Last week I was privileged to attend the Carey Baptist College Conference 'Home or Away' on Sport and Leisure. Some great speakers from UK and US as well as Australia! We were able to hear Ian Foster, one of the All Black coaches, speak at the dinner on Wed night where he spoke of some of the key aspects that had made this team perform so well, particularly in recent years.He talked about a triangular approach where performance, earning and fun were considered equally important in the development of good coaching practice, combining to form the right motivation to succeed. He spoke at some length how they had worked hard to combine honest conversations and good discipline/boundaries that both contributed to a healthy culture. Seems to be working!
My presentation on the experience of sports chaplaincy in times of chaos, crisis and calm during my tenure at Melbourne Storm was supplemented by including an interview with NZ Warriors Coach, Steve Kearney, who graciously agreed to spend an hour speaking of his experiences and the challenges of playing/coaching over the years. All in all a great experience!
Next stop was Ngunguru as I went to spend a couple of days with the beloved Barrington and Ruby - not how I have recruited Barry to be a Storm supporter with the issue of a team jacket!The estuary was calm and the promise of a good patch of weather had me heading north Saturday morning - with a stop in KeriKeri to fill a gas bottle and stock up on supplies for the coming week.
Sunday dawned fine as I left early in motoring in calm seas with almost no breeze. Paragliders were rampant in the mild winter conditions of the Far North - though I wouldn't have wanted to dip into the 12 deg water too far!
On out past Tapeka Pt where I stopped the engine and slowly drifted along as the obligatory morning coffee was brewed...
Stingray (Waiti) bay for lunch and then a gentle breeze filled in to allow a sail out around the islands and in through the channel to Urupukapuka Bay, where for two days I had the Bay to myself in crystal clear water and clear skies. Brilliant!
Lots of walks and rowing exercise...
On Tuesday I up-anchored and slowly cruised through to another favourite, Opunga Cove, where I settled in for the night after the obligatory row around to the next bay and back. Even braved a late afternoon warm shower in the cockpit - daytime temps had got up to 18 deg and wasn't dropping much below 12 at night.
Wednesday' forecast was for an evening change with a 'Big Wet' due to arrive overnight, so I pottered back up the estuary late afternoon to dock with ease just before full tide. Sure enough, Thursday and Friday brought strong northerlies and heavy rainfalls... flooding the carpark at times!
Walked around the foreshore yesterday afternoon and caught up with Dennis and Rosie, caretakers of the apartment we stayed in last Feb - good to see them again.
Today (Saturday) has seen the weather improve to the odd shower and I reckon Victor Vitus might even get an outing later today ...
Met the crew of Rousser, a Tartan 37, just down the pier who were getting prepared to head up to Tonga tomorrow. A young couple (Sarah and ?)with an older coot (Simon)make up the crew. Turns out Simon and Sarah are teachers at Westlake Boys High School (my Alma Mater) and Simon was 3 years ahead of me when I went there in 1970-3. They are the second contact with WBHS as I had met old schoolmate Fred Schumaker at the conference last week - whom I hadn't seen for 43 years!!! Even weirder was the fact that Fred's son, Nathaniel, had been taught by the Sarah whom I met yesterday! |
| If I could own a launch perhaps it would be this one... |
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| Or Be Satisfied with what you have! |
