The race started with a bus trip on the Sunday from Queenstown to Milford. Most had an idea we were headed for Milford despite a very tight lipped race committee but all was not finalised until the day of travel. Following a leisurely lunch in Te Anau we were bussed to 'the Divide' where the maps were dished out. Then on to Milford in buses full of discussion and excitement. The night was busy. We set up bikes, tents for the night, had a briefing, Nath had a captains meeting, Chris and Nath did their maps until 10pm when we bunkered down for a restless 5hrs sleep. We would have to be up by 3am....Ouch!
Monday 9th April, 3am
Despite being short changed on the sleep front we jumped up and packed away camp with no mucking around. The gear boxes had to be dropped by 3:30 and we needed to be on the ferry by 3:45. It was dark and misty but warm as the ferry set off. So smooth was the trip that 30 minutes in Sophie expressed surprise at why we hadn't left yet! Various tactical murmurs were going on amongst cups of coffee and tins of creamed rice. Teams kept to themselves....race faces were emerging.
Next on the list was disembarking the ferry. Easier said than done. The kayaks were on a rocky beach and a smaller aluminum craft was needed to drop us the final 200m. This took a full hour. Almost last to disembark we got to our kayaks at 6am. Start time was 6:30 and it came all too quickly......quicker than day break even in the misty conditions. The start was chaos. Headlights everywhere, wash bouncing everywhere, paddles everywhere! Nathan and Sophie were well conditioned from King of the Harbour (surfski race) and left us to the chaos and took the lead. Chris and I etched our way to the front of the chasers now only 50m behind our teammates. Subway were right behind us and would be keen to get a lead into the bike. Due to a serious lack of paddle training Chris and I couldn't keep pace with the other 2 and every 15minutes or so they would allow us back in the hunt. Toward the end of the stage Subway started to pull away slightly but never really took much time. As we neared Milford adrenalin was still pumping and I was excited about what a great start it had been. Subway only had a minute or so on us so we could have an efficient but relaxed transition.
Onto the bikes the Milford road wastes no time at climbing toward the Homer Tunnel. My concern for whether I'd worn enough warm gear faded away as we sweated our way through an 900m climb. Once into the tunnel it became evident the climb had gone well. Subway's tail lights were just ahead. A few whoops and hollers later we were on a wet and misty descent toward the Hollyford river before a short climb over the Divide and into the Eglinton river. Half way down the first descent we were all equally surprised when we caught Subway. It had been a great start. Not wanting to waste unnecessary energy at this point the two teams finished the remaining hour of riding as a bunch. It was a chance to eat, drink and be merry.
Onto stage 3 - An inflatable raft/ canoe down a bony Eglinton river to Te Anau Downs. Transition was busy and energetic. Bikes had to be packed up, gear changed, food taken in and the rafts had to be carried 200m to the river bank and inflated. If you can imagine what a hoe down looks like with arms everywhere, knees lifting in time then you're right on the money as to what the scene looked like. Four of us (2 from each team) used foot pumps while the others held the pipes in place. Classic. Subway had transitioned well and got onto the river a couple of minutes ahead of us. Initially the river was particularly bony. Chris and I became very good at getting in and out of our boat and towing it down the shallows. Nath would do the same with Soph able to remain in the boat. For a while I got into a good rhythm steering the boat mostly where I wanted but as time wore on things deteriorated. We could see the frustration mounting on Nath and Soph at our lack of speed but there wasn't much we could do. It was a source of great motivation for me to learn some new paddle strokes over winter! Slowly but surely progress was made down the river. Safe to say Chris would have rather been crash tackling a gorse bush anyday than punishing himself down a meandering river. So 5 or so hours and a stunning gorge later Te Anau downs relented and Trek 1 was upon us. Subway had paddled another few minutes out of us and had about 10 minutes lead.
