Godzone adventure race

The Girls are on sofa with blankies trying to get some last minute comfort time.

Godzone adventure race

Well the bikes and boxes are packed so now it is time to relax and focus on what lies ahead. Five days 450 km . Kayak 2 hours, bike 3 hours, canoe 4 hours, trek 20 hours, bike 10 hours, trek 20 hours, canoe 6 hours bike 11 hours, trek 12 hours, bike 1 hour, kayak 7 hours. Looking forward to getting started and settling into the team rhythm. Fingers crossed for a seamless race with few mistakes and no injuries or mechanicals ....

Gear list for the Godzone

Gear list for the Godzone Adventure Race - Queenstown April 9 - 14 - Thanks to Macpac for their support.
We have just gone through the complusory gear list for the Godzone and have sorted the clothing we will need for the race to keep us warm and dry.

Traverse jackets


Jetstream pants or resolution pants

Rockover Convert Pant

Merino 150 Long Sleeve Sport top

Merino 150 Short Sleeve Sport top

Merino 180 Short Sleeve Crew Print

Rapid short sleeve zip top

Awatere pullover

Traverse tights

Merino 235 beanies

Glove Schinook windstopper

Amp Gaitor

Torlesse Gaitor

Merino light pants

Socks merino hiker

Crosstrainer socks

Trail cap

Legionaire cap

Amp race 40 pack

Montrail Masochist shoes

Sealine 10litres dry bag

Drink Bottles

Macro light tent

Escapade sleeping bags x 2

Waikato Trials Ride - 100km of Mountain bike fun

Waikato River Trails Ride  - 2012

Long rideable, off-road mountain bike trails in the North Island of NZ have until now been hard to come by. Lucky for us the lovely John Key has put aside some cash and resources to build some trails up and down the country – thanks John for this great initiative http://www.nzcycletrail.com/

Anyway we were looking for a ride to do over the Xmas break and decided to give the recently opened 100km Waikato River Trails ride a go. The website calls it a 3-4 day ride so we were pretty sure it would provide us with a pretty full on day out – we were NOT disappointed !!. Woo hoo what a day !

January 2, 2012 dawned bright and early and Cath, Andrew, Rob, Marquita, Anne and I scurried around our motel unit trying to get packed and sorted for the big day out. Food and water for 8- 10 hours – check, sun screen – check, bikes – check, camera – check, phone – check, maps – check helmet, gloves, shoes – check, car keys check.

This ride is unfortunately a one way trail as opposed to a loop so instead of riding there and back we managed to talk a few more friends Di, Roel, Ally and Hagi into doing it from the other direction and had swapped keys the night before on the off-chance that we didn’t see each other on the trail.

After swinging by and picking up Aiden we headed to Waipapa dam carpark to leave a car for Andrew who knows us all too well and decided that 50 km would probably be plenty to keep him happy.

After dropping the car at Waipapa we continued down to Atiamuri where we found a carpark at the start of the trail to leave our cars for the others to collect. As we pulled up we noticed a lovely gentleman called Glyn dropping some other riders off in his shuttle bus and trailer (Glyn provides all sorts of services to do with the trail he can be contacted via the Waikato River Trails website http://www.waikatorivertrails.com/

How exciting ! We bailed out of the car unpacked our gear and headed off on the first leg of the trail 23km to Whakamaru. Although this section of the trial is graded easy according to the Waikato river trails website we found it reasonably technical in terms of riding ability due to the number of slippery roots – granted it had been raining a lot prior to us riding the trails but it was definitely challenging terrain and not somewhere I would be happy sending my Mum. (no offense Mum) It took us 2 hours to travel the 23kms to Whakamaru !!

At Whakamaru we had a bit to eat, talked to a few people who were interested in the trail and continued on. The next section from Whakamaru to Maretai was 15.7kms and the trail was in much better nick and it is definitely a trail I would take Mum on – what an awesome section this was with smooth free flowing trails. There were certainly lots of great views and lots of whoopps and weeeees coming from us all. Unfortunately, just after one of the amazing swing bridges on the trail Andrews freewheel went which meant he was now effectively riding a fixie. He nursed his bike through to Maretai where he bailed out onto the road and back to the car which was luckily waiting at Waipapa.

Meanwhile, the rest of us continued along the trail to Waipapa. This 14.6 km section was probably the hilliest of the day and gave us quite a workout but for me it was the most enjoyable as we travelled through some beautiful forest tracks and trails. Half way through this leg we met up with the others and had a quick catch up before pushing on to the car at the Waipapa Dam. Luckily Andrew’s bike had held together and he had managed to limp his way back to the car and even more luckily we had left extra water and food in the car – by now it was a sticking hot day and we were all relieved to have a chance to fill up our bottles and bladders.

Just as we were ready to leave on the next 33.8km leg to Arapuni the Waipapa Dam opened and we were treated to a view of the dam in action. Awesome. Once again we were off and at em and doing our best to eat up the kms on the track. This leg was also hilly and reasonably challenging in the heat of the day but full of surprises with varying terrain, stairs, bridges, quarries and long ups and long downs.

