The Return of the TongMaster

With such good weather since we have been back, it's no surprise that one of our first purchases has been a brand new spanking BBQ. And it is no rickety Argos cheapo like we got for Rich & Titch's place back in London (though you can't expect much for £50). This is the Broil King Royal 1, somewhat more expensive, but with a lifetime guarantee. Tom & Rae bought the same model (we got a discount for buying two) and we took theirs for a test drive last night, the BK putting on a great spread. I'm looking forward to getting ours up this weekend (moving day tomorrow) and getting that tong-grip back into shape.

Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 2007

Well, maybe hell isn't so bad after all....

As I certainly expected to go there on Saturday. As most of you will know I once again made the crazy decision to compete in the 160km ride around Lake Taupo less than three weeks after returning in the country. In fact, this attempt was even crazier than in 2004, as not only had I not been on a bike in four months, but I also been filling myself out on Argentinian steak and Malbec and had a base fitness of zero.

And the early signs were not good. Picking up the bike on the day we flew back into Auckland from Santiago, the 11km ride back to Rae & Tom's place on the North Shore was much more difficult than it really should have been. But I toughed it out like the stubborn GrandMaster you know me to be, getting on the bike in each of the first five days we were back. But despite the belligerence, I was having serious doubts that maybe I was going too far this time. Last weekend was a big test, heading up to the top of the Waitakeres and back to complete a 100km ride, and though it was in no way easy (the body was very sore for the second half of the ride), completing it did help to repair the confidence. I also managed to follow this up with a 60km ride on the Sunday, hoping that I would have been able to convert 160km over two days the preceding weekend into 160km in one day a week later. Of course, distractions didn't help the preparations either. While it was great having Mike & Iris up for the weekend, the seven pints I had at Galbraiths the night before my 100km probably wasn't. And I am sure Lance never had four pints, a large glass of wine and a dram the Wednesday night before the big event. But then Lance didn't have Tom to lead him astray either....

So driving down to Taupo on Friday, there was no disguising the trepidation I was feeling about the next day. Though I did have the wisdom gained from the training-less ride from three years a go - food, food, and more food. So the reunion with Stu and the rest of the Clan that night was interspersed with quantities of pasta not normally seen outside a Sicilian wedding. Of course, we also couldn't break with training habits - Stu, Steven and I enjoying three beers as we put the legs up (Stu bringing me some choice selections of NZ beers that have brewed their way onto the shelves since I have been away).

After going to bed with the reassuring knowledge that Jim had told us that we wouldn't have any rain the next day, it was somewhat disconcerting hearing the sound of rain pitter-pattering on the roof once I had turned the drone of the alarm off at 6am. But the show must go on, and we dragged ourselves out of bed and started each of our routines for getting prepared - all very different. Stevens banana and maple syrup on toast for breakfast; Stu, always one for extremes, just taking with him 15 shots of leppin squeezy for sustenance of the ride; and me trying to stuff the contents of a Pak'n'Save pallet into my back pockets. After the usual fluffing about, it was of somewhat a relief to us all that we could put the jackets away, with the drizzle having pitter-pattered itself away elsewhere leaving what turned out to be perfect conditions for riding - nice a cool and dead calm.

Cruising down the hill to join the other 10,000 riders at the start line, little did we know that the Clan Father himself was knocking on our door wondering where we had got to. Fortunately I am just a member of the Clan, and not a son of our patriarch, and not the one who said Dave would have left to go down to the start line already. But I didn't have much luck down there either. Obviously not wanting me to be sitting on their wheel around the Lake, Stu and Steven gave me the slip and I found myself heading towards the back of the queue with the type of riders I would normally pay scorn on, but who I was now hoping wouldn't leave me for dead at the first climb.