Stage 4: Dunton Range trek
The trek started with a cruel twist. We were to follow alongside the main road for a couple of kilometers before entering a track onto the range. The twist being that we had to travel over the fence from the road. Whilst catching tantalising glimpses of state highway we crashed and scrambled through gorse, bush lawyer, and low level scrub. Twenty minutes into this entertaining introduction we spotted 4 lycra clad individuals (none other than Subway) progressing along. I was stoked. After a less than ideal paddle section it was great to have them in sight again. Chris was in his element, crashing through and bellowing his contentment to the world (or Subway). The teams would remain close as a well maintained track climbed us onto the dunton range. Various stops from our rivals would indicate that they were less confident in the nav than Chris. Once on the bushline dusk was fast approaching and it was evident that if we didn't take action the teams could be locked together for the remainder of the trek. Not ideal for us as this was our preferred stage. Cutting a long chinese whispered and now infamous story short, Subway stopped to put some warm gear on. Nath who was with them at the time casually walked over the brow of the next knob before bursting into a run. The rest of us, slightly ahead turned to see him stumbling, gasping but above all moving rather urgently. Out of his mouth came...they've stopped, lets make a break, and thats what we did. In fact we didn't cut the urgency for another 60-90minutes by which time we had dropped below the bushline. Contrary to popular folklore the headlights weren't turned off and no hiding in bushes took place but instead just plain old power walking and perhaps a minor delay in firing up the headlamps. For me it was exciting and made for one hell of a start to the trek. Let the games begin!
In the hours that followed I was treated to some fine tuned navigating from both Chris and Nathan to reach CP5 and beyond. If you haven't checked out the tracking for this stage or the topo map for the area its worth a look. By night it provided some testing moments for many teams and the margin for error was small. It was a top effort. As the night progressed a route choice presented itself. Either go high and direct or stay in the valleys and take a less direct line to CP7/ TA4. No surprises with our choice.....up we go! And up, and up, and up. The closer to the top we got, the steeper the scree. Two steps forward, one step back but with a bit of grit we topped out and Chris found us a spur to descend. By this time heavy drizzle/ rain had set in combining with the altitude to produce cold conditions. Nothing a bit of bush bash descent couldn't fix. By now our first day break on the job was approaching. Battling to stay warm I layered up and jogged to catch the others. TA was now less than 2 hours away and most of it was on track - just a matter of keeping the momentum up now. A bit of team singing, a couple of bars and a 4 minute power nap later we jogged into TA....feeling pretty good. I was stoked at how I was feeling. Already I was feeling much more positive than I had in Patagonia. Must be the increased experience.....
TA4/ Stage 5
Getting onto the bikes felt amazing. Its always great to take the weight off after a long trek and this was no exception. We knew there was some sort of margin back to 2nd but how long was anyone's guess. The foot still needed to be down. This section ended up taking 9-10hours. Much of it involved route finding with less than defined trails. There were sections of carrying, pushing, rough riverbed riding all interspersed with 4wd track riding. As a team we rode well across all ground making for a relentlessly reliable section and entered TA5 just on dusk. A quick feed, box the bikes, gear change and we were off. It was now 7pm on our second night, race time 36 hours. Stage 6...The next few hours get progressively blurry for me. The sleep monster visited on occasions eventually getting a strong hold for 30 minutes or so as I walked. The tussocks did a great job at breaking my fall until I found a walking stick which performed the job of balance until we reached Irthing hut. Nath and Soph generously offered to sleep on the floor while Chris and I shared the top bunk (a CP official occupied the bottom bunk). Two hours sleep went like a shot and before we knew it the shoes were on and up we went. I felt great. It had been much needed rest and as dawn approached snow fell on the ranges. It was a peaceful experience and great to be out. Spirits were high and we moved much more efficiently having had some rest. Next challenge: Route selection. There were several choices, the main two being a more conservative route involving two climbs or a bolder steeper route which only had one climb. We opted for the latter and with daylight on our side pinned our ears and climbed out of Eyre creek. No major obstacles hindered progress and by late morning a clear passage was in sight and a beautiful day was in full swing. Two more descents later and significantly more weary on the feet we walked into TA6. There was a course change. All teams would turn right out of transition and follow the Von river to the shores of Wakatipu. This cut out 50km of biking and the inflatable canoe rogaine on the Mavora lakes. Transition staff had hot vege soup on the boil so it was all good at TA6! Refueled and good to go we exited transition right and headed for wakatipu.