All too soon we were on the last 13.7km leg from Arapuni to Pokaiwhenua Bridge carpark where the cars were waiting for us. This leg had a reasonable amount of road in it so we managed to cover the distance in pretty good time. I think we were all pretty happy to see the cars but also a little sad that it was coming to an end.

So to summarise we travelled 100km in around 9 hours and 15mins and a bloody good day out. We’ll be back for sure. The only issue I had with the trail is the lack of facilities at the end of each stage. It would have been great if there were toilets and water available at both ends of the trail, as well as at the ends of the various stages. Granted we were in a hurry and didn’t really make an effort to look around too much for shops and facilities but from memory I didn’t see any shops or toilet blocks. Also we were gutted to find that the infamous Rhubarb Café was closed until Jan 6  - next time we’ll be heading there for sure – I hear it is a little piece of heaven!

For those of you who are wondering which way is best – we thought our way was easiest and the others thought their way was easiest … We did a comparison on metres ascended and the guys who travelled North to South climbed around an additional 100 metres than we did travelling South to North.

Te Aroha tramp

After the XPD I did a lot of lying on the couch contemplating life and imagining all the things I would do after retiring from Adventure racing. Whilst it was good for a week or so it wasn't long before the restlessness set in and I found myself looking for a new challenge and something to focus my energies on. The answer was staring me straight in the face. The Godzone !! - a new adventure race based in the adventure capital of NZ -how could I resist. Before I knew it I had signed Team Macpac Girls on Top up for yet another adventure race and another year of racing.

With racing comes training, so the New Year period was set aside to kick start our training programme for 2012.

As the South Island has considerably larger hills than we have up here in Auckland we decided to go back to TeAroha and do some hill reps. This time we only decided to do two reps and a circuit rather than three solid ups and downs. We left Auckland at 9am and were standing at the base of Te Aroha by 10.30am ready to head out into the rain and start our little adventure. Aiden Boswell who is also doing the Godzone joined us for the outing and kept us amused with his hunting tales.

Our first up and down was reasonably painless and flew by without any of us noticing. At the top we spotted some cable ties on the ground that must have blown off the tower - someone decided we should have a competition to see who could pick up the most - so a short manic interlude took place as we scrambled to collect as many as we could elbowing each other out of the way - luckily there was noone else around as we looked like a pack of crazed animals searching every possible spot for sightings of cable ties.

The second repeat was a bit harder and the conversation suffered somewhat. We were all feeling our legs by the time we summitted for the second time.

From the top we headed off the back of the mountain down to Tui Mine and then took the Domain track back to the car. What an awesome little circuit with reasonably good runability. It was made more exciting by the level of water pumping down waterfalls and streaming crossing the track at one point where we had to cross a stream.

We arrrived back at the car wet but happy. A great training outing had by all. This was followed up with a hot pool and a catch up with friends near Matamata. What an awesome way to farewell 2011 and welcome in 2012.

Macpac Girls on Top - The XPD Adventure racing World Championships 2011 – Tasmania

Well it is over. Done and dusted. We have achieved our goals of getting to the finish line with dignity and finishing better friends than when we started. It seems so surreal after so much focus and so much build up, here we are out the other end and scrambling to work out what actually happened during the event.

Three weeks ago team Macpac GOT – Debbie Chambers, Anne Lowerson, Ally Davey and Craig Stevens headed over to Tasmania to take on the Adventure Racing World Championships. During the event we travelled 733kms, on foot, mountain bike and kayak through the wilderness areas of North West Tasmania, navigating our way with map and compass as we went. It took us 7 days 15 hours and 45 minutes to complete the course. We finished in 23rd place out of 80 teams from all over the world.

It has taken me a couple of weeks to write this race report as my brain went into some kind of automatic lock down after the race to protect me from what we just went through. I’m finally ready to break the code and for the first time since the race, identify and come to terms with what we achieved.

Leg 1 - 17km Sea kayak - Burnie to Penguin

What a feeling it was lined up on the beach with 79 other teams of four about to embark on this adventure. Before we knew it the countdown was on .. three, two, one and we were off . There was no time for thoughts of “hell what have I got myself in for”, it was more about fighting for a space amongst the sea of boats and trying to keep tabs on your teammates. This leg passed by in a flurry we got one easy checkpoint (CP) on route and all too soon we pulled into Penguin to the first transition (TA) of the race. We grabbed some food changed into our trek gear, made sure we had all our compulsory equipment and headed out onto the next leg.

Leg 2 - 20km - Trail Run – Dial Ranges

With lots of teams around us at this stage it was essential that we focussed on getting into our own rhythm and pace and not get sucked into trying to compete with those around us. After passing a hoard of high fiving five year olds from the local primary school, who had come out on the street to cheer us on, we made it to the Clay bird shooting range. Only one person in the team could shoot and legendary shooter Ally Davey put her hand up for this task. She shot four out of five clay birds saving us a 10 minute penalty if she had missed. After posing for a photo we headed off back onto the trek and into the Dial Ranges.

