From Togs to Toasties: My Latest Updates
Episode Summary:
I’m back! After a bit of a podcast break, I’m jumping on the mic to catch you up on everything that’s been happening in my health and fitness journey. I’ve lost 23 kilos, built up my walking stamina (including an accidental 7.5km hike!), and enjoyed a beautiful summer road trip around the South Island with my mum. From lake swims in Taupō to the hilarious chaos of a Jack Russell race, it’s been a season of wins, lessons, and lots of steps. I’m also recommitting to my plan and inviting you to keep me accountable as I head into the next phase of my journey.
In this episode, I share:
- How I lost 23kg with a high-protein plan and daily walks
- What it felt like to wear a pair of cool pants I bought online
- My accidental mega-hike on the Abel Tasman track
- Washing Mum’s house (and loving it!)
- My favourite zero-alcohol beer moment
- The unforgettable Jack Russell race at the Wanaka A&P show
- How I walked to and from the NZ Podcast Summit
- Why winter is the perfect time to recommit to my goals
Join me for Honest stories, a bit of laughter, and a whole lot of inspiration as I continue to walk the talk on this journey to health, strength, and joy.
Links to My Favourite Suppliers
Check out the links below to my favourite suppliers mentioned in this episode.
State of Play Zero Alcohol Beer - Click to order online
Meal Box - High protein premade meals - Click to order online
Transcript
Hi, it's Kate from The Shape of Kate
here, and welcome back to the Shape of
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:Kate after a bit of a gap, to be fair.
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:I've got a whole bunch of things to
catch you up on, and I have prepared
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:myself a great list of notes so that
I can take you through what's been the
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:last few months since I last recorded
an episode of The Shape of Kate.
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:Let's start with the highlights.
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:By the end of 2024, I had lost 23
kilos by implementing the plan I had,
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:which was tracking the kilojoules.
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:I ate each day eating a high protein diet,
and also managing the number of kilojoules
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:I ate each day by having pre-made meals
from the awesome humans@mailbox.nz.
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:That worked really well for me and.
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:All through to the end of last year,
I'd increased the amount of activity
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:I was doing, which was walking, which
has been a gradual process for me.
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:'cause when you are significantly
overweight, your joints tend to hurt.
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:I wasn't just able to go, right,
I'm gonna walk 10,000 steps.
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:That was just not even doable.
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:I had to walk, take break days, and
just sort of gradually increase it.
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:What I observed was that I was able to
increase my fitness through walking.
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:Look, I'd just like to take a pause here
too and just say thanks for the reminder
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:from a lovely person on Instagram this
week who said that she missed my podcast.
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:That was Ainsley.
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:Thank you Ainsley.
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:I really appreciate you speaking up and
letting me know you'd like to hear more.
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:You are the instigator of this new
episode, so go Ainsley on Instagram.
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:You're an awesome human.
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:Anyway, prior to Christmas, I'd increased
my exercise, increased my walking.
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:The weight was coming off well, and
I went into Christmas feeling the
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:best I'd felt in a really long time.
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:It's really looking forward
to the holiday season.
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:I packed my togs with glee when
I got to topo, which is where
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:I hang out for the summer.
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:Which is by a lake.
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:If you're not a New Zealand
based person, you may not know.
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:But Taupo is the largest lake in New
Zealand and it's a brilliant place to
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:swim and enjoy the water in the summer.
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:I mean, I love, I love water.
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:I love lakes, I love rivers.
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:I love the sea.
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:I like getting into swimming pools.
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:My preferred thing to do when
the weather is hot is to swim.
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:Absolutely.
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:Or be in the water somehow.
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:I packed my togs and I
was able to go swimming.
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:Now, we didn't have a super
sunny Christmas period.
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:There was quite a bit of mixed weather.
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:Over that period, but I still
enjoyed some cool swims and I was
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:just really chuffed to go into
the summer feeling so much better.
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:I was able to, as a treat, I had
some new pants bought online and you
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:know, I was able to buy pants online.
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:I am a really good sewer.
