Back and better than ever!!!

Well after popular demand (Ok really was just a email from Jamie) I thought I would start to write a bit more in the build up to World champs. So whats been going on in the UK for me, Well I got made redundant, then got asked to come back temporally, Got interview for a Gateline job (at train station checking tickets), got that job then had week doing that then got another interview for another job on the station and then got that too so was rather crazy month. So current job is still at train station but now I get to do far more exciting things like blowing a whistle at trains and watching them leave the station hmm ok well not that exciting but least I get paid a heap more than what I was on!!

So to the world of Orienteering, well after getting selected for Woc I decided I really needed to step up and do some good training so luckily Michael Adams came to the rescue and has written me up a programme which will take me through to WOC. I have never had a programme made for me so has been fun trying to follow it but I think im doing ok if only I could learn how to Orienteer aswell then would be alot better.



I have had quite a few races since I last posted but nothing really went very well. One run wasn’t too bad but it was all too little to late really. The UK Sprint champs which were being held at Nottingham Uni there was a qual and then a final a few hrs later, the Qual I blew out big time just so messy the whole course which then meant I was in B final. In the final the two courses were the same just meant we had to wait ages to start. I seemed to handle the final much better im not really sure why but just seemed to click, I won B final by over a min but my result would have put me 6th equal in A final only 2 sec behind 4th so was rather happy with that just would have been nice making the A final but still not to bad.



Anyway not much else to talk about since then except from two weekends ago we had the UK selection races which were around the same area as the UK champs. I knew the long was going to be rather hard but didn’t expect the others to be so steep but then again it was trying to be similar to Hungry so should have known better. My week leading up to it I was doing quite a bit of training as to me these events were all just training so didn’t really need to peak like the others so I didn’t feel completely fresh heading into the races. The sprint was in a forest and from warming up looked rather green so was getting a bit worried luckily once I started it was nice and open, the first one I got nice and clean I was taking it rather easy to start as I’m never really good a forest sprints. Once I decided on my Route to number to I tried speeding up but once I hit the hill my legs didn’t really want to move as fast as I was wanting them to but at least that was the main climb gone. As I got half way up hill I caught the guy a minute in front by control 5 I had then caught the next two guys. From 6 it was rather fast as it was all downhill which meant you had to keep in contact with the map the whole time. Number 10 I ended up going a bit to the right but relocated in time to only loose a few seconds. The rest I did ok but really seemed to slow up over the last 3 controls and then the finish sprint I lost 3 sec to Rob who I was 3rd equal with which was rather annoying considering it was only 40m so yeah think I really need to sort that out!!! The other stupid thing is I was 3rd Equal with the same person as the UK sprint champs so seems like I just cant beat him!!! Overall I was pretty happy with result but can see a bit of room for improvement but still good to finally have one good race. Talking with others after the race they all seemed to think thats going to be very similar to WOC sprint so that was good news.

The Map Below Is Pirets Final


The other races over the weekend didn’t go so well I just seemed to have nothing left in the tank at all and then just kept making so many stupid mistakes. I think the reason as to why I felt like I had nothing in the tank is because im now sick so could be the reason but who knows. I just hope if goes away soon so I can start to train again.

This weekend Piret and I did a event here in Sheffield called Cliffhanger which is an Ultra sprint, there were a number of top Orienteer’s there as the night before was Matt Crane and Grace Elson’s wedding so was a good field. We had 3 heats in which I miss-punched once and P miss-punched twice luckily we both went fast enough to still make it through to Semi (you got a 1min penalty for each miss-punched) In the semi I decided to miss-punched again so that instantly put me out but didn’t really matter as I had already lost so much time trying to figure out the map(I couldn’t find control 6 on the map). Piret made it through as 3rd fastest (4 go through) In the final she was involved in a sprint finish which there was alot of pushing and shoving but luckily P had the better of the two. So that was rather sweet considering she won a new Garmin 405 so yeah don’t know what we will do with it as she already has a flash Polar and I already have a Garmin but then again I can always upgrade to a nice new shiny one!!



This Wednesday im hoping to do a local Fell race which should be rather fun as Andy Mccarthy is over here so will be cool to run against him again. But will have to see how this cold goes as I think it wasn’t the best idea to run fast on the weekend as im now sooo tired from it all so will have to see if im still feeling crap as its over 1000ft in 4.5miles so it should be rather painful

Well hopefully this will be the first of many posts
There are also some new pics if u follow the link on the side bar

Maps from Portugal and all my mistakes

Thought i would upload some of my maps from Portugal with my route on. You can see all my lovely mistakes!!!

Whats been going on??

Well that is a very good question!! I have moved flat, im loosing my job, canceled a wedding and done a few random orienteering races!!! All in about a month. So first thing first, the wedding is off! Not cos I do not like Piret but more because of the lack of funds!!! This is from two reasons, one im loosing my job and then the other is because of the economy, it seems like UK is falling apart all these big business are just using this economic climate as a excuse to fire people and yeah im going to be one of them. I loose my job 1st May so still have a bit of time to find another one but yeah all a bit shit. But can’t really do much but hope to get another one soon!! Also another reason as to why we have decided to can it is because the exchange rate isn’t the best, Estonia is no longer cheap!!! No more 5-cent custard slices!!! The cheapest accommodation I have found is still around 80nz a night, so we have put the whole thing on hold until further notice. We are rather gutted not to have been having it as we have already sorted so many things out Pirets dress is getting made so that’s going to have to go into storage, but luckily that’s the only thing we will have to pay for as the rest of the places never asked for any money.

Anyway on a brighter side we have moved!! Finally we are back to having a place just for ourselves which is bloody good, so I can now walk around in my undies again oohhh baby yeah!!! Its just above Pirets work so it means that it only takes her 2min to get there, its also much better for me (well while im am working at the station) as it is a 15min walk so all up we are saving like 120pounds a month on not having to go on busses so its rather nice. The place is brand new and was furnished so we just had to get the basics like a toaster and a jug it did cost a bit to set up but we are sooooo much happier now!!! We also have an airbed so if anyone wants to come and stay feel free!!!



We went to Leeds the other day for a 5km running race which was quite fun we were only there for a few hours as I had to get back for work but was nice to get out of Sheffield, The 5km race was around some park which ended up to be a bit steeper than I thought it was going to be so meant our times were a little bit slower, I still did 16.42 which isn’t to far off a PB but if it was flat im sure I would have been low 16 so that is good news. Im entering the Sheffield half marathon on April 26th so that will be another good test hopefully can do something fast there.

