Queen Charlotte Sound

We had planned to do a 3 day kayaking trip up the Queen Charlotte Sound which is in the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island. We drove most of the way up from Christchurch the night before. After camping in some random spot on the way up to Picton the night before we were supposed to start our trip we woke up to fairly stormy conditions which only got worse as we drove North.

After a quick chat to the guys we were going to be hiring our kayaks off (Sea Kayak Adventures in Anakiwa) we arranged to postpone the trip by a day as apparently the weather was supposed to clear by the afternoon.


Trees blocking part of the Queen Charlotte Drive. Some parts of the road were flooded and driveways seemed to have turned into waterfalls.
This seemed a bit suspect but turned out to be true so we made the most of a beautiful afternoon by heading out for a run along the track to the end of the Snout. From the end of the Snout you got an awesome view of the waters we would be kayaking in the following day.


The gravel road leading to the Snout track ahead.
The next day dawned beautiful and calm. I was so excited that I couldn't sit still on the whole drive over. We were shown our kayak (a SeaBear Packhorse) and given a few instructions, a map and a lifejacket and spray skirt while we packed our gear away in the compartments (you can pretty much take the kitchen sink with you!). We were then driven over to Ngakuta Bay where we began our kayaking adventure.


The kayaks all packed and ready to go at Ngakuta Bay. Ours is the one on the left.
Michael was in the back on steerage duty and navigation while I sat in the front in charge of pacesetting (and eating scroggin). It was pretty awesome to see the landscape around us from so low down in the water. The hills rise up incredibly steeply from the water covered in thick bush so most of it is not accessible except by sea.


We were making excellent time and thought we'd stop at Allports Island which is just out from Picton for lunch 'cause, well, it was an island and islands are cool! We did some studying of the map and decided we were tough enough to get out to Blumine Island for the night which I was very excited about!


Michael studying the map at our lunch stop on Allports Island.
It was a long paddle from Allports Island out to Blumine Island but fortunately the wind seemed to mostly be in our favour. The kayak is pretty stable so there isn't too much fear of tipping in but it can get quite exciting on big waves! I was pretty relieved to get to the campsite and pitch our tent for the night. There were heaps of wekas running around determined to steal your stuff which was pretty funny. We sat on the beach watching the sun slowly setting over the water which was pretty magical.


The following day we struggled out of bed feeling a bit sore and slowly got ourselves ready for the paddle ahead. First up though was a quick paddle round the corner to another bay on the island to explore some gun emplacements which was pretty cool.






The view from the room from one of the gun emplacements...you can see why they built here!
It was then time for a battle back across to the coast from Blumine Island with a strong headwind. I was in the back this time and on steerage which was a little scary because the waves would cause the rudder to turn the opposite direction to where I wanted it to go but I slowly got the hang of it (but Michael had to listen to me panicking for a while!). We finally made it into Ratimera Bay for a late lunch and some lazing in the sun.


Lunch stop at Ratimera Bay.
It was about 4:30pm when we finally got around to packing up again and paddling round to where we had planned to camp for the night. This next paddle was by far the hardest of the whole trip. Okay, the hardest paddle I've ever done by a long long way! There was an epic headwind on the headlands and there was about 5 minutes where it felt like we were going backwards no matter how hard we paddled. My paddle was getting caught in the wind and nearly taken out of my hands. It was quite scary and SO exhausting but somehow we got around the corner. If only it had gotten easier after that but it was still a real battle into the wind.

Arriving at Kumutoto Bay was such a relief. We were greeted by the guys who had started their trip at the same time as us which was awesome 'cause they helped us get the kayak ashore and seeing friendly faces when you are as exhausted as we were is pretty cool.


Standing on the jetty at Kumutoto Bay.
The campsite was pretty cool...all tucked away under the trees. And unlike the previous night there was no tap for water so we had to collect it from the two streams on either side of camp. It was a most magical place.


Our campsite amongst the trees at Kumutoto Bay.
After staying up quite late playing cards by candlelight with some of the others camping in the same spot I was exhausted so slept like a rock. We were a bit sluggish in the morning (and the sun was taking its time in arriving) but I was relieved to find it was much calmer than the day before.


Kumutoto Bay the following morning


Setting off into beautiful calm water on the morning of the third day.
We paddled off for the final day of our kayak adventure at a much more leisurely pace than the previous two days which was pretty cool. I was, again, in the back steering and was definitely feeling like I'd got it mastered.


Loving it!


Taking in the awesome scenery.
We actually managed to be paddling faster than a few of the smaller yachts sailing around in the Sound which was quite funny. Being so much calmer it also gave me more of a chance to really study the landscape around me. It is incredibly beautiful. If only there weren't so many boats!


