swimming, Hataitai Beach

Hi there

Well, J and I have had a little bit of a glitch re our swimming, but we're now happily back on track.  Today we went to Hataitai Beach.  It was weird having to do the long wade (trudge?) into the water instead of plunging straight down from the steps.  The steps leading from the changing shed deck down into the water are no longer at Hataitai Beach because of The Storm. I hope Wellington City Council will rebuild them before summer. Wouldn't it be awful if they decided swimmers didn't need them any longer?  We didn't stay all that long in the sea because I think I have a bit of a cold coming on.  Usually, after my swim, my hands and feet usually turn into ice blocks for, at least, two hours.  Today, though, not at all.  Maybe we should look seriously at cutting down on the length of our swims at this time of the year?   Or not....   The trouble is, J and I are so competitive. Neither of us can bear (bare?) to be outdone by the other one.  It only needs one of us to wonder aloud about doing another width of the bay, and the other shouts something like "You're on!" and is off like flying fish.,

One of the regulars was there.  But he's not a swimmer.  He washes his clothes in plastic bags from the tap on the deck, then hangs the clothes somewhere to dry.

I went to the New Zealand annual science fiction convention last weekend.  I was roped in to sitting on a panel and when I agreed to do this I didn't realise that, time-wise,  the one session I wanted to see was  directly opposite my panel:  this was the session given by the guys at Weta!   Drat....  So, I was grumpy the whole weekend.  Especially when it also meant that because of the convention, I missed on hoofing down to see the NZ premiere of "At the World's End", with guests Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, and Benedict ('Sherlock' and 'Star Trek') Cumberbatch .

Here's a pic I took of  a a guy from The Shire of Darton, the Medieval and Renaissance Society.

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