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:Throughout being a larger size, I've sewn
a lot for myself and sewn denim jeans and
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:all sorts of stuff so that I have things
I like, things that I like the look of,
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:not just the, when I say sad designs that
lots of large sizes come out in which
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:I just don't really love, or they use
really shabby fabrics in some of these
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:designs, and I'm like, I'm more a I'm,
if I'm gonna make something, I'll make
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:it in cotton Denim is a cotton or linen.
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:Or wool.
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:I tend to just yeah, I dream up
designs, I make things myself.
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:I use patterns that I like anyway, I've
done a lot of sewing over the years.
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:But to buy pants online, have them
fit, put them on, and they looked
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:cool and they were cool design
and it was really summer, fresh.
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:I loved that.
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:That was awesome.
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:Nice.
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:You know nice fresh t-shirt
and a cool pair of light.
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:Denim cotton pants.
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:It was really lovely.
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:I felt awesome wearing those, and I'm
still enjoying wearing them anyway,
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:I've been walking more and getting
stronger, and one of the other things
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:I did over the summer period that
reflected my increase in strength
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:and ability to do stuff was that I've
gotten to an annual habit of washing my
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:mother's house over that summer period.
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:Just being a, a lighter weight fitter
and stronger, I was able to do that
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:job, which takes a number of days.
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:It's quite a mission.
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:Washing a house.
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:I was just able to do that with
greater strength and greater, I
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:guess, joy in my heart as opposed
to, gosh, this is exhausting.
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:I'm just getting through and
getting to the end of the day
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:and being absolutely whacked.
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:I did it with greater
strength and that was cool.
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:Being fit for life and all the things
that you wanna do is part of what
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:I'm doing and, and so that was cool.
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:Back in July, I'd given up sugar, I'd
given up alcohol, and I was managing
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:the number of killer jewels I had per
day and eating the pre-made dinners
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:from the wonderful people@mailbox.nz.
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:But over Christmas, I also
shouted myself a lovely tray of
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:state of play zero alcohol beers.
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:At the end of the day washing
the house, I was able to crack
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:open a cold beer and enjoy that.
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:And it's still sticking to my
zero alcohol, but enjoying a beer,
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:which is really nice at the end
of a hard day's work, that's cool.
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:I enjoyed all the summer and.
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:Maintained my tracking of my killer
Jills and what I was eating and my
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:good habits around what I had for
breakfast and, working out what lunches
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:and dinners would look like and still
having some of the pre-made meals
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:and mixing that up with meals I was
cooking myself or enjoying with others.
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:Went back into the new year and back
into the working business year, and
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:I knew that in March I was coming up
to a a planned holiday with my mum.
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:We were going on a road trip.
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:Through around the south island
and it was a three week holiday.
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:By the time I left Auckland and returned
where I was away for three weeks, and
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:between, I guess Christmas and taking
off that holiday, I just carried on
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:doing more walking so that I would
be fit enough to enjoy the holiday.
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:I knew, daily, we had stacks of
things packed into the itinerary,.
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:Being able to do all those things,
drive as much as I was gonna be
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:driving, which I thought I'd probably
be doing most of the driving.
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:And then doing the stuff at
the places we were going to.
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:And then just like sleeping in
different beds most nights or regularly
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:changing where we were staying.
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:All of that was going to require
a certain amount of energy.
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:I just knew I wanted to be
fitter and stronger for that.
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:We set out for that holiday
and, and it did prove to be.
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:Exciting and fun and amazing, and the
South island is just so beautiful in so
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:many ways, and so much of the geography of
the country that we live in, that I live
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:in here in New Zealand is just stunning.
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:And the south island is just
a treat round every corner.
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:Some of the highlights of that holiday.
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:With it.
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:We went to the Abel Tasman, and this
is also why I've been doing walking.
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:We wanted to do a day trip on the
Abel Tasman, and if you live in New
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:Zealand, you probably know what it
is, but it's a, it's a national park.
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:It's a walk that takes you along the
coast of the Abel Tasman National
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:Park, pretty much along the coast.
