The Big One - The Auckland Half

Some of our 'fans' might remember a blog a wee while ago about our first ever triathlon back in December. Things might have got a little bit emotional there what with competing in my first ever multi sport race alongside my hubby.

Not ones to rest on our laurels, having enjoyed the endless Kiwi summer (and fitting in a bit of training in between long weekends and the day job) we knew we needed another challenge. Somehow having completed just one triathlon - Matt reckoned this put him in excellent shape for jumping straight up to the half ironman distance. So he entered the Auckland Half with about a month to go. I held back - were we (me) getting a bit big for our boots? Wasn't 70.3 miles (1.2 miles of ocean swimming, 56 miles of hilly riding and a half marathon to top it all off) just a little bit, well, much? 

Having held back for a couple of weeks I obviously caved and entered. I couldn't resist. I'd just been offered a promotion at work, the sun was still shining, I was ocean swimming at lunch a couple of times a week - I was definitely up for it!

Matt's number -
worringly low number of participants...

Race day arrives and I am regretting this whimsical decision big time. What had possessed me to think I was capable of such a feat? Setting up in transition and I have the following incredibly sensible concerns:

1. The sea is very choppy - I might drown
2. Where do toilet stops fit into the schedule?
3. I last ran a half marathon in October and was shattered afterwards - how am I possibly going to be able to polish off 13.1 miles after an epic ride?

Too late to back out of course (by this point I am lubed up in wetsuit, amongst many serious looking tall people). The gun goes and we're off!

Well at least everyone else is - I hang back to avoid the fabled washing machine effect and soon see Matt disappear off with the other serious looking tall people. I am happily amongst the lovely old and nervous people and then soon enough, I'm on my own. Oh dear - somehow I have drifted a bit and proceed to spend the remainder of the swim right at the back zig zagging between the buoys. Yes - I was last out of the water (even behind the lovely old and nervous people) in 1 hour, whilst Matt was long gone after 45 mins of awesome swimming.

Strangely, all of my nerves had disappeared by this point. I had a mission to complete and the first job once on the bike, was getting off it and stopping at the public loo at the end of the beach. 30 seconds lost but it was definitely worth it. From there the ride got better and better as I soon realised that getting out of the water last led to the fun experience of 'taking down' some of the competition as I clocked through the miles on the bike. Truly, the ride was fantastic - the sun was shining, the scenery majestic and my head (and the little voices inside it) under control. My high point was giving Matt the 'go team cope' salute as we passed each other with the turn around point on the out and back course, between us. 

The miles clocked by, and the next thing I knew I was back at Kawakawa Bay having completed the ride in under 4 hours, arriving at transition 45 minutes after Matt. Running shoes on, another toilet stop and I'm off. 

Where my biggest worry had been the do-ability of the run, somehow my legs did me proud. I got into my groove and found I could run (when many others were walking) and enjoy it (at the same time). Adrenaline definitely had something to do with it - but the voices in my head were on my side and willing me to complete the race. The end was in sight for both of us (Matt nearly an hour ahead by this point), my fellow competitors were willing me on, the school kids with the cups of water were doing me very proud and I just kept on going.

So we did it - Matt completing in an amazing 6 hours 15 minutes (finishing halfway up the field for his age group!!) and me in 7 hours 8 minutes.

Me crossing the line (smiling on the inside, I promise!)

What a speedy husband!

Shattered

Still shattered - a glass of wine will definitely help...

...or maybe not

Emotional? Yes and no. Probably the most mentally intense thing I have ever done, and it goes without saying that everything hurt (a LOT) the next day. I guess there wasn't room for emotion at the end of it all - just a thirst for more of the same.

Which takes us to our plans for 1st March 2014 - yes, you've guessed it - we've entered the full Ironman. 11 months to get fighting fit for a massive 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run. Team Cope says Bring It On.

Look who flew in!

Look who's come back to his homeland! (We all know he's a Kiwi really; he says chur. Fact.)

Amidst a crazy month at work and our Half Ironman training, it was brilliant to ditch work early one day and pick up this smiley chap from the airport - fresh from a 2 week South Island adventure with his brother, doing every adventure sport possible...After a drive up through South Auckland, we headed up to the top of Mt Eden for an amazing view of the city.

Tourist stuff to one side - it was then beer time. Fresh, cold beer in a desert of self-imposed clean living... Catching up with Gus and his friends over some cold ones was great - we even met NZ celebrity extraordinaire, the Nek Minit guy. The guy famous for being on camera talking about how he left his bike outside a dairy (corner shop) and nek minit...! Oh New Zealand. Still - Gus was proud of his photo stood by his side!