After crawling up the start line, the wait was finally over and the ride had begun. The first 20kms is generally always the toughest - a slow but consistent climb of 300m while your heart rate hasn't had the chance to settle yet. And though I wasn't charging along, it was very frustrating being surrounded by other riders who didn't understand the benefits of trying to ride in a group or using the downhills. Nevertheless, no one was more surprised than myself to see that at the 80km mark only 2hr40mins has passed on the clock. I wasn't feeling great, but I wasn't near passing out like three years previous, and I also had the knowledge that the second half is easier than the first. And over the second half I seemed to feel stronger and stronger. After the climb over the Kuratau Hill, there is only the infamous Hatepe Hill left and a lot of flat riding around the eastern bays of Lake Taupo. The key here is find a good group and I managed to imbed myself in the middle of a huge pack that, while it wasn't going, made that section of the ride a hell of a lot easier. With 30kms to go and only Hatepe Hill as the only challenge left, I brought out the secret weapons - sugar and caffeine. I knocked the top off my bottle of flat coke and shot back my caffeine gel, and they certainly did the trick, as I felt better going up Hatepe that the time when I did have a training base, passing plenty of riders who must have had hours of training over me. After rewarding myself with a Mars Bar at the top, I let the sugar and caffeine take me home, finding a new source of energy and charging home over the last 25kms at nearly 40kph. Charging over the final 2kms, I got plenty of stares from riders I was passing as I was practically chuckling to myself, incredulous at how good I felt.

Crossing the line in the ridiculous time of 5hr18min, I can't remember having felt so good at the end of such an event. And I still can't believe it now. That is only 10 minutes slower than the first time I did the ride with months of training under my belt, and nearly half an hour faster than my previous effort with no training - though that time I collapsed on the grass and couldn't move, this time I could have jumped back on the bike (though I think that was more in spirit than in body). Of course, the conditions were definitely a factor. You couldn't help but hear other riders around the finish talking about how they had had a personal bests. But this in no way should take away from the achievements of my fellow Clan members. After five previous attempts, Steven and Dave both managed to not only break the 6 hour mark, but smash it. Steven bettering his previous best time by 50 minutes -coming in at 5hr12min, and the Clan Father making it in at 5hr38min - I wouldn't mind being able to do that at 69! But Stu was the star of the day for me, flying around in a blistering 4hr46min.

So there were plenty of grins around the dinner table that night, and where all the talk is usually of whether or not each of us will do it next year, it was how we could go faster next year. Though it would be hard to believe we could get conditions any better. And to celebrate, we told many tales from the course over some more beers and a little whiskey until the early hours of the morning.

Leaving Taupo the next day on a bright and hot sunday (there were a few sighs of relief that we weren't riding out on that morning), I paused to think that I will be back here in just over three months for entirely greater challenge - the Ironman. Now that I've got my cycling legs back, I just need to do the same for the swimming and the running. I've still got a fair bit of weight to lose though, and fitness to gain. But I can't dismiss the huge lift this ride has done for my confidence.

It's a big....task

Can this man complete an Ironman in three and a half months? Stayed tuned to this channel to find out....

P.S. Obviously I hope to have given birth to the twins - Malbec and Bife de Chorizo - before then.

The South America Chronicles - Dieciséis & Ultimo

It’s taken me a while to post the final blog for the South American Chronicles, but it is so exciting being back in NZ it has been hard to find the time. OK, that’s not true, but lets get back to those last fond memories….

It was our last night in Argentina, and what else could possibly be on the agenda than one final Argentinean steak. Though, after treating ourselves to such fine food over the past couple of days, we restricted ourselves to sharing one (massive) Bife de Chorizo. And we were very pleased with our last steak, as it was one of the better Bife de Chorizos we had had.

