New Zealand Day 2 of competition -Long Distance event

Today we headed North of Auckland to the sandhill and forest map which I have been anticipating for so long.  This one was the drawcard to the whole event for me, and it was as baffling and difficult as expected.

At some stage we chose to register for the short courses rather than the long and we both had had enough at the end of our short courses today.

We drove the hour or so from "home" locked in a stream of traffic (guess where they were mostly  going?) Winding around through towns and across mangrove areas and lovely rolling green hills and flats with pretty pampas grass dotting the landscape.
Finally we were met by a parking marshall a long way from the parking area who warned us to park now or take chances on a boggy paddock.  We opted for common sense with our little rental car.  It might be called a Honda fit, but being bogged is never fitting. This meant we had just added at least 1.2 km of walk to our entry into the event.

Along the way we admired the huge bucks in the deer farm, and the views across the lake nearby.

The brave ones driving in

Views to our right on the way in

Eventually after a lot of walking in squishy mud the event centre came into view. 

I had a fairly early start and Trev was a bit over an hour later, so I headed off soon on my 1000m walk to the start.  This was partly a single dirt track winding through the hilly forest (dodge around the fallen trees etc) and partly a dirt track with thick green grasses towering above head height thickly on either side of the track and a delightful pine needle covering with fresh bright green leafy plants showing occasionally.  We also passed a lovely beach of the lake. I wished I had my camera to show you how tranquil and beautiful it looked. The views into the forest on either side of the track revealed thick vegetation and many lumps and bumps. It was a scary sight which did not reassure. 

The courses were tricky as it was very hard to keep in touch with the detailed map and relate the map to the ground. When I finally get home and download my course it will show lots of little loops and hesitations along the way. I think Trevor managed to stay in touch with the ground better than I did.  

We both came back wet from sweat and the moisture from the vegetation. We think it may also have rained at times, but we  don't really notice it that much once we are out on our courses. 

We both returned to the finish feeling that we had taken way too long, but we were not the only ones who had trouble out there today and in the end we were both 6th!!!

Here are our maps from today. Trev was on course 17 and I was on course 19.

It wasn't a great spot for photos,  and the rain coming and going didn't help the situation either.  In the end we packed up and walked our extra distance again, heading home and doing some "essential" shopping on the way home. (Wine and snacks)

Here are a few of the other sights from today.

Andrew Slattery in the finish chute! 

Chris Franklin

Dante putting in another good finish chute performance.  

Deer on the hill as we walked back to our car.

We saw lots of letterboxes in different colours of plastic.

Scenic view over the lake from the assembly area

On the way home we stopped for fresh strawberry icecream (mixed while we waited from vanilla and frozen strawberries ) which was like having tangy strawberry soft serve.  It was delicious and just what we needed. 

Tomorrow is the relay event.  We are taking a break instead and will have a nice restful bacon and egg morning before heading off from this lovely airbnb and meandering south towards Monday's event. We may not have such good wireless coverage for a while but will upload more when we can.