Back on the bike??

I am allowed back outside on my bike!!!   Yay!!  Brief excitement (1 week) ended with the weather packing a sad (see photos!).  I can't believe how cold it has become - the day these photos were taken we never actually reached 0 degrees!  Apparently this is not even cold yet.  I hope it doesn't get too much colder before we head home for xmas!  The snow has gone from the roads now, but so far it is just far too cold for me to get back out there.  Tomorrow the forecast is for a high of 6 degrees (that is now considered warm), so I may get out on my bike tomorrow...

The surgeon was really happy with my shoulder.  The Ultra Sound Scan showed that the everything is intact and looking good, other than some subacromial bursitis that may need injecting when I am home.  He thought it was too early to put a steroid injection into my shoulder at this point.  Fingers crossed it settles with strengthening.

While in London I stocked up with gluten free food (see first photo).  The red meat here in the Czech Republic is not what we are used to (I think we are very lucky with the meat we get back home).  You can get good steak here but it costs an arm and a leg.  Hence the pre-packaged gluten free meat packs (Durham County Meatballs, Tees Valley Chilli Con Carne, Tees Valley Bolognaise) - they are delicious.  I hardly took any clothes to London (well I was only there for 2 nights) so I could fit more food into my suitcase.  I managed to get 8kgs of food into my suitcase and 12kgs of food into my hand luggage.  I was a little nervous going through security with my hand luggage packed to the brim with gluten free meat packs, but I sailed through no problems at all.  I didn't even set the metal detector off this time (I have somehow done so every trip I have been on in the last wee while!).

Not too much more to report for now.  Just keeping warm and eating our meat packs!  Oh and the cursory indoor trainer... 

See you all soon!
J

Gran Canaria

 

 

Hola!  We are just back from our holiday in Gran Canaria.  We had a fantastic time, and it was nice to be back in the sea and mountains again.

 

We had an eventful start to our trip...  We spent the Friday night with the Johnston family (I really must sign a tenancy agreement!!), and on the Saturday Brian drove us to Gatwick airport.  Just as we walked into the airport, I said to Jase..."I presume you have your passport"..... Oh dear.... a quick phone call to Abby back at the house, and it was confirmed that his passport was infact in his computer bag in the bedroom!  To cut a long story short, we managed to get a car service company to pick up the passport and drive it back to Gatwick in the nick of time!  10 mins to spare before the check-in closed.... close call, but we were indeed going on holiday!

 

We arrived in Gran Canaria at around 8.30pm, and caught a taxi to Parque Cristobal (a large camping type resort, but filled with bungalows) in Playa del Ingles (translates to Englishman's Beach - we think it should be Playa del Deutsche - there were mainly Germans there). 

Since it was late, and I was starving (due to missing my pre planned feast at Gatwick Airport! - and only being able to have tomato soup on the plane as that was all that was GF)....  Jase quickly hurried me to the nearest restaurant.... I do tend to get a little furious when I am hungry!!  To my amazement, just about everything on the menu was marked as gluten free, and they even brought me out my own loaf of GF bread to start!  As we later discovered, this is the best place in the world to go out for GF food!  Apparently it is because of the large Scandinavian influence in the Canary Islands - and the Scandinavians have problems digesting gluten.  Perfect for me!!  Even the McDonalds here had GF burger buns on offer!!

 

We spent most of our days down at the beach, swimming and sunbathing.  The surgeon had told me that I would most likely be able to dog paddle, but he was less convinced I would manage breastroke.  Turns out I could infact dog paddle - so I would set off for my dog paddle each day, and by the end of our stay I could almost do breastroke too!  No doubt I looked like a clown as I dog paddled puffing like mad as it was hard work on my puny little arm!   I didn't really care though - there were many many many more alarming sights than a woman dog paddling up and down the beach!

