Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
South Coast Canter - 19th Feb 2010
With Jo back from Brevet duty a little tender in certain parts the plan was for a wee trip around the South Coast this weekend - on feet rather than bikes. Other family and sports commitments meant that the team had to be out by 7pm on Saturday (Hurricanes game 7:30pm) and fit and well for Sunday (Phoenix game) so the plan was to set out from Eastbourne, head around the South Coast of wellington to Pencarrow, then Orongorongo, a sleep over at Turakarie Head and then back to Eastbourne via the Mukamuka Valley, Soyjt Saddle, Whakanui, Wainuiomata, Rata Ride, My Lowry and Days Bay. In true XPD the plan was for a feed of pie and creamed bun at the Wainuiomata Bakery so we knew we had to be out before the 4pm close time there.
After a shocking Thursday when Glen and Mark biked the ScreamingO at night (that's another blog) Friday arrived with absolutely fabulous weather - light southerly turning to northerly but warm all the way through with no rain. Nutrition being very important at this stage of the buildup the team stopped off at the Moera Fish and Chips shop for a order and then planned out the course in detail at the beach at Days Bay, finally setting off at 8pm.
At this stage, close to the start of the XPD event, the story is settling into a team routine and bedding in the gear that we will be using. Thanks to support from Icebreaker and Bridgedale the team is well decked out in gear that not only will last the distance but will also not smell - so the spooning order for the night's sleepover was a minimal debate. Team tactics was the main form of discussion for the 22km trek to the camping point as what to wear for the flight over and what to eat during the race. Jo entertained the team with a few lines from 'By the River of Babylon' so quietly and secretly earphones were added to the team order list.
In arriving at the designated sleep spot we were a bit concerned to find a lack of suitable trees to pitch the fly and a few too many stones to offer a flat area for a decenty night's kip. A bit of wandering found us a good spot to not only pitch Jo's fly but also the regulation XPD tent that Shane had bought to test out (after owning it for 6 months and not having set it up once). With the fly and tent erected people all took one look at the regulation XPD tent and decided that while close the team was not that close yet and we split ourselves between the tent and the fly - Shane recovering from a chest infection had the tent while the others had the fly. Surprisingly comfortable, we settled in at 1:30am for a wakeup call at 6am to continue.
Saturday's plan was for a quick start at sunrise, along the coast to the Mukamuka Valley and then home - more or less in a direct line. With a lack of drinkable water on the coast we had a brekky stop at the Mukamuka Valley (extremely well matrked out now by DoC by the way (well done guys) which will make it much much easier for the 2010 Mukamuka Munter. The Mukamuka Munter was the normal scrabble - recent rains have hammered the top section just below the South Saddle so that was a bit of a struggle with full packs but otherwise an easy trip up the valley. Coming down the Mt Matthews track was a simple exercise (nice to see a few people coming up the other way taking advantage of the nice weather) as was the trip up the Whakanui - a much drier trip than the last time we did it. Glen, being a local boy, put us onto a few shortcuts to the Bakery where we obtained cold coke, hot pies and creamy buns. The final push was Mt Lowry (373m) via the Ridge Track with it's amazing views and then back to the van via the Eastbourne Dairy and another coke to see us through.
Total distance 57km
Who: Jo, Glen, Mark, Shane.
Total time on feet 8pm start, 7pm finish less 5 hours rest - 18 hours
Feet condition for the team - all good. No reported blisters or injuries
Lessons learned - May need to look at the fly option rather than the tent. Icebreaker and Bridgedale gear is REALLY worth the investment. Knowing the local store hours is a motivation factor. More gurney goo on the feet and as soon as there is a niggle with feet deal with it.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Glen's Training Blog #1
Glen’s Weekly XPD Training Blog
Monday 30th of November.
OK, after my wee road bike accident I’m back training, well back to the hiking training at least.
After bailing on a drive up to the Hawkes Bay on Friday night, and with most of the ACH team in Taupo screaming around the lake for the cycle challenge, paddling the lake and taking to Mountain bikes, Helen agreed to join me for a wee wander in the Aorangi Ranges south of Martinborough. A 20km drive south of Martinborough on a mix of sealed but mostly gravel road got us to the Waikuku Lodge road end and the start of the north end of the Te Kopi track.
Our aim for the day was 1) get Glen out in the open air and relieve some stress, and 2) bag Waikuku Lodge, Averills Hut and Sutherlands Hut to take my hut bagging up to 193 DOC Huts & Lodges J.
Parking at the saddle/junction of the road end, we donned packs and hats (well I did) and headed down the 4 wheel drive track into the east branch of the Turanganui River, an hour from the road end we bisected the Mt Ross track which initially heads up a side stream to the east before a slight climb onto the plateau on the east side of the stream revealed the location of Averills Hut. The Hut is in a dire state with the door unable to be closed and the rotten holes in the walls exposing weather. The 2 bunks had well eaten foam mattress and the desire to even consider a night in this hut did not exist. If your a Hut bagger like myself, I’d consider knocking this one off your list sooner rather than later as I’m sure DOC will be knocking it down shortly.
The fun part of access into Averills and the Mt Ross track is the initial river travel (only about 400 odd meters) which includes an amount of Onga Onga bashing, Helen & I managed to clear some of it, but the crops that exist suggest that this will return quickly.
