Waioweka Swimming Tally to 3 September

Lea 17.
Vaughan 3.
George Teddy ??? How many?

Stanley Rd!

Day 2 of a very hectic training weekend.

Where's the boss? 2 weekends away!

Lea and I set off from Wellington St clubhouse and found Dr Kerr at the bridge and we headed off into a strong wind aiming for Stanley Rd. We stopped at Nukuhou Dairy for a feed stop and Lea shared a barley sugar which is better than what she did at Houpoto - see earlier post. The barley sugar was worse for the wear as a result of spending a lot of time in the water - see yesterday's post.

The Dr decided to turn back because he had to have a Fathers' Day lunch with kids and then off for a paddle. Lea and I continued. The climb over Stanley Rd was quite nice - very sticky mud, not too steep and beautiful bush and waterfalls - sorry no camera. Of course the best bit was the descent into the Wainui! It was quite a haul back home but we cruised along at 28-33kph with a slight tail wind.

Absolutely knackered at the end but not surprising after yesterday's paddle and today's 80k at 23kph average!

Beautiful pumpkin soup and coffee at the end! What a great way to spend Father's Day.

I still can't get over Lea's 17 swims during the kayak yesterday. I want all of you Motu trainers to leave a comment on this blog telling us how many times anyone falls out. Lea needs some motivation so don't be shy.

Note the comments on the last post. Someone out there is also reading! The retired American teachers need to make contact so we know when they are in Opotiki.

Waioweka Wetness

Lea and I decided to have our first paddle down the Waioweka in preparation for the Motu. I was keen just to do one section but Lea, in typical fashion wanted to do the whole thing. What was going to be difficult about a 2 1/2 - 3 hour paddle. She was looking forward to gliding down the river and through the rapids on Pete's sit-on Eliminator.

How many times did she tip out? 3, 4, 5, 8 times? In fact, it was 8 - before the Tauranga Bridge! then 2 more before the gravel pit! then 5 more in the next 30 minutes and then 2 more on the last 2 bends! 17 swims!!!! 3 hours 55 minutes!!!!

I heard some bad language! I paddled an extra 5k going back, twice to get her waka which was wedged back in the rapids and many times towing her and her waka to the shore. Talk about resistance training.

We're going again next Saturday if anyone wants a laugh.

Meremere Road to Blue Mountains

Lea's Bike of course!
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

I had to lead with a photo of Lea's new bike. Weighs 9.5 kilos, carbon fibre, xtr etc.

Today myself, Lea, Kerr, and Peter set off from Hanaia and picked up Mike at Tirohanga Dairy and set off up the Motu Road where we turned off at the 19k bridge and began the relentless grind up Meremere Rd into the Blue Mountains. Took us 45-50 minutes of granny gear, but we all rode to the top. What do you reckon, Barry! Lea and Pete both took a bit of a stumble and ran out of traction and took a bit to get going.

It was great to see Mike lift his bike over the 2m gate and then see Kerr open the gate and wheel his bike through!

The views were stunning as you can see if you follow this link to the photos. The downhill home was awesome, but the tracks are all bouldered up as a result of the forestry going on in there which is a bit of a pity.

A big cheers to Jarrod (note spelling) and the crew organised by Headley who spent the day clearing the top part of the military track. Sorry fellas, had to go to work.

Back On Track

I am sure you have been worried about the long period of silence but minor anal !!!! surgery kept me out of the saddle for a few weeks. You will be pleased to know that the rules committee met and allowed 20 minutes of weights to count as exercise in my attempt to not miss a day. As a result today was the 126th day in a row!!!

This weekend had been full of highlights. Lea spent more on her Mountain Bike than most of us spend on a car. Got a great deal from Hickey's so all you Opotiki people make sure you see them when you want to buy.

Today we had a big crew go MTB up the Motu. The Boss, Peter (newby) and myself turned around at the top of the Meremere and had a solid 52k ride - taking 36 minutes to climb the hill which is my fastest for a while. I'll let you know how my bum is in the morning. Lea, Brian, George, Barry and Destry carried on to top of Papamoa (George turned around early as he had a paddle date). Good 65-70k ride for them.