This would be great if I wasn't on steerage duty!
We went round a few headlands until finally paddling into Mistletoe Bay for lunch...along with a whole lot of other kayakers who seemed to come from no where. It was the first tidal beach we'd encountered too so we had to make sure we pulled our boat out of the water enough so it didn't float away on us.


Lunch stop on the third day at Mistletoe Bay along with a few other kayakers.
After lunch we set off and stopped at one more bay for a little bit of a relax in the sun and also a bit of a look at the start of the Queen Charlotte track which you can both walk and mountain bike on. It was so peaceful I would have loved to have stayed for longer (another night?!) but we had to press onwards.


From our final stop it was a fairly short paddle back to Anikiwa to meet our van but it was quite exciting to surf with the waves and then dodge all the moored boats. I was pretty tired when we finally made it ashore but I was pretty sad the trip was over because it had been so awesome. I can't wait to do another kayak trip! Maybe Abel Tasman or Doubtful Sound next time?


The end of our trip...Anikiwa.

I live in a beautiful country

More to come...

SummerNav - Western Springs

This was the last SummerNav event for the year and also the last orienteering event for year...it's crazy how fast Christmas is arriving! Anyway, my street is actually on this map so it was always going to be a little bit exciting to have an event here. It also meant I got a nice little 5 minute warmup on the way to the event (and I was so hot by the time I arrived the thought of doing a course was a little crazy - humidity is going through the roof at the moment).

Unlike some previous events here, it was definitely a runners course which didn't really suit me. None of the usual scrambling around for ages in the bush wondering where the hell you were or the legs crossing over the river which either meant getting soaked or taking forever to go round. Oh well, still good fun.


I didn't have any speed in the legs tonight (the heat and humidity probably played a big part) but at least I could keep running. The first legs were around the lake then we went into the stadium where there was a rather cruel control at the top of the hill. Then #8 and #9 were in the dodgy bush bit that really needs remapping. Then it was off to the other side of the map with some fairly straight forward legs through a couple of schools. Then it was back over to the far side of the map and a quick loop round the lake.

I felt really slow but managed to cover the ground a bit quicker than expected. Felt like I was melting out there though. Now to start some proper running training for next year!

SummerNav - Epsom Campus

The last time I ran on this map (or at least the Epsom campus bit) was a Nationals sprint race a couple of years ago. My big memory is that it is a maze of buildings and impassable fences! It was blisteringly hot, even in the early evening and there were a lot of street legs to make up the distance on course 1. Fun times. As usual, Allan, Owen and I all turned up around the same time. Allan was first, then Owen and I started about 2 minutes after that. Got confused in the buildings on the first control which is always a brilliant start but things picked up after that and I had caught up to Owen by #8.


We both proceeded to run round in circles for the next few controls with the buildings causing a little bit of grief! Then it was a long leg out to Mt Eden. #15 wasn't in the right place so the group of us that had eventuated at that point just gave up and headed off to the next one. That happens at these events sometimes and it's really not much point bashing around for too long if you know exactly where you are. It was then a bit more street and building nav then up the side of Mt Eden where I finally managed to break away from Owen again.

Another long leg to the final couple of controls which were in the web of buildings again (and again I didn't exactly have the best route choice). Oh, and then a sprint finish...I was pretty much dead by the end! Got a bit mauled by blackberry in one patch of bush which is always fun. The little kid at the finish who saw all the blood kept asking me if I was sure I was okay! So cute.

SummerNav - Craigavon

The Craigavon map is probably my favourite summer series map. It's deceptively complex despite being made up of tiny blocks of park with stretches of street inbetween. I was still not feeling that fabulous (still tired and had started feeling nauseous and dizzy quite a lot) but it's course 1 or nothing baby! As per last week, Owen, Allan and I turned up at the start together so we set off at minute intervals with me starting first. I made a few crazy mistakes and stupid route choices early on starting at #5 where I must have been standing right on top of the control but didn't see it so went searching for it!! Then I had a bad route choice to #8 which cost me a lot of time.


Allan caught me on the way to #12 so he must have made even more mistakes at the start than I did (turned out he had a disaster at #1) 'cause he runs a lot faster than I do. We ran together for a while which was quite fun. Together we had heaps of trouble trying to find #15 on the mythical stream bend...what stream bend?! Then at #17 he took off as it flattened out (he hates hills) and I was way too tired to even try and keep up. I still found myself walking most of the hills...and there were a lot but they are pretty steep. Lame but I think I'm not quite recovered yet plus I haven't done very much running in months! I did beat Owen by miles though!!

SummerNav - Point England

What was I thinking letting myself get talked into running course 1 only 2 days after the World Rogaine Champs?! I just set off at a fairly casual jog with Allan, Owen and Steve setting off in minute intervals in front of me.