We had an orienteering event on the weekend which was in Sherwood forest I didn’t see Robin hood so that was rather disappointing. It was a qualifier for the club champs which we won last year, but most of our best runners were in Denmark for a race over there so there was a bit of pressure on the B team (the likes of me). I didn’t do to bad, the map was really just a runners course so it suited me but I had a few small mistakes which cost me the win. My running speed was not to bad even thou I felt like throwing up before I started so I think my training must be starting to pay off. I was fourth 30sec down on 2nd and then 4min behind winner I can easily see that time if I was clean but its one of these things I guess. The club got through to the next round, which was good too. I have found a new program to play with so I can now have more fun with my GPS watch. It lets me plot my run onto the map so can see my change in speed as I go, would be a bit better if I could scan the map but yeah cant afford a scanner so will just have to get taking photos.
You can see where I lost my time, a few of my mistakes were really stupid but I also wonder how good the mapping was in a few areas as it really just didn’t make any sense when I was there and lost time cos of that. I should point out that most of the white really wasnt white and thats preaty much why i never went into it!!



In few weeks I have my last trail race for the World champs team, Its the JK which is being held in UK up in Newcastle so should be interesting to go and do some oing there, will also be fun as Ross is coming over so will be good to compare with him as to how fit I am. He is arriving a few days before so have a day off work so we can have a good catch up. After that weekend we are going and helping at the first adventure race of the year, that’s also in Newcastle well kind of close to it, so we are heading there on Friday morning and then come back on Sunday night, have to tent so that could be interesting might be a bit cold I think!!!

I have also put a few photos up on the net not many but a couple.

Portugal part 2

After the final event of the Portugal O meet, Piret and I parted ways from Neil and then travelled to our next location which was at a place called Pataias, which was about 2 hours drive, after a few wrong turns we finally got there. We were staying in a beach side town called São Pedro de Moel it was only about 15km from the event centre. Our hotel was a easy 2min walk to the beach so that was rather nice and the smell off the sea felt like we were on a summer hoilday!! Well if only it was a hoilday we had organised a couple of days training before the races started again on the Saturday so didnt really get to much time to relax.

I found our trainings really worthwhile as it gave us more time running with maps and also not to have pressures of a races on us. We did two trainings most days, one in the morning then one in the afternoon too. On the Friday we decided that we should try and get to both model events finished early so we could do some sightseeing in the afternoon. We didn’t really know anything to do in the area so we just headed for the closest big town which was a place called Leiria. It was rather fun trying to drive through the City centre but luckily we just decided to park in a car park building and be done with it. The city wasn’t really anything special but there was quite a cool castle on the hill so we walked up there and had a look around was quite cool as you could walk anywhere you wanted which I don’t think you could get in many old castles these days. I think we spent about an hour walking around Piret got a bit bored after a while but ohh well. We then headed back towards our hotel but stopped off at some place where they did glass blowing. It was pretty crazy to watch the guys shape the glass which such ease. The stuff they were making was sooo cool would love to have brought some but the 200euro price tag was just a bit too much for me.

On the way home we stopped off at this lookout point which was overlooking the beach and had a bit of a picnic which was just rolls, cheese and chips rather exciting really. They did taste rather nice all together thou. After a late lunch it was time for a bit of exploring on the rocks above the sea you could get a wicked view down the cliff, we found this safe place to look down and was watching the surf smash into the rocks below us, I told P to wait and we would get a cool photo when the surf smashes up and the water splashes kind of close to us, so we waited and waited and the finally this wave looked like a goodie and man was it. The wave smashed into the rocks then completely covered me in water, P had more sense and saw it coming so she bolted!! But yeah that was the end of our sightseeing as I had to go and get some dry clothes on. The dumbest thing was the photo didn’t even get the wave ohh well next time maybe!


For the first time in the time we had been in Portugal it started to rain just in time for the races!! I guess It was trying to get as ready for going home to UK. I have to say it was a bit nicer to run in than the heat which we had in training. The first of the races we were doing was the most important of the two, it was a Middle distance event which was a WRE. I once again had a later start so had to wait around for a while. I didn’t start off to bad in till number 4, well I was going ok heading to the control then saw somebody going over this hill I told myself not to look at them and keep going which is what I did well kind of, I then took off to the right when I should have been going left running through this open area then looping back on myself so really I just did this pointless circle. I have no idea what I was thinking and just couldn’t work out why I had done it!! I think I lost 6min on this mistake which is shocking considering it was just soo stupid. After the first Pivot control I kept loosing concentration and loosing where I was on the map which then meant I would have to stop and figure it out!! Not to sure why I was doing this as I didn’t feel tired I mainly think it was cos I was trying to run to fast to make up for my mistake. I made a silly little mistake on 19 and also 24 so all and all my run was just filled with stupid mistakes!!!

After the race we went back to the hotel with the plan to head to the night sprint later on that night but in the end we not going as we were just too tired and also it was quite a long drive from our hotel to the event.

Sunday we packed our stuff and headed to the last race, both hoping for some good runs to make up for the others that weren’t so good. We had quite a long race with 16km on a rather sandy map, I started of shit, throughout the middle I was shit and then well finished rather shit!!! Quite a dumb way to finish the week!!! At least Piret did a bit better than me she was 4th I think so she was kind of happy with that!!! We then had a nice drive back to Lisbon where we had to drive to drop off our rental car then went back into Lisbon for a night. We spent most of our time walking from our hotel into town then going and getting some dinner then just on the underground back home again so we didn’t really see too much would have been nicer to get a bit more time and have a decent explore as it looked like a cool little city. All and all we had a great time in Portugal and hope to return next year for the same events.


Heaps of pics are up too, still gotta try and sort out maps some time soon

Well after staying to night in Luton we meet up with our friend Neil at the airport as he was going to be traveling with us for the first 5 days. We were all rather excited once on the plane but the both of them soon fell asleep leaving me sitting there playing on my PSP. Just as we should have been about to start out decent into Lisbon we were told that we had to be diverted to Faro (bottom of Portugal Lisbon is about the middle) because there was too much fog to land so after landing in Faro we then refueled and sat there on the plane for about half an hour then took off again to try and land in Lisbon luckily we did so and only arriving about an hour late but it was better than having to sit on a bus from Faro to Lisbon.


Piret and I then went to the rental car place to pick up the keys lucky for us the lady asked us if we would like to upgrade our car, hmm who wouldn’t when they say “upgrade” well we all got out of the lift to be meet by the car rental man who took us to our Nissan Micra well yeah “Micra” is the right word. I have to say if it was just Piret and I it wouldn’t have been so bad but Neil had to try and fit in somewhere too!!! Luckily the boot is massive so everything could fit in there and with me having my seat pulled forward and Neil sitting sideways across the back we fit in!!! Well just anyway. On the plus side thou it was a convertible so on the nice hot Portuguese days we could put the roof down. We then drove for about an hour which was rather fun trying to get out of the busy Lisbon. They seem to have some crazy drivers or it could have been the fact we had to drive around and around the roundabout trying to find the right exit, I don’t think that went down to well. Luckily we made it to the event center in a place called Mora. Once we had registered we headed out to the model event. The car said the temp was 17degrees and man was it nice and warm!!! After leaving the cold UK it was so nice to come to this not to hot but just warm enough. The map itself was rather fast and open. I did a few controls with Neil at speed then he headed back and I went and did a few extra was great to be Orienteering for a change. Was a bit rough but wasn’t to bad.