Yesterday was the working bee on the track. It was amazing the number of good excuses that came out today! However, Jarred, Kate and Lyn and I worked like Trojans and have completed the full circuit. It will still need manicuring to make some corners rideable etc but the back has been well and truly broken!After a half dozen beers to refresh Jarred decided to ride it in the rain, on soft dirt etc and made the whole thing apart from 3 corners which I will work on. See him in action in these pictures. Jarred, Kate and Lyn have life-time exemptions from the gold coin koha box to enable all you other buggers to ride.

100 Not Out!

The 30 minute run tonight was my 100th day in a row without missing a run or cycle. To count it had to be a 20 min run or cycle. A couple of times I only just remembered and had to go out at 10.00pm at night!

Lea V and I ran tonight. Kurt and Scotty were supposed to be there and were changed and ready but must've got sick of waiting and went by themselves! Can you imagine that on such an important run.

Some people have team spirit and are supportive of their mates, and then there are those other people!

Hanaia MTB Track

Kereru Guarding The Track
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

Click on here to see a range of photos that show the beginning of a 1k+ MTB track at my place at Hanaia. Imagine cycling around through the native bush (all planted by myself) amongst the native birds (see attached photo of the kereru). 1/2 of it has already been dug. The Boss will soon be sending out an email about the training schedule through to the Round Taupo ride and he will include a working bee afternoon that yoiu might want to be involved in to complete the track. Do some work, have a beer, do some work, have a beer etc then have a BBQ. Watch out for details.

This Sunday the Boss, me, Lea, Jarrod, Barry (who?), Kerr, Brian cycled to the Meremere and return. The pace was on with Barry setting a strong pace all of the way. Jarrod and the Boss won the king of the mountain with the Boss sticking to Jarrod like that sticky stuff that sticks. The downhill was a buzz and we raced home to Hanaia where the Boss led us in a training planning session to prepare for the Motu and Round Taupo. Details will be out soon. Leigh spent the morning walking to Gaskills and back (15k!).

Yesterday Lea and I did opur first paddle of the season. We paddled across Ohiwa harbour to Ohiwa wharf and then turned into a strong tide. Fortunately we were able to pause at Unle Jim's for a beer before the final slog home. 1hr 45 paddling which is a good start.

Watched the All Blacks thrash the Springboks over a nice Mexican meal at Kurt's. Remember it was a Test Match and sometimes it takes 65 minutes to break the nut!

Back to school tomorrow. Yeehah!

Long Time Coming

Lots have happened since the last posting. School things have gone very well and you should go to www.ero.govt.nz from mid-July to read our full report. There haven't been any major cycling adventures since Houpoto, but we have cycled to top of Meremere twice and gone up Amokura. The good news is that of today I have trained 86 days in a row without missing!!

I have added a new link on the side bar. It links to the blog site of our school's Young Enterprise Company who are marketing a marae protocol awareness resource. Go and have a look.

Hopeful in Houpoto

There is a clearly marked track!
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

On Queen's Birthday Monday myself, the Boss, Jarred, Mike, Roger went with Lea on a 3 hour MTB ride through the Houpoto which she organised. We were given clear instructions by Pete and had 2 maps and 2 expert navigators in Jarrod and Roger. Look at the track in the photo! We got lost and ended up on the banks of the Motu River and had to retrace our steps for 1 1/2 hours back up hill through the slips and windfall we had encountered on the way down. The whole event took 8 hours! We ran out of food but Lea got a Snickers Bar and Ham Roll off Jarrod when he went ahead to let everyone know we were OK and she ate it all herself despite the boss and I carrying her bike across the big slip.

Unfortunately I had 3 nasty falls on the same hip, elbow and shoulder!

It was a great adventure but we really needed our BBQ lunch back at the Maraenui clubhouse. Unfortunately we didn't get lunch until 4.30!

Have a look at the photos which show the magnificent view over Hawai early on in the ride, the chaps carefully navigating, climbing huge hills and scrambling over trees and slips. It was nice to see the Motu but not so nice to leave and climb back out.

