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Back on track

It’s been a while I know, sort of lost my way there for a few months, I’ll blame the winter blues! but they have been washed away by a week in Hawaii with my two fabulous sisters, and I’ve returned energised and motivated.

Very excited this week I have researched tide times for next year and have set a start date for the Te Araroa trail Friday 25th Sept 2020!!!!

Leapt straight in and ordered my tent too. Decided on the Zpack duplex a little on the expensive side but figured I wanted lightweight and after talking to someone who owns one, was convinced it’s definitely the way to go. It will take a few weeks to be delivered as they are made to order.

Have also been in touch with Merrell a couple of weeks ago, as I find their boots the most comfortable. I’ve walked the Milford and Routeburne/Grand traverse in recent years in Merrell Boulder’s, and survived without blisters, which I thought was unbelievable. Their marketing team gave me some really good advice, so my next mission is to purchase and train in Merrell’s MOAB’s (Mother Of All Boots)

I’ve had a really productive week, setting some good health and fitness routines in place, the challenge is to keep them up now and not fall off the wagon again.

 

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Training on the Rail Trail

Day 1 the Otago Rail Trail

Feeling pretty good to have this little adventure ticked off. I’ve just Cycled 172.5km over 4 days on the Otago Rail Trail. Overall the weather gods were good to us, a big storm came charging through the afternoon before we started, leaving a fresh dusting of snow on the ranges, and a few branches on the track the next morning, but nothing to write home about. Day three started with light intermittent rain, and developed into some pretty strong winds, but thankfully the worst was well after we arrived in Hyde and we had the luxury of a sheltered deck, then snuggling up indoors to watch the wind play with the surrounding trees.The bonus was, we got all our washing dry within an hour!!! Next morning was bright and clear and all down hill to Middlemarch.
Our bikes were really good, we went with “Trail Journeys” who were excellent in providing all our equipment organising our accommodation, and transporting our bags between overnight stops. We never had to wait once and received a warm welcome at the end of each day by our respective hosts. We even got pulled over by a local in Hyde, who seemed to know we were heading in the wrong direction, and redirected us to our beds for the night, (I got the feeling they might have been looking out for us, which was a nice feeling.)
Most of our meals were in local pubs and hotels, were we had a very friendly welcome from staff and locals alike, and the food and beverages were all plentiful and delicious, its hard to pick a favourite as they all seemed to hit the spot perfectly.
After we returned our bikes in Middlemarch, we had opted to go by train through the Taieri Gorge to Dunedin, what an amazing feat of engineering! Brilliant trip with lots of opportunities to capture the scenery, and marvel at the hard work and skill it took to open up this vital supply route over 100 years ago!
I really feel quite privileged to be able to experience our own country in this way, it’s a shame the cost of travel, and site seeing activities within New Zealand, makes this sort of holiday prohibitive for a lot of Kiwi families.

More South Island adventures to come soon.

Chrissie

Getting Fitter

Whangamata beach walks

After a Xmas break with plenty of fun with friends and family, including scrumptious food and plenty of thirst quenching beverages, its time to get back into good habits.

I tried to exercise most days (probably ended up being 50/50) but got a few walks in at the beach which could be handy for the 90mile beach section! and mixed it up with a few bike rides. I also tried out a new pair of shoes “Merrell Allabout Blaze” My thoughts are they could be good for parts of the beach walk and definitely useful at the end of the day around camp, giving support and protection but also letting my feet breath. Foot care could make or break this journey!

Talking of Cycling, the main reason I dusted off my bike, (I don’t think I’ve used it in5-6 yeas) is to get a bit of practice in for the Otago rail trail, which we will be starting later this week! I don’t want to be so saddle sore that I can’t enjoy it!!! not sure how thats going to go though! I’ve managed about 10days over the last two weeks doing between 6 and 16km each session, and while I can definitely feel I’ve been on a bike I’m not walking like a cowboy yet! Need to get some of those padded cycle pants too! Thats going to be a real sexy look, but at my age I need to be as comfortable as I can, getting out of my comfort zone!!!

I’ll update you in a couple of weeks when I’m back from the trail, might even get this photo thing sorted in the meantime and post a picture of me in the saddle????

until next time

Chrissie