Where has the Year gone !!

After thinking long and hard about my fitness level, I needed a goal to set my sites higher and found just what I was looking for. "Fight Night Round V"

So I have $1700 to raise towards my training cost with RingsideNZ in co-operation with Les Mills Fitness Club. Myself and 6 other RNZAF Boxers have commenced training in various disciplines 6 days a week, Crossfit, Endurance, Boxing Classes, Sparring, Kettlebell, Track & Field, Sand Dunes, Beep & Strength tests. I have started week 1 out of 12 weeks training and its the toughest goal I have set myself in many a year.

But its all for a good cause, we are fundraising for YOUTHLINE Charitable Trust with a set target of $2000 so if any of you out there that are reading my blog feel charitable to donate your plastic for me, every donation is greatly received, you can donate from the following link:-

www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/MichaelJones/

Will keep you posted on my progress.

Holiday at the Mount Beachside Holiday Park Feb 2009

Couldn't resist going down to the Mount last few remaining weeks of the Summer break.


Holiday Park was the best so far we have been on in New Zealand, could not fault the site with its clean modern kitchen and toilets and showers. We had a pitch right on the beach front and shops were even close by in walking distance. Plenty to see and do around the local area and an onsite salt water swimming pool with hot pools to dip in as well for comfort.



Dawn Princess landed close by the camp site and it was an awesome sight for the kids to see at 119,000 tonnes., the biggest ship was yet to come to NZ and that was the Queen Mary II but we would be gone home by the time she arrived.


We will be returning soon hopefully to finish off some good attractions we never even got time to see in the week we were there, Kiwi360 is a local kiwi farm which was worth a visit, for $20 you can have a train ride around the Kiwi farm explaining the process along the way and even a bit of a wine tour and tasting was in the offering.

Coromandel Miranda Holiday Park was the ending of another great year for us in New Zealand, something we were all not used to doing as a family around Christmas time, normally we would be accustomed to staying at home and having a traditional family get together.

The last time we had camped as a family was way back in 1990 in Austria which was so long ago, this trip was going to be remembered for living in comfort with our double blow up bed on a stand off the floor which turned out to be so comforting compared to the days of lying on the floor in the tent. More mod cons included the deluxe cooker and gas bottle, kitchen table with benches to sit and have your meal. Overall the camping trip went extraordinarily well, the camp site was five star with a hot pool, tennis court, adventure playground, 5 star kitchen, could not have picked a better site to stay to be truthful, so now all we need to do is make plans for our trip up North in 2009.

What a difference 2 years make in NZ.....

Well what a difference 2 years have made to our family here in NZ..... Who thought we would of seen our now 19 year old son join the Kiwi Army, but he has and we are proud him that he has started down that journey of mapping his life here in New Zealand.

It all started way back in 2007 when we moved to Dannevirke for a short time working in Dairy farming, Ryan decided to get off his backside and do something with his life and there ends the story so far, his long journey saw him go to Waiourou and complete recruit training and then onto corp training at Burnham on the South Island.

He now is posted back to the lower North Island to Linton and is really enjoying his time, so we are happy for him at least, he now can go on further and enjoy other delights the RNZA have to offer him. Now he is home with us enjoying the Summer Christmas break at the moment and at least we now seem like a family complete again almost.......

Summer Camping Trip Booked 2008

Well after much debate we have finally decided on a camping trip away to Miranda Holiday Park.

Starting on Boxing Day for four days, we have started in earnest buying all new camping kit as we now have a growing family and our trusted 4 man Vermont has seen better days from the good old USA. So this weekend was the weekend to finally go up a level to a 9 man dome tent kiwi style. Our good friends Rick & Tracey have decided to book with us for the 4 days and we should all have a good laugh, our first trip away camping for some years but we are all determined to have a good laugh "Carry on Camping"

Life back in Auckland

Well we all decided it was for the best and return back to Auckland after 3 months on the farm, we got through the hard Winter in Dannevirke and through a long calving season, but to be totally honest to myself and for family, It was never going to be our life forever.

The stresses with working with a farm owner who was intent being stuck in the dark ages was never going to work, when your pushed into a corner most days with no real end in sight it is just too hard. So after many discussions together as a family unit, we decided to go back to the RNZAF after all I was on LWOP (Leave Without Pay) for a year and could end my time away early.

So the story was we move to Base Ohakea and into a MQ for a short while and see if we could get a posting at least to avoid the move back to Base Auckland, but after a few weeks in Ohakea and settling into our MQ, I returned to Base Auckland and back to reality for at least a short time in Barracks. After some soul searching by all of us in the family and no real chance of me even getting a Tour of Duty to Ohakea, family decided to move back to Auckland and move into a MQ there and settle the kids back into school at Whenuapai with smaller class sizes, they have given us a nice MQ in Calder Cresent which is a lot better than Wallingford Way, will keep you all posted with some photos soon, when we have got the place something like resembling a home.

The Jones's experience their first calving on the farm.

This was a great day for all of us to catch up with calving time at the weekend, especially for Sophie & Chloe to see first hand what it was going to be like for them to get up close in the paddock with the mother giving birth.

It was a cold, wet, windy Saturday morning and we witnessed the mother giving birth and even got close up to the calf and tagged this one as a boby calf destined for the wagon in 4 days time.

Sophie & Chloe got up close and really enjoyed their big day they were fascinated by it all and were intrigued with the after birth also and inspected it with caution.

Sherren has stated in earnest calving and learning all the aspects of calf rearing, so she will be very busy over the next few months until at least November, all in all we have around 35 calves a day or night being born. Its good seeing her happy again I haven't seen that for a while especially since we returned to Auckland, so I am happy we have made the right move to Dannevirke and into a new career of farming this is us now we have finally found the lower end of the North Island fascinating to say the least. City life is too restricted and too fast pace of life boredom sets in and you have nothing to look forward too most of the time, at least here we are kept busy.