Such a stunning place to be today for our workshops.
whakatane
Day 96 April 5th 2016
It’s been a strange couple of days. Recovering muscles, swollen toes and waiting for the results.
Loads of angry and disappointed comments on the Oxfam trailwalk facebook page about the conditions and people’s experiences of the 100km. Seems like there were a whole heap of issues; closed checkpoints, dangerous descents, missing markers, record numbers of retirements.
Of 160 teams, only 86 finished with a full team of four.
We ended up 14th team overall and first all women’s team. Very proud of ourselves but also of all those other teams who ground it out in far worse conditions than us for longer. A great effort all round, from the teams walking, the support teams, the volunteers, and the organisers.
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Day 92 April 1st 2016
On my birthday I was lucky enough to be asked to present a workshop in the beautiful Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in Whakatane. Whilst there Nigel and I also went to visit Te Kura Whare which is an ‘off the grid’sustainable building. It is eco-friendly and has a stunning design which is open, light and warm at the same time.
Incidentally, it was also checkpoint 5 of the Oxfam 100km trailwalk so I was back there the following evening for quite different reasons.
Two photos then… One of each of these beautiful and inspiring buildings.
Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi
Te Kura Whare
Day 93 April 2nd 2016
Oxfam Trailwalk 100km Day
How many words can sum this up?
Blisters
Sore muscles
Awesome support team
Amazing team mates
Digging deep
Challenging terrain
Challenging weather
Stunning views through the mist
Beach walk
Stairs
Hills
Mud
Cow Slurry
Gravel roads
River crossings
Rock scrambling
Clay mud sliding
Steep, dangerous descents
Railway lines
Thunder and lightning
Torrential rain
Driving wind
Hidden or non-existant trail markers
21 hours of wet feet
A huge sense of achievement
We had it all, but we made it! Never again! Much more demanding than Taupo and probably too hard for many. The fastest team did it in 15hrs20, in Taupo the fastest is close to 12hrs which is an indication of how much harder the Whakatane course is. It also puts our time of 21hrs into perspective. Last year we were closer to 18hrs30. Into recovery mode!
Not supposed to be a river crossing, but it was…
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Day 72 March 12th 2016
A big training weekend for the Posties in Ohope practising on the oxfam trails. The first time out with our team kit on and we got plenty of comments on our way round the trails. What do you think? We’re not planning on getting lost!
https://www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/otw16/teams/pat-and-posties
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