I was reduced to a walk with a bit of jogging after #12...any slight hill and I was completely done. Oh man, if I could have finished by then it would have been great! But then I caught up to Owen at about #14 so that meant I had to run again! I was so dead by the end that it was ridiculous (Owen and I raced each other across the field to the finish). Nice to see that my legs sort of still work though!

World Rogaine Champs - Cheviot

I've talked about what a rogaine is before, but just to recap, you have a certain amount of time to find as many controls as you can and there are penalties for each minute or part minute you are late back. Controls are worth different amounts of points depending on difficulty. For the World Rogaine Champs you have 24 hours, from midday Saturday until midday Sunday, with points ranging between 10 and 100 points. Once you'd registered, you had 3 hours with the map to work out your plan of attack.


There were about 250 teams and each team had to have between 2 and 5 members. I was racing with Andy who is a Canterbury local so he'd actually done a rogaine in the Cheviot area before...very handy! He'd also actually done a 24 hour rogaine before...whereas my longest was 12 hours!! We actually worked quite well together in planning our route, both thinking along the same lines which was useful. We decided it wasn't going to work to come back to the hash house so we were going to keep going over the whole 24 hours...or at least that was the plan.


Anxiously waiting in the start pen
I was pretty nervous before the start. After all, 8 and a half weeks before the race I got a stress fracture on my foot and had been off it entirely for 6 weeks (just cycling and mountain biking). Only a few days after being back on my feet I'd done an 8-hour rogaine and it had felt pretty disastrous and my feet were in pain after only 4 hours! And the South Island orienteering champs the weekend before had been a bit uncomfortable. Probably not surprising that I was anxious!

We all filed into the holding pen after getting our bands reset and waited nervously during the final instructions. And then we were off! There didn't feel like any hurry...after all, there was another 24 hours to go!! There was a huge queue of teams at the first control we went to so we probably should have run there to beat the rush but after that we never had any problems. It's amazing how quickly the field spreads out with everyone taking entirely different routes. I was feeling heaps better once we were moving and decided the best idea would be to, well, just not think about my feet!


The first hill
My hope that the rain wouldn't come (despite it clearly being on its way), it arrived not long after we started...nothing too bad, just a little drizzle which was actually quite refreshing, but the sky was definitely looking dark. We'd only been going an hour when Andy encountered a problem with his shoes. The inner sole kept slipping inside, probably caused by being so wet, and no tape was going to hold them. He struggled along for a little while before ditching them altogether and wearing 2 pairs of socks instead!


A local farmer keeping his cattle at bay as several hundred mad people stampede across his paddock not long after the start!
Our first stop was at about 6pm a the drinks station high above the coast. We refilled our bladders and I had my first portion of satay tofu and rice. It was a struggle to get even such a tiny portion down but I definitely felt better afterwards. We didn't stop for long though, maybe 15 minutes? We met up with another team at the waterstop who traveled down the hill towards the coast with us for a little while but we split before the next control when we took a different route (and got there quite a lot faster as it turns out when we encountered about 3 hours later!).


Rolling hills...pretty standard
Everything was going pretty well and we were working well as a team, especially on the fences which we had down pat. Want to know more about the fences (it felt like we crossed hundreds of them during the race)? Go here...these were our official instructions. We were finding controls without any real problem and making okay speed especially considering the terrain (it was a lot steeper than I had expected although we had chosen the steepest and roughest side of the map to start). We encountered Tim and Tane (fellow orienteers and Andy's flatmates) a couple of times in the first 6 hours with Tim looking worse for wear. We ended up having to give him some salt and electrolyte tablets at one point. But other than that we didn't really encounter many teams at all.


Tim and Tane
It was just on dark as we were trying to find #45 but with no luck. It felt like we searched every possible gully in the area. It was fully dark by 9pm so we only had our headlights but even then you couldn't see very far as the mist was pretty thick in places. The weather was also starting to pack in even more as we gave up and started climbing the hill up to #83. I think we both felt pretty defeated after that so thankfully we found the next few controls no problem.


Fairly typical countryside on the eastern side of the highway
It was about midnight when we got to #63. We then slithered down through the mud to a flat area by the stream under the cover of the bush. There was another team also resting here and we joined them for break number 2 (and my second portion of satay tofu and rice...oh yeah!). I changed my socks and put on another layer of polypro under my jacket as well as my hat and buff. It was definitely getting colder...and more miserable as the rain had got more persistent.