After a bit of a late night – we only stayed out to 4am, but the bar at the hostel we were staying at, that we were told closed at 2am, kicked on to 6am – we had to get up in the morning to say farewell to Argentina and face the border crossing with Chile once again. And if we thought it was bad three days earlier trying to get into Argentina, it was much worse going the other way. In all, we spent a ridiculous five hours at the border, most of that just sitting in the queue. It was so bad that I actually saw they had a big news bulletin on it the next night. Despite the slowness of the passport control queues (you have to go through both the Argentinean emigration and the Chilean immigration), it is the baggage check that Chile goes through that really slows you down. You would think that with it being the last day of a long weekend where half of Chile went over to Mendoza they would put more than one person on to check all the bags of people traveling on buses and minivans! And then the bag check is ridiculous anyway, as I forgot that I had my backpack at my feet and it never got checked - so what’s the point if they are going to be so useless about it? The only one who looked like he had any brains in the whole outfit was the one with ‘Detective’ on his jacket – and that was the drug-sniffer dog. So after a frustrating day spent waiting high up in the Andes we finally made our back into Chile, the only benefit of the delay being the sunset over all the vineyards as we headed towards Santiago.

Generally, Santiago itself isn’t talked up much, and we only had the one night and the next day there before we flew back to NZ. But after our short time there, we think it doesn’t deserve its bad rap. We found it to be a pretty cool and chilled out city, one where you could easily relax in the good restaurants, bars and cafes that are about. Our last day was beautifully sunny and hot – which always helps – and we had a casual day wandering around the city. There aren’t a lot of tourist sites, but there are plenty of nice areas to just hang out. In the morning we climb up the Cerro Santa Lucia, a 70m high cone of volcanic rock right in the heart of the city, offering superb views of Santiago’s setting right at the base of the Andes, surrounded by mountains and hills and peppered with these volcanic cones of differing heights. Santiago also has some very impressive architecture (Mike, you would be creaming your jeans around here), with what seems to be buildings of every era amidst some impressive skyscraper design. On a high from a Starbucks coffee (sounds lame I know, but it seemed an oasis when we spied it across the road) and sushi for lunch, we had a casual afternoon, not doing too much except taking in the city.

This last afternoon finished most bizarrely however. After spending three months backpacking around South America, we found ourselves relaxing in the plush surroundings of the Santiago Ritz Carlton. By way of explanation, I had been in search of a particular beer – those of the Szot microbrewery – which are the highest rated of Chilean beers. Oddly, the only place to have them in Santiago seems to be either the Sheraton or the Ritz Carlton. So there we were, sitting back in leather chairs in our shorts and sandals, me sipping on the delicious Szot beers and Anna on her Pisco Sours, listening to the sweet sounds of 80s music....I heard more 80s music in Chile and Argentina than I had in a long time. I’m not sure what the fascination is, but it is difficult to picture these Salsa and Tango dancing South Americans grooving away to Simply Red and Tears for Fears (I think I’ve heard enough of that Mick Hucknall to last me a lifetime!).

Our last night in South America finished much in the same spirit of the previous few weeks – gorging ourselves on food and getting drunk. Probably not the best preparation for a 13 hour flight, especially when that flight is delayed five hours! Yes, our ‘luck’ with flying continued right to the end – I worked out that of the 10 flights we had in our journey, only 4 actually went as per schedule (one never left at all). So our last few hours in South America were spent lounging in the Santiago airport, not even being able to make the most of the free food and drink as we had topped out earlier that evening. The only relief being watching the fiery Latin Americans have a go at the poor guys behind the counter and then at each other, and finding out that The Killers were on our same flight and then watching them get more and more pissed as they walked back and forwards from the bar to the smoking lounge.

The flight itself went very smoothly and it probably wasn’t a bad thing touching down back in NZ at 9am rather than 4am. Especially for Tom who came to pick us up! The first few days have felt very strange – made much easier by catching up with Rae & Tom and lots of drinking. We’ve also caught up on all those NZ goodies like Fush’n’Chups, Munce Pies, and the great cafes. We still walk around thinking “where are all the people” (but then see them all sitting in their cars on the motorway). Everyone is so friendly (except when they are in a car again) and we even know what they are saying to us, and the weather has been great. We now just have the fun tasks of finding somewhere to live and returning to work….

