New Zealand Odyssey: Week 17, Birthday Journal




Look east from Heyward Point. Jen and I hiked there this week. Picture from the internet.

 

It's hard to believe that another birthday is here, and even more so, that I am 37 years old. I'll be 40 before I know it; the thirties are going so quickly.

Although I write this journal on my birthday (Dec. 5), yesterday felt like my ideal day: bike ride with Jen in the morning while the kids were at athletics (track), then a trip to Brighton Beach in the afternoon for some surfing and laying about. And finally, out to dinner at Paasha, which is probably our favorite Dunedin restaurant, with great Turkish cuisine.

Jen and I have a new favorite bike ride: along Otago Harbor, first on cycling/walking track, then on side roads, to Sawyers Bay, just before Pt. Chalmers, and finally up-and-over the hill to the North East Valley, where we live. It was one of those rare perfect days here in Dunedin, so the views along the harbor, and up high on the hill, were stunning.

And then at the beach, the weather held. It was a summery Saturday, so there were lots of folks out, and the swell was huge -- the lifeguards said it was the biggest they'd seen it all year -- so the waves were big and the surfing was fun. 

My body is making the transition to surfing more slowly than Alex's.  I've dealt with extreme soreness in my lower back and, more recently, my hip flexors. Yesterday, every attempt at standing up on my board hurt, while Alex kept going and going and is now getting up on his board and getting in good rides at every go. Still, once on Friday and then again yesterday, I got in a good solid ride, so there's been improvement, albeit incremental; surfing is a challenging sport.

At dinner at Paasha, I could barely hold up my head. It's the most tired I've been for a while. I think that the heavy dose of sun that I got at the beach put me over the top. The sun is intense down here.

Today will be a day of rest. We'll watch movies and Jen's making me a choice dinner -- a happy birthday indeed.

Another Heyward Point shot, this time looking west. Picture from the internet.