Stage 7. By now the business end of the race approached. We all were still in good spirits with good progress. About 90km of biking seemed to go pretty quickly. Apart from the temperature plummeting and a random puncture the ride was without major issue. A band of supporters cheered us through Kinloch which was awesome including Jodie and Nathan's kids. TA8 sat at the base of Earnslaw, just east of the dart river. It was time for a brief hour's kip. While I'd like to say we all slept solid, I heard plenty of groaning and unsettled movement. Probably a sign of brains getting confused I would assume. Eventually after several yells the team woke and amidst plenty of shivering got going in what was becoming a very cold morning. With over a 1000m of climbing first up on the final trek we wouldn't be cold long! We started Stage 8, the 3rd and final trek stage somewhere in the early hours of the morning. As I mentioned, we got straight into a solid climb and before long were above the bushline. As the route got higher another challenge presented itself. We were climbing a decent gradient on small schist slabs. This was fine until they started to frost over making it necessary to concentrate more than usual. The route traversed us through a bluffed section (with fixed ropes) before a significant descent that lead eventually into the upper reaches of Earnslaw burn. The frosted schist was a definite risk initially. A loss of footing here could have been nasty on the body and resulted in a long slide. Into the Burn another cracker day dawned. It was a magic part of the trip with early rays of light reflecting off the Earnslaw Glacier directly above and waterfalls emerging from high above. This is what its all about! Soon after a sharp climb to Lennox pass and a spectacular ridge traverse above the Burn we descended into the Reece river catchment. A marked route snaked its way to an amazing 80m abseil into the Reece valley floor where we jalked (trying to jog but barely travelling faster than a walk whilst looking like a senior citizen in their final days) the final kilometers to the Reece carpark. Here my day brightened as Rach had made it up from Queenstown and met us with Jodie. She was a sight for sore eyes. Choking back the tears following a short period of reuniting I biked off (with the team) to Glenorchy. Sleepyness hit us again, especially on the seal but dreams of pies, pastries and coffee at the Glenorchy cafe kept us going. It didn't dissapoint and in fact lit us all up enough to complete the race without any further sleep.
Transitioning efficiently into stage 10 we were all excited. Perhaps for it was the final leg, or that it represented exercise not involving the legs (It was now over 66 hours since the last paddle section) or that if we paddled fast enough there was a definite possibility of visiting Ferg burger enroute to the finish. Whatever the reason spirits as they had been much of the race were high as a kite. I personally enjoyed the paddle on so many counts. It was great to be on the water with my shoulder feeling 100% and above all to tire out a totally foreign set of muscles. So as we rounded the last point into Queenstown and Chris and I notched up approx 120% to sit on Nath and Sophs wash (who were paddling at 80%, eating bread rolls and blowing bubbles in their camelbaks) I couldn't help but feel stoked with our race. It had been a great and strong team effort. A small crowd cheered as we neared the beach.....initially there were denials....they must be cheering for something else. But no, the cheering grew louder as did the excitement. Not only was the welcome worth it but a valiant supporter had gone ahead with ferg burger orders. Make my day.
Big thanks must go out to my team for making Godzone such a great race. As the team rookie I aim to reduce the number of stuff ups race by race and this can't be achieved without some great examples along the way.
A huge thanks must also extend to the following team sponsors to whom without their assistance racing wouldn't be possible.
Seagate, Patagonia adventure gear, Inov-8 off road shoes, GoLite backpacks, Rocky Mountain bikes, Louis Garneau helmets, o2b healthy supplements, Silva headlamps, GU energy gels, Bridgedale socks, Endura eyewear, Awaken organic energy bars, mont-bell tents, ready set Go antichafe, Nordenmark adventure map boards, Tineli bikewear, and adventure nitelights.
http://vimeo.com/40280504
To Read Nathan's race reports click here:
http://www.multisportnz.org/GODZONE2012SeagateReportMSNZPART1.pdf
http://www.multisportnz.org/GODZONE2012SeagateReportMSNZPART2.pdf
And to see the TV3 Godzone articles click here:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Godzone-adventure-kicks-off-in-South-Island/tabid/317/articleID/249787/Default.aspx
http://www.3news.co.nz/Seagate-win-Godzone-race/tabid/317/articleID/250355/Default.aspx
For other race articles:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/6714030/Rapid-start-to-522km-six-day-GODZone-race
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/6720128/Endurance-passion-pain-achievement
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1204/S00225/victory-for-team-seagate-at-godzone-adventure.htm