What a great three months it was traveling through South America – so many fun times. I can't recommend it to anyone more than enough, especially Argentina, which now battles away with Italy as being our favourite country. I certainly hope we make it back there again.

From my extensive Spanish vocabulary of eight and a half words, this is the South American Chronicles signing off….
Adios

Beer Scene - Chile

As with Argentina, I did have some expectation from the beers that would be on offer in Chile. However, in Chile the quality end of the craft brewing scene was more difficult to get to. This was mostly down to the domination that a few of the bigger craft breweries had over the whole scene - most particularly the Kunstmann Brewery. Not that their success shouldn't be applauded, as it is a welcoming sight to see so many cafes and restaurants offering a craft brewery as the source of their draught beers, rather than a tasteless national brand. But I do think that this might be making it harder for some of the smaller brewers to get their beers out in the public.

Nevertheless, there was plenty of variety on offer in Chile if you searched for it - though there seemed to be less experimentation with different styles than I saw in Argentina. In fact, it wasn't really until my last day in Chile that I was wowed by Chilean beer. And that was due to the magnificent Szot beers. I only had the chance to taste a couple of them, but the Szot Stout has gone down already as one of the finest beers I have ever tasted - it was like drinking black gold. It's a shame they are so difficult to find - I had to go to the Santiago Ritz Carlton to taste these - and even more of a shame that I could only have one.

Beer Scene - Argentina

What a turn up this was. I knew heading south was going to be an improvement on what I had seen and drunk before, but I wasn't quite prepared for the selection and variation of what would be on offer in Argentina.

There are the bigger brands that dominate of course - but even there is quite a bit of competition so that there is some choice. But it is the number and quality of the craft breweries that surprised me, as well as their availability. At many a bar, cafe or restaurant they will have a selection of artesanal cervezas, some more than others. I spent a couple of enjoyable nights at the Antares bar in Buenos Aires, their beers of mixed quality, but the bar itself a very cool and seemingly popular place. But the highlight is most definitely even further south in the Lake District. This is clearly the craft brewing capital on Argentinean with more different breweries than even a commited beer rater like myself could get through. There is a definite German influence in the brewing and I even came across a couple of rauchbiers (smoked beers). And I didn't even get down to the town of El Bolson, where I have been told ever man and his dog brew their own beer. It certainly was a lot of fun trying all the different beers Argentina has to offer and visiting the various brew pubs (like Blest and Berlina) - but best of all, there is plenty of scope for returning and trying many more.

The South America Chronicles - Quince

Just two days now to the big departure, and it is all arriving to fast, as it always does with such things. But we can´t say the three months have gone too fast and there hasn´t much we haven´t done that we wanted to.

So a week ago we departed on the Three Lakes Crossing and did so on a fine and sunny Lakes District morning - much to our relief. It was a bit of a slow start to the day - we had forgot how much we disliked being part of groups - they are so slow to get organised and moving. The highlights of the crossing is of course the three lakes, and it was a pretty awesome way to see them. The first, Lago Nahuel Huapi, is a huge glacier-formed laked, flanked by towering snow-capped peaks and watered by numerous waterfalls after the rainy weather (so there was benefits at least). Anna and I braved the cold and sat up deck for the whole two hour cruise, though frustratingly our fellow voyages seemed more interested in feeding the seagulls than taking in the awesome scenery. I mean, come on people, bloody seagulls are everywhere. But there they all were, taking idiotic photos - or more idiotic video cams - of people holding out crackers to seagulls, and erupting with laughter when a seagull came down and took it. You would think their US$170 would be better donated elsewhere.

After letting the fools head off like lemmings for lunch at the over-priced and rather unappealing buffet, we had our picnic lunch side before departing on what was the highlight of the journey for me. This was the crossing of the very small Lago Frias. This Lake is very remote, and one of the only ways to see it is by this crossing. It is also called the ´Emerald Lake´ on account of its very green waters - apparently caused by the minerals fed into by the waters of the surrounding glaciers. The trip was only 30 minutes, by crossing the still green waters, completed enclosed by the surrounding mountains was unforgettable. And there were no seagulls!