Trufflers reunite!

Followed up by some amazing Japanese food, then losing badly at blackjack in the casino, before heading off for some cocktails and then bed... Great times - we don't party in Auckland enough!

Thanks for stopping by, Gus - we're looking forward to partying more in August!

The Mum and Dad Files

A bit of an odd post; not in the sense it contains three people from Lincolnshire and one from Norfolk - but that it's not really in one place or doing one thing. Like every other post!

So this is a post full of photos I like from my parents visit to NZ, from mid-January to late-Feb. It was brilliant seeing them - and took me back 7 years to picking them up at the airport in Japan. I think they were both thankful this time to not be facing a holiday of foreign language and a diet of rice and fish!

The highlight of their visit was walking the Routeburn and visiting Milford Sound with them - but those photos won't make it into this collection. Here are the more informal ones that did...

The Airport Taxi Service
(unfortunately our vehicle is a 2 seater van!)

The best way to cure jet lag? Walk the 16km Coast to Coast
on their first day!

Lunch with a view...

Trudging down One Tree Hill to the end of our walk

A treat for Mum and Dad - an all you can eat buffet
at the top of the Sky Tower

Every dessert at once... happy days

Settling in weekend over... time to get them out of
Auckland and enjoying the van.
Here's a pretty big Kauri!

And waving goodbye to my parents and the van - before they
set off for 4 weeks in it... Thanks for the lift to work!

And 4 weeks later... We joined them for a trip to the Northlands

Camp diving

And to our Bach (holiday home) we hired for a night... Here's a
timed photo that Mum was running for... And ran into the glass door!

She remembered the door this time...

Your average Kiwi beach

Ta ra!

Being a kid again...
Who said Sarah's got me by the balls?!

Dad's dream shed... We spent quite a while staring at this!

The holidaymakers...

Thanks for coming to visit -
we're glad you loved it as much as we do!

Mighty Milford Sound

After a fantastic three days tramping the beautiful Routeburn Track, there was nothing for it but to go somewhere arguably even more beautiful - Milford Sound. We knew we were in for another treat as we drove out to the Sound with dramatic mountains on either side of us.

The drive to the Sound from the Routeburn trailhead

Matt's planning came into its own on arrival at Milford Lodge (4 bed dorm with your husband and parents-in-law anyone?) when we opened the chilly bin to find our barbeque meat and beers still chilled from the mountains of ice we had stowed inside before departing on our tramp. Cold beers and a delish barbeque were just what we needed. The sandflies, which Milford Sound is famous for, a little less so.

It wasn't cold - this is just what you have to
wear to have a hope of not getting bitten to shreds.
Please note Clare's sock in flip flop fashion statement!

After a slightly better night's sleep (despite the phantom snorer from the Routeburn somehow having snuck into our room) we were up and off early for our kayaking adventure out into the Sound. Team Cope was very excited, particularly as Matt's planning had ensured that we were to have some cross-couple bonding with me to share a kayak with Pete, and Matt with his mummy. OK, some of us were a bit more excited than others.

Very happy to be kayaking with his mum!

Once we had mastered the basics and worked out who was captain of each vessel we set off and spent a thoroughly enjoyable three hours paddling through the enormous expanse of water in the Sound itself.

Waterfalls and atmospheric clouds

Am I really here?!?

Right at home on a boat

The time went really quickly (although our arms were starting to get heavy) and soon we were mooring up. Just time for a quick photo of us in our kayaking attire.

Yes, that's right - Pete is wearing leggings

We hadn't quite had our fill of the Sound after the kayaking so returned in the afternoon for a pint and some more pics of the stunning views.

Very happy to be here!

Moody (the Sound, not us)

Reflections

Gorgeous

 Before parting at Queenstown Airport the next day we just had time to enjoy our Christmas present from Chris, Naomi, Caleb and Esme - a trip up the famous Skyline and two luge rides!
The views and the high octane adrenaline rush of the luge did not disappoint.

Awesome view of the Southern Alps

Well, it was a high octane rush, until I got stuck right at
the end and held up just one or two fellow daredevils!

 A wonderful few days all round - definitely a highlight of our time in NZ so far.

Thanks C, N, C & E for a brill Xmas pressie!

