That way when Evan puts out the call to do it again next year I will have empirical evidence of why "no" should be the answer.
27th March, Friday 2pm
Left Hamilton and convoyed 2 vehicles to Taupo. Amazed we managed to fit all our gear in. Did the official Oxfam check in and obligatory safety briefing. Evan not happy he got assigned the "purple" bib colour. Although they called it blue, it was purple. Accomodation was nice but the neighbour's party that didn't finish til about 2am meant none of us got much sleep. Not a great start. Up at 4am.
Start 6am Saturday morning– Checkpoint 1
- 11.3km (7:56am)
Whangamata Rd Airstrip to Kawakawa Bay
Despite all the modern technology man
can provide we missed the turnoff to the start at the Whangamata Rd airstrip
and ended up taking a "detour" which turned out for the best as we
avoided a lot of the incredibly slow camper-vans heading to the
start. Sally did hit and kill a rabbit, which we took as a good sign. Felt
sorry for the car that pulled off the road in front of us to let out what we
assume was a team member who promptly vomited on the side of the road. It’s
a tense business, walking for charity.
Our 6 am start went well - mild weather and toilet queues not too long.
The start in the dark was somewhat surreal. Picture a sea of nothing but 400 odd headlamps bobbing along in single file over farmland and into the bush. Not something you see every day.
Our 6 am start went well - mild weather and toilet queues not too long.
The start in the dark was somewhat surreal. Picture a sea of nothing but 400 odd headlamps bobbing along in single file over farmland and into the bush. Not something you see every day.
The only highlight of the leg was the german team right behind us whose limited english was amusing. Had fun picking out the english words of their conversation.
No support crew at Checkpoint 1, just a
quick check in, a scenic toilet stop and back on the trail.
Checkpoint 1– Checkpoint 2 – 9.7km (9:39am)
Kawakawa Bay
to Kinloch Domain
Lovely walk on this leg. Nice bush. Came across the NZ army team, loaded down with 20kg packs. Feeling guilty about our lightweight back loads. Reluctantly passed them. Checkpoint 2 was the first time we caught up with our support crew. Our cracking pace somewhat caught them on the back foot. They recovered well.
Checkpoint 2 – Checkpoint 3 – 17km (12:41 am)
Kinloch Domain to Whakaipo Bay
Another pleasant leg, completed ahead of estimates
with great views that Evan wouldn't let me stop to take many photos of. I did
sneak a couple in anyway. Support crew had things
under control here for our lunch break including sussing out the awning on the
land rover. Ice blocks and cold potatoes FTW. All important 1/4 done signpost.
Checkpoint 3 – Checkpoint 4 – 16km (no time, computer down)
Whakaipo Bay to Riverside Park
I knew this would be a challenging leg,
including the farmland trig highpoint of the walk and the rather horrible
scoria road back to town. Including not-so-picturesque quarry. Now you could see the cracks forming in some teams. The definition of team was being redefined. This leg did
include the highlight of hitting the 50km point, an important goal psychologically.
During this leg we met the team “Harry Potter and the Chafing of Secrets” whom
we came across many more times over the remaining legs. They broke up the
monotony of this leg with the kind of enthusiasm that was needed at the time.
This checkpoint was our dinner break before
night kicked in. Some podiatry first aid
was required now. Fried potatoes FTW.
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Checkpoint 4 – Checkpoint 5 – 7km (18:37pm)
Riverside Park to Huka Falls Road (No Support Crew Access)
Met the Auckland Hash House Harriers on
this leg. A bunch of old guys with a bucket list wish to complete the
trailwalk. My teammates sniggered as I introduced myself to the heavily bearded member of the team who had "on on" on the back of his shorts...initially I thought it was onion but wondered where the "I" was. Turns out it's a harrier saying. “On on” became our new motto. They took our photo at Huka
Falls. We also came across the Germans again from leg 1…looking worse for wear
and down to 3 members.
Checkpoint 5 – Checkpoint 6 – 8.7km (20:26pm)
Huka Falls Road to Wairakei Resort
An unexpected unfun leg. We spent most of it
on mountain bike trails in pine forest as it got progressively darker and
darker into nightfall. Headlamps came on. Sobering moment when we had to clear the track to
allow rescue crew to evacuate someone out in a stretcher. No idea if it was a
trail walker or a mountain biker. Walked with the Harriers through this leg,
they knew all the dwarf jokes. They made the leg tolerable, but it just went on
forever. I acquired the nickname of “red”. We never did learn their names. Our hazard identification on the trails started being adopted by others, although our ability to identify hazards became reduced as we tired..."look out for the round, stumpy thingy".
Checkpoint 6 – Checkpoint 7 – 18km (1:07am Sunday morning)
Wairakei Resort to Taupo Gliding Club
A long, boring leg. Looked for the 80km marker, this was an
important milestone for us but missed it. Found the 81km marker though. Knowing
that there was only 20 km (or 2x10km) to go kept us going. At this point our heads were
down most of the time watching the path as we walked in the dark. Warm, mild
conditions really helped get through this leg. The stretch through paddocks and
into the Gliding club was long and painful. Mostly we preferred to walk alone...found other teams chatter and clatter of walking poles annoying. Never been so grateful to see a toilet. Now it starts raining. Feeling sorry for some of the sights the podiatry students had to face. Sang happy birthday for one of the Harry Potter team members. Stayed longer than we wanted at this checkpoint, realised this would be a slow final leg for us. Feet were suffering, podiatry assistance a must.
Checkpoint 7 – Finish – 12.3km (4:49am)
Taupo Gliding
Club to Tongariro Domain
Not a pleasant leg. I appear to have said that the last 3 legs. Left the checkpoint in the rain and feet were wet almost
immediately as we hit long grass in the paddocks back to town. Stiles became
very hard to get over. According to Evan there would be no more stiles after
the first one we crossed. He was wrong. Some unpleasant surprises in the paddocks. Town took forever to appear. When it
did Liz’s calves protested at the final hill we had to climb. We called on the support crew to come and assist to get us to the end. Nearly cried when we discovered the final few
metres to the finish required climbing some steps. Conclusion: Oxfam staff are
sadistic.
We finished in 22 hrs and 47 minutes. Proud.
Limping and tired but proud. Took some time to get in to and out of the Land
Rover. It’s a long way off the ground after 100km. Discovered the stairs in our
accommodation were also challenging. Liz made the right move choosing the downstairs bedroom.
In bed by about 5am. Sleep elusive as all muscles screamed and feet throbbed.
Thanks to everyone who supported us, our awesome crew, our families, our friends, our workmates. That support got us through the hard parts, and there were many of them. But we did it, we stayed together the entire way, we looked out for each other and we finished friends (I think). Great to know the funds we raised will help to support the cyclone ravaged Vanuatu people amongst many other good works.
http://www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/otw15/teams/gallafonts
And yes Evan, I would do it again.
"you're only cheating yourself"
http://www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/otw15/teams/gallafonts
And yes Evan, I would do it again.
"you're only cheating yourself"