 This leg was a bit frustrating for us as we spent the entire leg playing leap-frog with our good friends team Goldfish who had obviously got their heads into the map better than us and took some risks that paid off. We trotted past them at least three times as they strolled along eating fresh pineapple and smiling. However, we made reasonably good progress and entered the next TA at Riana feeling strong and ready to attack the next leg.

Leg 3/4 - 20km - Mountain Bike / Cave

Being claustrophobic I was a little apprehensive about the caving on this leg but I knew that whatever was put in front of me I would have to deal with as there was no way I was going to let the team down. Heading out of transition into a strong headwind we focussed on riding efficiently and tucked in behind Craig like little ducklings. We made good progress through the farmland and down a massive descent to the cave at Gunns Plain. The ride down to the cave was an out and back. It was awesome seeing teams coming towards us as we flew down the hill and it gave us heart that we were in touch with some pretty good teams. Not so nice was the realisation that we’d also have to cycle back up the hill ourselves after the caving. At the entrance to the caves we dropped our bikes and headed underground. Our time was stopped once we entered the cave and we had an hour to enjoy the scenery at our leisure. It was a nice chance to take a bit of a breather, view the amazing stalactites and stalagmites and enjoy each other’s company, although in the back of my mind I was dreading the fact that we might have to squeeze our way through some tight sections in the cave. My fears were unfounded and I enjoyed every minute of the cave, it was truly spectacular- my only regret is that I was so freaked out before we went in that I forgot the camera.

Leg 5 – 50km – Mountain bike

On exiting the cave we got a 10 minute relax and a chance to refuel before we were back on the road and headed up the so called massive hill – we were pleasantly surprised, it wasn’t as bad as we had thought and we were up it in no time. This leg took us through farmland and forestry. It was pretty straight forward navigation and we ticked off the CP’s along the way. During this leg we were caught by Team Bridgedale socks and spent the last half of the ride chatting to them as we rode through the forest. It was a great feeling rolling into the next TA at Leven Canyon and we were all keen to off the bikes and out onto the first of the big trekking stages.

Leg 6 - 60km - Trek

Our strategy was to push through the first night without sleep, so after packing away our bikes and a quick bite to eat we headed out into the night. This section included a reasonably straight forward walk on tracks through forest then a big climb up onto Black Bluff where we would be out in the open and off track. Lucky for us our timing was optimal and we found ourselves just coming out of the forest onto the tops at sunrise. Wow what a feeling being surrounded by mountains, lakes and tussock with the sun rising in the distance. It was here that we had the first of many encounters with Team Nga Rakau our NZ friends. At the top of the Black Bluffs we both chose different routes but we then spent the rest of this leg bumping into them, then leaving them, then bumping into them again. On the final push of this leg down the river, we teamed up and attacked the icy cold canyon pool swimming, bush bashing, rock hopping, river crossing madness together. It was cold as hell so we focussed on trying to keep moving as efficiently as possible and used strength in numbers to support each other on the multiple river crossings. This was probably an amazing river but with the cold water, slippery rocks, grovelling in the dense bush and being constantly wet in the dark of night , this trek turned into a bit of a mission and we were all pretty keen to see the back of it and make it to the next TA. After a bit of confusion about which side of the river the TA was actually on we finally made it to the next TA on the edge of Lake MacIntosh. It was still dark and we were all a bit poked as this had been a monster of a walk so we put the tent up for a couple of hours of sleep until the sun came up.



Leg 7 -12km – Raft/Kayak

The sun was up by the time we got ourselves organised, fed and packed into the single inflatable kayak we had for this paddle leg across the lake. At times like this we consider ourselves lucky to be a light weight team. We made good time on this leg passing two teams who being a bit bigger and heavier than us struggled to squeeze into one small boat with all their gear. We had to pick our way carefully between trees being careful not to puncture the boat on any half submerged stumps as the lake was pretty much a drowned forest - Anne, Ally and Craig worked extremely well together on this leg with Ally calling out the dangers ahead, Anne giving directions and Craig steering.

Leg 8 – 20km – Kayak and Portage (2km)

At the next TA we traded in the one inflatable kayak for 2-plastic ones and headed back out onto the lake towards a 2km road portage. We were dreading the portage as the plastic boats we were using are not particularly light and we thought we’d struggle – however, with some focussed effort and determination we managed to make reasonably light work of it and even caught a team in the process. After the portage we paddled through the Murchison Gorge, which was stunning, to Lake Rosebery then on to Tullah and the next TA. We were very happy with our progress in both the portage and the paddles and were looking forward to keeping momentum going all the way to mid-camp.

