Tuesday, August 31, 2010

A Brief Guide To....

.... the first part of Kieran's Trip to Japan....



Next top model.....

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/4075845/Not-all-plane-sailing-for-Les

..... I'm still giggling over that by-line!

I think that the story is lame and makes light of the hard work and achievement of the team- bummer.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Friday, August 27, 2010

We went walking....

... what did you see?

Will saw some guys with tools and they were NOISY!



We went walking.

What did you see?

Merenia saw some horses that filled her with glee!
We went walking.

What did you see?

I saw a bunch of flowers looking at me....







Thursday, August 26, 2010

Reporting in...

Kieran finally called last night. Hooray!!

I don't want to steal his thunder but I will say he's having a good time, has spent most of his cash. Brought presents for himself and friends. Hasn't had to crack open his Weet-Bix- not sure how I feel about him eating PIZZA for breakfast though. His family is lovely (he has a 9 year old host sister) and his bed (traditional) and in a shared room with his host brother has a bit of 'roll together'. :-) They don't train the full 3 hours from 6-9pm which we were both a bit nervous about. He said he wasn't homesick and that he's collected lots of scrapping material (love a well trained kid!).

Phew!

In other news my uncle Mike came for dinner last night. Holy Crap- he's like a whirl wind I think the guy has some sort of hyperactivity disorder- but it was good to catch up and he has made a bit of a fan of Will.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

And where are the pictures?

I think I must be losing my touch (or perhaps just my mind). A reporter came yesterday from the Western Leader to interview Les about the worlds. She also took photos outside. Did I take any photos? No I didn't perhaps it was the serious lack of scrapbooking lately- or just that I don't seem to be very much on the ball in general lately but there are a few things that I have not captured lately and it's driving me nuts!

What I have done lately is a a lot of reading and it's been great. I discovered Philip Pullman thanks to Fraser who gave me a couple of books a while back and now I am absolutely smitten! I have also read a least one 'grown-up's' book lately which is not common for me- although I did pick it up because it was by one of my favourite Children's Book Authors- Gary Crew- I realised not far in that it wasn't what I was expecting at all- but I did still quite enjoy it. With Will having been in our room for so long I had got out of the habit of reading before I went to sleep- and then while Les was away and I was addicted to checking out results and such on the net I had to read before I went to sleep to calm my mind- and I am glad I did because I forgot how much I love it! Today whilst op-shopping in Brown's Bay I picked up and a Philip Pullman- Yay! Terry Brooks who I thought I had heard was quite good- but on reflection- I think I was supposed to be thinking of Terry Prachett- oh well it was only $1! And also Confessions of a Slacker Wife... which kind of appealed and if I like it I'll have to hunt down Confessions of a Slacker Mum!
Ahhhhhh books I love you so!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

He got rich and left....


Nothing like holding 12000 anything to make you feel like a rich man.


It's like those pictures of the All Black's Coach a while back...Kieran: "Excited!"



A big hug, a 'cool' wave and then he was gone.... off to swim in the Changi Rooftop Pool at Midnight and then on to a house full of strangers, in a foreign land. A civic welcome, Rugby, Space World, Rugby, Baseball at the dome, Rugby, Haka's and yet more Rugby.
And adventure... lots of adventure!

Monday, August 23, 2010

So.....

It's been a bit of a roller-coaster this past week.

Les got back with a fairly extreme case of Jet lag that left me concerned for his mental health. His return came with attendant psychological issues in the form of:
"Hi Daddy my name is Will and I am going to cling to you like a limpet and totally freak out if you leave the house because now that you are back I realise how much I missed you and over my dead body are you ever going to do that to me again." Punctuated by a small face crying at the window this morning as Les drove off to work after a week of saying "I need you dad, I neeeeed you!."

I would have been more sympathetic if it was not for the complimentary issues this past week in the form of:
"Leave me alone Mum, you are totally useless and I don't want you for anything not even bed time kisses or when I am hurt because lets face it DADDY is better."

I am of course joking- I was sympathetic to his pain this morning and engaged him in an enthralling conversation about bones- which Hairy McLary discerning shopper that he is gets from the Mad Butcher, so I am told.

Then of course there were my own psychological issues in the form of:

"I have been totally in control of this house which has been running like a cool, CALM, well oiled machine- and now you are back and you are tired and grumpy and your 'sudden' inflictions of justice/discipline is driving me up the wall especially as I deal with my own accumulated exhaustion after three weeks of both supporting your efforts in the worlds and carving out my own quiet and constructive personal time in the early hours of the morning".