 

Which brings me to my next point.... I have never in my life seen so many obese people.  It was disturbing to say the least.  They lay around smoking, drinking, and eating all day - no joke!  Oh and to make matters worse, they did it without their tops on... and further down the beach in the nudist section, all was there for public view.... Jase made the comment that walking through the nudist section should be quite enjoyable, but instead he stared straight ahead - too horrified to glance either way!!  It is actually disturbing that only several hundred km's away in Africa (the Canary Islands are off the coast of the Sahara) people are actually malnourished and starving. 

 

The photos above show Maspaloma's beach and the famous Maspalomas sand dunes.  They were pretty awesome and reminded me of the sand dunes where I grew up (Ngataki - 60km from Cape Reinga). The first photo is of me attempting to flex my bicep outside "Biceps Gym" - the gym I joined for the 2 weeks I was there (only because all the equipment in the Parque Cristobal gym was broken - no joke - all of it!!).  I even managed to increase the girth of my upper arm by nearly 3cm while I was there!  (it still has another 3 to go, but I am getting there).  The gym was a hilarious experience - mainly due to one man who attended religiously (no pun intended!).  I nicknamed him 'Jesus of the gym'.  He wore long black trousers and a tee shirt, with a large wooden cross around his neck (which he removed whilst exercising).  He had long grey hair and a beard, and greeted everyone with a loud "Hallelujah".  He kind of sang it..." Haaaalaaaaayyylooyah".  Since I was the only woman in there most days (other than the woman who came in now and then to stand on the fat vibrating machine!), I became well known to most of the local gym goers.  Jesus would greet me every day with "Haaalaaaylooyah Young Laydee" or "Haalaaaylooyah heeeelllloooo laydee".  It always made me laugh.  Then one day I decided to do some intervals on the bike to spare some boredom.  Everytime I sprinted I heard...  "yeeeeeehoooooo" in a high pitched screetch from across the gym.  Sure enough I glanced up to see Jesus cheering for me and waving his fist in the air!!  Pure hilarity!  Quite hard to laugh when you are puffing also!

 

The other photos are taken around the island.  We hired a car one day and ventured into the mountains.  The impressive looking large rock, is the icon of Gran Canaria, and is called 'Roque Nublo'.  We also drove to the highest point on the island (Pico de Las Nieves - almost 2000m high) where on a good day you can see the often snow capped mountain on Tenerife (Mount Teide - Spain's highest mountain at 3718m).  Unfortunately for us, the cloud had just rolled in as we arrived, obscuring our view of the mountain - bummer!  We did purchase a post card though!  We also saw one cyclist ascending the mountain - it was an awesome climb that just went up and up.  We were so envious.

 

Gran Canaria is so dry.  We asked a local how much rain they got, and he said Playa del Ingles and Maspalomas and other regions of the southern coast of the island, have their own micro climate.  He said it probably rains about 12 days per year, and each of those days would be made up of about 10mins continuous rain! 

 

We flew back into London on Saturday 29th... well actually the early hours of the Sunday as our plane was delayed.  We didn't actually get to the Johnston house until 4.10am!  Unfortunately the dogs heard us and started howling - so we didn't manage to sneak in quietly as planned!  Jase was supposed to attend a meeting in central London on the Tuesday, but that all fell through when he got a good dose of food poisonning - a bit of a disappointing way to finish the holiday.  He is all good now though - just a bit tired. 

 

I head back to London in about 10 days for my 12 week follow up with the surgeon and ultrasound scan.  I am feeling really positive that all is going well, and I am now getting alot stronger and more mobile. 

 

Adios for now

J

On the mend... again!

Dobry den
I have been slack sorry.  As my mother has always told me...if you don't have anything positive to say, then don't say anything at all (good one Raz!).  That's kind of how I have been feeling the last few months!  Now I can finally see the light so will do a brief update.

