A little rest and relaxation...Queenstown, New Zealand.

View from Hotel Balcony

 This past week I was lucky enough to spend it in Queenstown, New Zealand, on a work conference, but had a little time to take some awesome snap shots of this most amazingly beautiful, scenic town. I can say that I fell in love with the beauty, food, the multi-cultural people working and holidaying.

It was also nice to have a week off of training and to enjoy myself and take in so much around me. Yes I was there for work as well, and even listening to a couple of inspiring people talk was great and gave me a boost to know I am on the right playing field.

So as I step into a new week back here in Perth, and look forward to getting back into the pool, I take a moment to remember the wonderful moments I had in Queenstown.

I had many days of looking out onto the most amazingly clear, turquoise water and wanting so much to go swimming...only if I had, had my wetsuit and the water was a little warmer than 8 degrees...

Carrick Winery, Central Otago, NZ

This is my boss, and I at Carrick Winery, messing around...This beautiful winery is organic and bio-dynamic. The wine was just stunning, the food mouth watering, and the weather was excellent, even though a tad chilly.

The time spent in NZ was also to do no training, and try to gain two kilograms. I managed to gain 1.3kg which is great, and with all the healthy foods I could find, oh and yes there was a little indulgence in gluten free caramel slice at breakfast.

On one of the mountains near the town, just a short walk away from the hotel, had a gondola, which we took to the top and had the most spectacular views of Queenstown. I could just dream of swimming through the water that was below us and dreaming of the clear view under the water. As the water comes from the glaciers its very, very cold, but I was biting at the bit to get in, but couldn't.

Shotover Jet

Queenstown has a lot of adventures for everyone, from snow-boarding, skiing, Shotover Jet boat, Luge, hikes, bungy jumping and so much more. I would love the opportunity to go back and do so much more.

I will miss Queenstown very much, till next time  So for now, its time to get back into the pool tomorrow and back into training as its only a matter of 12 weeks till our first qualifying race of 10km. So between the pool, gym and conditioning sessions the time I am sure will fly by. Though I am very much looking forward to getting back into the ocean for training, kind of miss the waves, seeing the fish and not following the black line.

Have a great week everyone...

Hayley xx