It was complimented by a kick arse tooth ache and the prospect of a HUGE bill for dentistry and considering I personally have no income that was kind of depressing and exacerbated by the fact that the antibiotics for the tooth ache reeked havoc on my body. So I kind of fell apart and felt terribly useless, out of control and out of sorts.

Part of the week was spent getting organised to get Kieran ready for Japan something which he took in his stride (read he was very blasé) while we ran around at a reasonable pace. I can imagine the scene at customs:

CO: "Did you pack this bag yourself?"
K: "No my mum did"
CO: "And you are here to play rugby are your boots clean?"
K: "Um I don't know"

I have to say I shed a few tears in the car after the boy went through the big doors to the other side of the world with a bunch of young rugby thugs, their rugby head fathers and wine-o mothers who seemed intent to further the cause of Japan's economy by increasing the alcohol consumption of the country 500-fold (each day). (I am of course generalising- some of the kids and some of the parents are absolutely lovely and fortunately I feel able to trust them with my first born)- I'm not joking about the alcohol consumption though. All this wasn't helped by the fact that Kieran was one of two kids who left without any contact details in Japan. I was pleased to receive this email yesterday morning:

"Hello, my name is tokushima. We spend it with a kieran happily. I want to make a kieran and thebest memory."

Which I take to mean that Kieran is well and happy.

The end of the week saw the netball draw come out and with it the reality that Merenia's birthday wasn't going to be able to be executed in the way that she wanted it at the time that she wanted it.

More psychological issues. (And stomping and wailing and howling and crying).

Compromise being that Merenia had a couple of friends over on her birthday (Sunday) and will next week get to go horse riding and to the hotpools with Alyssa as planned albeit a week late (the horror!).

I have photos of all this and more and will share in due course but for now it's freezing so the fire is calling me. I promised Will paint and we're supposed to be having lunch with Les. And then there's the commitment that I made to turn this darn thing off during the day!

Adieu!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Thirty Two

So a girl could die waiting while her husband "cogitates" on his blog posts and I wait for no man- so look out for a return to regular blog posting round here soon! In the meantime the wee dude hit Thirty Two months old Thursday and here's the record of Will's month that was....



Thursday, August 12, 2010

F3J Mosaic

I am waiting for Les to get back from France/London before I change the blog focus back to 'us' so I thought I'd fill the blank space with this photo mosaic made with Big huge Labs Mosaic maker. They are all from the Flickr Stream of Nick Kidd who has done an incredible job!!


1. Joe Wurts, 2. N70_7972, 3. Cody, 4. N70_8315, 5. N70_8088, 6. N70_8093, 7. N70_8329, 8. N70_8389, 9. N30_7929, 10. Icon 2, 11. Croatian Tip, 12. Missed!!!, 13. Skyward, 14. N70_8557, 15. N70_8204, 16. Philip Kolb, 17. Midair, 18. Joue Wurtz kick, 19. CD, 20. Supra, 21. N70_8533, 22. It's Good to Arrive Together :), 23. Timers, 24. Nailing it!!, 25. Flex

I'm going to take a few blog days off look for a post or two from Les early next week.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Much Nicer...

Lunch at the Arc de Triomphe and Dinner on the Champs Elysees- Life sucks for some people huh?







Sunday, August 8, 2010

Gold (and a bit red)

Looking like a few to many days in the sun (or maybe a few wines under the belt) but pretty happy...
(Ok I have to say the scrapbooker that is me hopes that someone got some shitloads better photo than that!)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Final

Coming Back down to Earth

It's been an amazing few days. The guys have just landed for the very last time. Soon we will know how the story ends.

Round 5 scores


Thanks to Hal!

Times Rnd 5

From Les: Another Throw out threw long and straight but don't have the hang time . Landed out at 7 so relaunch to get same time and a landing. JW down in about 10 and Scott in 11.

First of the day...


They have decided to fly one senior round then 2 juniors and then the last senior... but it must be frustrating to have the organisers chopping and changing all the time.

Talking about frustrating the times in round five of the fly off are reflecting the poor conditions at this time of the morning in France. All took long launches but were below launch height within minutes of launch. It sounds like some landed with 6 minutes still left on the clock.

Joe was down with 4.48 mins left on the clock and the CZE pilot who was in 11th has flown a minute longer than the rest.