We then headed back to town to drop Neil off at his accom and went to try and find ours, Neil went for the cheaper option of the school floor but Piret and I had decided we would go for the more expensive but in the hope we would get some better sleeps. The week away is a rather important one for me as it is part of my trails for my World champs team. My trails are over 3 events which all have to be World ranking events (this mainly just says the event is at a high quality) so I have picked two in Portugal and then one a bit later on in UK. After find our place and trying to talk to the owner which spoke no English at all we soon settled ourselves in and went back to town to have some dinner. We found some nice little restaurant and went there with much discussion about the menu with Neil and a Irish guy we choose having no idea at all what we had ordered. It all seemed to come out the same Neil and I both had the same which was a bit pork which we worked out came of the shoulder of the pig, rice, and then chips hmm kind of random mix. Piret and Declan had the same which was Pork for some other part and then rice and chips hmm kind of seemed the same as ours but ohh well.

The first race we were to do was the Middle event which was 7.4km. I started off ok, was going a bit slow to try and make sure I was clean it was working for a while but then on my way to 4 I drifted down the wrong spur luckily realized so didn’t lose too much. I kept making small mistakes most of the way around. The last part of the course I just seemed to die which was rather disappointing as I thought my fitness was better. Don’t think my pre race preparation helped to much thou, my pre race food involved eating peanuts and bread and nutella. I finished 39th in a time of 40.31min the winner did 34.18min so just a bit faster than me. I think I could have done a bit better with better prep but still need to get the fitness up to be going that fast!!! After the event we had a rather relaxing afternoon as that night there was a night sprint. I never really planned to do this event but Neil decided he would jog it so thought I may aswell jog with him. We started off slow but then thought maybe we should try and do some split bagging, so we took turns and tried to get every second one. I’m pretty sure we would have won every split we went for and some im sure we got a lot faster than anyone else could have!!!

After a good night sleep we had breakfast then headed off to pick up Neil. He had a early start time so we have to be at the event by 9.45am even thou I didn’t start till 2.15 so I just had a bit of time to kill. Luckily it didn’t seem to take too long and after a while Neil arrived back looking rather shattered. He gave me a few hints as how to tackle the 16km mission. His main tip was to take it very easy at the start as it is by far the hardest part. With the tips racing through my mind I headed to the start. And well blew number one I think I lost 6min to others on that one leg, I then took off trying to make it up only to stuff number 2, Number one I just never really seemed to read my map and headed off wrong from the start which then caused my to go down the wrong spur. Heading for 2 I just seemed to run and not read my map at all and then ended up grid searching. 3 and 4 where ok and then 5,6 and 7 were also messy!! Luckily that was it well kind of. I could go on and on about different things I should have done better but can’t really be stuffed my only other stuff up worth noting was after leaving control 22 going through the drinks station I decided not to have my carbo shot and have it when I pass back past this drinks point. After going back to the Pivot control (26) I soon discovered that I wouldn’t be going back through that point and therefore had no more water stops. I probably could have tried to take it without water but didn’t want to try and risk it. So I just got slower and slower!!! I lost 5min to Neil from control 24 onwards as I was just so tired so I think it was a rather costly mistake not to take it. I finished in a time of 1hr 54min the winner cranked out a time of 1hr 23min which is just crazy. Even with no mistakes and feeling great I would have been lucky to get 1hr 30min ohh well guess I better do some more training.


So do I think my result is good enough for WOC team well hard to say, I feel I could have done a lot better but I can see the training paying off, I feel my fitness is far better than when I left NZ I just have to try and get my Orienteering up to speed. Luckily I still have 2 more WRE where I can try and prove I am good enough to be selected.

Better say how Piret has been going to. In the middle she said she died and just couldn’t run at all I think he pre race prep wasn’t the best either, in the long she said she made quite a few mistakes and just couldn’t run that far but her result was quite good well at least I think so. She was 19th and 20min behind the winner, Piret did a time of 1hr 43min if you took out her 7min of mistakes she would have been top 10 but yeah as we all know woman are very hard to please!!!

On Monday we had another middle event. This area has to be one of the most open areas I have been too, hardly any undergrowth and just lighting fast!!! I started off well by not going out to fast I was orienteering well but still going at a good speed there was one tricky area which was some complex rocks which I was kind of getting ok I seemed to keep on not quite seeing the controls and loosing like 10sec on the controls. I then blew it big time at control 20, I went straight from 19 and ended up at 21 my exit direction out of 19 wasn’t quite right which then meant I went over the wrong hill and searched in the wrong re entrant I then went over one more hill and then got to number 21 once there I was so gutted one my way back to number 20 I was passed by the runners who started behind me. Ohh well one of those days I guess. That afternoon we had whats called a Ori-show, which is just a orienteering race on a map that is tiny only took around 5mins to race around. On the first race I started the same time as 30 others which was rather hard as you all had to sprint to the first control and when they only had one box to punch it lead to a bit of pushing and shoving. Luckily I was 5th finished so went through to the next round. Piret also made it even thou she really didn’t enjoy it. The map is manmade like they pretty much just make a maze of fences then put a few controls in. The next round only top three went through so meant you had to go a lot faster. I wasn’t going to bad sitting in second for most of it then left the second to last control the wrong way which dropped me one place. I later discovered I had punched a wrong control which meant I was DSQed which was rather gutting but ohh well good first attempt I guess.


The last day of races was held in the same area as day before so we knew it was going to be very fast again, we were starting the same time as somebody else but only had first same control then would do different loops, I did first few ok but then started to lose the plot a bit, maybe it was from seeing Piret out there or well maybe not, I had to ask her where I was once and then another time after seeing her I did a 180 error and took off the wrong way for ages intill I hit a big road which suddenly made me realize what I had done. Ohh well hopefully with a few days training I can stop making all these stupid mistakes. We now drive for two hours to a place called Patatias which is the event centre for the last two races. We are staying in a hotel next to the sea so that should be nice if the weather stays around the 20 degree mark.

I will try and get some maps up soon, well once I get a pen to draw my routes on.

The UK Winter sets in

Well this has been a long time coming!!! So what’s new hmm well still in the same job which still doesn’t pay enough but its not really the best time to get a job in UK. They have put the job I have applied for on hold because the company is having a few problems with money I think but they seem to think in the nxt few months we will know more about them. I have started to apply for other jobs but there isn’t to much there so have to keep trying I guess.