Leg 9 - 105km -Mountain Bike

After a bit of a long transition, we headed out onto the next mountain bike leg. We spent the next wee while slipping, sliding and skidding our way along an old railway track. It was fast and furious and we whizzed through multiple puddles, passed an amazing waterfall, pushed our bikes across a swing bridge high in the air and got covered in mud - awesome ! Once we hit the tarseal we were off, single file swapping the lead, heads down bums up focussing on being efficient and getting some good kilometres under our belt excited about getting to midcamp for a well earned rest. We stopped for a look at the map and a 10 minute power nap as we were about to head into a forest where the navigation looked to be tricky. On waking up from our nap it was clear that Ally had picked up a bug and had a bad case of diarrhoea. Craig had suffered from this on the previous leg but had come right so we thought Ally would be the same. This was not to be, once we got into the forest it was clear that all was not well with Ally. She was running to the roadside every five minutes and starting to lose energy and pace. We egged her on all anxious to try to get to the TA where we could rest and recover for six hours but she reached the stage where she couldn’t continue and collapsed in a pile on the side of the road. We made her a bed of bracken, wrapped her in her emergency blanket, covered her with our sleeping bags and tent and all bedded for a couple of hours kip. By now the sun had come up and Ally seemed a little more with it and able to continue – although her symptoms were still pretty bad. We located the next checkpoint at the same time as Nga Rakau who also had a roadside nap and a bit of sickness in the team. We rode into the midcamp TA with them. Boy was it a relief to be there.

Mid camp came with a compulsory 6 hour rest stop, food, tents, a place to charge our batteries and recharge the bodies and minds. However, it was far from fun for us as Anne had now succumbed to the shits and Ally was not improving. I would say the two of them spent more time in the toilet than anywhere else which didn’t make for a happy team. It is so hard to know when to push people on and when to allow them more time to recover and this is what I was grappling with whilst the girls were busy sorting themselves out in the loos. However, both Anne and Ally were determined to get out of mid-camp and somehow we managed to get ourselves together and out onto the course for the next leg.

Leg 10-65km- Trek

We walked out of the transition fully aware that we were taking a risk and that Ally and Anne would either come right or deteriorate during this mega trek which was reported to be the longest in the race. However, neither of them were willing to entertain the thought of pulling out or giving up so off we went down to the beach.  The beach was spectacular.  I vaguely remember rabbiting on to one of the media guys that walking down the beach was therapy for the soul. Once again Anne’s navigation was spot on and we located trails and nailed the checkpoints on the dunes with no problems. On the way out of the dunes we bumped into Nga Rakau who were still looking for the 2^nd CP and then a few minutes later came across Team Bridgedale Socks having a cup of tea and meal on the other side of a river. What unfolded here was hilarious. Team Bridgedale socks informed us we had to swim and that getting naked was the only way –we stripped off (Ally needed no prompting here) and started swimming just as Nga Rakau arrived, they then stripped off and headed across the river too – the cameras were out and there was lots of shrieking and giggling – mostly from Team Bridgedale Socks. There we were again. Three Kiwi teams all together.  We walked down the beach together catching up on news just as the sun was setting – priceless. Then things got interesting. We came across Little Henty River. Oh no another river crossing. It was dark and cold and the swim looked more than unappealing. We yelled out to some guys across the river with a boat to see if they could give us a lift. They had obviously been speaking to other teams as they asked if one of us was the team with three girls in it. As soon as we confirmed we were indeed the Macpac Girls on Top they were over in a flash.  Our team got in the boat first and to our delight found ourselves sitting around a fire on the other side of the river all toasty and warm. We were soon joined by Bridgedale Socks who unlike us didn’t dilly dally by the fire but instead continued on in search of the next CP.  Nga Rakau had decided not to accept the lift in the boat and went off back down the river to cross elsewhere.  At this point I was starting to feel a bit uneasy as I was sure the rules specified teams could not accept motorised assistance. I was a bit sleep deprived and although I wanted to discuss what had just happened with the team nothing came out of my mouth. It wasn’t until we’d been walking for an hour and half that I couldn’t stand the thought of being disqualified so stopped the team, got the rule book out and explained to the team what was going on inside my head. As a result of this, we turned around and walked an hour and a half back to the fire. It was now 3.00am so the guys that had the boat were fast asleep. We stripped off, swam across the river and back again with all our gear and then spent the next 30 minutes or more huddling around the fire, trying to warm up and giggling about what we had just done. We then walked back along the river to the next checkpoint. I felt a huge sense of relief that we had played by the book and had no cause to be ashamed of any decision we had made. Whether or not the decision to go back was valid or not or we had just wasted 5 hours we will never know- but it felt right, we had righted our wrong.

