oooo YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART

Ok now. I’ve been “randomly” patted down and searched for explosives at every airport so far. I wonder if this has anything to do with the way I dress. My sister says I dress like I’m between jobs and I’ve always argued against that. Now I’m not sure…

Anyways, I’m writing this entry on the plane as I fly over the Tasman sea towards Sydney Australia. There is turbulence. I am scared.

My trip is over! Donzo! Finito! And I’m so excited to be home again. Since my last post, (oopsies kind of a while ago) I have, in no particular order: hiked MOUNT DOOM, found amazing mountain bike trails on the North Island, painted pottery, gone sea kayaking,  taken the Interislander back across to the South Island, completed a 10-day road trip with Caitlin down South, read “Lullabies for Little Criminals” again (one of my favorite books), gone caving, sung my heart out to the Tarzan theme song, “You’ll be in my Heart” by Phil Collins followed by “Trashin’ the Camp” about a hundred times over, played the wave game on the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to, won a game of memory, and soy much more!

Mount Doom! 

A friend of Caitlin’s lent us his SUV for the trip (thank you Matt!), so we had a great time cruising down the West Coast of the South Island together. Being driven on the other side of the road took a bit of getting used to because you always felt like you were on the very edge of the road. Since I’d been biking on the roads everyday, by the time I was behind the wheel, it wasn’t a problem. And I have officially mastered the roundabout!

I still kept up my training during our road trip. We would choose a spot on the map about 50-60km away from our final destination (depending on the workout of course) and I would jump out of the car on the side of the highway. I’d assemble my bike and complete my intervals, then meet up with Caitlin at the agreed campsite. The views while biking along the coast were incredible, with huge swells crashing up against rocky cliffs and long golden beaches with waves breaking and rolling in from afar.

the day we only had seeds for dinner

got to this site late and woke up one morning to a beautiful view 

"you'll be in my heart...alwayyyyyyyyyys, i'll be there for you always! always and always. JUST LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER" ...if you don't know this song you need to

Caitlin and I caving! haha actually there's a nice path just below us so scaling the walls wasn't really necessary

We both agreed that our favorite stop on the trip was Wanaka. Every single person that we saw here was doing something active (with the best sportswear and equipment too!).  Honestly, everybody looked like they could be preparing for or had already taken part in the Olympics. The town sits on the each of Lake Wanaka, a stunning lake surrounded by mountains, and has a lovely community feel to it. To top things off, the place has amazing mountain biking. It’s looove baby!

Anyways, I really have to go to the washroom but am having an internal debate as to whether or not I should wake up the two sleepers beside me. Sometime the window seat can be a bit awkward. I think I will hold off …. J

CAUTION! STRUCTURES! haha so proper

Got caught in the dark during this ride but it was worth it!

in my life.

The Karapoti Classic Mountain Bike Race - 50km 

Excruciating. I’m still in pain.  I wish I hadn’t already used the “of my life” line in a previous post. I would like to say that was the hardest race I’ve ever done in my life, but I don’t want to anyone to think I’m just an exaggerator. But it was…

For me, the excitement started on March 4^th, the day before the race. I woke up at 5:40am to make my breakfast, finish packing, and to make my way to Picton. At 11:00am I caught the Interislander ferry to Wellington, and felt seasick for the entire 3 hr trip. Once I arrived, I picked up my sweet swag bag at a bike shop then hopped on a train to Upper Hutt, a small township within the region of Wellington. I was hoping to find a cheap hostel near the race site, but the man (Paul) at the information center informed me that since Upper Hut isn’t a popular backpackers destination, there isn’t really any cheap accommodation.

Paul was the best person I could have met that day. He told me that he was hosting 5 guys that were taking part in the race the next day, and that although his house was full, he would call his neighbors to see if they’d be willing to take me in for the night. So I ended up staying at Paul’s neighbors beautiful home, which was about 500m from the race site. I really couldn’t believe my luck. They were the nicest couple of all time, and they gave me my own room and bathroom for the night. Paul invited me over for dinner where I met the other racers staying at his house, 4 Tasmanians who organize a 4-day, 7-stage race in Tasmania called “Wildside” (www.wildsidemtb.com), and 1 Canadian, Tomas Skinner who has been traveling and riding around New Zealand for the past few weeks.

