Trip to seal colony & Lukas birthday | Vylet na tulene & Lukasovy narozky.

There are many places to see seals in New Zealand. One of them is very close to Wellington, near to Wainui beach. I think we go there every year, especially if we have friends over and only short walk is expected. There was NO WIND - very unusual - and the view was stunning - sea as far as you can see and South Island in the distance. And of course plenty of seals and sheep.
The rest of the afternoon we spent by cooking (roasted pork, cabbage and potato dumplings) and baking cake for Lukas's belated celebration. We ate too much and laughed a lot - especially with party crackers which made lot of noise, smell and mess!

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Na Zelandu je spousta mist, kde se da jit na tulene. Jedno takove je hned kousek od Wellingtonu a minimalne jednou rocne tam skoncime. Hlavne kdyz mame navstevy a kratsi vychazky jsou preferovany. Vyjimecne nefoukalo a vyhledy byly nadherne. Siroko daleko jen more a v dalce Jizni ostrov - teda jeste tuleni a ovce vsude okolo.

Zbytek odpoledne jsme stravili varenim s Ritou a ostatnima tajtrlikama. Vepro knedlo zelo bylo vynikajici a kavovy dort taky usel. Hrozne jsme se prejedli a nasmali. Lukasovi opozdene narozeniny se myslim celkem povedly.

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Seal | Tulen
Celebration on Psikov | Oslava na psikove

Porirua Grand Traverse

It all started at my birthday... Michal being fit as never before challenged my colleague (who put on 20 kilos in the last year and for whom a sport is the thing to watch on TV, but nothing to do actively) to sign up for Grand Traverse Porirua challenge alias triple peaks (http://www.poriruagrandtraverse.co.nz). He agreed to run 18km and kayak 12km while another colleague of us supposed to bike 33km. He had 13 days to train. I've become his partner in crime and went for runs with him. Started on flat, running along the sea on Oriental parade, that was a plan for a first week. Second week we went to run hills. All this happening during our lunch break. I've agreed to run 18km and Michal to bike 33km and kayak 12km. All went wrong when that colleague of us realised, the hill was too steep and she wasn't about to do it. We've switched teams, I ended up biking & running, Michal biking & kayaking, Arsen running & kayaking.
Day D has arrived, weather was crap, northerlies blowing strongly. I fough my way on the bike, trying not to be blown away. With running - surprisingly enough - wind was always agains me, never at my back.
After 2h 30min biking my legs stopped listening to my instruction and refuse to move! All the way uphill (from sea level to almost 500metres above sea level) I was completely hopeless and wandered what the hell was I doing there. Once I got on the tops I wasn't able to run even on the flat! Legs feeling like not being mine. Finally after about 80min I stared running. It took me so long to start moving - hard to believe! I've finished in 2h 50min and Michal took off on kayak. Sea was quite choppy and on sit on kayaks with the rudder it wasn't easy ride. Guys have crossed finish line in style - announcer annoucing Save the Children team Michal Solc and Arsen Karalic. Well done guys.
Arsen's parents prepared yummy dinner and rest of the evening we spent in the spa bath. First triathlon was over and next is ahead of us.

Vsechno zacalo na mych narozeninach. Michal, ktery ma kondicku jako nikdy, vyzval meho kolegogu na triatlon (http://www.poriruagrandtraverse.co.nz. Arsen, ktery sport sice zboznuje, ale spis v televizi nez v realu, se dal jednoduse ukecat. Asi bych mela podotknout, ze za posledni rok pribral 20kg. Upsal se na 18km behu po kopcich a 12km na kajaku. Zbyvalo 13 dni na trenink, stala jsem se jeho komplicem. Behem obeda jsme trenovali, prvni tyden na rovince okolo more, druhy tyden jsme behali po kopcich. Plan byl jasny - Michal pojede na kole 33km a pojede na kajaku 12km, Arsen pobezi 18km a pojede na kajaku 12km a ja si zabehnu tech 18km. Ale nakonec kolegyne, co mela jet na kole, zmenila nazor (on ten kopec byl celkem hodne kopcovaty a prudky) a ja skoncila s behem a kolem. No potes koste!
Den D nastal. Wellington se ukazal v cele sve krase - fucak ze severu. Na kole jsem se drzela ze vsech sil aby me to nesfouklo, hlavne na vrskach to byla celkem fuska, vecne naklonena na jednu stranu. Pri behu byl samozrejme vitr vzdycky proti me, nikdy v zadech.
Po 2,5 hodinach na kole me nohy odmitly poslouchat a tezko jsem se byla schopna pohnout. Celou cestu do kopce jsem byla naprosto marna a resila, co tam vubec delam. Nic nedavalo smysl. Kdyz jsem se dohrabala na kopec (od more do 500m), porad jsem se nebyla schopna vubec rozbehnout. Asi po 80min jsem se konecne rozbehla a bylo to nadherne, pres kopce a podel more. Po 2h 50min jsem skoncila a Misa zacal kajakovat. More bylo rozbourene a kajakem bez kormidla to nebyla zadna prca. Kluci skoncili stylove, kdyz spolecne probehli cilem a moderator oznamil Save the Children Arsen Karalic a Michal Solc.
Arsenovi rodice pripravili uzasnou vecu a zbytek dne jsme stravili ve virivce s lahvi bileho vina. Krasna tecka za prvnim zavodem - mnoho dalsich pred nami.

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