Back down stream to the 4 wheel drive Te Kopi track and we were again wander along very easy travel with about 5-6 river crossings and after about 20-30 minutes wandering into the Sutherlands Hut which is located in a big grassing clearing. A couple of trail bikers from Wellington had ridden in that day and were setting themselves up for the night (even though it was only 2pm). After a 30 minute break for Ham, Cheese and Tomato rolls, o and a Mac’s Radler beer, we continued downstream before taking in the 370 meter climb up the Pig Spur track. What was interesting at his stage was the 4 wheel track had by this stage shrunk down to a quad bike wide track as it climbed the spur to the high point 588. The perfect blue skies were slowly being absorbed by an ever thickening layer of cloud over Mt Ross just as we hit the top of our climb where we rewarded ourselves with a BIG can of V.
After our climb, we dropped about 30 meters into a saddle before the last little climb onto the Turanganui West Branch and Mill track junction, signalling our last 40 minute dash initially through some native bush then into low scrub track with views down to the south at the 4 wheel track we had started our day on and the junction and car below. All up a leisurely 5 hour wander, which we finished off with a visit to the Waikuku Lodge (bookings required).
Gear Used:
Bridgedale Multisport Socks (1 wet sock, 1 dry sock).. feet, PERFECT
Solamon XT Wings
Ice Breaker Bodyfit 160 T-shirt
No brand walk shorts
A map & My old Fairydown BackTap day pack with 4kg of gear
Food consumed:
2 Ham, Cheese and Tomato Cheesy Bacon rolls
1 litre of Poweraide
A hand full of Dark Chocolate coated Strawberry flavoured Liquorice and some Cashews.
1 Bottle of Mac’s Radler Bier (each)
Weather:
Fine clear skies, 24 degrees, light nor-wester turning to the south by end of day.
Monday 30th of November.
OK, after my wee road bike accident I’m back training, well back to the hiking training at least.
After bailing on a drive up to the Hawkes Bay on Friday night, and with most of the ACH team in Taupo screaming around the lake for the cycle challenge, paddling the lake and taking to Mountain bikes, Helen agreed to join me for a wee wander in the Aorangi Ranges south of Martinborough. A 20km drive south of Martinborough on a mix of sealed but mostly gravel road got us to the Waikuku Lodge road end and the start of the north end of the Te Kopi track.
Our aim for the day was 1) get Glen out in the open air and relieve some stress, and 2) bag Waikuku Lodge, Averills Hut and Sutherlands Hut to take my hut bagging up to 193 DOC Huts & Lodges J.
Parking at the saddle/junction of the road end, we donned packs and hats (well I did) and headed down the 4 wheel drive track into the east branch of the Turanganui River, an hour from the road end we bisected the Mt Ross track which initially heads up a side stream to the east before a slight climb onto the plateau on the east side of the stream revealed the location of Averills Hut. The Hut is in a dire state with the door unable to be closed and the rotten holes in the walls exposing weather. The 2 bunks had well eaten foam mattress and the desire to even consider a night in this hut did not exist. If your a Hut bagger like myself, I’d consider knocking this one off your list sooner rather than later as I’m sure DOC will be knocking it down shortly.
The fun part of access into Averills and the Mt Ross track is the initial river travel (only about 400 odd meters) which includes an amount of Onga Onga bashing, Helen & I managed to clear some of it, but the crops that exist suggest that this will return quickly.
Back down stream to the 4 wheel drive Te Kopi track and we were again wander along very easy travel with about 5-6 river crossings and after about 20-30 minutes wandering into the Sutherlands Hut which is located in a big grassing clearing. A couple of trail bikers from Wellington had ridden in that day and were setting themselves up for the night (even though it was only 2pm). After a 30 minute break for Ham, Cheese and Tomato rolls, o and a Mac’s Radler beer, we continued downstream before taking in the 370 meter climb up the Pig Spur track. What was interesting at his stage was the 4 wheel track had by this stage shrunk down to a quad bike wide track as it climbed the spur to the high point 588. The perfect blue skies were slowly being absorbed by an ever thickening layer of cloud over Mt Ross just as we hit the top of our climb where we rewarded ourselves with a BIG can of V.
After our climb, we dropped about 30 meters into a saddle before the last little climb onto the Turanganui West Branch and Mill track junction, signalling our last 40 minute dash initially through some native bush then into low scrub track with views down to the south at the 4 wheel track we had started our day on and the junction and car below. All up a leisurely 5 hour wander, which we finished off with a visit to the Waikuku Lodge (bookings required).
Gear Used:
Bridgedale Multisport Socks (1 wet sock, 1 dry sock).. feet, PERFECT
Solamon XT Wings
Ice Breaker Bodyfit 160 T-shirt
No brand walk shorts
A map & My old Fairydown BackTap day pack with 4kg of gear
Food consumed:
2 Ham, Cheese and Tomato Cheesy Bacon rolls
1 litre of Poweraide
A hand full of Dark Chocolate coated Strawberry flavoured Liquorice and some Cashews.
1 Bottle of Mac’s Radler Bier (each)
Weather:
Fine clear skies, 24 degrees, light nor-wester turning to the south by end of day.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Welcome to the Aotearoa Crocodile Hunters Blog
In the words of the legendary King’s Cross Bogun CHK CHK BOOM – it’s all go for XPD 2010.
Aotearoa Crocodile Hunters are a Wellington, New Zealand based team of four ordinary people doing an extraordinary event. None of us are elite athletes. All of us work for a living. Three of us have children and families. All of us should have grown out of this by now.
But we haven’t. And we won’t.
Check back here for updates on how our training is going.
Aotearoa Crocodile Hunters are a Wellington, New Zealand based team of four ordinary people doing an extraordinary event. None of us are elite athletes. All of us work for a living. Three of us have children and families. All of us should have grown out of this by now.
But we haven’t. And we won’t.
Check back here for updates on how our training is going.
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