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I should be sewing right now. But again the internet has lured me into staying on faaaar longer than I intended, how does it do it? Brainwashing? Virtual MSG? Nicotine? Either way, it has me hooked good and proper.
So yes, all this time while I’ve been absent from blogland I’ve secretly not been very absent at all. I’ve been lurking around, reading other peoples blogs, joining ridiculous networking sites (facebook, bebo, hyves, myspace, flickr? Is there anything I’m not a member of now?) and generally wasting precious time. Terrible isn’t it? But it’s okay. I’m gaining control in some areas of my life so I’m going to let this one slide a little.
I’ve starting dieting again! I know, groan, diet talk. So I won’t go into it too much.
I’ll just say that I seem to have found some motivation and self control that I must have hidden way, way, way in the back of my mind somewhere. It’s been hiding a looong time but I seem to have finally got it sorted.
I’m on a huge mission to lose the weight I’ve put on since Christmas (the whole TWELVE kilos! ick!) in a relatively short time by following the weight-watchers plan, and doing massive amount of exercise. I won’t go on about it much on here, but I’ll let you know every once and a while how I’m getting on, in case any of you are interested : )
Included in those massive amounts of exercise though is, of course, a lot of walking.
In the Weekend I did the most beautiful walk, from Whakatane town over a huge hill to Otarawairere Bay and then over another big hill to Ohope beach. The walk starts at the top of a waterfall and leads you into the most beautiful dense native bush.
I spend a lot of time dogging Whakatane, talking about all the things it doesn’t have (Decent cafes, vegetarian food, crafty circles.. etc), and comparing it with other places I’ve lived, but you know what? After the initial huffing and puffing, once I reached a high enough point to be overlooking town, I remembered what I love about Whakatane. It’s stunning, there’s really just no denying that it’s a beautiful place to have a town.
I walked a little further, and came to the very tip of the hill, to a point where I could see nothing but bright blue sparkling water in every direction. It helped that it was an amazingly bright sunny, warm day, but I can’t even imagine when that wouldn’t be stunning. I couldn’t even begin to catch it on film, but if you’re ever in whakatane, and you don’t mind walking with a dorky sweaty girl in Lycra shorts then it would be my absolute honour to show it to you.
I walked on, and got to the first of the little bays, little cubbyholes of rock pools and blue green water that are not reachable by foot, so almost untouched. And finally to Otarawairere, where I walked over the shelly sand and over the rocks, clambered up what felt like a massive amount of steps, and over the hill to Ohope beach. It was a very welcome sight. And it was such an awesome walk I’m going to try and do it again this weekend! phew! (oh and there are a few more pictures on my flickr)
Okay cliche town-appreciating smush over with now. And I REALLY am going to go and do some work otherwise those hoodies will never get finished!
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Toastandcupcakes. 
Oh, I wish we lived closer so we could walk together on your path….. it’s breathtaking!
And, I am slowly losing my weight as well…. I’m up to 12.2 pounds as of last night. I haven’t exercised really and plan to do that this week. I hate it really…. it would be so much nicer with a view as you have! Lucky girl!
And, I’m saving my pennies, dimes and nickels to get a Toast Original Hoodie to wear this Fall/Winter. It’s still hotter than the blazes here and just the thought of long sleeves puts me into a sweat!
Comment by judi August 28, 2007 @ 10:05 pmOh dear oh dear oh dear, if you live in a place like that, you must feel like you’re on a holiday every day of the year… (except when those hoodies are calling, ofcourse… ;))
Comment by M%n August 29, 2007 @ 2:08 amIt’s great to read that you’re getting a handle on things…sometimes the best things are in our lives, we just need to be reminded why we liked them in the first place. Where we currently live (in Canada) is a very tiny town without much to recommend it but the amazing views…it’s 2 hours drive from anywhere. We’ve been here 12 years but have just found out that we are moving to Nelson, a small but truly wonderful city 150 km from here. Hang in there, it’s worth it. You learn more by doing things the hard way, anyway. And this dinky town was the best place to raise our boys to this point. Now we can take them somewhere that they’ll have more options.
Comment by Lisa Thiessen August 29, 2007 @ 2:09 amI’ll be thinking of you. All the best in your new lease on life!
good on you and go for it girl!!!
what exercise are you doing???
I LOVE walking it is my main form of exercise I walk about 30 minutes a day
we have such a beautiful country to walk in dont we
LOVE the photos
Comment by jen August 29, 2007 @ 8:33 amYou WALKED to Ohope?!!? Are you mad!!! That is one giant hill!! My car would barely make it!
OK, enough shock and horror from me – good on ya!
xo
Comment by Nikki August 29, 2007 @ 9:56 amYey! Nice to have you back. The thing I love about blogging is that it’s an outlet for things I want to say, not a column I have to fill which my daily writing life is all about. If I wanna rant about the price of milk one day and then not post for a week, that’s ok, it’s my blog. So you’re right not to stress about updating it regularly, it’s all about you and what you want to do. And again, I only went to journo school when I was 31, so you have HEAPS of time to do what you want to do .. just enjoy it while you can! Love and kisses, Kimberley xx
Comment by kimberley August 29, 2007 @ 11:01 amwow I would love to go on that walk with you. can you say matching lycra shorts?
I don;t even know where your town is so I am off to wizes (my nz geography is shocking)
Good on you to care for your health and body but a little word of caution… keep your head on straight as it is so easy to get caught up in and mind f**cked when it comes to weight and body issue. I know you’ve probably heard it all before, but no diet it is worth it if it compromises healthy thinking and self worth. sorry if I am out of place here, I just care and have seen some good friends slip away to this stuff so felt I should say something.
Comment by kimberlee August 29, 2007 @ 11:02 amxoxoxo,
kimberlee
neat update there rhiannon.
i really do hope i can walk with you on saturday.
i heart whk. and you. and aesop. and cake. and carrot balls. and you again.
Comment by abraham August 29, 2007 @ 11:16 amThat’s it. You’ve inspired me to return to my health eating habits, go pick up my gym card (which has been on suspension for an embarrassing long time) and shrink back into my current summer clothes instead of just buying bigger ones!
Comment by The Shopping Sherpa September 1, 2007 @ 12:33 pmRhiannon, such beautiful photos and good for you with the WW thing and exercising lots…it certainly makes you feel so much better healthwise.Thank you for your lovely comments on my blog..yeh I’m pretty excited about jumping in to the blog world.
Comment by Sally Anne September 4, 2007 @ 2:20 pmI love that part of NZ – Whakatane is stunning. My family had a house out at Ohiwa beach until I was about 20 and we’d spend long lazy summers out there; no place like it on earth. My sister has actually just moved up to Whakatane (we’re from Wellington) and is loving the space and the sky and the sea. So jealous.
Comment by pen & purl September 18, 2007 @ 11:03 pmto ohope??!! i would’ve flaked and rolled back down the first hill out of whakatane! but what beautiful pictures, it looks like summer all ready.
Comment by Gina September 20, 2007 @ 9:04 am