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:I mean, you go in and out of from the
coast of it, but there's just these
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:beach, after beach after beach of
these amazing sands and the beautiful
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:clear sea and, you know, summer.
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:That which is, you know, March was still a
beautiful late summer, hot summer period.
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:We get out onto the able Tasman and
to get there you drive from Nelson
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:to a place called and we get onto a
water taxi and they've got these great
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:skippers who are very entertaining
and they take you out to where you
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:wanna go on the able Tasman track.
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:We caught the water taxi from the
beginning of the track at Maho
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:and we went right up to to Nui,
which is the top of the track.
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:And we had a pit stop there very quickly.
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:And then we returned on the water
taxi to a place called Torrent Bay.
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:And I'm telling you about this
because our intention was to walk
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:from Torrent Bay to Anchorage Bay,
and it has two versions of this.
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:There's a number of, well, I think
two spots on the Able Tasman where.
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:If it's low tide, you get to walk across
the sand of sort of like an estuary or an
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:area that at low tide you can walk across.
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:But if it's a high tide, you have to
walk around that watered area because
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:the waters come in with the tide and
you can't just rock across the sand.
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:This trip from Torrent Bay
to Anchorage is one of those.
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:And.
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:If you, if you get to walk across
the sand, it's like one K, but if you
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:walk around the track says it's 4.1
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:kilometers.
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:We thought, you know, this will be good.
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:We expected some hills so we didn't
pick a longer leg 'cause mum was
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:sort of like, let's be cautious.
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:It was a 30 degree day, it
was just beaming with sun.
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:I'd pick my to so mum, 'cause we were keen
to have a swim at the end of the walk.
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:It was just this beautiful day.
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:And look, you know the, I took so many
photos as we traveled on the water taxi
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:because the Abel Tasman is just gorgeous.
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:Anyway, we get to Torrent Bay, we've
packed our sandwiches for lunch.
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:So we had a whole routine going with
the toasty pie maker and the vogels
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:bread, and the cheese, and the bacon,
and the red onion, and the chutney.
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:We had these great toasties.
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:We have our toasties, we
have a drink of water.
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:We get ready to set off and off
we go around the edge of the sort
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:of estuary where you're going to
go from Torrent Bay to Anchorage.
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:And so we're following the
track and we're thinking 4.1.
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:It says one to one and a half hours.
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:And we're thinking, that's cool.
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:That'll give us heaps of time
to have a swim at the other end.
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:And we go round and we cross a bridge
and we kept coming round the bay.
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:And then we saw we had to go right?
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:And then.
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:Turning right?
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:You had to go up a hill and we thought,
oh yeah, okay, we'll go up a hill.
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:Can't be too many.
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:'cause we've already walked quite
away and I don't know, we've done, I
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:don't know, 40 or 50 minutes already.
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:Anyway, we go up this hill.
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:This track just kept going on and on.
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:I'm wearing my Fitbit and I'm
saying to mum, you know, that
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:track said it was gonna be 4.1
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:kilometers and it's like five, and then it
was like five and a half and we're going.
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:Up and we're going down and it's all kind
of rocky and angular and up and down, and
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:then it's like five and a half and like
six kilometers, and then six and a half.
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:I'm like, I feel like we might
be going the wrong way, but
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:other people were saying they
were on their way to Anchorage,.
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:We, you know, went, okay, we're going
there anyway, seven and a half kilometers
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:later, according to my Fitbit, and I
know they're a bit variable, they're
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:not necessarily all super duper set up.
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:We come down a steep hill, my
legs are absolutely shattered.
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:I had that feeling like, you know
when you're skiing and snow skiing
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:and you've run outta juice in your
thighs and you're getting shaky legs.
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:I had that going on because honestly.
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:My fitness had only got to a certain
point and I had just done seven and
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:a half Ks, which I'd not done for a
really long time, and I'm suddenly,
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:you know, just really struggling.
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:Anyway, we get to the beach,
all our times were blown out.
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:It had taken something like,.
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:Two hours, 20 plus the other 20
or 30 minutes at the other end
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:for our lunch stop to look at.
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:All the beautiful views as we had there.
