An anecdote- It rained Tuesday. It rained HARD. It rained REALLY hard. I went to work.... I got wet. I got REALLY wet. We WOULD have gone home.... but we were called out on an emergancy tree job. Ah, the old "tree on a house" routine! Ok, so with 6 guys working, 6 BIG chainsaws and a 22" chipper with a mounted hydrolic winch... we thankfully slammed out the work in short order. We were back at the workshop by 10:30am (all 6 of us looking like drowned rats dipped in sawdust!). The rest of the day was cancelled.
So, pouring rain and no work for the day.... what to do? Rock climbing, of course! I was (somewhat understandably) only able to talk one of my friends into a climbing mission (and Ryan is about as loopy as I am, so it didn't take a lot of convincing). We met at our new crag at the Mangaokewa reserve. Why? To see if our hopes that this crag was weather proof could actually be true. After a 5 minute run up the track (in full rain gear), we entered the main climbing area..... we took off our coats, our rain pants, poured ourselves a hot coffee out of the thermos and smiled. The rock (and everything under the 15 foot long roof of limestone 50 feet above our heads) was dry. We could actually walk around and had our choice of 15 routes to climb on (though a few did have wet spots here and there). Not too shabby.

Another anecdote- Ok, so the weather report was for another full day of BAD weather. So what do you do? You call work and tell them that unless they REALLY need you, you are going to take another day off for rock climbing (the bosses were beginning to think I was a bit nuts at this stage!). I had no camping gear with me, so I headed back to Ryan's for the evening (quite convinient as that MY home is 1 1/2 hours from the crag and his is only 10 minutes). We had a few beers and a pizza. We watched climbing videos. He went to bed and I sprawled out on the couch and read (looked at the pictures) of a climbing magazine until I dozzed off.
Here comes the REAL story.
I was woken up around 2am by strange noises in Ryan's kitchen. He had, earlier in the evening, told me about a possum that had been sneaking into his house recently. So... there it was, eating the fruit in his fruit bowl!
Now, as you may have read in earlier entries.... Possums are cute, Austalian marsupials which were imported into NZ a long time ago, for a reason tha no one really agrees on. The problem with Possums in NZ is that they have NO predetors, BIG appetites and a VERY high rate of reproduction. Their prefered food sourse is NZ native bush.... which takes AGES to grow. It is possible for one possum to do enough damage to a single 500 year old native tree in 3 nights of "grazing" to completely kill it. That being said.... when in NZ, the only Good possum is a DEAD possum.

And so we return to the fruit bowl..... I bet you have an idea where this story may be heading!

I leaped of the couch and dove into the kitchen. As that I wasn't sure of where the light switch was but I definitely knew where the fruit bowl was. As my night vision got better, I charged the table and grabbed for the possum! I only managed to grab his tail... and he did not want to stick around long enough for me to get a better grip.... so with a quick burst of energy and a little less fur on his tail....out the door he went! Victory was mine! I curled back up on the couch and dozed off.... dreaming of their little red eyes, trapped in my headlights.

Not long after.... I woke up again. Shuffle, shuffle. Sniff, sniff. Shuffle, sniff, shuffle. Ok.... I missed last time, but now he's back. SWEET! I'll just wait here, on the couch, until I hear him on the table again. Shuffle, sniff. He sounds close... I have to be ready.... shuffle.... any minute now.... sniff, sniff...

OOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

That's right folks. I was maliciously attacted by a possum and lived to tell the tail. There I was, lying on the couch, waiting for the opertunity to attack.... and that damm possum snuck up on me and bit my big toe.
It was on. No more mister nice guy! No Australian, fruit stealing, tree murdering furball makes me bleed my own blood and gets away with it! I jumped off the couch, grabbed a blanket and ran around the house for a good 10 minutes... chasing the possum and trying to catch it in the blanket (they, apparently, DO have teeth!). After a few close calls, I managed to get the little bugger cornered and covered and so I brought the writhing blanket outside. It was time for the death blow! I held the blanket over my head and started to swing. My plan was to generate a good amount of speed before smashing the little toe biting demon into the ground (sorry about the blanket Ryan!). Sadly (though perhaps a better ending overall), just before the final swing.... the edge of the blanket released. The possum (already quite dizzy, I'm sure) took flight. I don't actually know what happened to it, as that there was no trace of it the next day..... but oh, did it fly. Although squished possum in a blanket seemed an ideal scenerio at the time.... in hind sight, the thought of launching some poor possum through space to some unknown fate is actually quite a bit more entertaining.

So that was my day off. Hope you have better luck with YOUR days off! Loves ya all.