Once we headed North away from the river and up on to the tops we started to feel a bit sleepy and Anne was keen to have a 10 minute nap to recharge her brain a little before what could have been a navigationally challenging section on a slightly dodgy map. We found a semi sheltered spot out of the wind a lay down for a quick power nap. Back on the road again we saw a team up ahead. It was none other than Nga Rakau who had crossed the river at a different point and taken a different route choice to us. We pretty much spent the rest of this trek with Nga Rakau separating only once to take different route options to the CP. It was amazing up on the tops, the scenery was awesome and the weather was quite something with strong winds, big black rain clouds and rain sweeping over us. Unfortunately for Ally she was still struggling and suffering from the runs and had to dig deep to get through this leg. Reaching the TA at Granville Harbour we decided to have some food and put up the tent for a couple of hours shut eye. It was cold and windy here so getting in the tent was a nice respite – although four people crammed into a two person tent is never as relaxing as it could be, but at least we were warm and dry.

Leg 11 -150km - Mountain Bike
Somehow we managed to drag ourselves out of the tent and head out into the dark, cold, and slightly wet night. As we were leaving, we bumped into Nga Rakau yet again. They were grinning from ear to ear as they had met a local and had just had a sleep in a house, in beds, and had been fed – Oh we were so jealous !!– We laughed at how we kept meeting up as it really was amazing. We were full of optimism as we headed out into the night – pushing in the sand and bogs and riding where possible along the coast. Unfortunately it was dark so we couldn’t see the apparently spectacular coastline. Before long we were faced with a wall of sand towering above us. With no other option we shouldered the bikes and headed up on to the massive sand dune. Although we weren’t riding with Nga Rakau we kept a similar pace and kept leap frogging each other. We then proceeded to spend a considerable amount of time roaming the dunes and trying to work out where we could drop back onto the tracks that had been covered by the dune. It was incredibly frustrating. Eventually, thanks to the brute force and determination of Craig and the Nga Rakau boys we managed to bush bash our way through to a track and to the first checkpoint. It had taken us six and a half hours to do ten kilometres. What a relief it was to find it. Now the real work was still ahead of us 140 hilly, hard arsed kilometres to the next TA. We rode with purpose towing, pushing, pulling, drafting doing everything we could to maintain relentless forward movement and keep efficient as a team. At the Pieman River we shuttled our bikes and ourselves to the town of Corrina on the other side of the river using the 2 kayaks and a paddle that were supplied at CP28. We were dreaming of a getting a full hot breakfast here at the shop(well all of us except Ally) but we were too early and weetbix was all we could get our hands on. Guess who was also here having breakfast – yes – Nga Rakau. We still had over 100km to go and although it was as hilly as, we maintained our focus and drive all the way to the town of Waratah . Craig was like a man processed on this leg and gave more than 100 percent to ensure our pace didn’t drop. At some stage near Waratah it entered our heads that if we kept up the pace we could even make the next transition in time to hit the river before 7.30pm. So after a stop for a pie, a pastie and a chocolate milk at the same petrol station we had visited 6 years ago an XPD, we were off again keen to keep momentum. Before we knew it we were back in the forest with Annie focussed 200% on the navigation. There were a number of route choices to be made and a number of roads not on the map. Anne nailed the first checkpoint with a stunning route choice but after this it was slow going up a huge climb out of the Arthur River and all too soon we realised our dreams of making the next TA before dark were extremely optimistic. At this point we backed off the pace and began to relax a bit. Not long after this we missed a turn and found ourselves flying down an awesome downhill whooping and yelling. Anne, in the meantime was mumbling something about it being the wrong direction but we all convinced her that it had to be right as we hadn’t seen any turn offs. Somehow she also convinced herself that there was some electromagnetic force playing havoc with her compass !! We came to a screeching halt at the bottom of the 5 km hill when Anne assured us we were going the wrong way and needed to go back up. This was hard pill to swallow for all of us but for Ally who had been digging deep all day it was a big ask. Once back up the hill we located the correct track and headed down it still hoping to make good time to the TA. It was NOT to be. The track was a muddy bog, it climbed and climbed and was for the most part was unrideable. To make matters worse Ally then broke her derailleur. Lucky for us Team Dancing Pandas just happened to pass us and had a universal spare derailleur hanger that fitted Ally’s bike. Craig then spent a considerable amount of time grovelling in the mud trying to fix it. By the time we stumbled into the TA it was 3.30am. So much for our 7.30pm planned arrival. We were all toasted and were pleased that the dark zone meant we couldn’t get on the water until 6.30am. Another bonus was that we had two tents here. Woo hoo, we were finally able to lie flat on our backs. The alarm went off a couple of hours later at 5.30am it was dark, cold and pissing with rain. I got up and tried to rally the troups but got no answer so quickly dived back into the tent to wait for the rain to ease. Once the rain eased we were back into it dismantling bikes, packing and repacking kayak gear and food for a night out on the river. We then discovered we had to wait an hour before we could leave transition as the organisers were assessing the level of the river after the rain. Finally we were ready to hit the river and made our way 6km down the road back to the river. Poor Ally was struggling still and made more than several stops on the way down.




