www.JamFreaks.com

I've been back from New Zealand for about a month now and decided I'd better get all my memories & experiences down before I forget them. Above is a slide show of most of the pictures.

As you can see from the photos, NZ is such a beautiful place! Very green and lush. We spent most of our time in Auckland, but I hear there are many different climates and terrains within NZ. It was winter there. Someone told us it was one of the coldest winters they've had. Most days,  the high was about 60F...slightly colder than our winters.

There seemed to be birds everywhere we went, including INSIDE. One day, we were at Esquires (a cafe) and a bird came in and made a quick swoop for Mike's muffin. He missed, got embarrassed and flew off. There were always birds inside the restaurants... they were even in the mall.

We took a ferry around the harbor one day. We looked out the window and saw a bird flying next to us (picture above). He was obvious racing us and kept pace with our boat for a good 2-3 minutes. Then, he showed off and flew ahead of us.

The day after the filmings were over, I took bodyjam with Gandalf. Unfortunately, I got the time of the class wrong and didn't get there until it was half over. The part I did get to do, was soooooooo amazing! G took bits and pieces from the last few releases and tossed them all together and threw in a little free style funk. He is so talented and the energy in the room was like nothing before.

Gandalf always had a swarm of groupies attack him after every class, wanting to talk to him and get pictures of him. He always appeared to be in a big hurry to get somewhere. He's obviously a busy, busy guy. I ran into him a couple times on the streets while walking to/from the gym. Surreal.

The day after the filmings wrapped up, I went to jam class, which I thought was going to be taught by G, but Sara Robinson and another girl were teaching. They started off by saying, "we're going to do some stuff you may have not seen before." They were right....turns out it was bodyjam 50. I still can't figure out why most, if not all, of the class wouldn't have already seen or done it? Had the club not launched it yet? If so, why were they teaching it before launch? When class was mostly over, I noticed that Carla was at the back of the room and apparently was assessing the instructors to give them feedback. Cool.

The Les Mills Aukland club is essentially 2 buildings connected by a tunnel walkway. The club spans 4 stories and is very confusing. To get to studio a, you have to walk up a set of stairs, then down another set, through the tunnel, back up several sets....oh forget it, I'm still confused. Mike kept laughing at me cuz I would always get lost and turned around. They have an uh-mazing deli in the lobby with absolutely delicious dishes. I had a spinach pumpkin salad. I took some pictures of all the yummy choices. They also have a day spa right off the lobby. Mike and I went one day for a massage that was great. And, they've got a small clothing store, which has the exact same stuff with same pricing as online. I rarely saw anyone in there.

We took many walks up and down Queen's Street, which is filled with shops and restaurants. They have a couple of really cool intersections where, when the signal turns green to walk, you can go anywhere in the crosswalk, including diagonal. The first time we saw it, we were quite confused.

In NZ, they drive on the left side of the road. We didn't have a car and I'm glad, because it would have been too confusing. Even when crossing the street, we'd look the wrong way to check for oncoming traffic. One time we were trying to cross a street and a car was approaching. Mike was getting nervous that the driver wasn't even looking at us or the road. Then, he realized, he wasn't looking at the driver....he was looking at the passenger! Hahaha. They also WALK on the left side, such as going up and down the stairs.

The money also took some getting used to. It became a running joke that Mike would pay the wrong amount. It seemed like everytime he'd pay for something, he'd mess it up. He blamed it on the fact that their 50cent pieces look just like our quarters.

We did have a chance to go through the Auckland museum. That was cool. We liked all the culture and history of the Maori's. We even went to a presentation, where they talked a lot about the culture and showed us some of their songs and dances. We got some pretty good video of it.

The last day we were there, I had my Make More Freaks interview.  I got to go to NZTV (the local Tv station) for hair and makeup. I could go for that EVERYDAY! Then, we met the camera crew and headed to Victoria park. We had done a brief "rehearsal" the day prior, so I kind of new what to expect, but was still very nervous. I was interviewed by Ish, who plays "Max". He's a cool guy and it all went by very fast!

Afterwards, Mike and I headed over to the Victoria Market, which is kind of like a swap meet with all kinds of NZ tourist stuff. I wanted to find a little something to bring back to all my jammers, but didn't have much luck finding the perfect thing.

I spent a little time during the trip with the other Freaks winner, Dede. She was very sweet and had tons of awesome ideas on how to run a successful GF program. Her club is very lucky to have her.

The plane trip home wasn't too bad. I was really dreading it, but I just popped a dramamine and was nice and sleepy. In fact, I was trying to watch a movie (Knowing) and had to rewind it 6 different times to catch up on the spots where I dozed off.

