Turtle Time

I'm back in Cambodia now and I think I'm ready. I have had a great time in Timor and have been emenesly blessed by spending time with old friends and new and in some way restored a little bit more balance to my life. My highlight was last weekend and the mountain bike challenge. There were two days of racing with the first being a cross country marathon and the second being a cross country Olympic format. The marathon was a mission and a half with a 1300m ascent up a re-entrant (The Camora River) over 28km and then mostly down for the following 30. The (female) field was made up with some international talent, some Timorese, and myself... I got to borrow a 'Giant Lust' which was pretty sweet on the down but didn't do much for me on the up! Apparently it's the motor that makes the difference and I had nothing compared to then feather lite Timorese girls who got the job done supremely! I weaselled my way to 5th after making gains on the down. The second day was kind of like a criterion race and my feather light friends got knocked out in the second round after they were 80% slower than the race leader (a lovely Portuguese girl). It was pretty technical in parts (like the steep side of Waitangi) and I fell off three times on the first lap when the hydrolics on my back break gave way. I went consideribally slower on the following three laps! It was an extreemly hot and humid day and so I made my way to 2nd curtosey of the Japanese girl who passed out! Across the two races I got an overall ranking of 3rd which was brilliant because I won enough prize money to cover my living costs for the month! I love riding my bike!

Now I am a excited and a little bit nervous about the next few months for my time in Cambodia. Now is the time that will comulnate all of the work I have been doing this year. I am helping with two programs which are starting (one for school-age children and another for pre-school children) and we're sweeping through with a few other projects. It's going to be crazy-busy but I have February in NZ to look forward to. Being in Timor has helped me have the oportunity to take a bit of a deep breath and regroup for the madness in the Wild West of the East: Cambodia. They say that a change is as good as a holiday and that works for me.