Leg 12 - 75km-Kayak/12 km Trek

It was good to be off the feet and on the water. Anne had I took the faster plastic fantastic kayak and Ally and Craig had the yellow blow up boat. Craig named it the yellow submarine as if he hadn’t stopped to bail out regularly they would have sunk. We were all a bit sleepy particularly Anne who nearly fell out of the boat a couple of times trying to grab some shut eye whilst paddling. However, we made pretty good time and managed to locate the CP’s on the river section that were short hiking stages. Once again we found ourselves playing leapfrog with Nga Rakau and Bridgedale Socks. Before we knew it it was 7.20pm. We had 10 minutes to get off the river by 7.30pm. We honestly couldn’t work out where the day had gone, it felt like we had been paddling for only a couple of hours. We pulled off the river with Nga Rakau and spent a wonderful night on the river bank around a fire talking eating and sleeping. Bliss!!

We were really focussed when we woke up, determined to be on the river at 6.30am and no later. Somehow we achieved it. Although we had had a decent sleep I felt whacked and struggled to keep focussed down this last section of river. Craig was awesome a calling the lines on the rapids but on the last one about a kilometre before the TA I lost concentration and Anne and I ended up in the river. I went down one shoot and ended up straddling a tree, Anne went the other and was spat out with the kayak at the bottom of a rapid in a pool. Ally said I was like a possum clinging to the tree. Luckily Craig and Ally had seen us fall out and were quick to the rescue. This leg was probably one of the highlights of the race – great rapids and a true wilderness experience.

Leg 13 - 70km - Mountain Bike

Back on the bikes and off we went. Wow the rest on the river must have done us good. Ally was back, we were a full team again all amped up to get to the end of this leg. What a joy it was, oh how wonderful it was to all be feeling good. We knocked this leg off without too much hassle struggling only for a short time as we rode a few more kms than we would have liked on a railway line. We stormed into transition firing on all cylinders. There were quite a few route choices on this leg so Anne was feeling pretty happy that we’d stayed ahead of Nga Rakau and Bridgedale Socks. This was our fastest transition ever, which was probably due to the fact we didn’t have to dismantle our bikes, and we were soon off for the final trek leg and the second to last leg of the race.

Leg 14 - 25km - Trek

We hit this leg running eager to get as much of this trek done in the daylight as we could. The scenery was stunning and was made even more dramatic as we were hit full on by a massive thunder storm, the track turned into a river but we were in heaven and simply splashed our way through. We pushed hard on this leg forever wary of the fact that whenever you get complacent and think you have the race under control it comes back to bite you. And it did – kind of – we had a bit of trouble with the final checkpoint of this leg which was 20 metres ‘upstream’ in a very indistinct ‘dry’ creek bed – but were quick to react and put it right – we then struggled around the coast in the dark with the tide coming in desperate to reach Boat Harbour without too many detours. Finally we had made it - the transition was right ahead of us. What an awesome feeling of relief. We were even more excited when we found out that Mary from Macpac was there to greet us. Woo hoo!! We gobbled some food, changed our clothes and fired off into the night.

Leg 15 - 35km -Mountain Bike

What a feeling 35 km of road riding to the finish line. It was dark and cool and we were all pretty happy. Anne was sweet with the navigation again and we ticked off the last checkpoints without a problem. We amused ourselves by spotting wildlife, squashing hundreds of snails and discussing random things such as why were there so many snails on the road and where were they going…. Before long we found ourselves in suburbia and out of the corner of my eye I saw a car full of blokes. I assumed they were hoons who were out to hassle us – as they turned to follow us I thought here goes .. bloody dickheads . They turned out to be one of the film crews and before we knew it there were lights and cameras in our faces from all directions – what a boost it gave us. With that we powered our way to the finish line proud of our achievements and humbled by our experiences.

Thanks Macpac for the continued support and awesome gear. Thanks also to Craig and Louise from Geo Centric Events for putting on yet another superb XPD.

Macpac GOT have completed the Xpd Adventure racing world champs.

Well we have knocked the buggar off and achieved all our goals in the process. Apart from a few issues with illness we managed to move through the course reasonably quickly. What an amazing part of the world Tasmania is. We have seen some spectacular scenery and had an amazing time. We also finished better friends than when we started. We will write a full race report once our brains and bodies reconnect.

Here we are at the final briefing before all hell breaks loose tomorrow when the maps are released. Today has been filled with gear checks and competency checks. As usual we also spent a bit of time packing repacking buying more stuff packing some more and gossiping and speculating with other teams. Craig the race organiser is currently reminding us that this event is more an expedition rather than a race. Looking forward to another nice warm night's sleep in a bed :)

Hanging out in Bernie tassie

Been chilling in Bernie today. Great little seaside town - did a photo shoot for the local paper this am then some food shopping for last minute supplies. things heat up tomorrow with gear checks competency checks and registration etc. Teams everywhere from all corners of the world. It is pretty exciting - wish the weather was a bit warmer - it is very cold out tonight - too cold to go out and wait for the penguins to come up the beach. Must be getting soft.