Tramping the Routeburn

A long overdue blog... Sorry! For the last 6 weeks my parents have been out visiting us in Auckland and touring around New Zealand. Time spent with them, work and fitting in our Half Ironman training has been a wee bit busy - I'm sure you guys didn't mind waiting for the write-up though. 

There's too much to fit in one blog, so I'll concentrate this on one of our highlights of NZ so far - tramping the Routeburn Track, one of the country's Great Walks. The Routeburn felt amazingly isolated and equally spectacular; it's a 32km 3 day tramp through two national parks, staying in mountain huts and carrying all your own gear along the way. Early on the Wednesday morning, Sarah and I flew down to Queenstown to meet my parents who were travelling around in our little van, Carrie. After a pit stop for 3 days of food that we'd need to carry over the mountains, we were off on unsealed roads to the trail head.

Mountain valleys filled with a sea of clouds from the plane

We were all fully loaded and eager to get going. From the very first step, the scenery and trail didn't disappoint - although the long swing bridges over ravines tested Mum and Sarah's trust. Not trust in the bridge, but trust in me and my Dad to not get them swaying around...

Rule Number 1: Send Dad first

We left the first valley floor, heading up through glacial valleys to higher valleys. The area has an average annual rainfall of 7m (!) but the weather was amazing, and stayed that way. Luckily!

Team Cope

5 metres before this a sign said "Danger of rocks falling"
Dad decided this was a good place to chat!

The track was pretty quiet, as there's only a limited number of bunks at each cabin - which means views like this can be savoured and not shared...

Pretty epic!

And after about 5 hours of non-stop climbing, we were at our first night's cabin: Routeburn Falls Hut. How's this for a view?

Our cabin at Routeburn Falls, at an altitude of about 1000m

We were all pretty glad to take our packs off - and get reducing their weight. Time to start cooking and get drinking that 3l bladder of red wine. All in the name of reducing carrying weight, of course.

Feeding the masses

And after a good feed, some good wine and a damn good game of scrabble (well done Sarah, pretty hard going to beat my Dad!) it was time to watch the sunset over the valley.

Catching some rays

Life starts pretty early in the huts - with rows and rows of plastic mattresses in big wooden bunks, as soon as one person is up everyone else follows suit soon afterwards. We let the masses get on with it so we could enjoy the trail in peace.

And peace we had! Here we are heading up to
the top of Harris Saddle, the highest point of the trail

Lake Harris

The views were getting better and better as we got higher and higher...

And higher and higher...

Leaving our packs at the emergency shelter at Harris Saddle, we made a dash up to the top of Conical Hill for a look down into the Fjordland and Aspiring National Parks.

Conical Hill View

And here's one of my favourite photos from the walk - spot my Dad enjoying the view:

Silhouettes

Heading up and over the Saddle, we came down into the valley of the Hollyford River, hugging the steep valley sides the whole way. Moving from open rocks, to alpine scrub and trees, and then down into forest - with the bright Kea parrots circling overhead and checking what we were up to. Throughout the three days, every view was worthy of a Lord of the Rings shot - with Sarah probably cast as a Hobbit.

Or a dwarf. Probably a dwarf. That's less offensive.

And there we are at our hut for the second night of the tramp, at the sides of Lake Mackenzie. After a quick dip in what is some of the coldest water I've ever known, we were back inside and ready for some supper.

Lake Mackenzie Hut

And here's where I slept. 28 years old. Married. And sharing a 4 bed bunk with my wife and parents. That's just not right...

Department of Conservation luxury accommodation!

With a fantastic (I made it) Thai curry for dinner, with rehydrated nearly everything. Lush.

And to bed - for a terrible night's sleep with all 32 people in the room kept up by my Dad's snoring!  But again, the next day's views made it all worthwhile...

Slow motion falls

Hugging the valley side further, we headed along to The Divide.

Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud

The first day had swing bridges and valley floors, the second was full of stunning vistas and lakes and this third and final day was defined by the waterfalls. Big big waterfalls.

A mere trickle

The Holidaymakers

Tramp nearly over, one last optional hill to climb: Key Summit. More lovely views. This is getting a bit repetitive now isn't it?

A Cope Frame

Me and the wife

And heading back down again to rejoin the trail...

Lush forest in the final kilometre

And there we are - a lot of photos in this blog, but it's been hard to whittle them down to that number. We've been lucky to have done a lot of hiking in some spectacular places around the world, but as a multi-day hike this is the winner for us. So great to be able to share it with my parents during their trip here - hopefully we'll still be tramping round mountains in 30 years too!

Routeburn Finishers 2013