A big week

It's been a big week for me. I've met many new people, had a lot of fun experiences and started many changes in my life. I would love to tell you all about it, but one post is just not enough, so you can expect a feature coming up soon.

This week I've been to my first ever Beach Series. It is a friendly competition in your favourite beach sport that runs as a series throughout the season. You can go running, swimming or paddling different distances depending on your skill and mood on the day.

I arrived early to sit on the grass and relax before the event

The junior 2 km run is the first race

I did a 500 meter swim and finished first after 8 minutes and 27 seconds. Although the swimmers on the 1500 meter had much faster times, I felt like a star. When I came out of the water I ran as fast as I could past the finish line and was cheered on by three junior boys. I remember one of them saying "You smashed it!". That still makes me smile. I may return this week to try the 1500 meter race.

Meeting the professionals

This week I met the communications team of Research Association New Zealand for the first time. I have recently joined them as a writer for their magazine. The team impressed me at the highly efficient meeting and I am sure it will be great to work with them.
A few days later several of us met again at a RANZ event. The award winners from last year had been invited to present their projects and they all accepted. For a market researcher, it was a spectacular night. It was a cavalcade of superb research projects by the best researchers in the industry. The passion for market research collected in the room was intense. When one of the presenters said "it almost brings a tear to your eye" you could see it silently resonate with every member of the audience.

I attended my first RANZ event in this marina clubhouse

The lifeguards are leaving
For the lifeguards the end of the season is marked by Nationals, a four day competition in all of the surf lifeguard disciplines. This weekend I got a small taste of that, as Mairangi Bay had an internal competition as preparation for Nationals.

Final instructions before the competition begins

Ready for a swim

Jumping into a surf ski is really difficult

But everyone gets a good start today

The running discipline beach flags is fun to watch

Sadly, I will not be joining them for nationals. I would not be able to perform decently in any disciplines other than swimming and I am too competitive to be a supporter. Therefore my season with the lifeguards is now over and I await the spring when they start again. Hopefully that will be the time when they go back to basics and teach me how to handle myself on the board and ski.

The biggest piece of news

I saved the best part for those of you who read this far. I've got a job. There you have it. Full time employment in a marketing position with a small agency. This is big news because it will change how I live and experience New Zealand dramatically. I'm excited, scared, happy and confused and I know it will be awesome. I start on Monday.