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:Our three hours between drop off and
pickup had suddenly shrunk and we had
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:like 15 minutes between when we got to
the beach and we were gonna be picked
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:up and we had to walk the length of the
beach to where the water taxi comes.
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:So we're.
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:Walking down the beach and I'm just
saying to mom, crikey, I'm glad we
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:got here in time, but hang, I'm a bit
shattered and I absolutely was shattered.
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:We gave up the idea of a swim
because we knew the water taxi
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:was coming and I was shattered.
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:Mum was doing really well.
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:I mean, mum is amazing.
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:The the woman is a complete inspiration.
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:You've gotta be fit in your eighties.
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:I tell you what, looking at
mum, she's such an inspiration.
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:We sit down on a log on the beach.
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:We have our sandwiches and we have a
drink of water and the water taxi our eyes
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:just as really we're finishing our lunch.
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:We hop on the water taxi, and fortunately.
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:Mum had had another plan.
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:Around our swim.
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:'cause I was like, oh, we've come to the
Abel Tasman, it's 30 degrees and we're
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:not swimming in any of these beaches.
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:This is just nuts.
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:And Mum said, what we'll do is when
we leave Mojo, we'll go to Ter Terry.
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:And we'll go for a swim there.
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:Because the beach is absolutely
phenomenal and you'll really
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:enjoy having a swim there.
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:And I was like.
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:Well, I hope it's as good as these
beaches look here on the Abel
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:Tasman, because I was like, ah,
it'd be a bit stink to go all this
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:way and not have the amazing swim.
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:So we did.
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:We stopped off on the way back at Ter.
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:Terry and Kai Terry.
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:Terry turns out to be just
incredibly beautiful as well.
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:Golden Sands, you know, you park
and you just walk over this,
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:nicely gentle, golden, sandy beach.
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:Not far.
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:Walk straight into the water.
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:There weren't even any waves.
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:It was sort of like a
lake version of the sea.
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:It's that calm and there
are families and kids.
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:The water was really summer
warm and it was just beautiful.
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:The end of the day, I had
been pushed beyond my.
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:Current limits.
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:And I just, just got that water
and just went, this is bliss.
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:And, and it was hilarious 'cause
we'd got changed in the car.
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:And the driver, a Rav and we'd open the
car doors and I'd been holding up the
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:towels so mum could get into her toss.
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:And then she held up the towels
so I could get into my tos.
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:And there was some weirdo trying to
cop a look at what we were doing.
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:It's like.
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:Yay.
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:All the things that happen
when you go to the beach.
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:Anyway, we'd got into the water.
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:It was really cool having a swim.
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:And Kai, Terry.
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:Terry.
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:Well, I'll definitely go
back there for more swimming.
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:That was going on the Abel
Tasman, but I have to say.
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:Because it was quite hard for me
doing seven and a half instead of 4.1.
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:I kept looking for maps of the more
detailed map of what we'd done ultimately
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:on something like it's not map my
walk, it's another like tramping site
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:and I have to go back and find that.
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:I did find more detailed map
and what we had done was we had.
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:Bypass.
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:Well, we'd come around the estuary
and instead of turning left
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:when we could, we turned right.
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:And that was why , we did this like
extra bit of the track and that's what
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:I'd been feeling about the whole time.
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:So I think mum just started
laughing every time I brought it up.
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:'cause I kept looking for
maps and going, you know.
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:I'm sure we did more than we needed to.
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:And and she's like, yeah, but
isn't it amazing 'cause you worked
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:out that you could walk that far.
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:I was like, yeah, true.
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:Anyway, so that was the Abel Tasman.
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:The other thing that was another
demonstration in my fitness and
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:I kept doing every day of that
holiday, we did loads of steps.
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:I did days that were
8,000 and 9,000 steps.
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:I did days that were 12,001 day,
I think it was 18,000, which was a
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:particular day where we did extra And,
all through the holiday, I did loads
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:more, but when we were in AKA, the
a and p show was on, and the a and p
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:show is an awesome thing anywhere but
the, the AKA one gets highly billed and
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:we, both of us wanted to go for years.
