Outdoor Video Magazine

So week 2 of my training is complete, and I thought I write a quick update. You can see my first death race entry here, and my second here.

I am definitely finding the running easier, I can hold a faster pace for longer and this shows in my times which are all slightly quicker than last weeks. I feel in good shape while I run, but when I’m not running….I feel pretty sore! I have serious back issues developing..it’s worst at night when it stops me sleeping (I often try to move to the floor, feels slightly better. I also take ibuprofen before I go to bed) and today it actually feels stiff and sore all the time. I know this is probably because all the running is tightening my hamstrings, which in turn tighten the lower back. So I’m doing my best to stretch it as much as possible, to no avail. My feet didn’t hurt this week after my long 21km run though.

I will take this week slightly easier, and next week I plan to take most of the week off training. Partly because of my back pain, and partly because I have some friends from England coming over and we’re hanging out in the mountains skiing and snowshoeing for 10 days! woohoo. I don’t think this will affect my training too much, because I still have a long time before the race, and I’m pleased with how my times are going so far.

I’m thinking I will try two legs in the death race, because I want a real challenge and I want to make sure I get my $265 worth!

So after browsing Youtube again, I have found a couple of videos to give you a taste of some of the hiking trails I mention in my Hiking New Zealand - South Island post. There is an EXTENSIVE 4-part video detailing ‘Group 75’s‘ (I don’t know where they got that name. They seem to be from somewhere in Asia) trip along the Milford Track. This is long winded (to say the least)…I would recommend letting the video load all the way and then just watch it while skipping the boring parts. They had pretty rainy weather..but that’s fairly normal for Milford so it does give you an accurate representation! Gives you a feel for the terrain and the trail itself (i.e. an easy stroll/paddle haha)

Part 1 of the Video (skip to 4minutes to see the start of the hike)

Part 2 of the Video - good shots of trail and huts. And rain.

Part 3 of the Video - Good shots of trail and huts. And some more rain.

Part 4 of the Video - Some Milford Sound shots. But the hike is over.

This video is mostly a photo slideshow with a bit of short video showing off the Rees-Dart tramp. All put to some relaxing electronic chill-out something. Yes, I know nothing about music.

See also my post on Hiking New Zealand’s North Island.

I spent a month and a half on New Zealand’s South Island in the summer (our winter) of 2003/4. It was their wettest summer on record I believe! Yes I did get wet, often. But I still think New Zealand is the best country I’ve ever been to in general, and the best country for outdoor activities (sorry Canada, but you’re just too big).

I will give you a run-down of my highlights of hiking the South Island, and will again point you in the direction of the Lonely Planet Tramping New Zealand book which is an excellent purchase. It is also easily available in bookstores and outdoor shops outside of NZ which is useful for planning your trip in advance.

First off the most famous tramp (that’s a Kiwi style hike) is Milford Sound. Unfortunately I can’t comment on this one…I expect its very beautiful and TOTALLY over commercialized, busy and way too well-maintained for me! But maybe I’m just jealous because you need to book many, many months in advance to hike it between October and April, and the average INDEPENDENT hiker spends $275NZ to do the hike! Yes, that’s unguided. And you’re not even allowed to camp! Huts only. If you like ‘real’ hiking, only consider this hike out of peak season, or accept it as a walk in the park.

The next most popular tramp would be the Routeburn…easier to get on than Milford, but book well in advance if you want to use the huts. However, you can camp on this one. It is a gorgeous hike, but way to tame and too busy for me. It’s supposed to be a 3/4 day hike, but I actually hiked it in one day (including the side trip and many photo opportunties, so no, I didn’t miss out!). It’s worth doing, just be prepared for crowds.

OK, time to talk about the more ‘interesting’ hikes. Abel Tasman is one of the great walks, but how about kayaking it? Kayaking a walk you say? Yep…the trail goes right along the coast, and you can get to all the same campsites by sea-kayak. The views are better from the sea than the trail, you get access to some hidden coves hikers can’t get too, and you get to play with sea lions. Plus you can take beer because weight doesn’t matter so much in a kayak! If you have some experience, then defintely do this non-guided.

OK lets get away from the crowds and the great walks. Lets talk Arthurs Pass. Just a short drive inland from Christchurch, this place sees less tourists and more locals. Gotta be a good thing. If you come here…you HAVE to stay at the youth hostel on the North ide of the road (there are two youth hostels, and one road, its pretty easy to find!). It’s a great place and the owner is the nicest, coolest, most helpful person you’ll ever meet. The scenery is not as dramatic as the southern end of the Southern Alps, the mountains not quite as big and scary looking, but as a result the area is more accessible to non-mountaineers and there are some great hikes. Avalanche Peak is an excellent day trip, you can do it from town, and it has some beautiful views and a bit of scrambling/exposure at the top. Then there is the Waimakariri-Harman Pass route which is awesome. Trackless in parts, beautiful scenery, some interesting river fords, a self-powered cable-car crossing, single wire bridges, and dig your own hot-springs. This hike has it all. Plus I did it with a lovely Swiss girl who is now a lifelong friend and a German guy who baked us fresh garlic bread on his Trangia. Check out the MANY other routes (a route is more challenging than a tramp in terms of route finding and trail conditions…so they’re more fun!) in the Arthurs Pass area here. Beware Kea’s (parrots) eating your tent, your backpack, your bike, your anything-you-leave-unattended-for-30-seconds. Aren’t they cute….bas***rds.