Sheffield hasn’t been too bad lately we have had shit loads of snow which was rather fun for running well in till it started to turn to ice which meant it was rather hard. Had a couple of wicked runs in the peak district, running through the snow which was about a foot deep. One day I finished work an hour early so I could catch the train out to the peak and then run home it wasn’t too bad in till I got up to the top where it was like a blizzard but luckily I had a pair of long johns in my bag so I could tie them around my head to help ease the pain of the driving snow. I think it was one of the best runs I have done in quite a while. Its all melted now so the fun has gone I have to say was was starting to get sick of it after a while.

Piret and I have sign the lease for a new flat so that’s exciting we are moving into our new place a week after we get back from Portugal so gives us a bit of time to sort things out. It’s an apartment which is just above Pirets work so it’s rather quick for her to get to work and then only takes me 15min walk. We worked out we will save like 120pounds a month on busses and trams so kind of makes sense to move. Running won’t be too bad will mean a bit more road running I think but will allow us to get done to the running track for some speed training. Its fully furnished and brand new so its quite nice once we have moved in I will put some photos up.

A Snowy Xmas!!!

So we are well in truly into the new year now and it has been some time since my last post!!! So what has happened, well I had Xmas in Estonia which was really nice!!! We had heaps of snow when we first got there and it snowed on a few of the days but by the time we left it was nearly all gone!!!! Running was really hard over there as it was sooo icy so kept slipping. We went to Tartu for the day to meet up with some of Pirets friends, Annika and Liis (some might know her from when she came to NZ) well anyway it was good to catch up with them and go for a nice run. Even had some chocolate fondue!!! Piret and I spent a bit on money on some news clothes both got new shoes!!! I got two pairs of jeans and P also got a new jacket so she was toasty and warm!!! The time seemed to go so fast and before we knew it we were going home again!!! The trip home was pretty crap as it took ages!!! First we had to Bus to Tallinn which took two hours then wait at airport an hr, fly 3.5hrs, wait an hr, train 2hrs, wait and hr, train another 1.5hrs, then finally bus 20min by the time we got home we were rather shattered.


New years was rather boring!!!! Infact I have to say I was asleep by 9.30pm but then I did wake up for new years but that’s only cos of some dam fireworks!!! And I was lucky enough to have to go to work at 9am on new years day!!! How fun for me!!! Piret got New years day off so she was lucky!!! Since then we haven’t done anything really but work!!! My running over the last two weeks has gone to shit!!! Have got some sort of problem with my calf muscle so have takin some time off running to see if it gets better!!! Been swimming and biking a bit to try and keep my fitness up but yeah still not the same as running!!!

Havent heard anything about the job yet so I am still waiting to hear about that, talked to one lady about it she thinks by the end of the month so hes hoping I guess!!! We have also been planning the wedding a bit laterly have been trying to sort out some invites to finally send out to people!!! So that’s still moving along nicely should really start to do some saving for it :S

Speaking of money I can safely say we have spent all our money on booking a trip to Portugal!!! We are going there for a week at the end of Feb, The reason for this trip apart from trying to get some warmer weather is we are doing two World Ranking events which I need to do so I can try to get into the New Zealand world champs team. So have booked a rental car which should be exciting as everybody says that Portugal is a crazy place to try and drive in so that could be fun!!! Ok all for now!!!

Roma!!!!

After work I ran to Piret's work, the plan was to do a bit of training then go back to train station and head to Liverpool. Our run was cut a little bit short as I was just running in shorts and a T-shirt and it was haling rather hard and I was so bloody cold!!!! Anyway took me about an hour to defrost then we headed for the station. The train ride seemed rather slow could have just been it was so dark outside and couldn’t see a thing. Once we got to station and after talking to some police we decided to walk to our Hotel it didn’t take so too long but was still bloody freezing!! The weather forecast for Sheffield for the weekend was snow and Ice so we were rather lucky to be leaving!!!
We arrived at the Airport with plenty of time thinking there would be a massive line at checking but there was no one so that was a good start. We then went up stairs to the Security check to find a massive queue. It took us like 40min to get past this. They had a fast line if you wanted to pay the 3 pounds. It crazy any little thing where they can possibly make some money they do it!!! Ohh well flights were still cheap!!

We arrived in Rome at 10am, we then had to queue up for 40min for a bus into town so that was kind of stupid too. But we kind of knew that we wouldn’t be able to get into our apartment in till 3pm so we had lots of time to burn. Once in Roma we dropped our bags off at the apartment check in place and then went for our first explore. I wanted to head straight for the Colosseum. Man it was so crazy!!! Such an amazing building!!! It cost us 12 Euros each but was well worth it!!! We probably should have done a guided tour but thought would be more fun to do it at our own speed!!! How anyone could build something like that back then is beyond me!!! Looks like a while ago you could go up way higher on it but now you can only go up one level which still gives a wicked view of both into and look out from the Colosseum. I think we spent around an hour walking around looking at all the different things. Outside there were lots of people trying to sell random things from counterfeit Gucci bags to camera stands. As soon as a police car rolled past they would all bolt it for the nearest cover!!! Then hide till the Police left rather funny.

We then walked from here across the road to the Palatino which is the area with all the ruins of Temples and other Structures, I have to admit my favorite was the “House of Virgins” maybe it was the name but still!! I would have love to have seen all of these structures back in there Prime man would have been such an amazing site!!!! I could keep on talking about all the little things we saw but think I might put some to sleep!!!
We had a look around the Victor Emmanual Monument which was rather large all built for one guy man wish somebody would build me something of that size and to have some horses on the roof would be quality. We then started our walk back to pick up our bags and also key for the apartment. The apartment wasn’t super flash its close to all the man parts so that’s handy. It had 4 rooms which other people would rent out then we would share bathroom and kitchen was quite good cos we never really saw anybody will we were there. We thought we would go out for dinner as it was our first night and we didn’t really know where a supermarket was so thought be more fun to go out. We used our Rome book and found a place nearby which they recommended, it was a Pizzeria which wasn’t too bad, I got the Cabonarra and Piret had a Pizza all helped down by a nice bottle of Italian wine!!!!

The next morning we had to go out for breakfast (Dammit!!!) as we had nothing else to eat, we found this cool little café, I got Crepes and piret had fruit salad had the best coffee since leaving NZ , god it was 100x better than what we get in UK!!!! Once fuelled we started our day of walking!!! We were planning on walking over to the Vatican. We decided to go the longer way there via a few other cool fountains and monuments. The highlight being the Spanish steps and Trevi Fountain. We could see the Vatican from miles away the Church is MASSIVE can understand why it’s the world’s biggest!!! Was pretty cool to walk around such a place, I was blessed by some lady as I took a photo of her and her partner so that was funny. We then ended up talking a bit of a detour which ended up taking us a weeee bit longer than expected. We ended up going down some random track past a couple that looked like there were about to have sex kind of dodgy really. Once safe we carried on to the Piazza Novona which wasn’t quite as good as hoped mainly cos they were trying to fix most of the statues so they were all boxed up!!! Next stop was the Pantheon now that was pretty crazy!!! Just a massive building with a hole in its roof!!!! That night we decided to cook ourselves with some fresh pasta, another Italian bottle of wine was drunk!! We did have some Gelato I had to get the large one just to be a fatty!!!

