Tessa's Blog

Rocky, Doctor Who and a Rainy Summer

2012-01-28T11:03:00.010+13:00

Wow!

It's been a while since I wrote last. I've been really busy with nothing much.

It's summer and I'm sitting by the heat pump with slippers and puffa jacket on. Today is not raining but it has rained more than usual this summer with lot's of flooding in the South Island. We were glad to be staying in a unit on the rainy days of our Golden Bay holiday, it would have been pretty miserable in tents. We got some good climbing in around the rain. I tried Burly But Sensitive (22) and had a lot of fun mucking around on it. I re-climbed one of my favourites twice (Beautiful Day (18)). I went on a horse trek on an Icelandic horse. They are quite different to the horses I'm used to riding: they are small pony sized and they have slightly different gates. Here is a photo of me galloping on the beach:

I left the holiday early to fly home for horse camps and Nui Wai. I flew in a little six seater plane and we had to circle around Wellington three times before landing because our flight was low priority and others were allowed to land first. I stayed with my aunt and uncle for the nights in between the two horse camps.

On the first camp I got Rocky as my horse. Rocky is a horse who is a challenge to ride because he is really strong in the mouth and also really spooky. Part of the reason he is spooky is because he was abused when he was younger, before he came to Nui Wai. I was really excited that they thought I was good enought to ride him. I mostly worked with him bareback because we were trying a more gentle style of riding with the horses. His trot is really bouncy so it was hard for me to sit to and I spent most of the week just trying to keep my balance, it was an achievement to trot the whole way round the ring without having to stop him because I was losing my balance. On the last day I rode him with a saddle and that was so much easier: I could trot and canter comfortably. He loves to move forward so he had more fun too. We were doing jumping that day, but because I had Rocky I couldn't jump the proper stuff on him. I put a little jump that was only about 20cm in the ring and walked him over it. He found it really scary and kept trying to walk around it so my arms got a real workout steering him into it. He took me by surprise one time and jumped when I didn't think he was going to. Because I wasn't ready he got his mouth yanked by the reins and that freaked him out. I had to work really hard to get him to go over it one last time. When he finally went over it he went over well and I didn't pull on his mouth. I then got to ride one of the other horses to jump some bigger jumps, up to about 70cm (I think). One of my favourite parts of the camp was my solo ride on Hobbs. I hadn't gone on a ride by myself before.

On the weekend between camps I stayed with my aunt and uncle. We did lots of gardening except when it was raining. My aunt and I went into town one day and we went to Te Papa to see the exhibition on wedding dresses in the past. It was really cool but neither of us saw a single wedding dress that we would have wanted to wear.

I got Rocky again for the second camp which I was really happy about because I had been hoping to work with him. The weather wasn't as sunny as the first camp. We walked up the west ridge with the horses almost every morning and that was a lot of fun, though very tiring. It was still warm enough to swim two of the days. The first one I took Rocky and went with LK who was on Huck. Rocky spooked at the reeds in the water and bolted out of the water. I fell off and he snapped the reins and ran home. I hurt my finger and got a few grazes on my knee but wasn't really hurt. The next time I shared Tara with S. Then we went swimming without the horses and some of the girls jumped of the cliff into the water. We did more jumping on the last two days which was fun. Also went out on rides in pairs (I didn't take Rocky). I went on a really fun one with L. We had races up to the camp and just fooled around a bit. At one point I had to get off the clear some small trees off the path which had been blown over by the wind.

At the end of the two weeks I was missing my family and I was really happy to see them when they came to pick me up.

Below are some photos from camp: the first two are me on Ray, then it's Rocky grazing then me standing with Rocky. The last one is from the second camp and it's me jumping Hobbs.

My latest non horse-related obsession is Doctor Who. I have watch the first four series and I'm racing through the books. I don't have to worry about running out soon though because there is just so much of it. I have watch a couple of episodes from the original series.

Horses!

2011-06-22T18:17:00.010+12:00

Maybe I'll start writing on the 22nd of each month ;)

So this post is going to be primarily about horses. That's because they basically take up all my time at the moment. I'm always thinking about them: Hoping it will be sunny on Saturday, counting down the days excitedly and reading about them in fiction or non-fiction books or magazines. I love every minute I spend with them; even if I'm just mucking out a paddock I'd still rather be doing something towards looking after them than sitting inside looking out at them. I feel good about myself when I look back on a day spent at Nui Wai and realize that I did more tack cleaning, grooming and mucking out paddocks than actually riding horses.

