New Zealand - The North Island

Today we moved on from the North Island, and headed south (although it's odd to think that the South will be colder than the north - that's just the wrong way round), so here's a round up of the last few days...

Day 18 - Mount Maunganui, Tauranga
A 30 min run at sunset.

Day 19 - Lake Tarawera, Rotorua
Biggest run in a long time today, along the Tarawera Trail - 10 miles from Te Wairoa to Hot Water Beach, and 10 miles back. Felt good to run that far again, all along hilly trails. But it felt a strangely eerie place, the wind making whispering noises through the trees, and a claustrophobic feeling running through narrow tracks through the forest, like someone was watching. It was a feeling I couldn't shake off the whole run, especially when we got to the deserted Hot Water Beach campsite, and later on when the clouds closed in and torrential rain hammered down. Still, I'm sure it was just me being daft, and apart from that the work out was good, and the views fantastic.

Stayed in Rotorua, which smelled of rotten eggs, in a cold dark windowless basement room.  I lay awake in the dark, listening to our wet running stuff dripping around us in the cold air, and wondering if I was asleep having a nightmare, or it if was real.
 
Day 20 - Lake Taupo

After a fitful night of nightmares, I woke up early, and jumped out of bed, with that relief that comes after a terrible nights sleep. As we drove away from Rotorua, the smell of rotten eggs faded. But I can't turn my nose up at it too much. It only smells because of all the amazing activity that's going on beneath our very feet, that because of the fault lines here, you are able to observe. And whif. On our journey away we stopped at hot bubbling mud pools...

And Craters of the Moon...

Found some more mud. Much mud...

And then arrived in Lake Taupo, where we did a short run along the path by the lake in the fresh air. The water on the edge of the lake was hot, and steam rose into the clear air, giving it the feeling of a huge bath tub in the mountains.

Amazing sunset!

Day 21 - Lake Taupo
The next day we ran along Lake Taupo again for a couple of hours, taking in sights, and trying to work out how far it was....

Day 22 - Lake Taupo
On our last day in Lake Taupo we did a 30 min run along the lake in the other direction, towards the harbour. It was freezing in the early morning, but beautiful watching a new day dawn over the lake. Saw a water plane take off and land from the water. 

We visited the Huka Falls as we left. Wow!

From Taupo we headed across to Napier on the coast. It was destroyed completely in 1931 by a earthquake, and rebuilt quickly, so it's mostly in Art Deco style, and is a sight to behold. As well as that, it's also a big wine producing region, and we spent a few happy hours cycling along country trails to the Mission Vineyard and sampling wine. 

The cycle back was super easy.

Day 23 - Wellington
We drove all the way down to Wellington. Feeling a bit underdressed as I hadn't brought wellies, we donned trainers, we headed out for an hour's blast up and down Mount Wellington. Great views from up there. 

And for the first time since the 100 I managed to run the whole way up a big hill without walking. Process may be slow, but at least It's progress!

Some running in New Zealand!

I was sad to leave Australia. I loved our time there! And it was HOT. I borded the plane to Auckland clutching my coat and a scarf, and hoping they might be having some sort of freak spring heatwave over there.

They weren't. The temperature felt familiar on landing. Cold. Still, I'm British. A northern one at that. The only thing to do is toughen up, put on an extra layer (I actually only have one, so hopefully it will only be a bit nippy and not full on freezing), and push on through. I exited the airport doors....

Yikes.

We've hired a car while we're here for the next few weeks, so we can explore. I won't bore you with the amazing details of the trip so far, as it's always really tedious when people spend ages telling you about their holiday, and they're clearly just trying to rub it in. So I'll rise above that (although it is REALLY AMAZING HERE), and briefly sketch the general idea, and how Run Every Day has survived a transition to another time zone.

The first day we blasted up the country to the Bay of Islands and stayed in a little town called Russell. It's my favourite place in NZ so far, and I wanted to rearrange our travel plans and stay there for the whole time, or maybe forever. We stayed in an amazing hotel called the Duke of Marlborough. It started out in 1827 as Johnny Johnston's Grog Shop. And who wouldn't want to stay somewhere with that fine name? Anyway, Johnny was an ex-convict come good sort of dude, and did lots for the local area and his pub got the first liquor licence on NZ. Now, it's a beautiful old wooden building painted white with wooden panelling along big corridors and quirky rooms, and an awesome restaurant with a big glass front facing the sea...