I saw the shoulder surgeon in London on Friday July 20th, and was booked in for surgery the following Monday July 23rd.  The bone fragment that had fractured from my greater tuberosity had completely avulsed and had become 2 large fragments of dead bone, and a large portion of bone on my humerus where the fragments had come from had died or become 'osteolytic'.  Apparently this happened due to the corrosive fluid in the joint having direct access to the fracture site - a potential complication with this type of fracture.  The surgeon felt it was best to operate fairly soon as he described it as an 'active process' - ie further bone was continuing to die.  He removed the dead (osteolytic) bone, and then reattached 2 of my rotator cuff tendons (infraspinatus and supraspinatus) back onto the bone, and then repaired my long head of biceps.  The surgery was an open repair as this was less fiddly with all that was going on inside - so I now have another large scar to add to the collection - this is to be my last one!   I am over it!

I am now out of my sling and doing really well 5 weeks post op.  It will be a long rehab process - especially since the circumference of my right arm is 6cm less than that of my left!  7 weeks until I am allowed to run and get outside on my bike....and counting!

I stayed with Jase's relies for the 5 weeks I was in London (the Johnstons).  They were absolutely fantastic to me and kept me fully entertained too!  I got to watch some of the Olympics while I was there - the road TT went straight past their front door.  I spent a good hour out on the road with chalk (much to the amusement of the entire street - until finally they joined in!) writing a large 'KIWI'.  Took a while with just my left hand!  Some kids came and helped me colour it in which was good, and a police car even stopped to tell me that my sign was the best! Stoked!  I also made a sign for the man himself...Fabian Cancellara.  Jase came up the following weekend and laughed at my sign and told me it looked like a 5 year old had made it - gutted!  I had even glued some pictures of him (Fabian that is - not Jase!) on it - but art was never really my strong point.... I did only have my left hand!

I have been back in Prague for the last week - it sure is alot hotter here than in London.  I was lucky to miss the hottest day of the year (39.5 degrees!).  Jase said it was unbearable in the office with no air con or even a fan to cool down!

Jase has his holidays coming up, so we have booked a trip to the Canary Islands - yay!  I can't wait to see the sea again.  We will be there for 2 weeks.  I have already planned to buy some flippers so I can swim - although the surgeon has permitted me to try breastroke and dog paddle by then!

Not too much more to report for now.  Hope the weather is starting to warm up back home.
J

London

Our final destination on Mum's 4.5 week trip was London.  Wow - not exactly Menorca weather I have to say!  It was like returning to a mild NZ winter!  We had a good 4 days, and stayed with Jase's rellies Brian and Sandy which is always good fun.  London was great to visit to get some 'normality' with the language and the food, but I am really not a big city person.  It was just so busy and chaotic in the city.

We enjoyed all the tourist sights and did the London Eye (thanks Pauline and Lex!).  Also went to Harrods, Madame Tussauds (thanks CW! - and as you can see, Mum finally caught up with George!), and even got to see a show (The Lion King) which was absolutely amazing.  Got to eat heaps of what we call 'normal' food, like lamb, steak, gluten free brownies etc!!

I also visited a Sports Physician whilst in London.  He referred me for an XRAY, MRI, and another couple of things.  It is looking like I will be back in London very soon for shoulder surgery.  Unbelievable!  I am just so lucky to have Brian and Sandy up there.

Last night was a sad farewell to Mum in Terminal 3 of Heathrow.  She will most likely be landing in Singapore about now...  She is looking forward to getting home, but I think she is a little concerned about the cold weather you are having!  It was probably a good transition going from London to NZ.  I imagine it would have been alot harder going from Menorca weather to NZ winter!

Adios for now
J

Paradise.... Cala Galdana, Menorca

Hola from Menorca, Spain!  Well we are actually back in Prague today.... We have just had an amazing 5 days and 6 nights in Cala Galdana, Menorca (one of the Belearic Islands off the coast of Spain).  I absolutely love this place - it is paradise!!  Jase, Christine, Titch, Greg and I went there in 2008, and I loved it so much I decided it would be a good place to take Mum. 