ERO Report Outstanding!!

We had a great week when ERO was here a fortnight ago. It was quite nerve-wracking while they were here because they rattle every cage that they can find and dissect everything that falls out. As the week progressed, howver, it became clear that they knew they were visiting a great school. At the end of the visit they made an extremely positive report to the BOT where they congratulated the school for its very high levels of achievement, the high levels of respect they saw between everyone at school and the high levels of confidence the parents had! It would be impossible, in my view, for any school to get a more positive report. You'll see when it's public.

Te Waiti Wetting

IMG_0201[1]
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

Hello readers! I know you have been missing me, but I have had to punish you with silence because you are not writing comments to my blogs!

Never mind, we had a great ride (ten of us) up to the Te Waiti Hut on Sunday. The highlight was Dr Kerr taking a plunge into the stream. See the rest of the photos for the rest of the action.

The boss was on his new single fork Canondale!

We coped well with the quite technical in places terrain. Lea was a bit of a whimp and walked a bit.

I had the most spectaculat fall over a cliff only being saved by some bracken fern where I hung until a laughing Ross pulled me and my bike back on to the track.

We were joined by first timers Karl and Jane who performed way too well and need to know their place.

The race back down the Otara Straight was pretty quick with Jarrod barely hanging on to the old fellas.

OPotiki College MTB Team at Nationals

Whole team before downhill practice
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

Kurt and I and parent, Paul Owen, had a great trip to Levin with Gareth, Hamish, Cory and Glen to attend the National Secondary Schools MTB Championships. This was the first time we had taken a team and it was a great learning experience for the boys, all of whom will be back for another crack next year. They discovered how challenging the courses are and what sort of training they need to do. Phil and Gareth had luxury accommodation while Kurt and I and the three boys had a cosy time in the tent at the Levin Camping Ground! The guys were great company and learned a lot just by observing Kurt and I in action!

The highlight was Pizza Hut Pizzas in Levin and coffee in Bulls. Mr Bean on the last night was a bit of a struggle. Click here for the photos.

The Three Day Odyssey

Team in Tranquil Setting at Green Lake. Little did we know!!!
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

Hi readers. First of all apologies for not communicating but life has been very busy. I'll tell you about that next week. In the meantime here are the photos from the might three day odyssey myself, Lea, Kurt and Andrew went on. Brutal but awesome in a masochistic way.

I nned to rush off with Kurt to the Sec Schools MTB Champs in Levin as we are taking 4 studsents so enjoy the photos and I will give lots more stories next week. I know you can't wait. Click here for photos.

Mangakirikiri and Amokura - 2 Rides one weekend!

On Saturday morning Kurt, the Boss and I rode the Managakirikiri stream. It's a great 45k ride. Kurt and I took a dive out of the mud pool and I did one head first dive into a gorse bush. We decided to have two rides this weekend as we are preparing for the 3 day Odyssey.

On Sunday the same three, as well as newcomers to THE LIST Rachel and Ross, left the Boss's and met up with Brian and George at Woodlands school. We learnt that Teds and Aaron were leaving later and would catch us. I think they think we are a bit slow. Still no sign of Barry - the one who grissled the most about not being on THE LIST. It's an awesome ride up Amokura Road. We had to negotiate past a rampaging bull. It's moments like that that you wish cyclists didn't wear bright clothing! At our first stop the signs of problems began to emerge. Aaron (of course) discovered that his new chain had a sticky link so we spent hours trying to fix that.

We then split into a couple of groups while the repairs continued and agreed to meet at the next ford. Only 3 of us (me, Ross and Aaron successfully rode across the ford) which is disappointing because it was an easy one. At this point we discovered that Brian appeared to have a chian which was too long but we told him just to suck it in and get on with it. He wasn't going to need his small cog at the back any way as we set off on that relentless climb to the gate.

