to weed the garden. It was a mild autumn day making very pleasant weeding conditions. Totally absorbed in the task I was suddenly disturbed the sound of wings then a noisy crash landing in my ti kouka or cabbage tree. Looking up I spied two lovely fat kereru or wood pigeons. They started to feed on the sprays of seed heads, balancing their heavy bodies precariously on the thin stems. They were intent on feeding and not concerned by my presence so I was able to watch them to my heart's content. They have such large bodies and little heads. Their colouring is beautiful. Their head, shoulders  and back are an iridescent greeny colour tinged with a bronzey red. Their chests are snowy white and their beaks and claws are bright red. They are protected which is a good thing as it is almost as if they have a great white bulls eye on their chests making them an easy target.

Close up of a kereru

Until recently they were a rare sight in Wellington but possum culling has worked wonders and now they are a regular sight in some suburbs. The Australian possum vies with the kereru for the same food, and will also eat their young if they get the chance. Kereru can be seen sitting on overhead wires on the roadside and if you are lucky you might see their wonderful swooping flight patterns in the early morning especially during spring. You always hear them as they fly overhead as their wings make a noisy squeaky sound.

Kereru are  large birds that tend to make heavy landings

They are endemic to New Zealand and the only native bird able to eat whole many of the larger seeds of our native trees and therefore serve an important service to our forests dispersing seeds. They are the only bird that can suck up fluid. All other birds have to lift their heads to cause liquid to trickle down their throats. They can over indulge on fruit which then ferments in their crop, causing them to become drunk and disorderly.  They are clumsy birds at the best of times so when they are under the influence they need to be protected from themselves until they sober up.
The pair in my garden were the most civilised of visitors however. They quietly took their fill of ti kouka seeds, then gracefully departed, winging their way to a stand of bush on the opposite side of the valley.

I continued weeding and after a couple of hours it was beginning to look a little less of a guinea pig heaven and a little more civilised itself.

Kereru are now protected - a good thing as they are very visual and thus and easy target .

Here are links to a mini series on kereru:

Chapter One:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT4-ncu2AJM:

Chapter Two:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPvcGSQD2oA

Chapter Three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=MV3i4fzGkgE&feature=endscreen

Carlucci Land

                                     

 

                      

A giant spider guarding her babies

For a while now we have been meaning to visit Carlucci Land and finally over Easter we made it.

It is situated down Happy Valley Road as you head to Island Bay and has been a feature that has been growing over the years depending on the time the owner has to put into it.

It is a quirky junk sculpture park with  mini golf as an added extra.

Payment was via an honesty box - most refreshing in this day and age, and golf clubs were displayed nearby for you to take your pick.

We enjoyed wandering around spying the wonderful display, from the minuscule to the towering, all definitely zany. It is not finished yet either. Carl, the owner, has plans to expand on a grander scale, heading up the hills behind.

Mini golf

                                 After seeing everything, we settled down to mini golf. It is well designed and uses the hill on which it is situated perfectly. The best holes are the ones where Carl has added his artwork. On one hole, your ball disappears down a hole then appears travelling along little runways and spirals until it drops onto the green. Such a lot of fun and all made out of bits of metal junk.

On this hole your ball spirals around a tree before dropping on the green

                                     

A boot propelled chariot

Metal bird and baby in nest

Easy Rider

A six legged trumpeter

A shed decorated with stuff from the nearby tip

A koala up a ponga tree

A rusty not trusty biplane

Nelly the elephant with random Buddha head

A caterpillar chain crocodile

The dragon is watching you

A noble rhino on a hill

A mini scene on a rock

A mini flying things scene

A perfect wee boat in a rock pool

Excalibur by the roadside

There are lots of delicate dragonflies

A viking boat skeleton

Dragonflies in the sky

Beware of the dragons!

Carlucci Land - well worth a visit!