Tip Track - Wellington

Finally, I get to share an interesting trig...... well, one a bit further from home anyway!  I'm part of a FB group called Tauranga Offroad Runners, meaning that I can read all the things that they say and do,  but never get involved myself for fear they find out that I'm a fraud.  These are serious runners, serious distance, serious speed, serious shoes.  I have shoe envy.  Anyway, I finally got up the courage and made a FB post, asking them to recommend a run for my family holiday in Wellington.  And I got the Tip track.

Route:  Owhiro Bay, Tip Track, Red Rocks, Coastal Route return to Owhiro Bay.

"Plenty of climbing" the Facebook post said.......  "It's quite steep" my sister in law said..........  But I can see the trig from the deck at the house where we are staying, and it doesn't look that far.  "I can run 20km" I boasted to my sister in law.  Once.  And I walked a lot of it.  And slept for days.........

I had a kilometre to warm up, gentle rise up to Landfill Road.  After spending days gazing at the trig in the distance, on this morning, the cloud is so low, I can only see the bottom two thirds of the hills.  55 minutes later, I drag myself to the point where the tracks all converge, with bleeding knees and hands from dragging myself up that bloody hill.  Well, I didn't quite crawl, but might as well have for as fast as I walked up.  It was a bit boring too.....  hard packed rocky clay, surrounded by gorse, with a view into the landfill??  Not quite up to Otanewainuku standards is it?  And I'm definitely NOT at the trig I can see from home.  Even with  my poor sense of direction, I can tell I am further West, and further UP!

I'm at the top-ish, but with 20m visibility and tracks heading off in all directions, I have no idea where the actual trig is.  The paths are well marked, but no one bothered to put the trig on the map.  After a bit of ferreting about, I followed a road, and spotted it up a bank on my left.  After scrambling up a bank, I find a lovely tarsealed road and trig station.  It's always a disappointment to run somewhere and find that you could have driven.  Brings back memories of Mount Snowden in Wales.  Tom dragged me up there, I was crying because it was so steep and icy I was terrified.  Got to the top and there is a lady there in a frock and high heels, just got off the train that comes up the other side.  Gutted.

There she is.  Trig A2M8, no other more interesting name, in the Te Kopahou Reserve, Wellington.  Gale force winds and absolutely no view.  I had to tie my hat to my ponytail with my hair tie so it wouldn't blow away. 

I briefly contemplated running back down the same road, as I was slower than planned and aware that the family are waiting for me to continue with holiday-like activities.  But, the thought of running back down that boring road was worse than the threat of a grouchy husband waiting for me.  So, off I headed on the Red Rocks Track.  Now I was actually able to run most of it, which I always find quite satisfying when I've headed out for a run......  This bit was a bit of a winner actually, when I got low enough to pop out of the cloud and see:

I had stunning views to the rocky coast, and even to the Kaikoura Mountains in the distance.  Once I made it to the coastal track, I was well late, which did wonders for keeping my weary legs going.  This was my first run with my new magic Garmin Forerunner 310XT which is going to work miracles on my running by shaming me with just how short and slow my runs are.  Clare says I'm not allowed to use it when we run together.  I found it really helpful to know as each km ticked over, although watching my pace plummet when I hit a hill was not so satisfying.  :)

Distance:	15.06 km
Time:	2:07:01
Elevation Gain:	567 m

Avg Pace:	8:26 min/km
Avg Moving Pace:	7:53 min/km
Best Pace:	4:38 min/km

I'm pretty sure I only maintained that 4:38 pace for a few seconds when I fell down a bank.......

December: Otanewainuku Trig

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to meeee....................

My off tune singing keeps time with my footsteps as I struggle up to Otanewainuku Trig.  It's drizzling lightly, which I think always brings out the best in New Zealand native bush.  I think Otanewainuku is a slice of history captured the way it used to be.  It's so lush and....... green.  Green, green, green.  Where would you rather be on your birthday, than running up a hill in the rain, getting wet and muddy?  It's been a good year!

Otanewainuku plays an important role in local Maori legend.  The beautiful Puwhenua was in love with cheifly Otanewainuku, and so spurned the love of a nameless hill.  The hill asks the patupaiarehe (creatures of the mist) to take him away from Puwhenua so he may drown in the ocean.  However, the sun rises and the patupaiarehe disappear back into the forest, leaving the nameless hill at the entrance to the harbour, now named Mauao, 'captured by the rising sun'.

It's definitely misty today, and easy to imagine the patupairehe, hidden amongst the ferns.  I think I read my girls too many fairy books......

I head off from the car park and decide to warm up on the Rimu Loop track, which I've run before.  This time I make it around without faceplanting, which is an improvement.  As I cross the road and take the trig track, I try to estimate how long the loop will take me if DOC recommends  1.5 hours return for a walker.  I have a theory that the lazier a DOC worker is, the more extreme the track estimates are.  Firstly, when he/she walks the track in a leisurely way, it take longer.  Secondly, they don't want to be called out on a search and rescue for some walker who has underestimated the timing, so they add a bit of time to make sure everyone is back to their cars, and the DOC officer can stay tucked up in bed.  Tom worked for DOC on Farewell Spit when we first started dating, and his brother has a long history, so no disrespect to the DOC service intended.  :)

In our (younger, more spritely) university days, we used to halve a DOC timing, then race along trying to get to a hut before nightfall.  Now, with small children, we're more likely to double it, sometimes taking ten minutes to walk 100 metres, stopping to look at interesting rocks, leaves, holes, puddles........

I don't know how long it took, but every time I thought I was heading up to the trig, I was sorely disappointed.  There was a considerable amount of walking during this 'run' and I plodded uphill, with my chest wheezing, contemplating if Clare's diagnosis of Whooping cough could possibly be correct.  She reckons she got it as a teenager, and never coughed, just couldn't breathe when she ran.  This Wednesday she confirmed that the whistle in my throat as I struggle to keep up with her at Summerhill, sounds just like it.  I reckon I'm just getting old and she needs to start aging with dignity too so I don't have to chase her so hard.

Anyway, Rimu Loop Track, and Otanewainuku Trig, 55 minutes total including some leisurely walking.  Trig #3 bagged, still on track for 12 in 12 months.  Hoping to hit another trig further afield before the end of December, as we head down to Wellington for a week's holiday.

Photo to come when I manage to send it from my old phone which now has no sim in it.  Thanks to Mum I have a new phone with a camera that may actually take a recognisable photo.  It will also have some basic GPS when I work it out........  :)

Merry Christmas everyone!