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:So we're in AKA for the a and p show.
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:Part of the day we go.
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:To see if we can find a park.
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:Now there are thousands of
people they have park and ride.
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:So you can go and park way out
of the sort of central town,
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:but get a ride to the MP show.
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:We didn't have time for that.
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:I said to mum, oh, let's go and see how
quickly or closely I can park and use the
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:old parking genie, which is the name I
give for whatever the amazing thing is.
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:That means that I, I just say I am
gonna find a park and I always do.
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:We.
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:Tear into town in the car, I find a
park 15 meters from the gate, from the
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:a and p show and I, there are so many
people there, it's just unbelievable
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:that I get this park right nearby.
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:We go into the a and p show through
the gate pay for our ticket price.
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:The reason we wanted to go is that
there is a Jack Russell race at
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:the aka a and p show every year,
and I don't know if you've heard
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:of it, if you're a New Zealander,
but the Jack Russell race is like.
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:Got tens of Jack Russells that run
around a field chasing some bait
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:and the first Jack Russell to do the
loop and pass the finish line wins.
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:And then the, the owner and the
Jack Russell win prizes and stuff.
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:We just thought it
sounded like a lot of fun.
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:So we get to the gate, pay our ticket to
get into the a p show and then find out
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:that the Jack Russell races at way the
other end of like two or three blocks.
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:And so again, I had a walking challenge
'cause we had less than 20 minutes to
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:get to the start of the Jack Russell
race before it was gonna be over.
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:So I walked faster than I had
ages and, and mum's going to be.
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:You are walking really fast.
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:I haven't seen you walk
this fast in years.
313
:And I'm like, yeah, but there's a
dog at the end of it, or several.
314
:So I just put a dog in front of
me and I'll obviously walk faster.
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:So anyway, here we go.
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:Hearing on down, we get to the area,
which is the official kind of showgrounds
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:ring where they do the displays of
various different farm animals and stuff.
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:And they're setting up
for the Jack Russell race.
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:There is a, a mounted police
woman, so that's a woman on
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:horseback who's a police woman.
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:There are the commentators, and then
the, the people around the whole
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:showground field were like 12 deep.
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:There were so many people.
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:Everyone wanted to see the Jack
Russell race, who was at a and p show.
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:If you didn't, I don't know
where you were, but you should
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:have been there because anyway,
it turns out to be amazing.
327
:We kind of, we get there and think,
oh, we might not be able to see it.
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:I'm tall, mum's quite a bit
shorter than me, but the people
329
:were so friendly and they were
like, oh, you should come in here.
330
:So we got mum sort of wiggled up closer
to the front so she could see, and I stood
331
:behind her and people were just really
friendly and kind and giving her space.
332
:We get, get ready to watch.
333
:And then so the, the mounted police
woman drags some bait that in front
334
:of the dogs a couple of times, and the
dogs get super excited and they go riff.
335
:And it turns out there's 77 Jack Russells.
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:Anyway, 77 Jack Russell's getting
pretty excited that some baits
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:going by a couple of times.
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:They're going nuts.
339
:The mounted police woman goes by a
second time, and then the commentators
340
:call that the race is about to start.
341
:Call the start of the race and then
the woman takes off on the horse and
342
:gallops around the ring and
the Jack Russells go for it.
343
:Well, it's hilarious because
they're not trained race dogs.
344
:These dogs are either going
to follow the bait or not.
345
:So you've kind of got dogs
that are following the bait.
346
:You've got dogs that are
tearing off another directions.
347
:You've got dogs that are
sniffing one another's butts.
348
:You've got dogs that are just more
like, I'm like Ferd in the bull.
349
:I'm just gonna sit here
and smell the flowers.
350
:And it's just all realms of
doggy behavior is on display.
351
:And then.
352
:One or two dogs are racing for
the finish and then they call
353
:the finish and one dog wins.
354
:But the crowd went nuts.
355
:Everyone was loving it.
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:It was just like the most magical
thing and the best family entertainment
357
:out that I'd seen in a long time.
358
:The Jack Russell race was cool.
