Road Trip!!

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We met in Taurangi (just south of Lake Taupo) and headed round to Whanganui Rock. Spent 3 days rock-climbing and camping...we had great weather and a nice relaxing time. My climbing has gone seriously downhill which is kind of disappointing, but then I can't expect much having not climbed in ages! Funny thing happened at the campsite (although I wasn't quite so amused at the time) - pigs, yes, as in the animals...oink oink...managed to get into the tent while we were out climbing, and stole my camelback (it had a couple of apples in it, they must have a strong sense of smell) which we found in a mudbath about 500m away. Apart from being disgustingly muddy it was okay, but they managed to destroy my mobile phone - clever little buggers.



   Whanganui Rock;  view from wall;  looking down

We left and went to Taupo for a day (I needed a shower and a real bed...I think I'm getting old), did the quiz at the local irish pub, played mini-golf and strolled around town. I had a run by the lake - really nice walkways follow the lake through park and beach areas.

On to Napier next (Art Deco town) which was a first for both of us. I liked it. Continuing the relaxing theme, we went to the cinema, saw Hitch (quite cheesy, but we both enjoyed it) and had a nice seafood dinner. The next day the weather wasn't quite so good but we had a re-match of mini-golf (PD was desperate for revenge but it wasn't to be...) and then continued the competitive streak at the arcades - air hockey, car racing and Area 51 - a quality hour of fun & games. Then we went shopping, so if anyone thinks PD looks a bit trendier when he gets back to ChCh just compliment him on his sudden fashion awareness. :) Napier was a nice place though...I'd definitely go back there.

On to Hastings which is a bit boring in comparison, but we had a fun night out, and PD even did some karaoke - good effort...no number of drinks would get me up on stage. Visited Cape Kidnappers the next day which was really nice - the weather was brilliant again and the views fantastic. We were a bit late to do the walkway (which supposedly takes 5hrs return and can only be done at low tide) but I started running along the beach as far as I could...reached the point about 1km before the gannet colony, and waded around to get the views - superb. Saw a few gannets and the cliffs and rock formations were magic, well worth the effort!


We drove on to Mahia Peninsula - a truly spectacular area just south of Gisborne. Totally lucked out finding a place to stay - had an upstairs chalet-type room to ourselves for $20 each - quality! Very interesting old couple running the place, with a brilliant collection of ancient trinkets, especially the spoons from all over the world! They had a crafts studio too - he did all the woodwork and she did all the weaving...it was really fascinating and very impressive.


   our 'chalet';  Te Mahia Peninsula;  view from Gisborne

On to Gisborne for the last day before PD had to go back to Palmerston North (staying with his cousin). Went up Te Kaiti Hill for great views over the bay and out to Young Nick's Head (the point where Captain James Cook first sighted the North Island in 1769, on Endeavor). Had a really nice dinner at the Marina - excellent seafood - and then went to Scotty's Bar for obvious reasons. Actually, it was terrible which was quite disppointing. Oh well!

Dropped PD at the bus station in the morning and headed back to Whakatane via Opotiki - slow but scenic journey. Its been a fun week!

The overview...

Just spent a week with PD, my Irish friend from Christchurch. Spent 3 days rock climbing at Whanganui Rock - beautiful spot on west side of Lake Taupo. Spent the rest of the week being tourists and having a fun, relaxing time! Went to Taupo, Napier, Hastings, Te Mahia Peninsula and Gisborne. Played mini-golf (several times), went to the cinema, arcades (and discovered we're both as competitive as each other), shopping, and out for a proper seafood dinner. Fun stuff...full write-up below!


   Cape Kidnappers;  Te Mahia;  sunset over Gisborne

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ARC Results

ARC Coromandel video: Race video is now up on the web - quite amusing to watch!

ARC Coromandel: The race results and pictures are now up. There aren't as many as I thought there would be, but page 2 shows some good ones of the sea kayak, and page 4 shows the waterfall abseil. Fun stuff.

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24-hr Adventure Race

ARC Coromandel: Race results and pictures should be posted here soon.

They don't call it adventure racing for nothing! wow...from start to finish there was always a challenge, but this was FUN FUN FUN! On Friday night we found out the course at the race briefing, then headed back to our cabin to plot coordinates and plan our route. The alarms were set for 5am...