Photos and standings

An infected thumb on my right hand.
2 hours sleep
2 hours at Rugby in the RAIN with a 2 year old. (His clothes are dirtier than the 22 Rugby jerseys I have to wash all put together.
The world's worst ever Referee- who put a bloody great downer on my Teams last game of the season- W#%ker!
and 2 frikin' hours to get home! (from Devonport- I kid you not)
I'm exhausted.

This cheers me up though:

Kieran got player of the day probably his best game EVER he didn't miss a tackle- flippin' awesome!

I am married to a member of the gold medal winning F3J team. All of whom got in the fly off.- and really considering the calibre of the competition are doing bloody well and holding their own.





There's just one thing that could make it better- The juniors flying their last two Fly off rounds first so that there is a bit of time for some thermal activity to build up for the seniors. I have found the French management/organisation of the competition to be seriously lacking- and that's without the added slowness to upload results and lack of pictures and info.

That aside I can't wait for tonight -

Joe, Scott do your thing!

Les. We LOVE you. REMEMBER you are AMAZING.
G, K, S, M & W xoxoxo

There's an angel under your wings babe.

That's all I know...

The internet at the field is crap and the organisers are probably to busy to be on to it with the scores everyone is enjoying a well deserved dinner right now in France.

R4: Joe 995 pts

SENIORS
1. Feigl 3995.6
2. Perkins 3994.6
3. Strautins 3993.5
4. Wurts 3991.5
5. Borst 3987.9
6. Kolb 3983.3

The competition is intense. Daryl had a 9:58.9 99 and did not win the round...

The seniors fly first in the morning about 6am.

*************
And finally to add serious insult to injury David Hobby's Mum sadly passed away yesterday in Australia. Our deepest sympathy goes to you Dave and your whole family. We are so sorry for your loss.

Rnd 3 & 4

All good for NZ. Good times and landings mine (Les) were 14.55 and 99 and 14.53 and 96. Some people missed the thermal- so I won't be bottom but won't be top either.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Helpers, Callers, and Towers

Now that they can't rely on each other the Team has a number of others working with them:

Joe: Craig Goodrum (SA)

Scott: Brendon B (USA) and Michelle Goodrum (SA)

Les: Reinhardt (A german who has been helping the Turkish) and Dave James

Les said people were putting their hands up all over the place to help out. It sounded like there will be American, Russian and Swedes towing for them.

After Fly off 1 & 2

1. Feigl 2000
2. Wurts 1996.5
3. Borst 1995.8
4. Stautins 1995.6
5. Perkins 1995.1

12. Les 1746.4

15. Scott 1637.2

With a score like that I don't think the reports of Joe missing a landing can be correct.

Remember that a throw away will come into effect once all six rounds have been flown.

From Les:

Scott and I have throw out already. JW good. Rd 2 for me was 14.53 and 100. SC similar and JW probably leading taking very short tow.

0.96 sec

That's the times they are reporting on the launches for the likes of Joe and Daryl- sounds like everyone got away ok in Rnd 2 they have just landed. The Brazillian got a safety penalty. It was also reported that Joe's landing in Rnd 1 was short. There will be 2 Jnr rounds now so hopefully after starting to breath again and have a drink we will get some times.

Oh my....

The Senior round Fly Offs have started and it is totally nerve wrecking information comes via the German Ticker and the RC Groups Message Board. With notes like; ....have to wait for the official times but round 1 is in the books and it looks like both Daryl and Joe w landed pretty close time wise with each other. There were three who landed early including one of the Kiwi's and someone who I think was late, but we will have to wait for the call.

For interests sake:

Round 12:

Joe: 9.59 and 100 (No that's not a typo!) (1000 pts)
Scott: 9.52 and 99 (I think the Pts were 996.2)
Les: 9.53 and 100 (997.6 pts)

The Final Points for the teams were:

New Zealand: 32870.5
Slovenia: 32587.9
Germany: 32580.3
Lithuania: 32479
Czech Republic: 32377.1
USA: 32209.6

The 15 Fly Off Pilots are:

1. Daryl Perkins
2. Carl Strautins
3. Joe Wurts
4. Benedict Feigl
5. Ricardas Siumbrys
6. Arend Borst
7. Phillip Kolb
8. Tobias Lammiein
9. Kristof Pavel
10. Jo Grini
11. Les Stockley
12. Jan Hlastec
13. Marlon Luz
14. Primoz Rizner
15. Scott Chisholm

Hopefully some times and good news soon.

Guess What?