Have been in launceston for last day buying race food and equipment. Just had an awesome brunch in a cool cafe. About to head up to Bernie to race HQ. Starting to get excited - weather is overcast with snow forecast in the hills - brrr

Team Macpac GOT heads across the ditch in search of the Tassie Devil

Team Macpac GOT (Ally, Craig, Debbie and Anne) head across the Tasman tommorrow for the AR World Championships in Tasmania, Australia. The race kicks off on Nov 2nd and we have 10 days to complete the 700kms on foot, by kayak and bike. We will be updating this blog pre-race and hopefully Annie from Nga Rakau can keep you posted during the race. Check out the official race website http://www.xpd.com.au/ for live tracking once the race kicks off or you can head into any Macpac store for an update. Please yell at us down your computer if we appear to be going the wrong way :) Also dont be shy to send us the odd message of support to help us along the way. Thank you to our amazing sponsor Macpac for providing us with great gear and helping us get to the event. We could not ask for a better partner :)

Woo hoo

A Long Weekend of Last Minute Training and Prep

We know it's not long to go now because Ally's on a long haul flight from Germany to NZ as we write - can't wait to see her and start to get final prep underway oh and hopefully do a bit more light training - together :) Craig is moving house this weekend so his traning will be mostly heavy lifting and waking.  We are planning a couple of paddles, a couple of rides and a couple of runs with some shopping, packing, eating, rugby watching, labelling and washing our flash new cycling kit from Tinelli, wearing in new montrails and hopefully getting a sleep-in or 2 in at some point.

With races like this there is so much to think about and get organised. You would think that after doing this sport for 10 years we'd have it down pat but somehow we seem to angst over what clothes we'll need for the conditions, what additional equipment to take and how to keep the weight down for the flight to try to minimise costs of excess baggage.

Hopefully the wind will die down, the sun will shine and the weekend of Rugby will keep cars off the roads :)
Go the Wallabies ... go the All Blacks ..........

Only 6 more sleeps and we'll be Tassie bound .......

Preparing for an expedition adventure race

 

Craig and Debbie

In just under two weeks time - argghhh - Team Macpac Girls on Top will be heading over to Tasmania for the Adventure Racing World Championships. This event will involve biking, kayaking, and trekking over 700kms through the wilderness of Tasmania over a period of six to ten days non-stop. We will eat on the run, sleep when we can and push our minds, bodies and souls to their limits.

It is hard to believe that the race has come up soooo quickly it seems like only yesterday we were toying with the idea of getting a team together and giving the XPD another nudge. These last few weeks have flown by in a blurr of training and preparation.

Anne

Getting to an event like this takes a hell of a lot of planning and preparation. There is the physical preparation ...the training - how much to do ...., the gear preparation - what to wear, what to take....  the team preparation - who is responsible for what, what are our goals ...., and finally there is the food and drink preparation - what will we eat, drink.....


Our latest training sessions have been focussed on long slow outings with heavy packs. The reason behind these long missions is to get the feet, backs, bums and wrists used to long periods of time on the go and heavy loads. Blisters are to be avoided like the plague on Adventure races as they can often be the result of teams having to pull out ....

Craig

Here is a summary and some snaps of our last couple of outings:



Team trek 1 - Pureora Forest Park - Taupo - 7 hours out and back for the hell of it. Team trek 2 - Kaimanawas - Taupo - 16 hours - loop - finished with a 12 km gravel road bash - for the hell of it. Bike mission - Coromandel - Loop - 9 hours - heavy packs and racks - hills and more hills

These training sessions are all about getting out into the good old NZ outdoors and having some great experiences with friends and I guess when you boil it down that is what the XPD is all about for us.

Our goals for the XPD 2011 as always - are to finish with dignity as best friends, push ourselves to race as efficiently and effectively as possible, and to enjoy every minute of the adventure.

Kaimanawa bush

 





Titiraupenga peak

 



Navigators at work



  



Anne and Debbie





Which way now?





























Team Macpac Girls on Top - Team Members - XPD World Champ - Tassie November 2 - 11

Debbie Chambers - Team Captain



Debbie Chambers



Debbie has been involved in the outdoors all her life. Her most memorable adventure was cycling through Asia from Japan to New Zealand in 1993. She has been competing in the sport of adventure racing since 2000. Over the past decade she has raced in numerous adventure races ranging from 24 hours to 7 days both locally and internationally. Her Adventure racing exploits have seen her racing through the New Zealand Alps in the Southern Traverse, the Amazon jungle in the EMA, coastal and inland regions of Brazil in the Ecomotion and through the outback and wilderness of Australia in the XPD and Geoquest. This will be her fifth XPD

She started her racing career with Team sportzhub.com but in more recent times has been the driver of the Girls on Top adventure racing team which is New Zealand’s most successful all women’s adventure racing team. She loves the teamwork aspect of Adventure racing the most but also raves about the freedom of being able to race through the night and the amazing places you get to explore. “There is nothing more satisfying than completing a gruelling 750 km adventure race that takes you through the most incredible scenery and pushes you and your teammates to mental, physical and emotional extremes.”

