Keeping up with the Holidays

Its been a while since easter but I wanted to show up some of the fun eggs we painted on Sunday.

And an irish flag

I had a good brunch, chocolate chip pancakes and everything with some friends. We hung out on the deck  because the snow has melted! Its been so hot (like 10 degrees) but the mosquitoes are starting to come out. Alaskan summers are famous for these suckers, but its nice to be able to wear a normal amount of clothing again, no more layering up!

Nanook Olympics

This was a chance for all the teams to have a go at each others sports. Each team had to field 4 people for 8 different sports. Volleyball, rifle, skiing, hockey, swimming, basketball and a cheer off. 

Each team also had to compete in their own sport, but at a disadvantage. For swimming we had to wear t shirts, the skiers did it with one ski and the volleyballers worn over mitts. It showed us all how talented everyone really is at their own sport, because even with a disadvantage they still won.

I was in volleyball and basketball which was great to do again after a few years. I cant say we did very well, but we had a lot of fun.

Spring Break!

Seaward Alaska;



The mural Capital of Alaska

And the Original Stating point of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

The first day was some bad weather, clouds and drizzly rain.

So we went to the Sea-life center and saw some puffins and sea-lions.

It cleared up for the next day. It didn't even realise these mountains were there because I couldn't see them through the clouds!

A perfect opportunity to go snow machining.

And then what else do you do when there's still snow on the ground but go to the beach? Seward is famous for that! It is also famous for its cruise ships and whale tours of the habour. A must do for everyone that stays with a local Seward-ian has to jump off the pier. The drop was like 10m and the water was like 10 degrees, they call it a polar plunge. Heres a picture of a rock and the beach though, I didn't want any photos taken of me freezing after that jump!

Ice Park

There is a big display in town showing the entries to the world ice art champs. The first section are scluptures made from multiple blocks by teams.

This peacock doesnt like that big but it was about 4-5m tall.

And these dancers were almot life sized. 

The next section was made from a single block by pairs and individuals.

There was also a section of stuff to play on, including a giant slide and a maze.

Weekend Adventures

This weekend a group of us went down to Denali National Park where one of the boy's family owns a bunch of cabins. They rent them out to tourists for seven months of the year during the summer period. But its shut down at the moment so we are allowed to stay in them for the weekend.

We did all your typical Alaskan musts, shot a few guns, slid down a frozen river and had a bonfire in the snow. The first ones are of the frozen river, and then a video.

I can't see why summer is the tourists season. I think it was the most beautiful time of year. There is still plenty of snow on the ground but it was sunny and relatively warm.

Check it out

Finally after 6 months of being here I got to see the northern lights. They have been active all week and so on Wednesday night we drove out to Farmers loop where you can see them from all directions. They dance around alot and sometimes they even go purple.

Of course this photo doesnt do it justice. Heres an article with photos taken from on and around campus.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/uafairbanks/9-beautiful-pictures-of-the-northern-lights-ligv

Conference Champs 2014

The nanooks came out better than they ever have before. Third place against some really high quality competition is not to be sneezed at. Considering we don't have any divers to score points there is really no way we can beat UCSD or Cal East Bay, so we'll take a third. 

All in all a week in the sun was probably the highlight. I can't say my swims went fantastically. As coach says, you cant fake a mile, or a 1000 for that matter. My training has been hindered for a while, while they try and sort out my shoulder. The last thing I want to be is 'one of those kids with a sore shoulder' but toughing it out and continung to train wasn't working. Its the end of the season now so we can put a real plan in place without having to worry about racing anytime soon. On the bright side I made 'all conference' in two races. The 1000 and 500. If you make A finals (top 8) you are all conference. I also made a B/consolation final in the 200.

We have 4 people basically guaranteed to go to nationals now, and one maybe. I really hope for her that she gets go, we train together a lot and she works hard. And it would also be cool to go to Ohio. School records were broken and even a meet record in the 200 medley relay. Everyone scored points and most people did a season pb. For those of us that are done, its a good way to end the season. For the rest of them theres 4 weeks to fine tune everything before nationals.

Its not all swimming. I got to see mum. She came over for the week and we got to hang out, much needed after 6 months since I left NZ. She got to meet the team, And she got to experince all the american problems I encounter daily ie ordering food and not being understood by shop assistants and people on the phone. Im really glad she came, but its funny not knowing when im coming home next to see them again.

If you want to check out some more detailed results, go the alaska nanooks page where we have also been writing blog posts for each day. Its going to take us all day to travel back to school and then we get back into it at 9.15am on Monday!