Stewart Island is well worth a visit for hiking. The terrain is very different from the other areas of NZ and it is your best chance to see a wild kiwi (the bird, not the local or the fruit… or the fruity local!). The 3-day Great Walk is mostly on boardwalk…urgh…but it’s still pretty. If you have time, the 8 day NWC (North West Circuit) is an awesome mud-fest of fun and endurance with some stunning lonely beaches. An alternative is to head out to Mason’s Bay, then arrange for a water-taxi to pick you up on your way back from the hut that is before you get to Mason’s Bay (to save you backtracking all the way).

Another good one is the Copland Track (unfortunately an out-and-back) which has some stunning mountain, forest and river scenery. Also the Rees-Dart is fantastic if you link it with the Matukituki Valley Track via the Cascade Saddle, which gets you high up in the Alpine zone. A side-trip up the Matukituki Valley with a night at Liverpool Hut also provides some stunning views of glaciers and some of the highest peaks in New Zealand including Mt Aspiring.

North of Christchurch in the Kaikoura region (where the whale watching is done from) I would recommend a challenging route up Mt Richmond

Hey, well as a follow up from my previous post, I browsed the web for some video content of the hikes/areas I mentioned. So check out these videos.

This first one shows a group doing the Tongariro Crossing….good soundtrack! Is that the Pet Shop Boys? Rock on.

Unfortunately, the pumping sound track for this video is the blowing wind in the mic. But anyway, gives you an idea of the stunning view from the top of Mt Taranaki.

One final video showing a view on the Lake Waikaremoana Track. Aaaahhh…hear those Kiwi accents? Brings back some memories!

see also Hiking New Zealand - South Island

Most people that go to New Zealand spend most of their time on the South Island, especially if they are outdoor enthusiasts. This is a mistake in my humble opinion. The North Island is almost equally cool, and it actually beats the South Island in terms of it’s variety of scenery and terrain, although it lacks the big mountain ranges obviously. It has spectacular volcanic scenery, crazy coloured lakes and rocks, a Mt Fuji look-alike to summit, beautiful coast, and tropical forest.

I wouldn’t normally recommend a Lonely Planet book, I don’t think they do the best travel guides. However, in this case I will make an exception and say the Lonely Planet’s Tramping in New Zealand is an excellent purchase. Its well written, really easy to follow and find tramps (that’s Kiwi for hikes by the way), and has a range of difficulty from easy to pretty hard (e.g. the 10 day North West Circuit on Stewart Island).

The ‘have to do’ hikes on the North Island in my opinion are: Tongariro Northern Circuit, Mt Taranaki and then something in the East Coast/Hawke’s Bay; either the Lake Waikaremoana Track or if you want something less busy and a bit wilder the Manuoha to Waikareti Track.

Tongariro Northern Circuit
This is a 3-4 day hike through some mountainous volcanic terrain. It is fairly easy walking on the whole. Some steep sections. But it is not overly long, navigation is easy (in fair weather), and there are no exposed sections. If you do it, you have to make the side-trip up Mt Ngauruhoe (pronouced Nara-hoe). It is well worth it. Plus you can say you’ve been to the top of Mount Doom (it was the volcano used to film some scenes of Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings). It is a steep, steep, climb up scree. But there is no danger, and no exposure, and no real scrambling involved. Coming down is awesome because you can scree run all the way down. Coooooool. From the top you can see the view of your path ahead stretching out. And boy is it a tempting view.

From Whakapapa (Fa-ka-pa-pa) to the first hut, Mangatepopo takes 2/3 hours. And is not very inspiring, apart from the looming shape of Mt Ngauruhoe on the horizon. I got here for lunch time, and then decided to do the trip up Ngauruhoe that afternoon from the hut…rather than make time the next day. This does involve a lot more backtracking…but it only took around 3 hours to the top and back from the Hut. This was going pretty fast though, so I would probably allow 3-5 depending on your ability. Don’t beeline for the summit..follow the Tongariro Track as long as possible…right up to the saddle. It is less steep this way.