So I usually post up once a month... but last weekend was totally awesome, so I figured I'd share it with you. The tree company I work for (Plateau Tree Service) decided to take off early last Friday morning for a road trip. We all piled in cars and drove out to Gisborne, which is on the upper east coast of the North Island. The reason? One of the best Arboretums (tree collection) in the NI! Although it was more than a 4 hour drive, it was totally worth it (especially as that I was still getting paid for the day!). The trees were magnificent. The collection was originally established over 80 years ago, so there were plenty of big, old trees to look at. Best of all, it is autum here, so all the various maples, oaks and beeches they had were in full color. I'll happily admit that it made me a bit MORE homesick, seeing all the fall colors on trees that I've grown up with.
We spent the night at the arboretum in a very nice lodge on the property (though I slept outside as that the night was perfect and the boys were a bit drunk!). Just outside the lodge was a MASSIVE old oak, so we (being tree guys) set up a giant rope swing and took turns jumping off the roof of the lodge (between beers!) and swinging out a good 40 feet (wearing our harnesses of course)! In the morning we walked around a bit more and then packed up, after a mean fried breakfast.
Half of the crew had "stuff" to do Saturday evening, but the rest of us decided to take the LONG way back to Taupo. We decided to drive the East Pacific Coast highway up and around the whole East coast. It was beautiful! Big sea cliffs, cool ocean views, neat trees, heaps of little hick towns (there was even a town called Hick's Bay!!!) and loads of cool trees. As it got dark, we decided we would just spend the night in Whakatanae (a cool little town know for it's great surfing), rather than head back to Taupo.
I will openly admit... I got a bit drunk that night... but damm I had a good time! We bounced around from pub to pub and the whole time I was carrying around my didgeridoo (yes, I bring it everywhere!). I got heaps of people exited about didges and while I was playing my heart out for them, managed to get 5 drinks bought for me! Not to shabby.
Anyways, the following morning (Sunday) we headed back home (I slept most of the way!) and had a MEAN breakfast, complete with a vitamin packed Bloody Marry, when we hit Taupo. I'm not usually one for the old "hair of the dog," but DAMM it hit the spot. The rest of the day I pretty much did NOTHING. Normally, that would be bad, but I can't honestly remember the last time I just did nothing for a day..... it actually felt really good.
So that's it. No more to report. Have a great week!

It seems I've been a bit negligent in posting as of late. I suppose I could have bored you all with MORE stories of rock climbing (don't worry, I'm sure to throw at least ONE in!)... but I wanted to wait until I really had some fun stuff to write about. So, with out further delay... the MNatti "Month in Review!!!"
Probably the most exiting change for me in quite a while is that I've finally gotten back into Karate. Although I had a breif "go" at it while I was living down in Palmerston North.... the teacher was terribly boring and offered no sence of enthusiasm to the class. The club I found in Taupo, however, is not only the exact style I was doing when I was living back in New England but it is also a great club. The teacher is VERY energetic, teaches great technique, pays HEAPS of attention to detail and the class is full of cool people as well. It is actually quite a releif to have something NON climbing related in my life again (yes, I DID say that!!!).
The company truck just got fixed... so I have wheels again. I did my first BIG grocery shopping in over a month and I'm quite happy to have supplies again. I also did a HUGE laundry mission, as that I've been reduced to doing small loads (by hand) in my sink for the past month! Not only am I happy to have a selection of clean clothes... my friends and work mates I do too!
The new crag, at the Mangaokewa Scenic Reserve in Waitomo, is being developed at an expodential rate. In the past 3 months, my crew of climbing buddies (with the help of a handful of other North Island climbers) have established almost 40 sport routes (bolted lines). This rate of development is almost unheard of in NZ especially in the North Island. That being said, this cliff really is shaping up to be one of (if not THE) best sport climbing crags in the whole North Island. I can't lie... I'm pretty happy to be one of the major players in the over all development of the cliff! The first addition of the guide SHOULD be out online by the middle of April. If you want to check it out, go to www.freeclimb.co.nz and click on the Central North Island section (I think that's where it will be). You can also check out "Reperoa," "Manawatu (both the cliff guide and the boulder guide" as well as the "Kinloch Bouldering Guide" to see some of the other developing stuff I've been involved in over the past year or so.
So besides all that.... nothing TOO exiting to report. My job is plodding along. I'm starting to feel my age a bit (as far as work is concerned) and realise now that, although I love it, pehaps tree work is geting a bit much for me. The problem with this is that my work visa is limited to arboriculture. This leaves me in a tough position. My only option for doing something else here is to get my NZ residency. As much as that appeals to me, it is a) quite expensive ($6000+) b) more difficult the older I get and c) I'm not sure I REALLY want to settle down here. I miss home. I also have gotten a taste for adventure and "seeing the world," so who knows where I'll be in 2 years from now!?!
Ah well.... Natti's philosophy on life: Enjoy today and let tomorrow sort itself out... right? I'm having a good run so far and things are always looking up, so I guess I can't complain. That being said, I can't wait for July. It will be great to be back on "home turf" and catch up with the crew again. This blog never cease to amaze me..... people ACTUALLY read it!!! So far it has gotten me back in touch with a good handful of OLD friend that I though I would never hear from again. Super cool!
So that's me, I guess. Keep following my lead... have fun out there! Live every day as best you can and make sure you never loose touch with who YOU are and what YOU need to keep happy! I loves ya all and miss you heaps.... Remember, I'm still here for at least another year and a half. Doesn't ANYONE need a vacation?!?