Walking the Wild West

Another overcast Sunday, another opportunity to put on the hiking boots. This time we headed way out to Whatipu, the northern head of the Manukau Harbour and the southern tip of the Waitakeres. The walk was a 5-hour loop, first climbing up to around 300m before descending into a valley and then returning along the coast.

The drive out there was an adventure enough in itself - we didn't see too many other Mini's heading out along the dirt road! The climb up through a Manuka Forest took us just over an hour, no where near the signposted 2-hours. Supposedly you can sometimes have views all the way down to Mt Taranki - not this day. The descent was pretty steep, and we had to billy goat it a view times. Passing through an awesome grove of Nikau Palms (and a couple of Kauri too) we finally made it down in the valley. Here our lack of tramping cred was exposed, as we removed out boots to cross the stream. Of course, this is when we saw the first people as day, as two guys strode straight past us and straight across the stream.

With dry feet on the other side, we made our down the way and out to the coast and some pretty impressive sand dunes. This was real wild west stuff. The dunes must stretch out for nearly a kilometre to the sea, where the Tasman Sea was throwing down it's best on the coast. It took us nearly 2-hours to make our way back, not seeing a soul the whole way. It felt quite surreal walking through this black expanse all by ourselves. We tried to take the direct line a few times, though each time we were beaten back by grass and wetlands. In the end, it was easier to just take the wide way.

When we finally make it back to the heads at Whatipu, it was a shock to see how many people were there - we had seen the sum total of 4 people during the whole walk. We pulled our tired legs back into the car and headed back in to the city - where we were surprised to find that on the other side of the hills it was brilliantly sunny. But the gray and the clouds had suit the scenery. And now we could enjoy the stunning evening with a couple of well earned pints at Galbraiths, and satisfaction on a bloody good day.

A long time coming...and a fair way up.

It's been nearly 9 years since we moved up to Auckland, and now we finally ticked off one activity that has been near the top of our list. Climb to the top of Rangitoto. Only a 30 minute ferry ride, there's no good excuse for why we hadn't got around to it earlier, but some welcoming cloud cover spurred us on this morning (on a sunny day, you literally cook on the lava fields).

The climb to the summit, at 260m and nearly an hour, isn't too tough, though on a warm and humid Auckland day, it didn't take long to get a sweat up. The 360 degree views from the top are pretty spectacular. Though this is depreciated somewhat by finding that all the lazy tourists who got the ride up have beaten you to it. So when they went left, we went right - circling the crater and then having a look in some lava caves. From there we walked down to Islington Bay, which separates Rangitoto and Motutapu Island. In fact, the two islands and so close that a 5 metre causeway bridge joins them. It was a great spot to have some lunch and cool off with a swim.

We then had a couple of hours left to make it back in time for the last ferry. The "Coastal Track" turned out not to be coastal at all, being more a scramble over lava fields and though Pohutukawa Forest. Of course, this was when the sun decided to come out and it was a hard trek back. Surprisingly, there isn't as much bird life as you expect. You only hear a few songs from time to time, though the fantails are pretty friendly. The lava does dominate, and though it is no Fernandina in the Galapagos, does make for a stunning contrast with the rest of the city lying just across the water.

A Cheeky Half

The lead up to my last event of the summer - the Tauranga Half Ironman - left a lot to be desired. Some my fault, some not. I was feeling fit enough, after the Auckland Marathon and Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, but my taper was not very successful at all. Too much drinking and too much work. I didn't get any sleep two of the three nights before the event, and the other night I stupidly had more beers than I should have.

So getting up (not "waking up") early on the Saturday morning, I was not feeling prepared or confident. As a result, I rid myself of any target times. Though I did still want to go at least faster than my other Half Ironman time - 5hrs 25mins - also at Tauranga and in fact the first event that got me into triathlons.

Anna was also competing, as part of a team. She was doing the bike leg - 90km. The Tauranga course is pretty much flat, though without drafting was going to be a big ride for Anna. And she was especially worried about not making the 3hrs 30mins cut-off.

The weather was good for the day, though the swim was unfortunately clashing with low tide. It was only when getting ready that someone told we that this would mean a very strong current - they weren't wrong!

The start was the usual fracas, not helped by all of us being squeezed up alongside the wharf to get behind the start line. And then the actual swim was horrendous! The current was ridiculous. The swim was two laps, which bisect boats anchored out in the bay. The boats wouldn't be a problem in normal circumstances. But with the current, you would look up every 12 strokes to find that you were no longer swimming at the buoy , but about to smack in the hull of a boat! So next you would be trying to maneuver your way around this bloody boat, along with 20-odd other swimmers, while all of you are being pulled in the other direction by the current. If you didn't keep moving, you'd find yourself in the matter of seconds ten metres in the other direction. So things would get physical as everybody tried to muscle their way around.

All this resulted in a swim much harder than it should have been. I also had taken on a fair bit of sea water in the swell - but played on my guts for the rest of the day. I ended up making it out of the water in 37mins - which probably isn't too bad considering the conditions and the extra distance that most must have all swum due to the current.

With expectations and confidence low, I was never going to make any effort to race through transition. So I trudged my way through, taking 5 minutes, probably twice as long as most competitors.

My ride was pretty solid and about what I expected - 2hrs 40mins. This put me about mid field. Not too bad considering I'm just using a road bike with clip-on aerobars. It can be pretty satisfying when passing someone on their triathlon-specific bike and disc wheels. My first lap actually had me on for something quicker, but over the last few kms I pulled up a bit to relax a bit before the run. I was impressed that I kept the same gear for the whole ride.

My bike-run transition time is somewhat embarrassing. I'm actually not quite sure how I happened to take nearly 6 minutes - one of the slowest times across the field! Though, I was probably one of the few competitors to put suncream on, and then I realised I had put my socks on the wrong feet just as I was about to put on my second shoe.

I actually felt OK heading out on the run. Though I could sense that I wasn't going to be setting any great pace. I had struggled to take on as much energy as I should have on the bike, and it was the same on the run. So I just settled into a pace I knew I could run comfortably and stuck to that, not worrying too much about the time. I finished up running a 1hr 47mins for the half marathon, which is pretty good and put me in the top half of the field. Though after my Auckland marathon training, if I had been feeling better on the day I think I could have pushed myself a fair bit harder.

My final time was 5hrs 15min flat. So comfortably bet my other time. Though a few weeks earlier I probably had ideas of getting closer to (or even under) the 5 hour mark. But on reflection, on both this and my Auckland MaraSham experience, to target those type of times I need to be much more committed to training - and drinking less! So perhaps I am finding my limit in terms of what I can achieve on my minimalist training plans. But I'm comfortable with that - I like the drinking!

Anna - despite her fears she had no trouble beating the cut off time, riding the 90km in 3hrs 25mins. A good time for someone on what was probably the smallest bike in the field, no aerobars, and used to the benefits of at least some drafting. Though she said she was pretty knackered by the end of it, knowing she had to push the whole way around to beat the cut off.

So that is pretty much it for the summer - hanging up the goggles/bike/runners. All this fitness to ebb away in a deluge of engagement parties, weddings, stag do's and trips away. Bring it on!