New Zealand is GodZONE!

If I was perfectly honest, I'd admit that I thought calling an Adventure Race - GodZONE - sounded too religious for someone like me!

After a 1000 metres of UP  - Lake Hawea below.

Well I'm here to tell you that even though I haven't competed in a GodZONE race yet - I am converted.  You could call me a true believer.  And how could this happen?

Pretty simple really - I just spent two weeks training in the South Island of New Zealand.  The Kiwis have always reckoned that NZ and in particular the Great South was God's Own country.  And you know what?  They are right!

Carey and I had the offer to stay with friends in Wanaka - so we decided that a short holiday in NZ would be a great reward for her suffering through and toughing out Chemo and Radiotherapy.

The word was - talk to the guys in DOC - the NZ version of our NPWS - "They'll get you sorted" was the common theme from our Kiwi friends.

So into the Wanaka office I strolled - the girl at the counter smiled and said - "How can I help you"?.  "I'd like a day walk/run that is uncomfortably long and difficult - about 20-30 km and steep - can you help me out"?  fully expecting her to think I was a naive idiot, wanna-be tourist and probably a significant rescue risk.  She said "  You need to speak with so and so - "he'll get you sorted".  And she was right - in next to no time I had two adventures planned.  Both of them challenging and difficult days out.  

They were very familiar with the GodZONE race - one of their employees was in the team that came second!  So they KNEW exactly what I was after!

Looking down onto the long ridge climb up to Pakatuhi Hut

And boy - did they deliver!  Prudence suggested I hire a PLB - going solo was daunting but the thought that I had a satellite backup was reassuring.  The DOC team - organised the PLB - activated it and sent me on my way - no questions asked.  The Kiwis "get adventure" - the basic premise is you can look after yourself and if you get into trouble - eventually someone will find you and if you're not good enough to survive - well that happens sometimes.  I love that attitude - pick your mission and commit to it AND get yourself out - self sufficiency is a Kiwi byword.

Down south the word often used to described the people who live and work here is staunch. It is very apt! 

Outing One:

Start - Lake Hawea climb 1000m straight up to Pakatuhi Hut - run the firetrail along the tops - find a fenceline and descend into Clearview Creek then "find" your way down to the road.  Carey would climb up the first ridge for exercise then descend the same route to pick me up at the end of the run - 5 hrs, 25km and 1600m of stout climbing later - it was beer o'clock.  I had just traversed some of the 2013 Godzone course.

Lord of the Rings country

Here's some words to describe the day - stellar, awesome, gobsmacking scenery, steep, getting steeper, ridiculously steep, exposed, majestic, mighty, beautiful, cornflower blue sky, no wind, absolutely quiet, mountains everywhere, solitary, no people, sheep, compelling, tough, rewarding, inspiring, difficult, hard on the knees, rugged cliffs abound and the defining comment?  

New Zealand IS Middle Earth!

And the best finish - a drink in the sun at a great Wanaka bar to cap off a big day out.  Oh and the DOC team were pleased to see me back so early - they didn't have to initiate a rescue.

Middle Earth - Lake Wanaka from the summit of Mt Roy

Outing Two:

Start - Lake Wanaka and the Sky line Traverse carpark. - climb 1300m straight UP to the summit of Mt Roy - "find" your way along a very exposed ridge/arete, negotiate some "slips" - a euphemism for a #$%@!ing scary piece of terrain - follow the track to Mt Alpha - then descend and descend the trail until you find yourself in sheep paddocks - cross them to the road-head and your pickup.

Bad weather on the way!

While the first trip was on a perfect blue sky day - this one was different.  Snow was forecast down 1100m - that added an edge to the outing - I was going to spend several hours about 1400m!  In fact, the most difficult part of the traverse was a 3 km section across a very exposed ridge top that connected the two peaks.  
The mission was on - get up an across as fast as I could  - I didn't fancy a whiteout, snow and negotiating "slips" in my running shoes - ASICS aren't known for their mountaineering qualities!

Kiwi humour on the summit of Mt Roy

Head down, legs stomping and bum up - 1 hr 40 mins later I had climbed 1300m onto the summit of Mt Roy.  The final 100m arete gave me my first dose of vertigo in over 30 years of rock climbing!  Clouds swirled around the summit.  Now the "tricky bit" was in front of me!  Get across the traverse before the whiteout closed in. Moving quickly - I arrived at the "slip", part of the mountain side had fallen into the valley - it was engine room to bridge time - focus and place your feet carefully - a slip would not have been recoverable. 

A big sigh of relief found me on the summit of Mt Alpha, still clear of cloud and the way off - now obvious - just follow the trail down to the sheep!

A 1000m lower, a lot warmer and 7km from the finish I met Carey walking up towards me.  It was a pleasure to see her out exercising and in the late afternoon sun we enjoyed the easy ramble down to the car! And the score? 25km - 6 hrs and 1800m of climbing.

Carey descending the Skyline Traverse with me!