We started our last day in Rome by going for a nice run. We saw some cool park and thought we would head that way. Well turns out the park was rather boring!!! Not a lot to be seen there and we decided to head back towards town. We went via Piazza Del Popolo which was probably one of my favorite places as it wasn’t so busy it might have been cos it was earlyish in the morning!!! Some random man gave Piret a flower then wanting me to pay for it luckily he took it back cos I think he could tell I didn’t really have any money on me as I was dressed in running gear!! It was rather funny the strange looks we got as we ran past all these tourist spots!!! It’s such a good way to see a place thou as you can cover so much!!! We then went shopping trying to find Xmas presents but yeah we kind of failed!!! Once again we went out for dinner to a restaurant just below our apartment which turned out to be dam nice didn’t drink any wine thou!!!
We then had to catch a bus early back to the Airport to fly home which was rather depressing as work was to follow the next day!!! Ohh well not long till our next holiday I guess!!!

There are tons of photos up on the net aswell to look at!!!

Off for a hoilday!!!!

Work in Sheffield station hasnt been to bad, they have told me to apply for a full time station job (at the moment i just work for a agency helping people where needed) for a full time role means i will be dispatching trains and being aloud to do more around the station it also means i will earn about 10,000pounds more a year so i think i will apply for that see what happens. Dumb thing with it thou is they work 6 day weeks but only 7hrs a day so it will give me good time to train through the day while it is still light!!

Piret and i have booked our xmas holiday a few weeks ago we are going to go back to Estonia for 8days so thats going to be good im just hoping its going to be snowing there at the moment its colder in the UK that there so who knows. We have to do a fair bit of wedding planning while we are there as we have been let down by a number of different places which is very annoying!!!!! So we are leaving UK on the 20th then coming back on the 28th im thinking that we are both going to be working for New years so thats gonna make for a boring new years!!! but ohh well im sure we will find something to do!!!



We also booked to go to Rome next weekend so thats going to be fun!!! we fly out on the 22nd Nov and then come home on the 25th, we have booked some apartment place near the center of town so should be a good trip!!! not to sure what we will do for 4 days but im sure we will find something im just hoping its going to be a bit warmer that UK!!! Its seems be always be lower than 8degrees and then when u are working on a train platform at 8pm its normally like 3 degrees or less!!!! bloody Freezing!!! Our flights to Rome were like 2 pounds but by the time they charge you taxes, Luggage fees, checkin fees, and every other little thing they can think off its cost a bit more it still wasnt to bad i guess but when you flights say like 2pounds return and then the total cost is like 60pounds its kinda funny!!!

Training has been going well thou, doing some good weeks and having time to run either before or after work makes its easier to get outside and run!!! Im in the process of writing a training progame for myself to hopefully make me faster!!! I brought a new watch to aid my quest it has GPS and also heart rate its pretty cool the stuff you can do on it!!! Piret also got herself a new watch so she is happy!!!

Slacker!!!

Well hmm I did say I was going to try and post more often but looking back it is over a month since I last posted hmm ohh well wonder if anyone is still looking at this site waiting for something to be said!!!

Last thing I was talking about on here was going to London to help at a Rat race, it was a kind of crap weekend in the end!! Piret got there on Friday morning thinking she was going to be needed all day helping setting things up, but turns out she didn’t do anything in till 9pm by which stage I was already there so she could have worked the morning and came down with me but ohh well. So we spent all Friday night sorting out race packs and building tents at 1am we decided it was enough for us and went back to the backpackers for a few hours sleep. Saturday we didn’t end up doing much which was rather boring as it meant we stood around most of the day doing nothing waiting for some jobs to do. Sunday was slightly better had to man a river crossing where competitors had to carry their bike through the river. All and all was rather crap weekend and we have discovered we really don’t like London!!!! It took us over two hours to travel 20miles in a car was just stupid!!! So we were happy to leave on Sunday evening!!!


The following weekend we headed to the Lake District once more!! This time for another race called the "Dirty Weekend" it ended up to be very dirty!!! Ok not dirty in that way!! Just muddy dirty!!! We arrived on Friday evening to help out for a few hours on Registration then to be asked to help the course setter. This involved staying up to 2am printing maps writing log books for all competitors. On Saturday we got the job of planning the night stage which was going to be an hour MTB Orienteering score event. For the morning we sat in our nice warm log house out of what seemed like nonstop rain!!! Around 11am we headed for the event centre to find a mud pool the area was sooo wet. The funny part was the tent site, where competitors were staying some of the tents were now in the middle of a new lakes while others had rivers running through their tents some flattened by the wind. Lucky our cabin was still toasty and warm!!! We ran around the map which was to be used that night, all the tracks were now rivers, marshes were now lakes!!!

Was quite fun thou!!! The course was pretty simple to set just had to change the map in a few places because of new tracks and also tracks that had seemed to have disappeared. Once we had put all the controls out we went back to the cabin to start the process of sorting the map and also descriptions. Once we had planned it all we went over to event centre to find them packing up half of the stuff in the tents as they weren’t sure if it could take much more wind and thought it could take off!!! Would have been interesting seeing a couple of big marquees blowing away!!!

When all the competitors had arrived back from the day off running and biking in the rain it was decided that it was going to be too dangerous to set them out on the night events which I had to agree was a good call but was a bit disappointing cos we had put in all the hard work for nothing. We then went out that night to collect all the controls in again as we had to then put them out again in different locations for the next day’s race. It meant we were up once again to the early hours of the morning putting controls out and also writing route books for racers!!! Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day with just blue sky and no wind!!! Was rather nice sitting by the lake waiting for races to kayak over to us. But we were gald to be going home by the end of the day as the 2 late nights we starting to make us feel rather tired!!!



The following weekend was the last of the adventure races for the year but this wasn’t even a adventure race really. It was a 12km run but with lots of different challenges along the way. Piret and I arrived at on Friday at around 5ish we then picked up some bikes that had been rented for us then biked off to event centre. Once we arrived Shane (who was the course planner) said we have no time to waste and we are off to bike around the course as he wanted us to know what people were doing. It took us nearly a hour to bike around it whilst he showed us what they were to do at each part. It looked bloody fun I have to say!!! Once we got back he then said ok now we have to go and tape the course. So that was around 7pm he said that well at 7am I was still going Piret was lucky enough to have gone at 1am but yeah I stayed on all night so by the time the race started the 2 coffees and 3 cokes I had were keeping me charging!!! Well atleast for the nxt few hours!!!! Once all the racers had gone past we then got the job of pulling down all the tape and signs luckily that only took a few hours as there were about 10people helping instead of two which we had all night. I was glad to be going home after that and was even better knowing that I had the day off work on Monday so could sleep all day to recover.