When then had to bus over into Chile, through snow-lined rain forest (a weird combination) before starting the final crossing over Lagos Todos Los Santos. Unfortunately, it was here that they had problems with the boat and we ended up departing over an hour late (Argentina 1 - Chile 0), by which time the weather had turned and we were covered by dark cloud and drizzle (Argentina 2 - Chile 0). It was a real shame, as Todos Los Santos is suppose to be one of the more spectacular lakes in the Chilean Lake District, which green waters and surrounded by three volcanoes. But unfortunately we didn´t have any light to see the waters and the volcanoes were shrouded in cloud. So it was a bit of a disappointing end to the day, but we still enjoyed it.

We spent that night at Puerta Varas, which again is suppose to have great views of a volcano across its lake. But we still got a look around what is a pretty weird area of Chile. Back in the 19th century, about 10000 Germans emigrated to the Chilean Lake District, and their presence is still very obvious. Lots of German architecture and every second street name is Otto-something-or-rather. Every town in the region will also have a German Club (where only German is spoken), a German school, and a Lutheran church - so it is all a bit strange in the middle of South America.

It was big regrets the next morning - and it wasn´t the still dreary weather - when after buying our bus tickets to Valdivia on the Chilean coast, we wandered past a big Oktoberfest tent that had been going on for the past three days. We must have missed it by half a block the night before and now we were due to leave in half an hour. There were some serious thoughts about flagging our bus and staying for another day, but with an ever reducing amount of time left on our trip and had to regrettably leave the Oktoberfest behind.

Valdivia isn´t a huge tourist attraction, and we were mostly using it as a base for exploring the northern part of the Chilean Lake District, but it did have one thing going for it, its seafood. There is a large seafood market there everyday alongside its river (which opens out into the Pacific Ocean), it was an impressive site, especially the huge mussels which were of NZ size (causing much excitement after having been submitted to those pathetic things in Europe). And all around the market are Pelicans, Cormorants, and these huge sea lions, some the size of walruses. Of course, we had to indulge, and in the short time we were in Valdivia we went to the seafood restaurants alongside the market three times - the ceviches being very good.

As I mentioned, from Valdivia we explored the northern part of the Chilean Lake District, hiring a car and heading up there for two nights. Much to our joy, on our drive up there the weather finally started to improve and we got our first glimpse of the renown volcanoes. Along the stretch of the Chilean Lake District there is suppose to be a volcano every 30kms, and now we good see Volcano Villarica towering above the lake of the same name, with another volcano peaking above its shoulder. There are quite awesome sights, perfectly formed conical volcanoes, covered in snow and reflecting off the surrounding lakes. We decided to treat ourselves and spent the two nights in a lakeside cabin, complete with fireplace (which came in handy) and deck overlooking the lake.

The first night we tortured another little car by taking it up into the mountains where there was a natural thermal spring that is open all night. It had two natural rocky pools, one with hot water and one with cold, and we spent a couple of hours hopping between the two - trust me, you needed to go in the cold pool. There was hardly anybody there, and we had the last half an hour or so there completely to ourselves, only the river that runs beside it to keep us company.