Mangatepopo to Oturere Hut is the best day of the hike. It is what the people doing the one day Tongariro Crossing will do. I have heard it described as the best day hike in the world. This may be an exaggeration….but it is a pretty f***ing sweet day! Crazy red rock (Red Crater), crazy blue/green volcanic lake (the Emerald Lakes), crazy lava formations, with a good bit of elevation too. Oturere Hut is a nice place to stay. A good view of Ngauruhoe dominates one part of the skyline, a constant reminder of the awesome hike you did that day.

Oturere Hut to Waihohonu Hut is a short 2-3 hours, so it may be best to have a super long day and get all the way to Whakapapa in one which would take around 6.5-8.5 hours. The hiking on these days is nothing like the Tongariro Crossing, there are no real highlights, but it is steady, entertaining walking nonetheless. A variety of open terrain and nice forest with lots of small ups and downs keeps you on your toes.

This is site has a good review of the Tongariro Northern Circuit (and this is where I got some photos from, my photos haven’t been scanned yet).

Mt Taranaki
First off the DOC Website (Department of Conservation) states you need 7 to 11 hours to get to the summit of Mt Taranaki. Don’t let this put you off!! To give you an idea, me (going very quickly) got to the top in 2 hours 5mins, and took about 1 hour 15mins to come down. A fast hiker could easily get up and down in 6 hours including an hour at the top enjoying the view. An average hiker would probably take maybe 8 hours maximum including an hour at the top for the view. The view is incredible…you are the highest thing around for hundreds of kilometers…and there is nothing even close in that distance. You can see the sea for 270 degrees of the view, and you can also see right across to Mt Ruapehu and Mt Mgauruhoe in the distance.

The most important thing is to GET AN EARLY START. Because of the topography of the area, the fact there is this 2000m+ high mountain located in a flat area next to the sea means that Mt Taranaki is a cloud magnet. On a crystal clear morning, you can almost guarantee there will be cloud over the summit by 10am (the native name for New Zealand, Aotearoa, means Land of the Long White Cloud remember…). So make it your aim to get to the summit at 10am or before so you’re not disappointed.

The hike itself is pretty much constantly steep terrain, with a fair amount of nasty volcanic scree (nasty on the way up, fun going down). Only attempt when there is snow covering if you are properly equipped and experienced. A fall on these slopes when there is a snow covering would mean a LONG LONG slide if you can’t self-arrest. However in summer you will be fine. Navigation is a slight issue in bad weather/cloud, the track through the scree can be confusing and hard to follow, so take care and be sensible.

Did you know they actually filmed the Last Samurai (with Tom Cruise) in New Zealand? It was cheaper and easier than filming in Japan. And they used shots of Mt Taranaki in place of Mt Fuji. It does look pretty similar….cool huh?

Check out the DOC website for details of the Lake Waikaremoana Track and the Manuoha to Waikareti Track.

The Lonely Planet’s Tramping in New Zealand Guide. Get it from Amazon.

OK, so week one of my Canadian death race training is done. You can see my training diary and times here. It went pretty well on the whole…all the runs were fine leading upto Sunday. I did 13km on Wednesday, probably the longest I’ve ever run before (remember I hate running and have never really done it before!). My time was obviously pretty slow, 1hr 24 mins or so. Sunday I then did 21km…just about a half-marathon. I very nearly chickened out of doing it that morning…my back has been really sore (tight hamstrings from all the running?) and I just did not feel in a good enoguh mood to do a half-marathon. By the afternoon I had perked up and plucked up the courage to go…and I loved it! Mainly because of the tunes on my Ipod, and because I got under two hours which was my goal. It was a crisp -13C out, -19C with the wind. It was also icy as hell, so with these disadvantages I was pleased I still got my time. In fact, my fastest 3km were the last 3 as I realised I wasn’t going to make my time unless I speeded up. Hopefully next time I can go out faster and holder a steadier pace now I know the sort of speed I’m capable of sustaining for that long. The soles of my feet are pretty sore today, I have a problem with my metatarsals that also get when i hike a long distance in one day. I can see this being a problem with more long runs coming up.

All my runs are done in the Edmonton river valley area…where I try to take trails that go up and down out of the valley as much as possible, so there are lots of hills. Which is obviously necessary for the EXTREMELY hilly death race. Its a gorgeous area with zero road running, but right now it’s still snowy and icy on all the trails. Will be nice and soft in spring/summer. I think the snow/ice and rough terrain will be good for my shape too…meaning my ankles are getting a good work out and strengthening each time.

Overall, I’m pleased with my times for my first week of training, I’m sure I will improve on them as time comes. The only problem is that my other sports are probably getting in the way of my training. Extra runs to and from climbing/badminton..and then the badminton itself are probably tiring me out and taking my focus away from my training somewhat. Oh well.

By the way.. I don’t actually have enough team members yet…so anyone interested? haha. I guess not after seeing my times! lol.

By the way…these two photos show the area where I train….nice huh? Shame there isn’t always a moon like that.