At work that week I was transferred to Sheffield station which at first I thought wasn’t going to be so great but then once I started working there figured out it was sooo much better!!!! Days went faster as I have more to do and also its just closer to home so doesnt take as along to travel in.
The weekend of the 19th Oct we had our first orienteering race in UK, it was the UK club champs so they wanted as many runners as they could get to run, our club has a number of good elites but normally we don’t win as we lose it in the other grade this time thou we won so the club was rather happy about that!!! My run well let’s just say it was a good learning curve!!!! Piret also learnt quite abit too. Least we can only get better!!!

Its Been a while!!!!

Well only like 20days since my last posting so this could be a long one!!!! Some might already know bits of bobs from talking to me on Skype and so on but yeah may as well repeat it all.

So last thing I posted was how we went to Newcastle and helped out at a Rat Race and also how I had my first interview. Since then a lot has happened hence why I haven’t posted in a while (ok also I have been lazy) so anyway I didn’t get the job working on the trains I waited and waited for a phone call but it never came then got a letter in the mail so wasn’t really to surprised but yeah kind of wanted it as just really needed some work. So Piret and I then had the Adventure Race in the Lake District to help out at. The event itself was in a random little town but we had no way of getting there so plan was to catch a train to closest place then try and hitchhike. We arrived in a place called Windermere which was about 40km from where we wanted to be and it was pissing down great day for standing there trying to get a lift!!! Lucky for us after about 5min someone picked us up!! She was a American lady who has moved to UK and lived here for the last 40 years, she had just got back from watching her daughter at the Olympics so that was quite cool to hear about that, she was in the K1 kayaking which is a dam hard event!!! The lady even drove us the extra 10km from her house to where we needed to be so that was good. Once there had to try and set out tent up in the rain great fun!!!


Our job for the event was to help out on the Bike leg, it was a pretty simple adventure race as it was just raising money for Guide dogs so they did all the events in different order the events where mountain biking, Hiking, kayaking. Piret and I had to man two different points and just mark off teams as they went past us so was kind of boring and had to sit there the whole day. Then problems started!!! We had 4 teams left to come past me as I was last point on the bike. Then one team came saying they got lost then another and another but still one missing, waited and waited on the radio to the event control center but after an hour of waiting it was decided the search party should start so land rovers were dispatched into the forest looking for them but still no sign!!! They then got me to meet another guy and try and bike around some of the tracks whilst Piret waited at point to see if they came past. The event center had just got off the phone to mountain rescue when they turned up. They had been down in another village sitting at the pub!!! Good on them!!!! That night the rain seemed to stop but the wind took over!! It was like a hurricane was blowing through the area I’m sure our tent was about to take off!!! Well we lived to tell the tale so that’s a good thing. Over all the weekend wasn’t to bad apart from what seemed like nonstop rain!!! Pirets back was playing up to so she wasn’t to happy. We got a ride back easy enough too so that was good!!!

Well the week that followed turned out to be a good one on Tuesday I got a call from Evolution Recruitment which where the agency that was in charge of the work on the trains they organized all the applicants and the tests but then didn’t do the interviews. Anyway they rung me up saying how they didn’t understand why I didn’t get a job as they thought I was going to, then said they have found me another one, told me to go to Sheffield station in the morning for a interview but said I’m the only one they had sent for the interview so I should really get it. I arrived and asked for the lady I was supposed to meet but turns out she had gone to London. Met some other guy and he asked why I was here and then he was like ok well you have the job we will take you to Chesterfield now (it’s a little city 20min train away from Sheffield) so jumped on a train and yeah started to work. Kind of funny really here I am can’t find a job anywhere then all of a sudden have a interview and start that day!!! So yeah now I have a job!!! Im working at Chesterfield station as a Passenger asstantance which is really just answering questions, helping the people who have asked for help when buying tickets on, off and also transferring between trains. The funny thing is I did an hour in Sheffield learning about what I had to do and they had a list of passengers like 5 pages long so like one ever 10min but in Chesterfield I have maybe 4 people a day some days I only have one person to help!!! So that can be kind of good but also shit cos then it means the day takes forever!!! Moneys not that great but yeah least it’s something. It’s a massive company so hopefully can move on sometime soon to something better. My hours are good thou its just Monday to Friday 9 till 5

So after two and half days of work I got the weekend. I had been asked by some mates from Sheffield if I wanted to be in there team this weekend in a running race. The only thing was it was carrying a barrel of beer from one pub to another. Sounds easy doesn’t it, well not when the pubs are split by this massive hill in the peak district!!!! The team I was in was the previous year’s winners and were out again to defend their title luckily I wasn’t the only newbie half the team was new!!! The team was made up of 8 runners and you could carry the barrel anyway you wanted as long as you kept it under control going down the hill. So the team went with last year’s plan which was to tie the barrel to a ladder then had straps to hold the ladder. The barrel had 72 pints which is 40L they had taken the beer out but put water in instead. It doesn’t really sound like much 40L divided by 8 team members but man maybe it was the weight of the ladder or the barrel itself!!! But by the time I was half way up the hill I was wasted!!!! We started last, 4min behind the team that came second last year but halfway up the hill we had already past that team and were gaining on the next. We got to the hill top then had to fun across the top which wasn’t too bad but by this stage it was getting harder to hold the ladder up high enough not to keep hitting the ground. At one stage I got waist deep in a bog and had to be pulled out by some random spectator!!! Once we got across the top it was the easy part!!! DOWNHILL was nice to run down but didn’t last long enough to let me recover fully!!! Once at the bottom then had to run another 10min to the pub I was in so much pain by this stage I thought I was going to die!!! Arms where so tired from holding onto the dam ladder for so long!!! When we crossed the line we knew we had done enough to defend the title but couldn’t beat last year’s time!!! Was a lot of fun but man it hurt so much!!! Might need to do some upper body strength before next year!!! As reward from winning we got to drink the 72 pints as you can imagine not many of us are regular drinkers so 72 ended up to be way too much. Made for a good night!!!

The week that has just passed started off with me going to work with what felt like every muscle in my body sore!!! Piret had to go away for two days to help at a adventure race so she left Tuesday afternoon then came back late Wednesday, She said it wasn’t too bad they were at some flash hotel where she got dinner and Bfast brought for her by the company so she was rather happy!!! On Thursday she had a Interview in the morning at a gym in a Uni hostel thing so she was hoped to get that she thought the interview went well so that was a good sign. She left again late on Thursday night and came back on Friday night. I got a call from her during the day saying that she got the Job!!!! YAY we both have jobs!!!! And they asked if she could start the next day!!! So she went to work yesterday and has again today. She thinks that she will normally work Monday to Friday but had to work this weekend because all the uni students came back this weekend they wanted everybody on so help sign people up!!! The gym is brand new!!! So said it’s so nice and clean and very flash!!! Her work will be much the same as what she was doing in wellington so that’s not to bad just hopefully I can go there as well for free but will have to see I guess!!! So I have been home alone this weekend hasn’t been to bad went into town and did some shopping then have cleaned the flat up today!!!


