NZ holiday-ish

Monday, 26 February 2024

As the Oceania events were held over two weekends I was able to have some time off on one day before, and for a few days in between.

On my first morning in New Plymouth I headed up to the foothills of Mount Taranaki and got some nice views of the mountain and the city below.  

I also had a little bit of time to drive and see some sites between events.

After the New Plymouth relay I flew to Auckland then got a hire car and drove to Rotorua. I worked from there for the next 3 days (Australian hours - 11am to 7pm) and spent a lot of the remaining daylight hours on a rental ebike on the amazing trails.  I was originally going to be sharing with a friend who was competing but as I occupied the dining table and living room for most of the daytime hours, it was probably best I ended up being by myself:

When I wasn't working, the riding was fantastic. I’ve ridden there twice before but this time on the ebike was by far the best (it would have been even better if I’d had company of course).  The ebike meant I could hoon up and down the connecting gravel roads to the start of the trails which were mostly one way.  Previously I’ve wasted so much riding time sweating up the hills or going the wrong way. I still went the wrong way a little bit, but it really didn’t matter.  Despite my free time being a little bit short, I rode far more trails than I have in much longer days – it was great.  

Many other Australians were also staying in Rotorua between the race weekends but due to my early-bird & night owl hours, I only bumped into one group late one night at the supermarket.

While I was there I couldn’t help but revisit lake Okareka – the location of our fantastic family reunion in around 2014, and then onwards to Blue lake, which was where we also had a fantastic orienteering trip in 2017 with lots of friends and Harald and Linda.   Lots of great memories there.  

On my way back to Auckland I had time to stop at some springs we’d visited a few years before, and also at Hamilton Gardens which was way better than I expected and I encourage everyone to visit as they go past – I stayed longer than I thought I would there.

Back in Auckland and the night before the final sprint race (for me anyway – the rest of the competitors have a few more races before finishing) we had a small version of family dinner with Uncle Don and Aunty Helen and half of the rest of our NZ cousins in Mission Bay – it was really lovely and such a nice break from the rest of the week where I’d been either solo or faced by tired orienteering organisers.

All up it  was quite a week and I’m really glad to be heading home with it all behind me. I still have to write a report and claim for my expenses before I’m done, but I can then lay this job to rest until I’m crazy enough to volunteer again sometime.   The thing I want most now is to spend some time at home with everyone and in St Helens.