Looking down to the wild coastline.
We knew getting to the next control was going to be tricky but it was way worse than we ever would have imagined! We thought we'd found the gap between the two cliffs but with the darkness, rain and mist it was really too hard to tell so we started to head up. The grass seemed to vanish and be replaced by mud. My shoes didn't have the best of grip and there were moments when I thought I might go sliding down the hill. There was no way I was going to look down because it was way too frightening. This was probably my one and only mini meltdown but we got through it and got to the top (never been so glad to be on my hands and knees in the grass!). Then the control (#75), a little further along, seemed to be impossible to find. We encountered another team looking too who were also stuck. It was bitterly cold and the wind and rain had really picked up by then. I was beginning to freeze and getting pretty grumpy! We were just about to give up when Andy decided he needed to change the batteries in his headlamp and he walked about 2 metres away and had one final glance...and there was the control, about 10 metres from where we'd been standing!! When we called out to the other team, they thought we were kidding!


Punching in...it will register the time we arrived at each control electronically on our wristbands and since we both had to punch each control it shows that we both went there.
Then it was down the ridgeline to Gore Bay (via a couple of controls). I'd run out of water so we were hoping to find something down there otherwise we'd have to run a few ks up the road to the waterstop and back and we really didn't want to have to do that. Thankfully when we got down to the bay we found a small campground with an outdoor kitchen area (and toilets!!!! You would not believe how awesome toilets are...!) and we filled up our bladders and sheltered for a few minutes under the cover as the rain just bucketed down. A couple of other teams came and joined us too. Oh yeah, and there was even a light we could turn on. Bliss! But seriously, if we'd been closer to the hash house at this point I think we would have considered bailing...that's how awful the weather was.


This was about as pleasant as it looks...about 3:30am and soaking wet but at least we found a little bit of shelter, and some water, at Gore Bay
Then suddenly, at just before 4am and as we stepped out from under our shelter at Gore Bay, the rain stopped! It was like a miracle and we both felt energised again. The next few controls were pretty easy as we walked up the road and across gently rolling farmland. You didn't really even need torchlight on the road which was cool. It was pretty much daylight by 5am (well, light enough to see without needing your headlights).

Just after 6am we got to #82 then trouped up to the track above into the shelter of the forest for our last real stop and "breakfast" (my last portion of satay tofu and rice) and another change of the socks which were soaked through. My feet didn't look too good but never mind. Not long to go!


6am "breakfast" stop...only 6 hours to go!
As the sun came up the weather seemed to be clearing up too which really was about time. My feet were getting too sore for jumping over fences any more though so I was reduced to throwing my pack over the fence and squeezing through the middle wires. We also seemed to be making some silly navigational errors too. Any chance I got I would sit down, even for a couple of seconds, just to get off my feet. The pain was pretty intense. Andy was struggling getting up the hills. I was struggling getting down them. But somehow there were even some controls we jogged to!


It's pretty steep
Once we got down to the road from #37 and made our way along to #11 my feet hurt so much I had a permanent grimace on my face and was pretty much just forcing myself onwards. I don't think they have ever hurt that much, well, ever! The final bit to the finish fro #11 was like torture but knowing what you'd just been through and that it would be over soon was plenty to keep me going. It was so awesome to walk onto the court and see the finish banner and all the people and know we had done it.


Finished...yay!
We crossed the line after 23 hours, 35 minutes and 30 seconds (those seconds count man!). Michael was there to greet me (with his camera) at the finish which was awesome but I really just couldn't wait to sit down and take off my shoes!


Andy and I
At the finish we discovered Tim and Tane were already back after having to pull out after about 15 hours. Sounds like Tim had a rough time out there. He hadn't taken enough gear or the right kind of food and had ended up getting way too cold and wet to continue...and they weren't the only team who ended up in this position and had to pull out. This made me even more thankful and proud that we'd pushed through.


My feet hurt! Thankfully for you viewers my feet look washed out here so you can't see how terrible they looked by the end. 24 hours in wet shoes and socks isn't pretty.
We were all starting to get just a little bit anxious with 10 minutes to go until midday as Chris Forne and his team mate (Marcel Hagener) hadn't got back yet. If any kiwi team was going to win it was going to be these guys. Turns out they had plenty of time to spare, arriving a few minutes later. They ended up winning by such a huge margin it was ridiculous! Chris is a god!


Chris Forne (and Marcel). Chris is a god!
I was so tired by the time I finally got home that I thought I would just fall asleep but it didn't happen. Probably too much going on in my head! My legs (mostly the ankles, feet and thighs) felt in absolute agony...the pain seemed to get worse after a few hours of finishing so by the time I was home I was so uncomfortable and had to get Michael to help me to the bathroom! Having a shower was saved until I actually felt like I could keep myself steady long enough! I didn't fall asleep until 8:30 (just after I finally managed to have a shower!!) that night which meant I was up for 38 hours. No wonder it took so long to feel like I wasn't tired all the time!


Using Michael as a prop so I could stand up without keeling over!
I have to say though, I survived a lot better than expected and I actually really enjoyed it...okay, apart from the dead of the night when the weather was just plain awful! Now I can't wait to do another one! Does that mean I'm crazy?