Hello again, As I listen to the familiar sound of another drenching for the garden happening outside, I hope you are all feeling if not bronzed and rested, then well-read and rested! What a challenging summer it has been, but by the time you are reading this hopefully the sun will be shining (as it now is outside too!), the wind will have abated, and summer 2017 will be here for a good few weeks!!! I think our son Ben has been having chill at last in London, as their temps were the same as ours for most of Christmas, but we should be pleased that our wind issues are meaning we are not inhaling smog at Beijing/London levels, as he is. His daily commute on his bike to work in Soho has left him with a cough this week, so he is off to buy himself a mask! At least we don’t have that complaint thanks to regular gales!

Our 2017 does seem to be off with a hiss and a roar. Blair kindly looked after you all at Caversham whilst we snuck a wee break up in Central. Nicki returned from her favourite haunt in Kaikoura and helped him, and we are all back to normal again now. Geoffrey took our daughter Margie off to explore the “Shania Twain” track up the Motutapu Valley, discovering just how necessary it was to walk on all fours at one section, and sadly not a surprise that an experienced walker slipped and died there since its opening. It was a lovely explore though, and they missed the crazy weather that was happening further in the mountains. It was interesting to discover an English family, who now live in Australia, were spending the weekend in the hut, whilst they rented out their home in Wanaka for a lot more than the $5 hut fee …… Not quite what our country has designed its backcountry huts to be for I’m sure! Anyway, a lovely time away, and always great to get into the hills. Barbara’s knees are managing 1.5hours cycling around Wanaka, but not quite up to as long on walks, but making great progress, so I’ll be tramping again at the end of this year/2018 I’m sure. Sadly the news for the Physio Pool fills us all with despair, as if it wasn’t for the rehab I was able to do on a daily basis initially there from the first week I broke both tibia, I would not have progressed nearly as swiftly or regained such great function. We are all going to have to get active and ensure this important resource is kept, whatever the decisions in Wellington. The corner section where the Pool sits, will accommodate the rest of the facility being built around it I’m sure – we just cannot let this incredibly useful and necessary resource go. If you have not needed it yet, you can be sure that in the next 30 years you or your family will benefit from it, so please help our decision makers take a long-range view, enabling the many fundraised upgrade dollars to be used.

Geoffrey also over the holidays kept his athletics training up to speed, as he is competing in the World Masters in Auckland in April! We had a great ride during the holidays exploring the bike tracks around Queenstown – we were lucky to pick a day with a light tail wind for our ride from the Queenstown Gardens to Gibbston vineyard. It was a gorgeous ride, and if any of you have not yet explored these rides, I would strongly suggest you take your bikes and get there. The area is peppered with great tracks, with very reasonable gradients designed for families, so very easy to be able to ride safely! We took our togs, and had a lovely swim in the river part way along, so a perfect day!

Blair’s cycling has also been ramping up again, and he is about to compete in the series of South Island races over the next few months. We wish him all the best, and if his first race result at Sam’s was anything to go by, he is in great form! Talking of cycling, we at the clinic are all going to be part of the Aotearoa Bike Challenge in February. If your workplace hasn’t registered yet, do sign up. There are great prizes on offer, including a trip to Croatia! As the NZTA has kindly given money to make our main cycling routes safer in Dunedin (YAY!), activities like this will become safer each year, so get on out there and start your day with a commute to work. If Barbara can bike from Andy Bay to Mercy Hospital 4 months after fracturing both legs, I’m sure you can do a wee trek too! There are lots of places with bike libraries for people to borrow bikes, so start off on gentle rides like the Maia track, which is free of cars entirely, and make 2017 your year to get back on a bike. Another fun activity we all love to support is the yummy Go by Bike Breakfast in the Octagon, this year on 22 February, starting at 6.30am and runs through until 9am, so just turn up and enjoy a FREE breakfast of fresh fruit, croissants and coffee whilst chatting with other cycle commuters.