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Mt Aspiring – Rob Roy Track

Date: 1 January 2015
Distance: 10km (+6)

Our view waking up on New Year’s Day. Hope the rest of the year lives up to this breathtaking start! (© Gerry le Roux)
Crossing one of the little fords on the road to the proper start of the Rob Roy Glacier walk.
The beauty of New Zealand’s scenery never fails to leave me speechless. (© Gerry le Roux)
Love the typical turquoise colour of many of New Zealand’s rivers. The Matukituki River, with the swing bridge in the distance. (© Gerry le Roux)
Crossing the swing bridge over the Matukituki River.
A dash of colour en route.
Boulder hopping across a little stream.
A bit of a tricky section crossing a huge slip.
An early view of the Rob Roy glacier. (© Gerry le Roux)
Beautiful mountain streams. (© Gerry le Roux)
Snapping away. I sometimes wonder how many photos are taken per year in New Zealand. Must be millions! (© Gerry le Roux)
Arriving at the viewpoint at the end of the track, we were surprised by the number of people lounging around. Little did we know that these were the earlybirds, and that the masses were still on their way! (© Gerry le Roux)
The cameraman at work. 🙂
Lovely views of the Rob Roy glacier – a fitting reward to a nice little walk. (© Gerry le Roux)
Time for a lunch snack before heading back down.
Admiring the views.
Classic New Zealand scene. Mount Aspiring peeking out on the right. (© Gerry le Roux)
View of Mount Aspiring on a beautiful New Year’s Day. (© Gerry le Roux)

On the morning of the last day of 2014, Gerry and I left Te Anau for the Wanaka area in the hope that we would find a deserted spot in the mountains to see out 2014 and celebrate 2015 somewhere tranquil. We just weren’t in the mood for loud music, heaps of drunk, puking people and the usual hustle and bustle of new years parties.

Wanaka was buzzing with people, as were all the other towns we passed through on our way there. We stopped to return Gerry’s hydration vest, went for a quick browse through Mt Outdoors to see if they might have larger size packs, and ended up having a nice long chat to Steve Hart who told us about all the nice camping spots and walks in the area. Afterwards we went for a quick beer before following the road next to Lake Wanaka and into the Matukituki valley.

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‘Je Suis Charlie’ Unity Run for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité

Our running shirts for the Je Suis Charlie Unity Run for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité.

Our running shirts for the Je Suis Charlie Unity Run for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité.

This week’s news was dominated by the 7 January 2015 massacre in Paris France, where 12 people were killed at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The terror attack resulted in millions of people internationally rallying in support of those wounded and killed at the newspaper, as well as the victims of related attacks at Montrouge and the Kosher Supermarket.

“Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) became the slogan adopted by supporters of free speech and freedom of expression – it popped up everywhere, in cartoons, hand-made placards and stickers, displayed on mobile phones at vigils, and on numerous websites.

A couple of days ago, via Facebook, we came across the Je Suis Charlie Unity Run for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité, an international run of support scheduled for 11 January – an initiative we had little hesitation to support. Continue reading →

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Becoming an Asics road tester

Hitting the pavement in my road tester Asics Gel-Kayano 21's. Officially a stability shoe, it also doubles as a very comfortable cushioned shoe for neutral runners.

Hitting the pavement in my road tester Asics Gel-Kayano 21’s. Officially a stability shoe, it also doubles as a very comfortable cushioned shoe for neutral runners.

A few months ago I accidentally (probably through a link on Facebook or something) came across an invite for people to register as testers for Asics running shoes. Having run in Asics most of my running career, I jumped at the opportunity – who wouldn’t want to receive a free pair of a favourite running shoe, with the only requirement being to actually run in the shoes, and then give some feedback on your experience? Sounds like a plum deal to me!