The next day we decided it was about time to get ourselves some exercise and planned on making a hike up to three lakes in a nearby National Park. Of course, in typical Sam & Anna fashion we had done no research on what this would involve, or looked at a weather report! So after a late start (it is very hard to get up when you finally have a comfortable bed) and visiting a waterfall on the way in the morning, we didn´t get away on our hike until 1.30pm. But it was warm and sunny and the hike was only suppose to be about a 10km round trip. However, what we didn´t know was that the track would be very muddy and that we would be climbing above the snow line! So after having our picnic lunch halfway up the trail, we still hoped to make it to the first lake, all the time that everybody else was heading the other way, and most were wearing gaiters. Not far from the top of the ridge, the snow that was just covering the track from time to time now was a blanket and there was no more track. It was also at this point that it started to drizzle. There was much umming and arring about whether we should continue, and I finally decided that, ignoring my common sense, I wasn´t going to be defeated by the elements once again. I left the bag and Anna behind and scrambled up a snowy bank, which was more suited to crampons and ice axe than my boots and bare hands. But I was well rewarded, as at the top of the ridge was a narrow alpine lake, surround by the snow and trees and feeding off the cliff in a waterfall. After a couple of quick snaps for posterity sake, I footed back to Anna, mostly sliding back down the aforementioned slope of snow. By this time, the drizzle was now rain and we still had a one and a half hour walk back down to the car in front of us. So we had to negotiate the snow and the mud again, accompanied now by little rivers running down the track. This was a good test for our Goretex jackets and boots - which came out of it really well. By the time we got back to the car though, we were pretty cold and wet - but after settling down in front of our fire back at our cabin we could then reflect on what had been a really good day.

Our final day we spent driving back through the Lake District to Valdivia, where we were catching an overnight bus (in style again, of course) to Santiago. We passed many more picturesque lakes, which would have been even more picturesque if the top of their volcanoes hadn´t been hidden behind cloud again. But is was still enjoyable driving, amidst countryside that has a very strong resemblance to New Zealand, with a lot of the trees, scrubs and ferns looking very similar. Which, I guess, isn´t surprising if you think that millions of years ago these two pieces of land were probably side by side. Arriving back in Valdivia we had time to make a quick drive out to the coast to look over the Pacific Ocean - thinking how strange it is that we would be on the other side of it the same time next week - and one last seafood meal.

Arriving in Santiago, the plan was to jump onto a bus and head across the border again to Mendoza. However, much panic ensued when every bus company or minibus company said they had now free seats to Mendoza that day - and there are a lot of them. It was by chance that we happened to be at a desk of a particular minibus company when they must have decided to put an extra trip on an managed to get ourselves seats. It is a spectacular drive over the Andes, but such enjoyment was cut short when we hit the border crossing. The queue of cars must have stretched for a mile, and though we got to bypass this because we were on a bus/minibus - it still took over two hours to get through! By the time we arrived in Mendoza we were looking forward to dumping our stuff, having a shower and then heading out for some Argentinean steak. We should have known something was up before now, but it wasn´t until we called around for somewhere to stay that we found out that it was a Chilean long weekend and most of Chile comes over to Mendoza. So needless to say, we found it very difficult to find somewhere to stay. We ended up having to take rooms in two different hostels over the three nights we wouldn´t normally stay at.

And now it is our last night in Mendoza, and despite the troubles in getting here we have managed to treat ourselves to good couple of days. Surprisingly Mendoza isn´t a attractive wine town. It is in fact a city, attractive enough in itself with tree-lined streets and many plazas, but most of the actual vineyards are quite far away from the city, and the wineries that are in town are all in what is quite an industrialised area. So, again in typical Sam & Anna fashion, we have ignored the normal touristy things around here like visiting wineries and tours and fine wined and dined ourselves. We have had two of our best lunches ever, yesterday at a restaurant that was voted 7th best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine, and today at another which grows all its own produce and ´submitted´us to five courses. We also went to a tasting room where we tasted 10 different wines from the Mendoza region. So while our accommodation hasn´t been up to scratch, we have more than made up for it by food and wine. Though both of us have been feeling very full and have probably added an extra inch or two to stomachs that already didn´t need it. But it is our last few days in Argentina and we are making the most of it (especially when we can convert it back to Pounds - the currency kind that is)!

So tomorrow we head back to Santiago, where I expect we will have to fight the border crossing again, for one night and then one day before flying out on Monday night, arriving back to New Zealand on Wednesday morning, and a whole different world....