Anyway, I digress. Running. Yes. Once we arrived, and before partaking in the use of the continuing liquor licence, we did our first NZ run. And what a run! It wasn't warm, and there was mud, so in some ways it was just like being at home. Nah, just kidding! We found a trail starting just outside the hotel which went up (significantly up) through forests, down to beaches, up again, down again, sunsets, views, plants and wildlife (I'm sure we saw a kiwi, but the lady at the hotel says not), the excitement of it getting dark and not having a torch, it had the lot! 

It was so good, we got right back up the next morning and did it again for Day 16. Funny how the same place looks really different at a different time of day. And the tide was in this time. Great views of the bay, the blue waters and boats going about their business as the day woke up.

After a run, we drove right up to the top of NZ, Cape Reinga, a spectacular place, and did a walk. From there, we stayed in Kaitaia, and the next day continued driving South. We stopped at a hot springs...which turned out to be a new experience of getting into pools of sulphur-y smelling, bubbling mud of varyingly tolerable temperatures. The hottest pool, at 42oC, was ominously called 'The Doctor', but it was unclear as to if the pool itself had doctor-like qualities, or if instead you would need a doctor after going in it. I lastest a whole minute, before concluding the latter must be true. 

Having survived the experience, we continued South again and stopped at Waipoua Forest for a magical run through the ancient Kauri trees. Truly magnificent, running through them felt like another world. The Magical Faraway Tree and the Ents in Lord of the Rings surely couldn't be far away from these giants...

The Great Barrier Reef

Run Every Day While Away is now two weeks old! So far it's been doing it's job, I've started to enjoy running again, and over the last few days have finally been starting to feel stronger too. The thought of being able to do another marathon again has even popped back into my head, and that's something that I haven't even thought about for ages. 

Plus, have seen some wonderful things while out running. 

But, to make things more interesting, on day 12 I thought my plans were scuppered. We went on a boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. 

It was absolutely tremendous, but I got quite sea sick on the way out (having never been sea sick at all before in my whole life). We arrived back in Cairns in the early evening, but the sea sickness hadn't finished for the day. It's so odd, that you can still feel that way, even when you've stopped moving on the boat. Anyway, after worrying if I could walk in a straight line, I managed a 30 min jog along the esplanade and felt quite a bit better for it, but it was the next morning before I stopped swaying all over the place. It was totally worth it though. I will never forget the terror of jumping off a boat in the middle of the ocean, putting your head under the waves, and then having the remainder of your breath taken away by seeing the beauty that lies beneath.

Day 13 we ran 7-8 miles (most of my technology has broken since being here, so I'm down to estimating things, which is quite fun) along the esplanade to the marina, along the harbour wall, then all along past an enormous cruise liner that was docked. I am always astounded that things that big can float. Then back along the esplanade the other way toward the airport and back. The afternoon was hotter than a hot thing, with a degree in hot, on a hot day, in the land of hot. Still, there are plenty of handy water fountains around to keep hydrated (there should definitely be more of these around in the U.K.)...

And lots of nice art works to admire....

Day 14 - to celebrate the two week birthday of running every day I did a quick 30 minute early morning blast along the marina. We left Cairns today, for New Zealand. I will miss Cairns. I have loved running along the wooden boardwalk, seeing the rainforest covered mountains rise into the clouds over the sun-sparkled waters, seeing the exotic birds and listening to their songs. But I will carry it's spell onwards to the next adventure, and new trails to discover! 

Days 10 and 11: Jungle Running

Day 10

Instead of starting with a run, we started day 10 by facing the fear, and looking for a crocodile. Under supervision of course, on a Crocodile Cruise. Hurrah! We saw two! A baby one:

And a 30 year old one:

We also saw a Great Egret, and beautiful scenery:

Some crocodile facts I picked up. A crocodile can stay under water for an hour, by slowing down it’s heart rate to just a few beats per minute. The oldest one that lives in this part of the world lives on Green Island is 111 years old and weighs 1000 KG. Yep, one hundred and eleven years old, and a thousand kg!!!! Crocodiles have territories – a female will have a territory of about 1.5 km, then there will be another female etc etc. And the males swim up and down ‘looking for the girls’. Charming. None of these crocodile facts, or the great number of warning signs sprinkled around the place were helping to allay my fears in any way at all.

