Getting settled in Westport

 It has been a busy and weird couple of weeks. We're still in Westport, on the west coast of the South Island, but we spent another week in a hotel while Ruben worked at the clinic and I worked at the public library. Then I spent the weekend outside Rotorua at an ultramarathon training camp. While I was there, Ruben "moved us in" to the flat where we'll spend the remainder of our time in Westport. By "moved us in" I mean he dragged the suitcases inside the front door and dug out the toothpaste, leaving the rest of the stuff untouched. Here's a quick look at our new neighborhood.

I think this was the last cloudy day we've had. The weather has been sunny and ~21ºC (74ºF).

My home away from motel home in Westport.

My station at in the periodicals area at the library.
I waited until the room was free of smelly backpackers to take my snap.

Slightly blurry shot down Palmerston Street, Westport.

Buller Medical Centre

Our flat on Derby Street, Westport.

The front door on our flat. One side is a slider, the other has the window.
This setup is pretty common. The downside is that yesterday a
neighbor kid ran right in through the open door.

The facilities are basic, but functional.

 Now a bit about my ultramarathon training camp at Lake Okataina on the North Island. The camp coordinator, Malcolm Law, an ultrarunner who completed (in 14 days) the 1,000+ km Coast Path in England. This camp is designed as prep for the 100 km Tarawara Ultramarathon in March. About 60 people attended over the course of the weekend. Forty-eight runners ran the 36-km Saturday run, the 16-km night run, and the 25-km Sunday run.

Lake Okataina Education Centre

Our Saturday 36 km run started with bus ride to the Redwoods Forest in Rotorua.

Our track skirted several of the many, many lakes in this area.

Some new running buddies at a water stop.

We stopped at this waterfall to fill drink bottles.
I'm still leery of  drinking unfiltered, unpurified lake water, but so far I haven't gotten sick.
Everybody does it!

The Sunday run ended just beyond this great swimming hole.
Everyone went back to cool off before the bus ride back to the Education Centre.

Can you see the runner who climbed up the rocks to reach a sweet-as dive spot?

The runner survived the jump, but not many followed his lead.

Until a bunch of Kiwi kids showed up and climbed higher and jumped farther.
Kiwi kids love the water.