Training Log Archive: maprunner

One last 5K test run ( the race is next Saturday). My goal today was 6 min/k. My legs felt tired the whole way, and I really had to push on the downhill, and the last k, in order to meet my goal.

And we're back. Long but easy travel day home. Just a little bit of yoga to stretch everything out.

I'll post pictures, maps and stories later (I'll probably get to it this weekend)

Some overall thoughts on New Zealand
1. it is beautiful
2. it is paradise for outdoor enthusiasts
3. They have no native mammals; I missed looking at animals
4. The make good wine
5. It didn't feel very exotic or different to us; maybe we're getting jaded?
6. The people are super friendly

We started our one full day in Sydney by going orienteering! Took the train and walked a few blocks to Centennial Park, where we bought a permanent course map. The club has some suggested "courses", so Mike and I each walked an intermediate course. It was really cool to see so many weird, interesting, colorful birds around 2 and 3. it was actually noisy in that area!



We sat and had a cup of coffee (or Diet Coke) and compared routes. I was happy that I could add Australia to my list of orienteering countries !!

We took a bus down to the Circular Quay, and went to see the Opera House. Had to take a requisite selfie:




Then we took a ferry to Manly, and walked along the beach:



There were great views of the skyline of Sydney as we returned:



Then we walked to Mrs Macquaire's Chair (I follow a sewing blogger who posts a picture from here every day, and I wanted to go there) and got there as the sun was setting:



Then we walked back to the apartment. I'm giving myself credit for one hour of walking over the course of the day, since my legs were completely dead when we stopped. Take out pizza for dinner was ll we could muster.

Our last day in New Zealand, and our only real time in Queenstown. My one regret about this trip is that we did not plan enough time in Queenstown. It is stunning! Craggy mountains along a huge glacier lake. And it is an adrenaline junkie's dream location. Bungee jumping was invented here. We went for a long easy hike to Jack's Point. We watched several rounds of skydivers taking off, jumping and coming down. I have toyed with the idea of skydiving some day, and now I want to come back and do it here (and zip line and who knows what else, but not bungee jumping). I decided this after I saw what they saw, when we took off from Queenstown airport.

We were there for peak fall colors:



The view on the hike:



The view from the airplane:

Mary found a list of most scenic airports to fly in/out of. This was my middle seat view of the world's third best.

A photo posted by @okansas on Apr 25, 2016 at 3:21am PDT

Landed in Sydney and went to our Airbnb apartment, which was just great. Walked around the Pott's Point neighborhood and had Greek food for dinner.

A great day, even though it started at 6 am. We got on the road to Milford Sound early, to avoid all the tours buses. It took about 4 hours to get there, and it was raining when we boarded the cruise boat. But it was so worth it! Here is a time lapse video of the beginning of the boat tour:

A video posted by @okansas on Apr 24, 2016 at 12:04am PDT

We were on the boat for two hours, and saw countless waterfalls and even some seals. Mike was the only person who stayed on the top deck for the whole time; I bailed after 1.5 hours.



After the boat tour, we stopped for a short hike to see The Chasm

Peering into The Chasm.

A photo posted by @okansas on Apr 24, 2016 at 12:56am PDT

Drove back towards Kingston, enjoying the drive through Homer Tunnel, and seeing some kea (mountain parrots). We stopped for a hike at Mistletoe Lake along the way.