The day after the long run we headed South for an epic drive, passing Cake Foulwind (looking for NZ fur seals)...
and Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks....
The weather here was much like the North West of England. We arrived in Hokitika late, where the rain was falling in sheets, and the wind whipping up a frenzy. This will teach me to put off my run until the last opportunity of the day. I meekly headed out, and did a half hour run out to the seafront (briefly, before I got too unsettled by the sound of the crashing waves in the darkness) and then three laps around the town.
Day 28 - Franz Josef and the glacier
We headed South again, via the Hokitika Gorge, which seems as if someone has filled it with paint water - a bright chalky blue colour -amazing!
We arrived in Franz Josef, and thought we would do a short run, get an early night, and head out early to the Franz Josef glacier in the morning. No sooner had we headed out however, when the landscape cast it's spell, pulling us further and further along the valley towards where the glacier was. I've never been anywhere like this before, and I couldn't stop staring at all the wonders around and wanting just to go a little bit further. And a little bit more. As we went up the valley the temperature dropped and the air seemed to still. In the end, we made it right to the terminal end of the glacier, and the run went down as one of the best of all time!
Day 29 - Wanaka
After the joy of the glacier, we spent the next morning pottering about in Franz Josef. I was reluctant to leave - it's one of those things, when your memories are so special, it's tempting to want to repeat them, but knowing that if you do, it might not be so special the second time. So we continued on the road, and did a couple of walks during the day, to the Fox Glacier...
...and around Lake Matheson, which apparently is the place to go to take an iconic photo of the reflection of the mountains in the lake, and isn't afraid to say so...
...not that you would guess that in this weather...
But a little further on, and it all became clearer
Then it was on to Wanaka, a lovely little Alpine town by Lake Wanaka. A half an hours jaunt along the lake edge in the early evening was a fabulous way to round off a days exploring. After getting back and doing some research on the area, realised had inadvertently taken a photo of 'the Wanaka Tree' - New Zealand's most photographed tree!
Day 30 - Mount Iron
After brunch in Wanaka it was back on the road, but not before a quick pit stop at Mount Iron, and a run up it to check out the view of the lake.
On getting to Queenstown, we decided on the idea of running a marathon tomorrow, followed swiftly by another decision to going out for a carb-loading Italian meal...I guess we have to follow it through now...
Day 31 - Queenstown and Lake Wakapitu
After a dreadful night's sleep in the Youth Hostel, it was time to get going. I'd found a leaflet on some local bike/walk trails, which had distances on, and had planned a route based on them, basically an out and back route along the lake edge. It was a truly magnificent route, with big views all around of the lake and mountains, and totally outstanding weather (I'm not sure it's supposed to be this warm here at the moment). After feeling stronger and stronger over the last few weeks, I found it a little harder than I'd hoped I would. In particular the first half, as due to the inlets and peninsulas on the lake, you could pretty much see where you had to go the whole time, which I found mentally a bit tough. Also, based on the distances on the map, our pace seemed way slower than it felt, and we literally seemed to be getting nowhere, and the numbers didn't seem to add up, which was a bit demoralizing. For the first time in a long time, I missed my GPS watch, and being able to see numbers and all that fancy stuff. In the end, we decided to run for three hours and then turn around and run back, because even if we didn't make it to a marathon, it would still be about an hour longer than the last long run in Abel Tasman last week. Once we'd decided on that, I felt a lot better, and the second half I found much easier going. And what a great place to run!
On getting back an measuring it, it was over a marathon (seriously, this is the last time I try to interpret distances on leaflets here!) and we did a negative split finishing in 5.45, so not too bad all in all. And the best bit...after we finished we paddled in the freezing waters of the lake, which was literally one of the best feelings ever! So, have managed my first marathon just over 3 months after pretty much having to stop running altogether. Not all easy, but I loved feeling all the old feelings again, even the difficult ones.
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