Words fail me - it's hard to describe how stunning the Skyline Traverse was - it had it all - unbelievable scenery, cloud, mist, sun, cold, steeps, big exposure, fear, anxiety, commitment and reward.  A physical and mental outing.

I can now appreciate why Kiwis ARE the best adventure racers in the world!  They grow up in an environment that respects adventure, even relishes it and provides terrain that is stellar beyond belief for training and living!

Staunch is the word that very aptly describes them - especially those that live in the Southland.  I can't think of a better place to live and train!

                                Ohhh and New Zealand IS GodZONE!

Crossing the Grose

Crossing the Grose is one of my favourite training runs/trek!  It has everything you could want in a succinct package - it is ideal AR training.

Looking east from Lockleys Pilon Track into the Grose

Single track, fire trail, steep ascents and descents, lots of steps, river crossings, runnable terrain coupled with sections that can only be walked.  And most importantly it has outstanding scenery the entire way. A great reward for your sweat.  It can be hot, cold, raining and even snowing - so pick your poison! 
It comes nicely wrapped at 25 km - about half a day out.  

And it packs a lot of punch!

Dean on Lockleys Track

Having completed this outing on a number of occasions, it was time for a bit of new routing - this time we would start in Leura, run the Mt Hay road out to Lockleys Pilon Track, cross the tops and descend the Pilon into the Grose.  

David descending the Pilon into the Grose

Looking down the Grose to the mighty walls of Mt Hay

Turn left at the Blue Gum forest and head up to Junction Rock - make another left and begin the long climb out of the valley via Horse Track to Evans Look-out and to complete the crossing - a little trot along the cliff top track to Govetts Leap carpark and a beer at the Blackheath pub.

Grose River looking up at the west wall of Mt Banks

Dean and I tackled this route a couple of Sundays ago - a stunning Autumnal blue sky day, about 12C, no wind - perfect for a tough workout.  Six hours later and with the aide of a few Glow Worms, right on dark we made the car-park and a welcome pickup by Carey.  The pics below tell the story - another favourite route has been created!

Blue Gums in the upper Grose

Dean on the edge of the Grose

Looking back over the crossing - darkness looms

Three Glow worms later.......

Bungonia - 12 hr Rogaine

I've officially decided.  Rogaines are great AR training!  Where else can you - run or walk your guts out - crash through bush, climb steep hills, cross rivers - navigate in the light and dark - pick your route - test your skills, race to a clock, make strategic decisions on the fly, get a big feed at the end and have a bunch of fun? 

Well you could do an AR race but in the absence of one - then Rogaines are the answer!

A stomp around Bungonia with Robbo was no exception!  NSW Rogaine created an awesome course on the plateau above the Shoalhaven River.  About 60 CPs spread over about 50 sq kms.  A "relatively" flat open and fast course - absolutely delightful to run and trek through.  Navigation in daylight was a gift.  Night time was somewhat harder!

Robbo reckoned we could get through about 60 km in the 12 hrs but being old and testy I suggested that 40 km might be a more reasonable outing.  Part of the challenge of Rogaining is working out a route that will get you through as many CPs in the time allowed and return to the Hash House without incurring an overtime penalty - 10 points per minute late.  This can add up to a significant penalty if you screw up your timing!  Each CP is worth between 30 - 100 points.  Not surprisingly the higher the number the harder it is to get to that CP!

With 10 mins to race start we had a route plan and our goal was to stick to it - we would evaluate our effectiveness afterwards.  Clearly this was a good training hit-out for ARers - there were a number of GEO and XPD teams present - it was great to catch up with old mates and race the course together!

Tip number one for gumbies - always identify where you are on the map before race start.  After running off in the wrong direction and 15 minutes of "this doesn't look right" - we found ourselves on the map - and the race could now start!

Easy Nav and running

After this, we made no more mistakes for the next 12 hrs.  It was a pleasure navigating with Robbo - we worked in tandem with two sets of maps.  We nailed each CP and as dark closed we raced to get one more CP on a knoll before darkness fell and our speed was halved.  We sat down an had "dinner" this was the first time we had stopped in 6 hrs.

Now the real challenge began - the next 12 CPs would be difficult - one in particular - we debated whether or not to go for it - a 90 pointer at the end of a VERY convoluted ridge system.  Do we cut our losses - blow off the plan and go for an easier CP or do we toughen up and use it as hard Nav training for GEO?

Hard Nav training won out  - our plan was to micro navigate our way along a 1.5 km ridge with a mass of side ridges to confuse us!  Accurate topographical and compass work nailed the CP.  Now all we had to do was reverse it!  The next 10 CPs were all done on compass marches.  Because it was dark we walked the next 18 km on bearings.  So good was our accuracy that many times we literally walked onto the CP - after trekking for over 1 km on a fixed bearing!

We were the last team to cross the line at 12.01 am and with 1550 points - 6/18 in the mens and 11/44 in all classes.  We had covered 44km - the last 18km in the dark.

Terrific navigation and footwork training.  I love Rogaines!