Last weekend I had an amazing ride in the morning followed by a soaking in the afternoon. I went on the ride with KP. We went up Mt Grace and it was just the two of us. On the way up the horses spooked at the pig pen because the smell freaked them out so we had to get off the horses and ewalk them past, Then we continued up to the top with a fair bit of cantering, KP giving me tips about how to make it easier for the horse. On the way down we trotted and cantered to start with then, when it got steeper, started walking the rest of the way, however we had a set back when we rounded a corner to be faced by dog that decided it would be fun to chase the horses back up the track which it promptly did, so we charged back up the track until KP turned around and shouted at the dog to scare it off. After this the horses were extremely hesitant about going back down but we got them going again and made it back a little later than planned. That afternoon I got soaked when I was washing some saddle blankets, partly because I had a minor water fight with the girl I was doing it with and partly because I stood too close to the table we were washing them on and some of the water slopped off the side onto me ;(

Below are some photos I took on my phone of a couple of the horses in the back paddock. The first is of Rocky and Zac with their heads resting on eachother's backs which I thought was really cute since Zac is a bit antisocial and likes to bite the other horses a lot. The second and third are of Teddy's face and the last is of Zac and Rocky again:

Horse Riding Camp!

2011-04-22T17:25:00.005+12:00

I have just gotten back from a four day horse riding camp at Big Water Horse Centre. It was so awesome!!! I love all the horses. The highlights were going up the west ridge on Zac, jumping 70cm on Teddy and cantering around the farm on Red. The camp was from Tuesday till Friday. On Wednesday I was leading one of the younger girls around the dressage paddock on Tara and we were trotting (Tara was trotting, I was running) up to the little mini jump and she knocked my foot because I was too close to her. I went in a full circle head over heals. I didn't get hurt though.

The camp was really really really amazing. We weren't always riding but we were always doing something to keep the horses happy and healthy.

Looking back

I have just been looking back over all my previous posts. It's really funny to see how much more I wrote when I was being home-schooled. However I did make several spelling mistakes that I would certainly hope I don't make anymore.

Hello Again

2011-03-30T13:36:00.017+13:00

Hey!

I know it's been a long time since I last posted so there's probably a lot to catch up on. I'm not going to go into any of the boring details though.

The reason I have the time to write is because I'm home from school with a cold. It's the second one I've had this term, the last one kept me home for five days and this is day three of staying home for this one.

So lets see what I've been up to since last year:

Term three: we studied Naenae and Photography for our main subjects at school. I was very busy with school work and didn't do much outside of school.

Term four: Our class went on a four day camp on matiu/somes island. We did volunteer work cleaning up some of the paths around the island. One of the focuses of the camp was that we were cooking all our meals entirely from scratch. For example on the first night we had a meal with pasta and the pasta had to be made with the special pasta maker one of our teachers brought along. The most special thing about the camp was that we got to help tag the penguins on the island. I got to help catch check and let go two of the penguins.

Labour day: one of our teachers was accidentally shot by a hunter who mistook her for a deer when he was spot lighting near the campsite where she was camping. This event caused much trauma and grief in our class. Three of us went to her funeral to represent our class. The time afterward at school was spent trying to grow through it together as a community.

Also around this time my great aunt died of cancer. Her funeral was the day after my teacher's so I had a

lot of mourning all in one week. She had been ill for about a year and a half. It was very sad to say good-

bye to her.

Summer holidays: I spent Christmas Day at my grand parents place. It was a lovely sunny day so we went to the beach which they live a five minute walk from. The waves were really big so we enjoyed catching them on our boogie boards.

After New Years we went to Golden Bay. We spent a lot of time at Paynes Ford but I managed to spend about half of the two weeks doing other stuff. Some of the things I did were;

A two hour horse trek

A few hours in a hired kayak with Mum going around the islands and little beaches around Tata Beach.

Two days of shopping in Takaka

Several lovely bush walks

Term one 2011: at school we started the term with an eleven day camp travelling around the north island. We were studying the Maori history especially those parts related to the Treaty of Waitangi. We spent an afternoon getting a tour of the Treaty Grounds and then spent the day there on Waitangi Day. After going up to Waitangi we came back down the island spending four days paddling down the Whanganui river. The iwi who took us down the river were extremely awesome, friendly, smart, funny, creative people. I was really sad at the end of the river trip because I didn't want it to be over.

The school work this term has not been very enjoyable for me. However, I am not going to be going to Wa Ora in term two. I will be going back to homeschooling :) so that I have the freedom to choose my own work and how I do it. I was really sad that the school did not continue the Spanish after last year and instead switched to Mandarin. I will be happy to be able to continue the Spanish at home. This year I have enjoyed the Maori a lot better so I will be sad to leave that part of it. I'm also really going to miss my classmates and Teachers :(

Unwell

2010-07-29T13:30:00.003+12:00

*Cough cough* oh well at least I get to spend a couple of days relaxing. It's probably good for my stiff sore body to get a bit of a break from Mum's 20 minutes every morning exercise regime. Thats a new thing she started me on in the second week of the holidays. That's when my holidays ended...