Overall, this truly was a once in a lifetime experience. I had an amazing time and will cherish these memories for-ev-er! Thank you Les Mills!!!!!!!!!!

Raina is a local who blogs about all the tapings. She just made a post about the jam filiming and is obviously much better than I am with blogging. She's got lots of details and somehow captures the highs that you feel when you are there. Check it out....http://sweaty.mmmarshmallow.com/2009/08/body-jam-51.html.

Filmings officially wrapped up last night with the taping of Bodyjam +. It was sooooo packed. I literally had about 6 inches of moving space on each side of me. Gandalf taught all by himself. Before class, he said he was nervous.

We didn't do the entire class straight through. Instead, we started with a brand-new, Dance 4 Life warm up bonus track and then we skipped to track 3, where he added in a new side kick option.

We then went, I think, from the last track of the Tribal Salsa.

We did the entire 2nd half block. The + version is pretty different than the base. He added in some fancy foot work that I couldn't quite master and, get this, a Triple barrel roll! Yes, a triple! It's so fun! He had given us a little heads up before we started and explained how to spot, which you've got to do or you fall over. I loved it! Being so crowded, I'm sure you can imagine, we were all landing on top of each other.

Of all the releases that have the 2 versions, I think this release has the most variations between the base and the +. Not so much on the first half, but definitely on the back half.

I'm taking jam again today at noon. Now that the filmings are over, I'm curious to see what we'll be doing.

Today, we'll be rehearsing for the Make More Freaks interview. I'll pretty nervous. We tape the real thing tomorrow.

I also took bodypump last night after jam. Sara Ostergard was teaching. She's a great instructor....excellent connector and just super cute and likeable.

I'm going to try to get more pics of the club today when we go.

Cheers!

Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who stood up for me and Fitness Works on the last blog post. "Whoever" wrote it chose not to leave their name, but really threw some punches where it hurt. I've been trying to not let it bother me. So, anyone else from our "little gym" who wants to give a shout out to let the world know that we are a force to be reckoned with, go for it! Just make sure you use spell check...hahaha. Just kidding. I just want to stay positive and focus on what I know to be true! I won't let mean people make me sad!

The filmings were once again awesome. They were held later in the evening, so it seemed like it was more crowded. Dan Cohen was the MC and he's so funny and so cool. He kept us laughing between takes and between classes.

Bodystep was first. Mark presented with Sara, Lisa O, Susan Tolj another girl (Victoria from the UK, maybe?). It was super fun. You start with your bench turned vertical. I LOVED the music! Lots of sing-a-longs.

Jam was next. It wasn't just packed. It was JAM-packed. (Sorry, a little cheesy.)  I could barely move, but it made the energy that much more incredible. My legs were pretty fried from bodystep. It was so cool to see the release evolve in the past week to the final product -  polished and perfect. They nailed it. G brought out his baby at the end. Check out his little camo pants and headphones!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Bodyflow (bodybalance) was next, but I was seriously too tired to stay. I've had a head cold the past couple of days and my head felt like it was about to explode. I also missed rpm earlier in the day (sorry my flow & rpm peeps).

Bodyjam + taping will be tonight. I'm excited because I have no idea what the + options are! Oooooo, the suspense.

Today, we woke up feeling great and energized....at 3am! Haha. Our bodies are still on AZ-time. I'm sure I'll get my rush of energy tonight because we'll be attending the filming classes for bodypump, bodycombat and bodyattack. So excited! Mike is going to take pump with me so that will be super fun. But before that, we are scheduled to tour the offices of Les Mills International this morning. I'm very excited to meet all the behind-the-scenes peeps who create all this amazing schizzle.

Ok, so back to yesterday, Gandalf (Bodyjam choreographer) was scheduled to teach at 6:10. So, I got there a little early and stood in the back of the room while bodycombat was finishing up. Dan was teaching. He was incredible. Amazing energy. I took a few pics on my ipohne and then looked over to my side and Rachel was sitting there, just watching the class. Then, I felt like a stupid American tourist. Oh well. G taught with Carla and a guy instructor who I don't know. They'll be the launch team for the next release (jam 51). They've got 5 more days until the filiming and it's a good thing cuz they need some practice. Not that they aren't amazing instructors, but quite a few flubs on cueing, chorey and performanc stuff. Regardless, it was sooooo fun. I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't watching a video in my bedroom and that it was live. There's a sweet warmup, LOVE the isolations track, followed by some latin and ending up with, you guessed it, a house block. I introduced myself to G after class and found out it was his birthday yesterday. Happy birthday Geezy!