Just after we took off we heard the gunshot that meant Aaron (of course) had blown a tube. We had already started climbing so we were stopping for no-one. I climbed in 38 minutes which is my best yet. Ross drafted behind me until the last few hundred metres and got to the top first! The others followed closely behind with Rachel claiming that she hates climbing hills, though she climbed strongly in 50 minutes. (After the nerve and body shaking descent that followed she claimed that she hated downhills - no pleasing some people.)

Jared arrived at the top and then set off back down!!! to find Aaron. Guess what? He had two further punctures and now had no tubes. As the photo shows we inspected the tyre and found it had a hole worn through it. With great group thinking we applied a tube patch inside and then taped a piece of old tube (of which Aaron now had quite a few) inside the tyre and everything was now hunky dory.

The descent was difficult as it is very steep with tight hairpins as the photo shows and the rocks were big and loose!

We finally made it back to the Boss' for coffee and toast. Another great 50k ride!

It was great to see new list entrants Rachel and Ross turn up. Where are you Barry?

Another Day at Opotiki College

Despite an early night last night I was still exhausted from yesterday's ride - see previous post. Running a school is hardwork at the best of times let alone when you are a bit shagged. But it has been another great day - still plenty of issues to deal with (kids dodging, some disrespect etc - the run-of -the-mill when working with almost 600 teenagers) but there is a feeling of satisfaction when the team works so well to calmly deal with everything that comes our way.

I've just received data which shows the great work we are doing with literacy. Our 2006 Year 9 group arrived with 57% scoring in the bottom quartile in literacy assessment. Our testing at the end of last year reduced that to only 25% in the bottom quartile. This is an outstanding achievement and is a credit to first of all the English Department but to all teachers in general. No wonder our NCEA results are so good.

Most of the day was spent meeting parents and students to help solve little problems. I have been out of school quite a bit so I have also been busy catching up with staff. It makes for busy times. I have worked out that for the remaining 18 days of school this term I will be here for 10 of them!

The highlight of the day was meeting with my Aspiring Leaders group. We spent 45 minutes talking about how leadership must impact on improved student achievement, about the importance of clarifying our individual moral purpose when it comes to teaching and about how we can make leadership sustainable. We then decided we would focus in our next meetings on difficult conversations, sustainable leadership, professionalism and influencing teachers to help the school achieve its goals.

There is no better place to work than where you have people to have these conversations with! Bring on tomorrow!

Motu Magic

Sorry, no photos this week as the boss was absent with leave so we had no camera. Actually a camera would have been perfect to catch that wonderful, painful expression on Jarrod's face as I sped past him when climbing the Papamoa. It was similar to the look on Brian and George's face as I did the same!!!

Anyway, back to the start. Another Sunday, another great adventure. This time Kurt, Lea, Jarrod, Aaron and George met at Hanaia for coffee and we picked up Brian at Tirohanga store. We headed up the Mighty Motu Road to climb to the top of Papamoa and return - a ride of 72k. Leigh also did a solo ride to the top of the Meremere and back - 50k by herself which is a great achievement!

Jarrod and Aaron had gone for a wee bush walk the day before and claimed they were a bit tired. I led for the first 7k which I thought was a bit long as I waited for the next rider to have their turn in front. We hit the base of the Meremere together but soon separated as Lea set out on her own challenge to be the first to the top. All were left in her wake, but she didn't know that I was looking after those at the back, because I'm that sort of guy! Unfortunately, I continued to have seat problems as my quick release was not working and my seat slowly sunk to the bar!

The summit was totally clouded in and we continued onto the Papamoa after leaving Aaron to fend for himself dealing with a puncture. We hit the base quite a distance apart, but an awesome climb on my part saw me haul in everyone but Lea, but I was hauling her in! As soon as I caught her at the top she insisted we head down straight away to really rub it in! Who was I to argue?

Two great downhill rides saw us all gather at the 16k bridge to wait for Kurt who had developed into a bit of a heavy weight during the ride. Jarrod was unable to wait as he was in if I stop now I stop for good mode. On the way we had passed a group of children on a wide range of bikes. When Kurt finally turned up he announced that he might be stuffed but no kids on BMX bikes were going to beat him. At that point he discovered his flat tyre and the kids came past before he could fix it!!