It's sad not being able to climb or play squash. Life becomes very dull when you're home from school for several days on end, even when you have all the stuff you need to do your school work sitting beside you. I can't find the inspiration to sit down and search the internet for scraps of information. Last time I got a cold I got addicted to Television but this time the urge is not really there. So, I sit around asking Mum what I should do. And When she gives me a perfectly good suggestion I shrug and tell her "Nah, something fun."

The one television show that I am addicted to is 60 minute makeover. Lots of fun to watch them race through yet still get the job done with amazing skill. It's kind of depressing that I can get attached to probably the most boring TV show around.

School, when I'm there, is pretty good. This term we are studying Naenae from the period of about 1935 to 1955. It is quite cool to be learning about my own suburb even though I think it is a ugly place except for the hills and even some of them are covered in gorse and traveled by loud noisy bikers. We have just started learning Spanish and I've missed two sessions. Oh well thats what you get for catching some lousy cold.

I have recently found an awesome blog for reading and writing lovers. It is a blog called The FABO Story. Every Monday a new chapter is added by a different one of the nine New Zealand authors. So far there is only one chapter but the story is already awesome and addictive. Here is a link for anyone who is interested: http://fabostory.blogspot.com/

Rotorua National Cup Series Event 2

2010-05-29T13:10:00.000+12:00

Recently we went to Rotorua for the second event in the national cup series. This time I didn't compete. Instead I did homework and took photos of the family climbing. I had a lot of fun hanging out at the gym with some of the climbers from the other gyms. In his grade Josiah got first. He topped out his first qualifier, got the furthest on his second qualifier and topped out his final. Mum and Dad both did well in masters. Mum got fourth and Dad got third.

School is going well with plenty of killer homework to try and complete. Our chicken eggs arrived a couple of days ago and are now in the incubator at school. They are so adorable even though they look identical to other chicken eggs, it's probably because I know that there are little chicks growing inside them :) Our chicken coop is nearly finished. We just need to put the roof on. For humanities this term we are studying Ancient Alexandria. It is very interesting. It's really nice to be doing maths again and not just practice stuff. We are learning about statistics which is a lot of fun.

Matariki, which my school celebrates, is coming up so there is lots of stuff going on for that in Maori, and also in art where we are making things with flax. I am looking forward to singing the songs we are going to sing.

Busy Term Two

2010-04-21T15:58:00.019+12:00

Sadly for me term two will be even busier than term one was. I guess this is partly because of it being eleven weeks not the like nine that we had last term because of camp.

Three days in and I already have a zillion things due and that's just for half the term :(.

This term for occupations (the first half of the term) we are continuing our study of chickens by buying five chickens and looking after them in a hutch that we are making ourselves from a design made by someone in the class.

On a happier topic the holidays were great! In the first week I just lounged around sleeping, eating and reading ... but in the second week the whole family went down to Christchurch for the first competition of the National Cup series. We had decided that because it was the holidays we would stay on for a few more days and do some climbing at Spittle Hill. After the comp I was feeling really tired and wasn't looking forward to doing more hard, tiring stuff, but when we got into it I became hooked. My favourite part was when I succeeded at a V2 that J and C had given up on. I even did it the same way.

The next competition that I'm going to is not a national one; it is one at HangDog for secondary school students. It is aimed more at beginners than people who climb heaps so any teens that want to go totally should. For more info please see the HangDog website:

www.hangdog.co.nz/riot.asp

Very crazy first term!

2010-03-29T18:18:00.007+13:00

Oh my gosh. It's the end of term already and it only feels like two or three weeks. this term has been really busy with school taking up just about all of my time, homework taking up free time that isn't spent climbing. If the rest of the year goes this fast then it'll be next year before I it feels like a term is gone. the first climbing comp of the year is rapidly approaching. we are going to spend a few extra days down in Christchurch climbing at spittle hill. just a couple of weeks ago I had my 13th birthday. I can't believe I'm actually a teenager, it doesn't feel any different.

Other than school there hasn't been much going on for me. Last Saturday was my school's fair. Heaps of people turned up and it was mayhem trying to actually do anything. We sold so much stuff.

Yay only three more days of school before the holidays are here!

School Camp

2010-02-15T19:14:00.006+13:00

I have just got back from school camp.

It was heaps of fun with lots of crazy stuff that made it that bit more enjoyable.

My favourite part of the whole camp was the day we spent working at Nui Wai farm because we got to ride horses.

The bouldering was pretty fun too especially when we went in the cave in the hill and saw a dead bat (creepy and disgusting).

More Photos From Golden Bay

2010-01-25T13:33:00.005+13:00

Our Summer Holiday in Golden Bay

2010-01-25T13:24:00.004+13:00

For the first two weeks of January me and my family were in golden bay climbing at paynes ford. On the third day climbing I got my goal for the holiday, a 21 called Lost Soul. Over the rest of the holiday I got two other 21s and three 20s.