359
:If you are ever in AKA when the
a and p show was on, get yourself
360
:to the a and p show and go and
watch the Jack Russell race.
361
:It's hilarious.
362
:Anyway,
363
:i'm able to walk faster and that's cool.
364
:Like I said, my daily steps over
that holiday just increased tons.
365
:So I came back from the
holiday and since then.
366
:My walking has increased hugely.
367
:You know, I'm able to walk without
having days off in between.
368
:It used to be when I started with
the weight loss and everything
369
:that I'd need a day off so that
like my joints could recover.
370
:But now I can walk several days in a
row and that seems to work okay for me.
371
:I'm able to increase the distance I
walk, you know, I can walk five to
372
:six kilometers pretty comfortably
and still do other things.
373
:I had a really cool
opportunity a few weeks ago.
374
:I wanted to go to the New Zealand
podcast Summit , and I live in Parnell
375
:and it was on in the city at a UT.
376
:I decided I would walk.
377
:I.
378
:From where I live into the city up
past the university and down to a
379
:UT, which is just off Simon Street in
the city, if you know Auckland well.
380
:And then have the day at the
summit, which was an amazing day.
381
:Loved the New Zealand Podcasting Summit.
382
:That was so cool.
383
:I.
384
:Then walk home.
385
:And it turned out that I walked
about nine to 10 kilometers and I
386
:did lots of hills and I did lots of
distance in terms of around town.
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:And it was so cool.
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:I've just like, this is really nice
to be able to enjoy the city walking.
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:Like I saw parks I don't normally go to.
390
:I saw.
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:Things in the city that
I don't normally see.
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:'cause I normally drive and, if you're
driving, you just don't see stuff.
393
:I enjoyed going up Simon Street and seeing
all the things around Auckland University.
394
:I saw architecture and trees and gardens
and sculpture that I wouldn't normally
395
:look at and detail or wouldn't see at all.
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:And that was really cool.
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:Then at the end of the day, after
a busy day of attending the summit,
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:I then went and walked home again.
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:Across Grafton Bridge past the hospital.
400
:Through the domain as the sun was
setting, got through there before
401
:it got too dark and arrived home.
402
:And I was like, this is cool
that I can do that now, when I'd
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:really lost the capacity to do it.
404
:Because take me back a year ago,
I could not have done what I did.
405
:Or if I'd done it, I would've been
absolutely shattered from one part of
406
:that journey, let alone doing the two.
407
:I, I don't, I don't think I
really could've coped, I would've
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:probably caught an Uber or
parked in the city or something.
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:I am really enjoying being
able to walk more frequently.
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:It's still not, I wouldn't call it easy,
and I'm still lugging the weight around.
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:And look, the other thing
I just wanna share is that.
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:I have to say I've lost my weight loss
success pattern, and one of the things
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:I wanted to have a bit of a moment
around was make a commitment to record
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:more of these episodes so that I can.
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:Tell you, the listeners and the audience
and the beautiful people who've been
416
:supportive, listening that what I'm doing,
how it's going, and by putting it out
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:there, it's really requiring of me to
make a stronger commitment and not let all
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:the various things that have come along.
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:So I, like, I had the month of summer,
the three weeks of the holiday, the sort
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:of change in pattern, the back and forth.
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:To being in different places and
traveling for different reasons.
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:And now it's the end of May.
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:You'll probably be listening to
this if you start listening soon in
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:June, and it's the best time of year
to really kick in with any kind of
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:fitness and nutrition change because
it's the solid months of winter ahead.
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:It's a good time to be
implementing those things.
427
:I.
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:Am here saying that I'm making my
commitment stronger to living my
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:plan rather than falling off the
plan because I really do wanna
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:lose that next 20 to 30 kilos.
431
:It's time for cake to kick butt.
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:There's more to say in future episodes,
but I think it's good to keep these
433
:relatively palatable and not too long,
and I'll, I'll do more another day.
434
:Thank you for listening
to the Shape of Kate.
435
:It's great to speak with you
and share some stories again,
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:and I wish you a great day.