We then split into 2 groups. The caring and sensitive Maurie and George stayed with Kurt to nurse him home while Lea, Aaron and Brian sped off in the distance. We caught them on the Main Rd trying to fix Aaron's broken chain. We were catching them anyway!!

Juice, coffee, passion fruit and muffins completed a great but exhausting Motu Meander.

That's my version of events anyway!!!!!

Blue Mountain Blues Chapter 2.

Full Crew minus The Boss Who Took the Photo.
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

We've just climbed Gaskills Rd to the forestry gate and about to enter the awesome Blue Mountains. Little did we know that Destry and Glen would break a chain each and that my seat bolt would shear off. We rode for 3 1/2 hours but were out for 5 hours. Despite the dramas it was a great ride with some tough relentless climbing and some scary downhill. I think only 3 of us successfully rode the last bit of treacherous downhill - Jarrod and Aaron and myself (though I did have a fall near the top!) It was also great because of the turnout - the Boss, myself, Kurt, Lea, Jarod, Aaron, Brian, Hamish, George, Glen and Destry. The day before Leigh and Shirley attacked Meremere Hill. They are supposed to be the more sedate crew!

More photos of the ride if you click here.

Blue Mountain Blues

29k into an awesome 60k ride in the Blue Mountains behind Opotiki a loud bang and sudden pain in my nether regions signaled that my seat bolt had sheared off. Major personal damage was avoided and I collected my seat and other bits and pieces from the trail. A committee meeting on the side of the track resulted in a piece of string being produced and some ‘spare’ electric fence tape attached to a nearby post being procured. The seat post was dropped as far as it could go and we roped the seat on. Of course the 29k mark signaled the end of 90 minutes of climbing with steep and very technical downhill in front of us followed by a series of stream crossings before the final 20k sprint down the Pakihi Rd to Opotiki. You certainly don’t appreciate how much you use your seat for bracing (and sitting on) until you discover you can only use it sparingly. As well, having the seat 30cm lower than the best position makes for awkward riding. Team this up with the fact that the last time I went out with this group 3 weeks ago I fell off at speed (I was nearly in front though!) and broke a couple of ribs so it was quite a tentative ride down and out. Fortunately two other guys broke their chain on this particular ride, so our repair skills have been tested.

The attached photos show that the temporary repairs held up until the end.

We've reached the end of week 4 of our new year. Though things are very much as normal I do feel we're in the best shape we have been for a while. We're certainly basking in a feeling of contentment because of those great NCEA results and there seems to be a wider understanding and, dare I say it, acceptance by the staff of what we're trying to achieve in this school.



Closer analysis of our results shows that we still have a bit to do to lift the achievement of Maori students. It is pleasing to see that Maori students do better here than they would elsewhere. It is also important to note that this is not at the expense of the achievement of all others. In fact, students of all gender and ethnicity are doing well. Only one non-Maori student left Opotiki College last year without at least NCEA L1 and this student was only with us for Year 9 and then a few weeks in 2006 as a Year 12 student. Our challenge is now to ensure that the situation with 25 Maori students leaving without NCEA L1 is improved. Te Kotahitanga will have a huge impact here.





Yesterday we had a great Teacher Only Day with world guru Margaret Thorsborne working with the whole staff on Restorative Principles. Once again I was spellbound. All staff I have spoken with found it very valuable. It was interesting that by morning tea time she was able to identify the couple of staff who were along way from being on board this kaupapa.





I firmly believe that the stuff that we are doing in this area will make for a better world. Teachers will benefit from a less stressful environment, Senior Management Team members wont be burnt out by being sacrificed on the detention pyre, students will develop and learn in a respectful environment where they will hone their emotional awareness and parents will feel respected. All who pass through our school will go on to take their part in the world, wherever that mey be, and be able to make a fine contribution as a result of their time here with us.

More Cellar Rats

I knew you would want to see these photos. The team is a bit confused because everyone believed that Maurie was going to run the last leg, but it appears his father has turned up and run it. We can tell this by the big forehead and very aged appearance.

Note the flash medals in the team photograph.