Josiah had a great holiday getting lots of hard climbs including three 25s, a 27, and a 28.

Towards the end of our trip me and Mum went on a tramp from Totaranui to Wainui staying at Wharawharangi Hut overnight. On our tramp we met lots of really nice people.

One of great improvements over last year was that I got to stay in my own tent instead of having to share with the rest of the family. Another was that we got to have much nicer food.

on our last day climbing we took some friends of ours who were staying in Golden Bay and gave them an introduction to climbing.

The weather this summer wasn't as good as last time so we didn't get to swim in the river as much and it rained quite a bit making climbing harder.

On the first day of our tramp me and Mum got rather wet because it rained on us quite a bit on and off.

The Photos from top to bottom run :
Me abseiling off my first climb of the year, a big spider about the length of my thumb, Josiah hanging in the hole on 1080 and the letter G, Me on Lost Soul, Josiah Warming up on a 22.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T11:54:00.002+13:00

This year has been a very busy and action packed one. Christmas was really great. We spent with Christmas day with relatives and had lots of fun. here are some photos that I took on my new camera (Christmas present):

More Ducklings

2009-11-12T13:14:00.002+13:00

We have a new family of ducklings by our creek and they are adorable. One of them has a tuft of cream feathers on it's head. Josiah named it Buff. There are nine ducklings altogether. There were eleven at the start but two died. They are still only maybe a week old so they are very tiny.

Last Holiday Post

2009-11-11T16:18:00.002+13:00

Home 14 Oct

Sunday-more rest

On Sunday we had another rest day hanging around the place. I read lots of my book. We went for a walk in the evening along the beach a little way. We finished Little House On the Prairie.

Monday-Crystal Cascades

On Monday we hired a car and went to Crystal Cascades. Our car was the same type as the one we hired in Sydney except it was bright yellow. My ankle hurt so I didn't do the full walk because the last bit was uphill and that hurt more. After the walk we went for a swim in the river. There were lots of little spotted fish that were really cool.

Tuesday-Going Home

On Tuesday we packed our bags then ,having time to kill, we walked down to the mango tree at the end of the street to take some photos of us with it. We also took some photos of us at the beach. When we got to the airport we had to wait for an hour for a flight. I looked at some shops. On the flight to Sydney I read my book the whole time. At Sydney airport we used the free internet to check our mail.

My Overview Of The Trip

Things I Found Out
Aeroplane food tastes disgusting.
Driving through unfamiliar scenery isn't boring.
It is very easy to get lost in Sydney.
Non-free internet costs ton in Sydney airport.
Snake skin doesn't feel like fish scales.
Kangaroo fur is very soft.
Macaws bite when they don't want any more food.

Photos from Crystal Cascades and on our last day:

More Kuranda Photos

2009-11-10T13:26:00.002+13:00

Resting and Kuranda Wildlife Park

2009-11-10T13:19:00.005+13:00

Trininty Beach 10 Oct

Thursday-rest day

On Thursday we had a rest. Me, Mum and Josiah went to the beach for a swim and to sit in the sun reading our books. I spent ages in the water so we came back to the motel so we wouldn't get sunburnt.

Friday-Kuranda

Yesterday we went to Kuranda via the skyrail. On the skyrail there were two stops along the way: Red Peak station and Barron Falls lookout. We spent a little while at each doing the board walks that they had. When we got Kuranda we went to the koala and wildlife park first where we got my our photos taken with a koala and then a snake. Their names were Princess (koala) and Stan (snake). After the photos we went into kangaroo and wallaby enclosure and fed them. The kangaroos were really lazy, they just lay down waiting for you to bring them food. Also at the park there were fresh water crocodiles, turtles, a wombat and several breeds of lizard. You only got to go in with the kangaroos and wallabies. After the Koala and wildlife park we were very hungry so we went in search of a place to get lunch. We had bagels and mango smoothies. After lunch we went to the butterfly sanctuary where there were lots of very colourful butterflies. We didn't see any caterpillars. there were these black and blue butterflies that I think like pink because they kept landing on my pink shorts. When we'd had enough of the butterfly sanctuary we went to the bird park. It was awesome, we got these Indian ring-necked parrots landing on our hats and playing with them. Mum got an Electus parrot on her hand when she was trying ot take photos. There were two macaws that bit our hands when we tryed to feed them. After the bird sanctuary we went shopping at the markets to get prezzys for people. I got myself a hair clip that I've been wanting for ages.

Saturday-more rest

Saturday was another rest day. We hung around the motel all day. We swam in the pool in the morning then we watched two episodes of Little House On the Prairie.