Still, I stopped being a wimp and asked the lady on reception at Jungle Safari if it was OK to run along the boardwalks (there are lots of these, wooden walkways that have been built so you can walk through little bits of the rainforest without destroying it too much). She said yes, it would be fine to do that. So in the late afternoon after doing the crocodile cruise and walking some of the boardwalks, I donned running kit and set off with Andrew into the jungle. I’m so glad we did! What a run! The boardwalks are quite short, so we did 3 laps of the one near our camp (Dubuji Boardwalk), and then ran up Cape Tribulation Road a bit further north to another one (Kulki Boardwalk). I was totally blown away by the environment. It’s sensational to look at, but if you stop and stay still for a few moments, it all comes alive, and birds are singing and flying all about, leaves are falling, fruits are falling to the ground with a pop, flowers bursting, unknown creatures are bustling all around the place. It’s like watching a spell unfold, it’s tremendous!

Day 11

Day 11 was our last day in the rainforest. We woke up early, naturally with the jungle sounds, so before we headed off we did 5 laps of the Dubuji Boardwalk again. Just as good as yesterday, and unlike normal pre-breakfast runs where I just feel hungry and tired, I felt great and wanted to keep going. Only the lure of a flat white and avocado on toast (OK, I was feeling a bit hungry) from the Turtle Cafe persuaded me back. A great start to the day!

Day 9: wildlife

A 20 minute dash around Yungaburra on a platypus mission. Alas, they must all still be sleeping, but a beautiful run none the less. It’s brilliant how even 20 minutes of exercise can really make you feel great for the day ahead. I’ve always had it in my head that if I can’t do a ‘proper’ distance run, then there’s no point in going out. But now I realise, firstly, what does a ‘proper’ run even mean? All runs count, long and short! And, secondly, even just a little bit of exercise each day gives you a lot of health benefits, and keeps your mind on track too. Even with little time available, you can still keep fit and healthy. After the run, we set off for the Daintree – the rainforest! Stopped off a Mossman Gorge on the way for a great walk around the rainforest.

Saw another snake! Due to being frozen with fear, I failed to capture the moment, but it was along these lines:

Continuing swiftly on our way, we caught a ferry across the Daintree River and into the national park, and what felt like another world. Unbelievable road, twisting and winding up and down mountains through the rainforest with spectacular views of the coast. 

Our luck at wildlife spotting continued, and we saw a Cassawary!

My picture is rubbish, but this is what they look like:

Once the shock was over, we carried on up the coast to Cape Tribulation, where we were stayed in the jungle for the next couple of nights at the Jungle Safari camp. It’s always been a dream of mine to visit a rainforest, but had been a bit concerned that the reality might not be quite how I imagined it, bearing in mind an overwhelming fear of anything that a) has too many (more than 4) legs, and 2) is dangerous in any way at all. How would I keep up A Run a Day While Away if under constant attack from not only deadly spiders and snakes, but now from Cassowarys and crocodiles as well? I lie awake in our jungle hut for a while, worrying about what was lurking around outside, but soon the sound of the birds and the rain on the roof acted as a jungle lullaby and I drifted off....

Running in Cairns and platypus spotting

So on Tuesday we left Sydney and flew up to Cairns, which was the setting for days 6 and 7 of Run Every Day While Away.

On day 6, I was enjoying the run along the waterfront at Cairns, it's nice with wooden decking, with lots of water fountains, and great views, and then I saw this:

What! Can you imagine if that was in England? There would be a 6 foot fence up, and laws in place, and no one would be allowed within 50 feet. Not just a sign. But this is what I'm learning about Australia. There are so many deadly creatures potentially everywhere that if there were fences for all of them, you wouldn't be able to move.

And with that in mind, the pace picked up.

Day 7 was just a quick early morning run, more around the streets to the Convention Centre (which is massive), but finishing up on the front again (still no crocs, which is good, as it's before coffee,  so reaction times are slowed):

After the run, we picked up a hire car and set off on an adventure. We headed first for Mena Creek, and visited the beautiful Paronella Park:

It's so magical. You must go if you are over here!

Yesterday we drove up to Yungaburra, a small town built in the 1880s, which has been kept quite similar to how it was then. It's also a good place for platypus spotting, and we saw some on our run along the river! 

They are so diddy! And very shy. Quite hard to spot. They live in a beautiful place. 

Afterwards, we took a trip to the Curtain Fig National Park to see the giant Curtain Fig Tree at dusk. The most amazing tree!