Yes, I was at work & watched 2009 come in with molten iron spewing out of one of the furnaces at a shade under fifteen hundred degrees. In the general merriment of working one of the guys asked what my highlights of 2008 were. Now that I’ve thought about it I may as well quickly list them here for posterity (although I’m sure most or all of them will be detailed in preceding postings). First up, the time in Nepal with Mum, Dad & Adele trekking, paragliding & mountain-biking. As a change from all the mountain-biking, a couple of tramps in NZ were pretty cool too – Waikaremoana & Tongariro Crossing/Ngauruhoe. Obviously the trip to UK & Europe mid-year rates up there – especially the week in Tuscany for cousin Sasha’s wedding & catching up with friends & family in the UK. A couple of trips to Oz were also great for catching up with Mum’s immediate family. To round the year off nicely, Adele’s graduation in December is noteworthy after all those long years (with more to come of course).

The shift work that pays for all this is wearing pretty thin, so hopefully when that finishes I’ll be able to pick up a few more mountain-bike races/events (I think I only did three last year and missed out on beating my Karapoti time & the Queen Charlotte ride that I organised) & I might get some semblance of a social life back as my weekends coincide with most other people’s.