This week Piret has a day off her normal job to go and help out at the adventure race then on Friday we both head to London to help out at the Rat race there which should be fun as it’s the Main one for the year!!! So Piret is bussing down early morning and I will train down after work on Friday. Well I think that’s all for now!!! I hope to update a bit more regularly now

Busy bee

Last week Oli got an email from one of their friends asking if he knew anybody that could help out at the event he was planning. He was organizing what’s called a Rat Race, it’s pretty much a 1 or 2 day Urban Adventure race. So Piret and I both were very keen to help as it sounded like a lot of fun!!! Also we were getting paid for it.
So Wednesday we got the call and then planned to train to Newcastle on the Friday morning. Before that thou I had my first job interview!!!! Yep an interview very exciting. The job was working on East Midlands trains which run between Sheffield and London, and so mainly all you do is sell food help passengers and clean up!!! Pretty simple that any old Joe blogs could do you would think. Well I turn up to this interview the letter said to wear smart casual so I wore my Black pants black shoes and a short sleeved shirt!!! I get there to find 15 other people heaps dressed in full suits and then girls dressed up flasher than any lawyers I know would but then thought ohh maybe they are here for a different job. Turns out they weren’t also turns out it we were the second group of people so in other words there were other 40 people applying for this job. Turns out to start the process off we had to do tests starting with a kind of reading test, the test was reading a paragraph then answering some multiple choice questions about what we just read. Some questions were just so weird and all of which had nothing to do with the job. We had all up 27 questions and only 8min to do it in. Once I had done that was happy to think it was over. But no!! Next came the maths test, another 28 questions and only 7min to do them in. We then got a break after those and on return about 6 people were asked to leave the room never to be seen again so guessing they failed the tests. After that was over had we were told a little more about the job and company. Once they stopped talking it was the start of the interviews there were 5 different groups of people doing the interviews so one person went to each group for there interview then once they were done the next would go, each interview was taking at least 20min some even more. Lucky for me I was the last to go so 90min after the first person went in I was lucky enough to get my turn!!! Interview was a bit scary as it was my first one since umm maybe 5th form when I was getting my job at the supermarket!!! Didn’t go to bad answered all their questions the best I could and went on my way. I was supposed to hear back from them on Friday but no word so I’m guessing I didn’t get it. They were only hiring like 4 people out of the 35ish people so my chances weren’t to high and they all seemed to have a lot more experience than me in serving people so that was always going to be hard but ohh well next time. Just crazy the process we had to go through for such a simple job!!!

So anyway on Friday we left Sheffield at 11ish and headed for Newcastle arriving at 1pm, we found out where the event centre was and went there to see if we could leave our bags there while we had a look around town. So dumped them and walked around town for the next few hours. About 5ish we decided we should see if they needed any help so then worked in till 12pm when finally we finished and went back to the apartment they had rented for some of the helpers. Turned out to be this flash penthouse with LCD TVs by the bath a bar and all the other bells and whistles!!! Only problem was it was on the street with all the clubs!!! Turns out Newcastle is the city in UK where everybody goes for Hens nights, stag do's, or just for a large party!!! So was a bit noise but after a while just got to tired and fell asleep.

We had to wake at 6am so we could be back at the event centre to be ready for the 7.30am registration. The race didn’t start till 11am but before then Piret and I were handing out packs and all the bits and bobs then I had to go out and put out the Pro log control sites. Once that was done went back to the job of helping handing out packs. Once the race started at 11 gave us a bit of time to recover but before we knew it we were on the go again. Had to walk down the road to the Tyne Bridge where competitors had to abseil off. Half way through that Piret had to go and get some controls ready to put out then not longer after I was told to leave to, so then went with Piret and put out the 10 controls which were at the top and bottom of 5 different flights of steps throughout town.

Once raced finished had to help pack up and then at around 8pm finally could go to the Accom couldn't stay in same place which was very dumb but still was in a hotel in town. After a shower headed for the pub with Shane. Shane is Jenny’s friend who is one of UK best rock climbers and the craziest people I have meet. He was the course planner for the day so had a rather stressful day making sure it all ran smoothly!!! So he was looking forward to a nice beer to unwind. As 11pm rolled around we finally decided it was time to get some dinner so we headed down to the local Italian restaurant with Shane and Gray who was another organiser. Much to our luck Gary said the meal was going on the company credit card!!! After dinner we went off to another Pub to meet up with the rest of the helpers. Before we knew it was already 1am and were all shattered from the day’s events so decided to head back to the hotel only to find a security card checking to see if you had room keys and how many were in your room. And yep well there were 4 of us staying in a room for 3 so where told one of us had to go!!! great just what we wanted at 1am luckily from some smart thinking from Shane he went in the back door and we went in front so all sorted. Yes sleep at last just before 2 we finally hit the hay!!! 3am some damm ringing sound starts up what the hell’s going on!!! Ohh it’s the damm fire alarm wicked so then had to exit hotel. The hotel we were in isn’t the kind of hotel that anyone would really want to check into, this is the one where all the hens and stag party seem to stay some stupid drunk had come home and decided it would be fun to hit the alarm. Finally got back in and into bed by 3.30. We were up again at 7 to get out and start collecting in the controls. Didn’t take too long but still, we then headed back to event centre to hand in last controls and get a ride home with Shane.

Finally got back to jenny and Olis at 2pm then started packing to move to our new flat, We caught the bus around with our big bags and a few other smaller ones and then had the fun job of unpacking it all again. Luckily we have no gear so it didn’t take too long at all!!!
So over all it was a very busy weekend which was good for a change and also making a bit of money helps too.
We might have a few more events to help out at now too. This weekend coming these an event in the Lake District and for one day work we get 125 pounds each so that’s like 300nz each!!! And then there is a 3 day event mid month that we might do as well but that one is only 50 pounds a day again but still it’s so easy and great fun!!!

Still searching for that Job!!!!

A few days have got past since my last blog post so better do another to fill you in on all the news!!! hmm maybe I should just stop there, don’t really have too much to report in on.
Ok well have done a few things none of which have involved getting a job!!! Last Saturday Piret and I went out to the Peak District with a few other lads from Sheffield and went for a run turned out to be a bit of a hard slog!!! We went XC the whole time in the heather was a bit painful, think it was harder for Piret as there were no other girls so she had to try and keep up with us. At least it wasn’t raining like our last run in the peak district!!!