The race went as follows : 7am start at the surf beach in Whangamata
Sea Kayak to Onemana Beach - big surf, lots of fun, with quite a scary start and finish...one broken rudder for our team plus 28 surf rescues but thankfully none for us!
Coasteering - mandatory gear included bike helmets and life jackets - lots of scrambling over rocks and a couple of swims involved, quite the adrenaline boost incase one was needed!
Mountain Biking - in the pouring rain through forest tracks...one puncture for Dean, otherwise all went well
Trekking - included a 30m abseil down a waterfall, plus a mystery event which Dean attempted - swimming through a waterfall...very cold! darkness fell as we reached the six stones, and finding the mystery 7th involved wading through muddy water up a mine shaft...otherwise a really fun trek!
Rifle Shooting - 4 out of 5 for me, with the army team watching...take that!
Mountain Biking - mainly on sealed road this time, a fairly straightforward section
Night Kayak on the river - for 5 hours, wow...i nearly fell asleep but pain in my right bum cheek from the hard seat kept me from doing so. It was tide-assisted until we reached the harbour at Thames, with fish jumping around all over the place - the one that landed on my spray skirt definitely woke me up, and my scream probably woke everyone else up :). The tide was so low at the end that we had to get out and push/carry the kayaks 5 times over sand and rocks...I started to think it wasn't quite so fun anymore
Mountain Biking - apart from the painful rash i'd developed from wet clothes rubbing all day (it really wasn't too pleasant), i felt really good on this last section. Something just gave me a boost and I hammered those pedals up every hill until we crossed the finish line at 3:42am on Sunday morning. Big smiles on our faces - a great sense of achievement!

Our support crew (Dean's wife Tracy, his brother Danny, his parents, and Steve from Great Outdoors) were absolutely magic - at every transition they had our gear ready, hot food and drinks, snacks, towels, and anything else we needed to prepare ourselves for the next leg. Dean, Mark and Jamie were great team-mates as well - good banter and support for each other the whole way (and being the only woman really does have its advantages because they all looked out for me!)

Whakatane Great Outdoors sponsored the team, and I've already agreed to doing the local 24-hour race a month from now...my mind must be seriously affected due to sleep deprivation.

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ARC (Adventure Race Coromandel)

Well, I'm off tomorrow for the 24-hour adventure race, so if this is my last entry in the blog...you'll know why :) just kidding...i'm excited, and a bit nervous but that's always a good thing - it reminds me of those pre-match jitters before a big game! Click here to see more info on the race: ARC Coromandel

I haven't been able to access hotmail from this computer so apologies to those who I definitely owe an e-mail too - I promise to send some news next week, even if I have to get myself to an internet cafe (seems like such an effort when there is internet access here, it just doesn't like hotmail!).

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Rifle Shooting!

I held a gun for the 2nd time ever today, and practiced shooting at targets for the adventure race this weekend. It was fun! Mark & I went kayaking round Lake Rotoma for a couple of hours in the morning, then back to his farm (called Braemar - nice!) for some target practice...it was easier than I thought it might be - the guns didn't have a kickback or anything so apart from being quite heavy (at least I thought so) it wasn't so hard.

ARC Coromandel is a 24-hour adventure race, including mtn-biking, running/trekking, navigating through the bush, kayaking, abseiling, rifle-shooting and "high-adrenaline" mystery events!! As much as we joked in the States about my "required gear" status, this time I really am - a woman is a mandatory part of the team, and apparently there is a fair shortage of those who are keen :) My team-mates Dean, Mark and Jamie are all really nice guys, and hopefully not too serious about the whole thing!

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Mini-triathlons!

I took part in the Ohope triathlon again on Sunday, and for the second time was really impressed with the turn-out. There were over 80 individuals/teams competing, the vast majority of whom were women. We had a 400m swim in Ohope harbour (it sounds like nothing, it just about killed me!), a 10km bike ride, and a 3.5 km run. Short and sweet and really good fun - I bet the bigger ones are not quite so pleasurable! I tried out a road bike for the first time ever, and loved it - such a big difference from mtn-biking! My overall time was 38:34 which means absoloutely nothing to me but I was pleased anyway :)

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