Photos:

Arriving at Cairns and Seeing the Reef

2009-10-19T13:09:00.007+13:00

Tuesday:
On Tuesday Me, Mum and Dad went grocery shopping then we all went for a swim in the pool before breakfast. After breakfast we went to the beach for a few hours swimming and building things in the sand. For lunch we had sandwiches with salad stuff. We sat around and read books/ swam in the pool. We all got sunburnt, Josiah least bad. I got burned on my face, Dad on his front and back, and Mum on her back where her singlet didn't protect her. We had pasta and vegetables for dinner. I didn't have any vegetables because they were all ones I didn't like. After dinner Josiah washed the dishes while the rest of us relaxed and read books. When Josiah was finished we watched Little House On The Prairie. I really liked it. I started book 2 of the fellowship of the ring.

Wednesday - Reef Magic:
Today we got up at 6.40, packed our togs into our bags, cleaned our selves, had breakfast & brushed our teeth. We walked to the road and waited in the shade for our bus to arrive. On the bus to Cairns we saw what we thought were fields of sugar cane. When we got to the terminal we signed in then looked at the souvenir shop. On the way out to the reef Me, Mum and Dad got sea sick. when we got to the platform we changed into our togs then put sunblock on and got our snorkeling gear. We got straight into the water and snorkeled around seeing the colourful fish and the not so colourful coral. We got cold after a short while so we hired wetsuits for the rest of the day. I saw some beautiful fish and some really cool coral. I was the only one out of everybody except the groups that got to have my photo taken with a sea cucumber. later in the day we went on the semi sub. It was really cool. We got to see a turtle and a shark. I wanted to go on the scuba dive. Lunch wasn't that spectacular but I managed. Josiah and Dad got a vegan meal.
It was lots of fun and I would defiantly recommend it.

The photos are from Monday: Spotty listening to music in the car and Me at Sydney airport with a plane behind me

Finals and Travelling to Cairns

2009-10-17T15:44:00.007+13:00

Trinity Beach 7 Oct
Comp day 2:
My final was a really consistent route and lots of fun to climb. It was consistently very hard and no one in Youth C or Youth B Girls topped. I came 3rd, Josiah came 1st topping all his climbs, and Mum and Dad got 5th and 2nd. In speeds I came 2nd and Josiah also got 2nd. In the afternoon I went shopping with the kids from Rotorua and one of the girl's Mum. We did lots of crazy stuff. The girls bought fluoro vests, but I didn't get one 'cause I didn't have any money. They bought me a fluoro green headband from Supre. We went for a swim at their backpacker, but it was freezing so we were only in for five-ten minutes. After the prize-giving most of the kiwis went back to their backpacker for pizza. I really enjoyed the comp.

Travel Day:
We got up at 7 and left at 9. I t was raining for quite a bit of the drive to Sydney. We stopped for lunch at a rest spot along the way. When we got to Sydney airport we had a several hour wait for our flight, so I went on the free wireless internet via Dad's laptop and did some work on my canal brochure. I also looked at some very overpriced souvenir shops. on the flight we watched "The Brothers Bloom" and ate disgusting food. It was very hot when we arrived in Cairns. We took a taxi to our motel.

The following photos taken by Michael Davis.
mikedavisphotography.smugmug.com
Displayed here with permission.

Driving to Port Macquarie

2009-10-15T15:28:00.005+13:00

Driving to Port Macquarie 2 Oct.
Last night we went through customs then walked to the car rental office to get our car, it was from Thrifty. We got lost driving to our backpacker (eva's), but we found it in the end. Dinner was very nice. It was kebabs. Mine was chicken and everyone else had falafel. Our car is light blue. I woke up twice during the night because it was so hot. After we had our dinner we went for a walk to the Sydney Opera House. It is huge! From the Opera House we could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I'm looking forward to going over it on the way back. For breakfast we bought delicous fruit salad from a fruit shop across the road from a cool fountain. We ate our salads beside the fountain then we took a photo of me and Josiah trying to look like we were holding up the fountain. We just made it on to the Pacific highway after getting majorly lost, so now we,re really on our way to Port Macquarie.
Later:
We have just had morning tea and we are now on the Newcastle freeway. I am taking lots of photos.

Port Macquarie 2 Oct.
We are here. Not looking forward to driving back. After morning tea we drove for several hours and then stopped at an information centre to ask where a good place for lunch would be. As we couldn't drive off road we stopped at the side of a big lake at a sailing place. After lunch we drove on to Port Macquarie, unpacked, went supermarket shopping, came back, had showers. We are about to eat dinner.
Later:
Dinner was and tofu with veges. It was my best friend's birthday yesterday but she is in Europe so it might be today. I will try to email her as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow but maybe not till Tuesday.

My Trip to Australia!