During the week we just kept applying for jobs and waiting to hear back from any, which we did hear back from a few. Piret had one interview with a recruitment agency so they said they will ring her this Friday to hopefully offer some jobs even if it is temping will be good to have something. I have an interview with East midlands trains which run the trains between here and London so that should be a job with a few nice perks. Have watched a fair bit of the Olympics as well which has been good tried to follow the Kiwis as much as I could but kept on seeing all the medals the brits were winning!!!
This weekend we went with Jenny and Oli to visit Jenny's parents in York, Oli Piret and I went for a run around town was pretty cool town with castle wall all around city centre. Was amazingly busy!!! We went into the National train Museum as well everyone seemed to look at us weird must have been the fact that Oli and I were in skimpy running shorts. Have to admit I was disappointed the model trains weren't going :( good research for my interview with East midlands anyway!!

I did another fell race last night, Piret decided to not do this one wish I had of done the same but anyway. Was 6 miles with 1000ft of climb seemed to hold my own up the hills but when we came to a downhill or flat would just loose time on most came 7th overall but ohh well plenty of room for improvement!!!
This weekend we are moving into our new flat so that should be exciting have to still buy a few things for the bed but thats about it as room already has wardrobe. So thats the job for Sunday and Saturday is another fell race but i think i will watch this one and Piret can run it.
P.S
New Pics are up too

No more Flat hunting!!!

Well flat hunting is over!!! But job hunting seems to be never ending and don’t seem to find anything!!!
Anyway start with the weekend that’s been, Was Jenny’s (the girl we are staying with) bday on Sunday but she was having a party on Saturday night but of course you can’t go out partying before a good run!! So the plan was to meet a few others up in a place called Kinda, Which is a village in the peak district area. The closer we got to this place the harder the rain seemed to come down!! By the time we got to the car park it was pissing down and windy as, so we waiting there in till the other two car loads turned up and we were planning on going somewhere a bit more covered. But in the end the other guys decided they wanted to run here, at first I really didn’t want to run in this heavy rain out on the open areas of the peak district but once we got going it wasn’t so bad. I was pretty soaked by the time we got to the top plateau. This is where the girls decided to go on a shorter loop and then the guys were going the longer way, so me and 4 others (Neil, John, Gareth (he’s a damm Aussie) and Shane) Neil was the leader and well I have no idea how he knew where he was going!! We seemed like we were going in circles as it all looked the same and the rain made it rather hard to see!! Luckily we made it out in one piece even if we were totally soaked and rather cold!!! I wish I had of taken my camera up with me but the damm battery was flat so we left it in the car :(

Jenny’s party was good, we meet the local gang of runners and orienteer's which was good, we didn’t party to hard as we have to save all our money and getting drunk in a Sheffield bar would have cost us a fair bit. Sunday we spent the whole day doing nothing well lots of job hunting and also flat searching, Piret and I decided that it was going to cost too much getting a place for just the two of us so we started to look for flats with rooms spare. We went and looked at a few one of which had this really nice landlord who had been to NZ and man she loved it I think we listened to her stories for over a hr!!! She was such a nice lady thou. The flat wasn’t too bad, but there were 3 rooms one of which already had someone in, some guy from India who came down from upstairs to meet us and his eyes looked so glassy and blood shot!!! I can’t say if he was stoned or not but wasn’t really a great first impression!!!! The place was 300 pounds for just the room then bills were on top of that. If Piret and I got a place for just us it would be around 400pounds plus tenants here have to pay the house rates which are around 80pounds a month so that’s already 480 then if you add the bills for water, gas, power, internet it’s going to be close to the 600 mark which is like 1800nz a month. We then found another place which was only 300 and that included everything so we thought well better have a look. The guy that was advertising it was the landlord/ tenant it was only a 2 bedroom place so was already better than the last. Once we got there we sat down and talked with Dave (landlord/tenant) and he seemed really nice pretty easy going and very tidy which is always a good thing!!! So after the guided tour of the house Piret and I went away to decide, we both decided the same thing that we would like to live there so after a call back to Dave to check if he wanted us were glad to hear he did!!! So we now have a place we don’t move in till 1st Sept which is good cos it gives us a bit more time to get a job to pay the rent!!!

This week haven’t really done too much been applying for more jobs and waiting for calls about all the other ones we have applied for but still nothing. At least we are getting plenty of time to watch the Olympics and also training has been going very well!!! have been going for a lot of 70min plus runs and also doing intervals with the local running club so for once I’m doing much better training (I would normally just go and run around 60min) so hope to see some improvement soon!! I have to say I’m sure my calves have got a lot smaller since leaving NZ!!

Job Hunting

When Piret and i walked off the train in Sheffield we were both a bit worried about what we were to find, as we walked out of the station we both thought this looks good then when walking through town trying to find a tourist info we both agreed that this would be a nice place to live for the nxt few years. We took a tram to our friends place where they had kindly let us stay, dumped our bags then headed back into town for the start of the hunt!!! Printed off some CV's at the Library then started to walk around all the job agency's handing in our CV's as we went. We then went home and started to search the net aswell.

Oli and jenny took us on our first run in Sheffield it was a bit of a sightseeing run lots of stopping and photo taking. Was so nice to run some where where there were hills to go up!!!
A week has now past since our arrival and we are still unemployed, Piret has been to every gym in town and handed in CVs we have both sent heaps of cvs in over the net so its now kind of a waiting game. We have been looking for the odd flat but we kinda of need afull time job before we can get one, we are thinking that might have to rent with some randoms for a while just to make it a bit cheaper cos it seems to cost a fair bit over here so yeah.


Over the weekend Jenny took Piret and I out for our first visit to the Peak district, Its the local national park only 20min to drive there and there is endless running there. Was nice running there if only it was a bit more sunny but then again it wasnt raining so thats a good start we are in UK after all!!! Jenny then took us to some random village where there was a fair on and they had a Parade which was a bit of a laugh as there were a group of cheerleaders that we really men and not like young fit men, these old fat guys with there bellys hanging out!!! im pretty sure they were all drunk but they were doing a pretty good job!!!

Tonight we did out first fell race (mountain race) was in the same village as the fair but this time there were no cheerleading men!!! I seemed to die on the hill and lost a bit of time there so lost the pack gained a bit on the down hill and flat but was only top 10 or somthing i didnt really want to look. Piret did well thou she was 1st so she was very happy as she thought she would never be able to run up a hill so turns out she was wrong!!! she won a 10pound sports voucher so that was good now just need some money to spend with it so we can get something good!!!!

This weekend is Jennys bday so we are off out partying so that will be fun can hopefully forget about all the job hunting mess and just have a good time!!! unless of course we have a job by then!!! that would be nice then we would be able to drink more!!!