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Kepler Track – round #2 (24-27 December 2014)

Fresh as morning daisies we were ready to start the tramp: Nettie, Gerry, myself and Johann.
Crossing the Waiau River at the start at Rainbow Reach.
The beautiful clear water of the river is mesmerising.
Enormous fungus growing on a beech tree.
Lush green forest for the first day’s hike. The shade from the blazing sun was most welcome.
Lunch at one of the small beaches of Lake Te Anau. That’s the life!
Yep, we’re definitely lost. The highway we’re currently on, surely cannot be the right path…
Johann bending trees. From now on we’ll just call him Chuck Norris!
First things first – mozzie repellent has to be applied quick smart!
With the tents pitched, it’s time for a tipple by the fire on Xmas eve.
I just love a little camp fire. Contrary to common wisdom, smokey fires don’t really deter sandflies.
Brand spanking new stove that Johann is trying out for the first time.
With suspicion (and trepidation?) the engineer looks at his new stove.
Spending Xmas eve next to a lake with good friends.

A few years ago, Gerry and I did a similar stint: we ran the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, rested a day, then started walking the route again with my sister and her family the day after. I guess there is something zen-like about doing the same route over and over, especially in such a short timeframe.

After our one-day run of the Kepler Track two days before, we again started walking it with family after one rest day. This time with Johann and Nettie. Admittedly I was quite knackered after the 60km track, but the fall on top of the mountain probably made up for the biggest part of my muscle soreness. The 50 shades of green-yellow-purple egg on my arm was still prominent, very sore and always in the way. I kept on bumping it against everything.

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Kepler Challenge training dry run

Date: 22 December 2014
Distance: 60km (some sources give it as 67km – I would love that to be the case!)
Time: 11:58

At the Kepter Track car park, rearing to go, and with our smiles perhaps hiding a bit of panic about what lay ahead.
The early morning sun rising over the lake.
The lush green surroundings in the still flattish section next to Lake Te Anau.
About two-thids up the mountain you pass the limestone bluff.
Just out of the treeline, shortly after 8:00 in the morning.
Tussock on the mountain with the small town of Te Anau far in a distance.
A fairly easy section of a couple of kilometres before you reach the hut.
Luxmore hut where we stopped for warm clothing, filled up water bottles and empty bladders.
Still feeling strong despite a cold wind.
Some rough terrain makes the going slow.
These avalanche sections and slips are quite scary.
When running/walking on the spine of the mountains, the drop to either side is rather steep.
Despite it being overcast, we still go lovely views.
On top of the world!
Gerry taking a breather and quenching his thirst.
The little path on the ridge stretches for miles and miles.
These mountain-top sections are quite exposed, but breathtakingly beautiful.
Mountain running at its finest.
It is amazing to experience sweaty heat, cold and snow all in one day’s outing.
We spotted this kea at one of the shelters on the mountain. Beautiful birds, but quite a menace.
Nearing the end of the section above the tree line.
Assessing the damage after my fall. The “egg” started to wobble when running so I wrapped it up with a Buff.
A huge slip down a valley made for difficult conditions underfoot.
Back in the luscious green forest.
Following the Iris Burn.
One of the many little bridges on the way, ensuring we could go through the run with dry feet.
Iris Burn hut was already far behind us when we ran through a bog.
A little stream crossing.
When you start seeing monsters, you know you need more hydration!
Beech tree forest to shelter us from the relentless sun.
I was clearly not dressed in the right colours for a scorchingly hot, sunny December day.
Some welcome shade back in the forest.
Crossing the wetland.
And a tricky swing bridge.
Back onto the path next to the Waiau River.
Not far to go now, but we were both quite knackered.
Happy and relieved to have made our unsupported traverse without any major problems.
4 days after the fall. Still quite swollen and rather sore.
4 days after the fall. 50 shades of green-purple-yellow.
6 days after the fall. Blood filled my sweat glands to cause the “spotty” look?
10 days after the fall. Still quite sore, but starting to look better.

Things don’t always go according to plan. But sometimes they do. This self-supported run had a bit of both.

We were booked to hike the Kepler Track, a 60km circular route, over Xmas with family. And so I thought to myself, why not run it a couple of days prior to the hike? Luckily it didn’t take much convincing to get Gerry on board as we thought it would make for a great last long run before the Tarawera, and we needed to test our hydration and fuelling needs for these kinds of events anyway.

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