When not adventure racing, cycle touring or out in the outdoors training she manages the girlsontop.co.nz website and helps organise fortnightly runs around Auckland. Her passion for being in the outdoors is infectious.

Debbie is based in Auckland and works for Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development where her job is to promote Auckland as a study destination for International students


Anne Lowerson - Team Navigator



Anne Lowerson



Anne has always been active and loves getting into the outdoors. She has cycle toured through Asia and many parts of Australia; hiked in Nepal, North India, Australia and New Zealand; and done a number of kayak camping trips in New Zealand and Australia. What a great way to see the world !!

In 2000 she discovered adventure racing after competing in the Aqua Terra adventure race in Auckland. She was immediately hooked as it combined all the sports she loved as well as her other passion of orienteering. Ten years on she has competed in numerous adventure races ranging from 12 hours to 7 days both in New Zealand and Australia. She is addicted to expedition length races and thrives on the unknown element of adventure racing. "Adventure racing is like a box of chocolates - you never know where you are going or what you a going to be doing until you get there." This will be her fifth XPD.

When she is not exploring and adventuring Anne is the Assistant Director of Studies at an English Language School.

Ally Davey - Team Strategist - GOT founder



Ally Davey



Passionate for the outdoors and everything about it Ally founded Girls on Top to inspire other ladies to experience the outdoors. She has a grown to love high mountains after following her team mates up every high hill they could find... After a short one year stay in Australia and experiencing spider webs big enough to bounce her back when she ran into them on the track and managing to advert being eaten by great whites in the Sydney habour she moved to Germany to the land of Bratwurst and Beer.





She combines her love of mountain biking and paddling through the Alps and has learnt to appreciate what a real mountain is. Her goal is to continue to aspire other ladies to step outside their comfort zone and try a new adventure. She is excited to race the XPD world championships after many years of racing with the two best friends she started the sport with, a friendship that has endured the good times and the bad and like a MacPac jacket still continues to provide protection in the toughest of elements.



Craig Stevens



Craig Stevens - Token male in the team, packhorse, yes man, everything man…

Father of 2, Builder by trade

Making his comeback into adventure racing with Team Macpac Girls on Top after having (forced) time out with young family for the last 5+ years.



Over the past 10-15 years Craig has raced in competitively in a number of teams, quite often winning or finishing in the top 5-10 teams. He has raced internationally in Borneo, Brazil, Abu Dahbi, Australia & USA, not to mention all the fantastic events in NZ including Southern Traverse, Mizone Length of NZ Race, Coast to Coast, Arrow International 24hr Race Series, ARC events, Tongariro Mountain Classic, Crazy Man… the list goes on.

Seems to be that the longer and harder the event, the more he enjoys it!





Team Macpac GOT get out and about at the first of the Lactic Turkey Rogaine series events.

Last weekend Team Macpac GOT took on the challenge of a three hour rogaine at Auckland’s Riverhead forest. Having been off training for a month with the flu we were unsure how we would go at this event. However, we knew that with legendary navigator, Marquita Gelderman in our team our navigation would be spot on. At nine am we were given our maps and we spent the next hour in the car debating the possible route choices and options. My simplistic approach is simply to join the dots and keep travelling in one direction until it looks like time might be running out and then heading for the finish at high speed hoping to get there before the cut-off. Marquita and Anne however are far more strategic and measured and the conversation involved lots of talk of “clusters of high points” “elevation gain and drop” “out and back distances” “ease of running on well formed tracks versus small boggy ones” “escape routes” etc etc. Finally, after much discussion and evaluation and re-evaluation (which is hard for someone like me with a concentration span of a five year old) we decided on a route and a drew pretty little highlighted lines all over our maps to show our intended route. At 10am Shaun counted us down and we were off with people heading out into the forest in all directions. In these events it is always key to focus on your own map and direction and not worry what others are doing and that is exactly what we did. The three of us kept together and communicated clearly about where we were heading what, was coming up to look out for and what the clue of the next control was. This kept us all on our toes and aware of what we were looking for once we got to the control. With these events everyone has a map so it was a cool experience for me to see how both Marquita and Anne think through the details on the map and keep tabs on where they are at all times. We made good progress and no mistakes over the first part of the course but at the half way time call we realised our initial plans were extremely optimistic and that there was no way we were going to get all the controls we were hoping to get. From this point on we were constantly re-evaluating our choices and adapting our route to ensure we would get back to the finish line within the three hour time limit. In these events you get penalised 20 points for every minute over the three hours. It is amazing how quickly the last couple of hours goes – before we knew it we were sprinting to the finish – we arrived with 6 minutes to spare, covered in mud and happy with our efforts. What a great day out

For results check out http://www.lacticturkey.co.nz/RogaineRiverheadResults2011Overall.pdf