2009-10-14T14:33:00.009+13:00

I have just got back from a holiday in Australia.
I will be posting the journal that I wrote over the next few days.
Here are the first two entries.

Wellington Airport 1 Oct.

We are at Wellington Airport at the international departure lounge. Before we went to the departure lounge we had to fill out departure cards, Dad made a mistake on his: he wrote zaland instead of zealand but he managed to fix it so that was okay. After that we confirmed our other flights at the ticketing office. We are eating the food that we can't take in to Australia. I am really excited about going to Cairns. The comp will be really cool too. I am going to take lots of photos on the plane. My favourite thing about the trip will be seeing the reef.

On the Plane to Australia 1 Oct.

We have been on the plane for around maybe 20-30 minutes. They are handing out meals now, I'm having a chicken meal. Mum Dad and Josiah are having vegan ones. I can't see any water but I'm not in the window seat so maybe Josiah can. we were watching the soloist but it stopped working so now we are watching something else. Me and Josiah got given little goody bags. We were supposed to board at 3.45 but we boarded at 4.05.
Later:
The meal was quite nice. I enjoyed the bread and the after dinner mint. The flight attendants still haven't collected the trays.

New Ducklings

2009-09-30T15:25:00.009+13:00

This afternoon Josiah spotted some new ducklings at our creek so we went out to feed them. They are so adorable. The other family of ducks doesn't have a mother but they have survived for about a week and a half so unless a cat gets them than we think they will grow to be adults without dying. We think there are about 11 ducklings in the new family.

Here are some photos of the ducklings living in our creek:

The National Champs In Christchurch

2009-09-23T16:48:00.002+12:00

Last weekend We went to Christchurch for the National Championships. I topped out my first climb so I was very pleased with that, but My second climb didn't go quite as well. I was dynoing for a hold with my left hand and I fell off, I should have moved my body first before letting go of the wall with my hand. My final went okay, but my feet kept slipping off the holds because I was wearing my new shoes which had not been worn in yet. The placings in our family were Me: 2nd National cup speed (there were medals for the overall ranking and they gave them out at this comp), 3rd National Champs Speed, 3rd National Champs difficulty. Josiah: 1st National Cup Speed, 3rd National Champs Speed, 2nd National Champs Difficulty. Mum: 3rd National Champs Difficulty. Dad: 3rd National Cup Speed, 2nd National Champs Difficulty. Here are some photos that Mum took at the comp:

Photos From Josiah's Trip

2009-09-23T16:41:00.004+12:00

Here are some of the photos that Josiah took in Europe:

Josiah is Back!

2009-09-09T15:58:00.007+12:00

Josiah got back from Europe last week.
In some ways I am glad he is back and in others I wish he was still in Europe, for example when I am working quietly and Josiah starts talking in a monologue about what he is doing, but it is nice not to be an only child any more because I have someone to talk to when Mum and Dad are busy or tired. Most of the time he is the first person in the house to go to sleep, he is still used to European time. For the first few days he was complaining about the cold weather because it had been hot in Europe. He took a disposable camera with him to Europe but the film machine at the place where we were going to get it developed was broken so we haven't got the photos yet, when we have I will post some of them. In Europe Josiah bought some very cool holds for our boulder wall and some chocolates for me and Mum and a friend but the chocolates got left in Europe accidentally.

The Ducklings are getting bigger every day. Here are some photos from a few days ago:

Getting Injured

2009-08-31T16:31:00.009+12:00

at the final of the hangdog winter boulder series I hurt my right ankle. I was doing the dyno problem and I caught the second hold then swung off and landed half on and half off the small boulder mat. The next morning when my ankle hadn't got any better me and Mum went to the Emergency ward at hutt hospital and sat for hours waiting to be seen. They thought it was probably torn ligaments. I had crutches for three days before I could walk on my foot. I am back climbing now but not quite fully healed. Recently I bought some Anasazis (climbing shoes). They are really good, when I first bought them they were really painful but now they are quite bearable to wear.

We have ducklings by our creek at the moment, they are adorable. These photos are from a few days old to today:

The Auckland Competition

2009-08-18T15:20:00.008+12:00

The Auckland comp was really cool.

I had lot of fun going on the Climb Zone with my friends K, E and B. The climbs were really nice. I was pleased with my footwork most of the way. When I fell off on my second qualifier it was because I had not got my foot up earlier and failed to get it up at that point because I could not get it over the lip onto the hold that would make me be able to reach the next handhold.

Josiah and Dad both did Opens again but neither of them got into finals.

I won the speed climbing which puts me first equal overall in the series. I came fourth in the lead climbing by one hold. I got third in the series but did not get to stand on the podium because we had to leave to get to the airport to catch our plane home. The photos taken at the comp can be seen at inkbig

Josiah is in Europe!

