Downhilling it at Tongariro
It was Auckland Anniversary weekend and we headed down to National Park for some mountain biking with the pub quiz crew from Auckland. Heading down there on the Saturday morning, the weather couldn't have been much better.
That afternoon we road down the Fishers Track - which starts just out the back of National Park. It is 20-odd km of mostly downhill, some of it dirt and some of it grass. The first part took is through chutes of Toi Tois before having to navigate quite a tricky slippery mud and rock path. This then opened out into mostly grassy paths that were heaps of fun. The most amazing part of the track was that it appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, with awesome views over native bush. The track itself involves a 500m descent, but fortunately you are not required to ascend back up (though you could if you wanted and were crazy enough). The alternative (and very wise it is too) is to book the pick-up bus to meet you at the end and take you back up to National Park where a much needed beer awaits.
The next day we got up early to ride the 42 Traverse. This again is a mostly downhill ride of around 45kms, though with a couple of descent climbs. This time you get dropped off at the start by the bus and again get returned from the bottom. Most of the trail is a mix of fire breaks and track and again surrounded by nothing but native bush. The downhills are long and pretty quick, and your hands and feet are pretty sore by the time you get to the bottom of them. There are also some stream crossings at the bottom of the descents - where admittedly Anna showed me how it is meant to be done (though, in my defense, I got some bad advise beforehand).
But it wasn't all fun and games. With no clouds in the sky and little wind, the climbs back up were a good workout. But at least this gave me the chance to get one back on the more experienced mountain bikers, as I left them behind churning up the hills - they left me behind on the downhills, so had to get them back somewhere. It was still damn hard work though, and at the top of the two hills we all needed well earned breaks and to cool down from boiling point. The reward at the end is a dip in a swimming hole - freezing cold melt water from Ruapahu just what the legs need after a good ride. The bus arrives just at the right time, this time with beers on board - you beaut!
And all this is done with enough time to drive back to Auckland that night. A damn fun and easy weekend away, we'll be doing it again. Especially now that Anna has since ditched the hire bikes and bought herself a shiny new MTB.
Some picks from the two days here.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
A Day at the Tennis
Courtesy of the shareholders and customers of a certain bank, I spent the day court side at the finals of the NZ Heineken Open. The tennis was good, the beer was pretty bad.
The men's single final involved top seed and number 9 in the world - Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro - versus namesake American Sam Querrey. With Del Potro playing, this gave me the chance to dust off my faux Puma's top and go a bit latino.
As you can see, the view from the corporate box wasn't too bad - though with the sun out it got pretty hot. What to do...give the wave and order more drinks. Though things didn't go so smoothly around lunch time. Having just been served our lunch towards the end of the 1st Set, a first serve fault very nearly rebounded straight into my crispy pork belly. Before I knew what had happened, a work colleague behind me tossed the offending ball back onto court. Problem was, the second serve had just been sent down. This didn't do much to endear us to Mr Del Potro, who was at the receiving end at the time. Mutterings of Spanish were quickly sent in our direction - probably just as well that they appeared to be outside my five and a half word Spanish vocabulary. Fortunately my pork belly wasn't threatened any further in the match, and Del Potro won comfortably in two sets, 6-4 6-4.
Once the tennis was finished, we retired to the 'Base Line After Party', which included a pretty awesome set from Liam Finn, and a whole lot of terrible middle-aged dancing.
Courtesy of the shareholders and customers of a certain bank, I spent the day court side at the finals of the NZ Heineken Open. The tennis was good, the beer was pretty bad.
The men's single final involved top seed and number 9 in the world - Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro - versus namesake American Sam Querrey. With Del Potro playing, this gave me the chance to dust off my faux Puma's top and go a bit latino.
As you can see, the view from the corporate box wasn't too bad - though with the sun out it got pretty hot. What to do...give the wave and order more drinks. Though things didn't go so smoothly around lunch time. Having just been served our lunch towards the end of the 1st Set, a first serve fault very nearly rebounded straight into my crispy pork belly. Before I knew what had happened, a work colleague behind me tossed the offending ball back onto court. Problem was, the second serve had just been sent down. This didn't do much to endear us to Mr Del Potro, who was at the receiving end at the time. Mutterings of Spanish were quickly sent in our direction - probably just as well that they appeared to be outside my five and a half word Spanish vocabulary. Fortunately my pork belly wasn't threatened any further in the match, and Del Potro won comfortably in two sets, 6-4 6-4.Once the tennis was finished, we retired to the 'Base Line After Party', which included a pretty awesome set from Liam Finn, and a whole lot of terrible middle-aged dancing.
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