Anyways, great people, amazing luck, and beautiful location.

Would I do this again? Hmmm I think not…

At the start of the race, we all lined up ankle deep in a fast(ish), flowing river. The bridge overhead was lined with enthusiastic spectators. As my category waited and watched the elite/expert men start their race across the river, it became obvious that the shortest distance across was the deepest and the most risky. The guys who chose the longer, more indirect route didn’t have to battle as much against the waist deep current. Considering my height, I chose to take the longer, shallower route. The water level was still past my knees, so I think I made the right choice. Although the combination of algae-covered rocks and my lack of ability to easily shift my balance made for a slippery and dangerous river crossing, it was hard not to enjoy it.

1st river crossing - starts muy shallow gets muy deep

I was having a great race for the first 25-30kms, sticking with some speedy chicas that were setting a good pace. Then we hit the “unride-able” section of the race called “Devil’s Staircase”. It made me want to cry. You had to carry your bike on your shoulders up the biggest and steepest hillclimb I’ve ever seen IN MY LIFE (in a race situation). The climb went on and on and on and on and..on and on for ~2.5km.  I had lost one of my water bottles on a rocky descent prior to this section, and had forgotten my cliff blocks in my warm-up jacket. Ooooo it was bad. Partway up the climb, I assumed a cheerleading role and pulled off to the side to encourage others on. I really needed the break. I did finish this race, but barely. The race ended with the same river crossing that started the race in reverse, but this time I had to resist the desire to drop to my knees and float away. I raced for 3hrs and 58mins. Longest race of my life.

In the end I won!...a participation medal. And that’s the end of the Karapoti chapter of my life.

I have a few pictures and the GPS data marking out the course that I will upload in due time.

I hope your first 2 races this season go better than mine!

Over and out n’ about in Wellington.

e.bruised

grape work is grape

Another day, another dollar.

I'm employed again! Thus, I have been very busy and haven't had time to update this thing. I've been working at a vineyard for the past 2 weeks in a town called Blenheim. My daily responsibilities on the job include pruning, picking, snipping, de-clumping and stuffing my face with fruit and pesticides. I seem to be the only one on the crew who can't resist devouring half of what I pick. Maybe it's because of the pesticides. The bunches we pick are the ones we throw away and breaks my heart to see a perfectly ripe bunch of grapes hit the ground. So I eat em'!

It's pouring outside which means no work today! If we prune the grapes when it's raining, we can damage the fruit, and we really can't have that. It was so nice to sleep in this morning. On work days we get up at 5:20am which I'm getting used to, but it really takes a toll on you by the end of the week.

I'm staying at a hostel called SWAMPYS that supplies work for travelers like me. There are about 50 of us and we all wake up, eat, work, and sleep and the exact same time. We became a big family pretty quickly, even though some people don't even speak english. Everyone seems to have some form of culinary skill so I'm going to step-up to the plate and make braided Fin bun today. A nice comforting activity on a rainy day...

Training - ugh. Hasn't been going swimmingly in the past two weeks. My heart rate monitor died so I've been training "by feeling" instead. I depend pretty heavily on my HR during workouts, so I'm having a hard time knowing what zone I'm actually in while training. And it seems like I'm in a bit of a trail-free zone so I've been doing everything on the road. I haven't missed workouts, but they just don't seem to be going as well as before. Maybe it has something to do with those cool kiwi teens that I rode past the other day who pointed and yelled out to me, "LOSER!"...or maybe it's the amount of peanut butter I eat.  Nah, I think I just need to snap out of it, get an attitude adjustment, get a grip. When I need to pull myself together, I just think about my new bike which I'll be picking up immediately when I come home. OR I go into this bead store. Both make me giddy and excited again.

Well I'm off to the g.store to get ingreeds for my bread.