ALL 3 KIWI PILOTS MADE THE FLY OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've cleared a space on the mantle...


THEY WON!!!!!!!
THEY WON!!!!!!!
THEY WON!!!!!!!

THEY WON!!!!!!!

THEY WON!!!!!!!

THEY WON!!!!!!!
THEY WON!!!!!!!
THEY WON!!!!!!!

GOLD FOR THE NZ F3J TEAM
FRANCE 2010

Rd 12 Joe

9.55 and 100!!!

Joe's Round 11

9.53 and 100- they fly again now! We'll know in about two hours who the World Champion Team is and who will go through to the Fly Offs.

Good luck Les, Joe and Scott!!!

Meanwhile back in Auckland

Hey Les, check it out....

I totally rocked the log splitter!

Um yeah, I left you the tricky ones.

Round 10 and half of 11

So while you were sleeping...

They completed round 10:

Joe 9.53 and 100 (1000 pts)
Scott 9.51 and 98 (995.9 pts)
Les 8.54 and 99 (912.37 pts)

And flew the first four spots of round 11- the other two with Joe in one will be flown tonight (Friday morning in France).

Round 11:

Joe: Yet to fly
Scott: 9.50 and 98 (996.81 pts)
Les: 9.51 and 100 (996.9 pts)


So after 10 rounds:

The leader board:
1. Benedict Feigl 8993.8
2. Carl Strautins 8990.19
3. Daryl Perkins 8989.33
4. Philip Kolb 8988.61
5. Ricardis Siumbryus 8988.48
6. Joe Wurts 8984.99

14. Les 8956.04

20. Scott 8941.89


The Teams:

1. New Zealand 26882.93 YIPEE Ya-ooo! as Will would say.
2. Slovenia 26636.67
3. Germany 26612.81
4. Lithuania 26503.8

The Aussies are unfortunately well out of but for crappy reasons rather than beating them fair and square which really sucks all round.
Our best wishes go to Dave Hobby for a speedy recovery and full eye sight! And our serious condolences at having to pull out of the competition. Serious bugger!!!

And various comments around the place....

We're going,we 're going, mostly waaaaayyy downwind after the thermal, and we almost always get it too ;-) Les here, just before bed, another long day, up at 6am, first round of the day at 8am (lucky its literally a 4 minute drive to the field from our hotel) and I flew in the final slot of the day that launched at 7.30pm. A quick pack up, a couple of beers, put the models away in the shed and tonight it was McD's for speed and cheapness (did you know you can get a beer with your combo here!!!) Team NZ is in a great place, we are 250 points ahead so with 4 slots to go we can afford one real failure, but not two. We shall see by lunchtime tomorrow how it all plays out but there is a good chance that you will see an RC Soaring NZ cap on the podium somewhere. (Gypsy, can you ask the kids rugby haka trainer if he is free tomorrow night?) Will try to update from the field tomorrow but as you can imagine we will be focused on other things. Regards, Les.

Hi All, Thanks for your best wishes via text and email. Having a great time here in France but not a lot of time to take in the countryside. Flying started today at 8am and finished around 8pm. Back again for a 8am start with Joe flying in Round 11 slot 4 - the first slot of the morning. It will be tough. Both Scott and Les have flown there round eleven flights with good results. We are just chipping off one flight at a time and working our way thru all our flights. At the end of round 10 the team is in a good position in first place. Tomorrow will reveal the winning team and 15 the individuals that will go into the flyoffs. Cheers DJ & the team.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

After Nine Rounds

Joe: 9.53 and 98
Scott: 9.49 and 98
Les: 9.53 and 99

"Team NZ hasn't been hurt in the last couple of rounds plenty of others have. JW's calls are spot on!"

Kiwi Spotting

From: RCgroups- Joes new hat.

From Jo Grini- see that black short wearing bum between the two guys in seats- I'd recognise that bum anywhere.

From the official site.

From the Japanese Team Member, Sasaki's Blog- That's Dave P 3rd man from left and I'm not sure who the other tower is- perhaps David Kalamein who is a super rocking dude from the USA!

Other than the Aussie Facebook with it's little copyright symbols that's all I got.

In other news it looks like Aussie Dave Hobby may be pulling out due to continuing eye issues- he has the worlds worst case of conjunctivitis. And the other Aussie Jim Houdalakis has just lost his third aircraft due to suspected radio issues. :-( Bugger!

Today's weather in Tavaux/Dole is breezy with crosswinds on the launches- not much fun.