The team left on the Monday after the competition in Auckland. At the moment they are in Zurich, Switzerland, training. Soon they are going to Imst, Austria, for the world cup competition. They are keeping a team diary. It can be viewed on the Climbing New Zealand website

Photos From the Rotorua Competition

2009-08-03T15:22:00.007+12:00

These are some of the photos that my Grandparents took the competition in Rotorua.

This is me on my first qualifier:

This is Josiah on his first qualifier:

This is Mum on her first qualifier:

This is me on my second Qualifier:

This is Geoff on his second qualifier:

Josiah Going to France

2009-07-29T16:14:00.002+12:00

Josiah is going to Europe with the 13 strong (one of the biggest we've ever had) New Zealand National Youth Team in just over a week's time to compete in the Climbing World Youth Championship in Valence, France. He is very excited about going to Europe especially since he might get a chance to go outdoor climbing in Italy as part of the training that the team will be doing to prepare for the competition. In Imst, Austria, they will be attending a world cup competition which the older ones are allowed to compete in while the younger ones will watch the competition and train on the secondary wall.

Josiah has just started a blog in which he and Mum will be writing about the journey.

It will be rather different not having him at home for three weeks. I am probably going to miss him towards the end of his trip.

Josiah is the only competitor from Wellington in the team. He is training very hard for the competition.

Mum and Josiah are very busy doing things to prepare Josiah for going to Europe. This means that like before the Hangdog competition the house is in a bit of mayhem with school work not getting done because Mum is too busy to enforce it and I am too lazy to do it.

It is very interesting listening to all the stuff that Mum is reading to Josiah such as anti-doping and baggage restrictions.

The Rotorua Competition

2009-07-27T20:14:00.002+12:00

The competition at Rotorua was lots of fun. My grandparents came up with us to watch the competition. It was very cool having the whole family competing. My first climb went really well because I topped out along with 11 other girls out of the 17 that were there. My second climb did not go quite as well because the hold I fell off was not as good as I had hoped and I didn't manage to go back down to the previous hold when I realised that it was not very good because the previous hold was even worse. I was coming 3rd equal into the final. I still need to work on my foot work because in the final I didn't think about my feet at the point where I fell off. I came third after the final. After the competition when we were at home we watched the videos my dad had taken of our climbs in slow motion and it was really cool to see the points where Josiah fell off because of his feet slipping off holds.

Last weekend we went outdoors to Turakirae Head and I got a V3 called "Palmer's Garden World". Josiah got four new climbs including a V5 flash and V6. A flash means you get the route first go having seen people try the route before whereas an onsight means you haven't seen anybody try it and haven't been given beta about it.

Hopefully I will soon be able to post some of the photos that my grandparents took of me and my family at the competition.

The Hangdog comp

2009-07-06T17:23:00.000+12:00

The Hangdog comp was really fun except for the fact that I got 8th which was quite sad, but one of my friends C got third in her grade and Josiah got second in his. Dad also came second in his grade placing him first equal in the series for his grade. Josiah is second in the series for his grade. Over all it was a very successful competition and I believe most of the people from out of town enjoyed it too.

My first qualifier was probably my best climb because I got to the second to last hold. I fell off because I didn't get my feet up high enough to reach the last hold. In my second qualifier my foot poped off a slopey little edge which I knew was insecure but I trusted it too much. My final was okay up to were I fell off when I seemed to forget that I had feet and just went for the next hold with my hand when my feet were too far down. J, the president of Climbing NZ, let Josiah enter Opens which was really cool. Josiah came 10th and impressed everybody with how well he climbed.

The next competition is in Rotorua. I am really exited about it. Me, Josiah and K, one of our climbing friends, are training really hard because we want to do better at the next comp.

Science Fair

2009-06-16T16:41:00.007+12:00

The science fair last week was tons of fun. This is my project:

How Dilute is Vinegar?

Hypothesis
I think the vinegar will be between 90% and 95% water.

Products
Moore Wilson's vinegar and Moore Wilson's baking soda.

Experiment
I will start with ½ mole (42g) NaCO3H (sodium bicarbonate), then pour vinegar into a container and weigh it. I will add the vinegar to the NaCO3H until the mixture stops fizzing. When the mixture stops fizzing, that means that ½ mole (30g) of C2H4O2 (acetic acid) has been added because in the reaction between C2H4O2 and NaCO3H, one molecule of C2H4O2 reacts for every one molecule of NaCO3H that reacts. So for ½ a mole of NaCO3H to react, ½ a mole of C2H4O2 is needed. I will weigh the vinegar again, the difference between the 2 weights of the vinegar is how much vinegar has been added.

Result
612g of vinegar was added, 582g of that was water. The vinegar was 95% dilute.

Conclusion
I was correct in thinking that the vinegar was between 90% and 95% water. My conclusion is that the Moore Wilson's vinegar is 95% dilute. Other types of vinegar could have slightly different amounts of acetic acid in them.

