I am awake and it is 5.30 am. I have only been asleep for five hours max and blink, I am awake. I read updates for the NZ news on my phone silently, slowly unfolding myself from the camper van bed. My arms and upper body seem to dislike the bed and it seems to cut the circulation off to my upper body when I sleep. It is a strange and a very funny sensation, I get a better nights sleep if I sleep in the reclined passenger seat of Cuzzie. This I know is strange but it is actually true. I keep moving my sleeping location in the van nearly every night.

The day has started, it is cool but the sun is shining. Updates on the weather and updates on wind, I reminded myself of the tides and the next leg of this journey. I am watching and waiting on the weather window, nothing as mentioned would be happening today. I went on a big walk around the city, up in the cable car and then I walked down through the parks and the streets of Wellington. I practiced my handstands, found numerous new and beautiful sculptures around Wellington. Jase and I grabbed a couple of great coffees from cool little cafes and generally checked out everything I may have missed.

The sunshine was amazing, but in the shade and the wind it was still damn cold. There was no stress really this day for mine and I managed to catch up and have a quick chat with John at Fergs Kayaks. I watched the crazy rock climbing going on there and dream of maybe owning a surf ski after this adventure! I am sure there would be room in my garage for one!

Lunchtime and we headed off to Oriental Parade to meet up with a cool camera person for some footage they required from me. Monique was so easy to chat with and it was nice to get out on the water and just do some fun paddling, not going anywhere, not having to knock over massive kms and it also gave me time to brush up on my boat skills.

I have been promisng Mike Scanlan that as the water warmed up I would just knock over a few eskimo rolls and also do some deep water re-entrys in my T2 STAR. It had been a little while since I had done an number of rolls just for the fun of it. We did the filming and then I went and played for a while in the water just at Oriental Bay. The water was not that warm, but hey when you fall from your kayak it is never on a warm calm day. "So," over I rolled and over I rolled. The pattern is 5 to 6 one way and then 5 to 6 the other way, all the time hearing all the positive lessons and instructions in my head.

For those who understand, when you nail a good eskimo roll, it feels amazing. When you mange to save a not so good a roll, that also for me gives me confidence, as it is these near misses that have taught me the art of saving an average roll and it is probably something Mike and I have laughed about a lot on my training days, how I just about lie on my back deck as I save a dodgy roll from being a failure. I am far from perfect but I am happy to keep going around and practicing. I also did a few re-entrys and upside down exits and righted my kayak to jump back in. After a little while I was getting cooler and ended my practicing smiling, job done and satisfied, I was happy.

Back for a quick catch up on emails, chatted to a few people and returned to our central location to read and rest in the sun. We are parked in the Wellington Waterfront Motorhome Park for camper vans. There are powered sites, showers etc, it is a great location, an easy walk to most places and close to the ferry for the support team once I "Gap it" across the Strait. So here I sit, awaiting the calmness to fall upon this ocean, the tides, the moon, the everything to feel good enough to cross. I have the information, I have the nerves in my belly, now it is a waiting game, and that is okay...mostly.

Happy moments today:
Hand stand practice, I am getting better.
Eskimo rolling, I am smiling.
Camper van location, brilliant and central, and also service with a smile.
Nil Christmas stress in my world, so I am surely smiling about that.

Catching up with a number of friends that all seem to be heading south for Christmas. I hope to see you soon in the South Island, you all have the easier way of getting there, on the ferry! Look out for a little red kayak as you sail past... I am hoping to be with you all soon.

Ciao
Red

Interview with John Peachy on Radio Rhema last week.