We flew out from Prague to Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon last week.  We had 5 hours at Barcelona airport which I thought would be a nightmare, but it turned out to be pretty good.  We enjoyed a nice meal at a restaurant at the airport with heaps of vegetables, which we had been really missing.  Then we cruised around the shops, and even got to watch some of the Dauphine on the airport TVs.  The next flight to Mahon Airport on Menorca was really short - I think about 35-40mins total flying time.  We arrived at Mahon at 10.30pm and I think by the time we reached Cala Galdana it was around 11pm. 

We had a fantastic time at Cala Galdana.  There is an awesome rocky and rugged coastal track that goes around the entire island of Menorca, and each morning Mum would walk part of the track while I would run.  Just beautiful!  We explored heaps of little beaches and coves, but there is just so much more terrain to cover!  There were quite a few mountain bikers on the track too - I would love to go back with my mtb as it would be possible to get so much further than we were able to on foot.

The afternoons were spent swimming and relaxing on the beach.  Bliss!

On our second night, we were so tired from our days adventures (Mum had walked 3.5 hours, and I had run 1hr 15 and walked 3hrs) that we couldn't be bothered walking down the hill from our hotel to the restaurants on the beach.  Instead we went to one just down from the hotel that we had both agreed the day before looked decidedly average - we were tired from sun and exercise so we didn't care.  Well - what a delicious meal!!  We loved the home made vegetable paella so much, that we went back and had the same thing 4 nights in a row!  The waiter didn't even bother to bring us the menu!  On our last night he arrived at the table with some super strong alcholic liquour.... Man!  I could barely walk in a straight line to the hotel - Mum of course said I was over-reacting... but man it was strong!

We flew back to Prague today.  We are here until Wednesday, and then Jase, Mum and I will fly to London for 4 days.  I am beginning to feel like a real jet setter!

Hope the snow has melted away at home.  We watched a video on YouTube of the train in Arthurs Pass - incredible!

Take care
J

Cinque Terre and Lake Como

Bonjourno!
We are just back in Prague for 2 nights after a week in Italy.  Mum and I set off on Monday afternoon for the Cinque Terre, while Jase headed to Switzerland for work.  We flew to Milan, and then caught a bus to Milano Centrale (the main train station), and then caught a train which took us to Levanto, at the gateway to the Cinque Terre (pronounced chink kwi terra - with a rolled 'r').  We based ourselves in Levanto, and tackled the walk from there. 

The end of May/start of June is the perfect time to walk the Cinque Terre.  The weather is still warm (12 degree low, and up to 25 degrees during the day), and the crowds are fewer.  I can't imagine doing the walk with the crowds of July and August.  There would be so much waiting on the narrow tracks, and to fit on the trains would be near impossible!  As it was, Mum got shouldered out of the way getting onto both a train and a ferry - it is every man for himself over here!! 

To walk in the National park, you need a daily walking pass.  This pass includes unlimited use of the rail system between the villages also.  We opted for a 2 day pass (19 euros), so we would be able to enjoy the walk, rather than racing from village to village.  Two of the villages (Corneglia and Vernazza) were badly damaged in the floods of October 2011, and the tracks between these two villages had been destroyed, so we could not walk this section.  We also had to take the inland route from Manorola to Corneglia as the coastal track had been damaged and was under repair.  Some of the houses in Vernazza looked like the houses tetering on the hill above Sumner after the EQ back home. 

On Tuesday we decided to start our walk from Levanto.  This section 2hrs-2.5hrs is not part of the Cinque Terre, but the woman in the information centre had recommended we do it and we are so glad we did - amazing views, and we must have been well over 400m above sea level.  I actually found the descent into Monterosso (the first village) tougher on the legs than the climb - my legs are not used to long periods of eccentric loading!  The first photo above shows the view of Monterosso as we were descending. 