Josiah did a speech about his project.

Here are some of the photos that mum took of mine and Josiah's projects.

Josiah's project was about "How Successful are Spider webs?"
We are so busy this week with preparation for the competition this weekend.

Lots of Things Going On

2009-06-10T11:22:00.003+12:00

My Sugar free month is finally over, yay! But I still won't be able to have much sugar because me and mum agreed that after our sugar free month we would only have sugar once a month for things like birthdays and other special events. I don't really miss sugar that much which is good because it means that I have pretty much broken the craving. The hardest part is when people offer me food with sugar.

On Friday we are going to a science fair in Johnsonville. I am doing a project called "How Dilute is Vinegar?". I wasn't going to do one but I decided recently to do one when I had nothing else to do on free-choice school-work day. My brother Josiah is doing a project about spiders and their webs, how much prey they catch and so on. It will be lots of fun. Apparently there are tons of people coming and a few of them are doing speeches, Josiah included. I am not doing one, though I might film Josiah's speech so that we have a record.

This is me stiring some vinegar into the baking soda when I was doing my experiment.

The climbing competition at Hangdog is coming up soon and I can hardly wait. It will be lots of fun and I am training really hard so that the climbs will be easier. The people in my grade are really good and there are lots of them, so I don't make a big thing about where I get or anything. I just enjoy the climbs and the company of all the climbers. Dad and me are planning to film some of the climbs and the climbers from our club.

The Hangdog Winter Boulder Series kicked off to a great start last fortnight and the second round is tonight. Our friend B is setting and hopefully he will set some really nice routes. I hope to do well in my grade and I want to get some hard problems.

Technicraft is nearly over. I only have three more weeks of woodwork and then it will be over. On the upside I won't have to get up early and bike on Tuesdays, and I'll have more time for my school work, but on the downside I won't get to have lots of fun making cool things in all the different classes. I will miss seeing all my freinds and doing the stuff.

The Tauranga competition

2009-05-25T19:17:00.004+12:00

I went up to Tauranga for a climbing competition on the 16th and 17th of May.
It was the first competition of the year and it was really great to catch up with everyone from all over New Zealand. I came second in my grade. My brother came second in his grade too. The next competition is at hangdog and I am really looking forward to it as it is our home competition and all our club will most likely go to it, one or two of them did not go to the last one.

My sugar free month is going rather well. I have been going completely cold turkey for a while now and haven't had any sugar though several people have offered me things with sugar.

I recently requested the book Warriors Power of Three: Sunrise from the library. I am really exited because I will get to read it soon.

This Easter

2009-04-21T16:03:00.003+12:00

Our climbing trip up north was really great. My brother got a grade 26 climb on our last day. I didn't get anything very interesting: just two grade 17 climbs.

I am very exited about the first National Cup competition of the year. It is at The Rock House in Mount Maunganui on the 16th and 17th of May. Our club is doing lots of pre-competition training.

I can hardly wait; the next book in the Warriors: Power of Three series is just about to come out in the US. It'll be a few days before it comes out in New Zealand but hopefully I should be able to reserve it at the library soon.

My sugar free month is going pretty well except that my Technicraft cooking classes ended up being this month so I am going to go completly cold turkey after they finish.

NBS and Birthday

2009-03-28T13:21:00.006+13:00

In the NBS I came first equal overall. I got a 1st and a 4th. The girl who I came first equal with got two 2nds. My brother came first equal in his grade with a 1st and a 3rd (the same as the person he came first equal with). You can find other results on the NBS website.

It was my birthday recently. For my party I went to Te Papa to see the Monet exhibition with my friend K. after that we went on the bungy trampoline that is usually at Frank Kitts Park but which was outside Te Papa that day. It was extremely fun and we did lots of flips.

That is me doing a back flip. I tried to do a forward one but I forgot to take my hands off so I didn't get very far. It is my brother's birthday soon. We are planning to go climbing up north.

I am having a processed-sugar free month starting today. It's going to be very hard.

Introduction

2009-02-26T12:34:00.003+13:00

Hi my name is Tessa.

I have been homeschooled since I was four years old.

I spend a lot of my time rock climbing which I really enjoy. I compete in quite a few of the climbing competitions in New Zealand. Most of this blog will be about my climbing experiences.

The last two competitions I did were outdoor bouldering (low level climbing without ropes) competitions at the Airstrip, Waitomo, and Baring Head, Wellington. Those competitions are part of the National Bouldering Series that runs over four weekends from February to March; the other two competitions are at Spittle Hill, Canterbury, and Jardines, Queenstown.

I plan to go to six indoor competitions this year. One of them will be in Australia. The other five are: the National Cup Series (four events) and the National Championships.