As soon as we reached Monterosso, we took our shoes off and waded in the water - it certainly wasn't overly warm - maybe because it gets deep fairly quickly.  Not long after arriving on the beach we were greeted by a Thai woman who was very keen to give us a massage.  I must have shown some interest because she kept doing her best to persuade me to have one.  In the end I thought I may as well give it a go, because my shoulder was pretty sore after the jarring of walking downhill for so long.  Bliss!  Mum even decided to have one too.  Then it was lunch on the beach (photo above) before a cruise around Monterosso village and stage 2 of our walk for the day (Monterosso to Vernazza). 

This section of the walk was pretty tough - the climb out of Monterosso was long and steep and made up of rocky stairs.  It was pretty hot at Vernazza so I went for a dip in the sea, and then we sunbathed on a rock down by the water's edge - no real sand at this village.  We caught the train back to Levanto and dined on calamari and fries - yum!

Day 2 of our walk (Wednesday) started in Levanto with the 10am ferry to the furthest village (Riomaggiore).  It was pretty chilly on the ferry as the sun had not yet appeared, but the views were awesome.  We both really liked Riomaggiore - a village full of life, and my first coffee of the week! (see photo above - Mum had an English Breakfast tea, and me, my standard Americano - as you can see we were pretty happy about it!). 

The walk from Riomaggiore to Manorola is the only flat section of the Cinque Terre - and only about 20mins.  It was pretty cool though.  We had lunch at Manorola and then tackled the inland route to Corneglia.  This was my favourite walk.  The views were spectacular.  The initial climb was about 30-40mins long and made up of rocky stairs.  Mum amused all the Americans with her new bright orange Nike frees (see photo above - they are cool!).  The number of older people doing the Cinque Terre absolutely impressed me.  It is not an easy walk, and there were people well into their 70's doing it!  I think the average age of people walking the track would have easily been in the 50's.

Day 3 was a relaxing day at the beach in Monterosso.  We sunbathed and swam and cruised around the village.  A nice way to end our time down there. 

On Friday we were up with the sparrows as we had to catch the 7am train to Milan and then bus to Malpensa Airport (50mins) where we met Jase.  We hired a car and drove up to Domaso on the shores of Lake Como (where the last 5 photos above are taken).  Lake Como is beautiful!  I had done well with the accommodation this time too (not like my efforts in Liberec last weekend!).  The girls running the apartment complex where we stayed were great.  Both very tall and very thin and would not let us carry our bags up the stairs, much to Jase's horror!  They were pretty heavy, and when he kept insisting he would carry them, they would not have a bar of it!!  It was pretty funny, and quite tough to watch them struggle as we walked up empty handed!

I asked them if they knew where George Clooney's house was - next minute they were showing me on a map and writing down the name of his house!!  Of course we did go and check it out - and it is a very nice area - although we only saw his gate.  It is very private with surveillance cameras surrounding the property - hmmmm I am sure they will have some good footage of Mum and I taking photos and us driving backwards and forwards slowly past about 5 times!  Stalkers!  I do actually feel bad about it, because it would suck if everyone did this!  I am not going to tell anyone where his house is! 

The weather on Saturday at the lake was just beautiful.  We drove to a village called Menaggio and left our car there for the day.  First stop was for coffee on the lakefront, before catching a ferry over to Varenna on the other side of the lake.  We had lunch here and walked around the village, and then caught the ferry over to Bellagio (photo above especially for you Dean and Sara!).  Bellagio was pretty cool, with nice little boutique shops on small cobbled streets. 

Sunday was a wet day, but still nice for a drive around to see the views.  We flew back to Prague last night and today have been catching up on all the washing, and even went for my first run in about 7 months (!) while mum went for a walk. 

Jase flies back to Swizerland tonight for work, and Mum and I fly to Menorca tomorrow afternoon...
Ciao for now
Jeanette