GODZone 2018
Preparation
This year we undertook a more comprehensive preparation campaign. With our team all living in different cities, we decided that decent missions together were crucial. We had several training missions, including expeditions into the Ureweras and into Fiordland itself on the FEAR society “WTF” (wilderness traverse of Fiordland). Thus, we felt that by the time we got to the event we were much more cohesive and ready for the challenges ahead.
Preparation
This year we undertook a more comprehensive preparation campaign. With our team all living in different cities, we decided that decent missions together were crucial. We had several training missions, including expeditions into the Ureweras and into Fiordland itself on the FEAR society “WTF” (wilderness traverse of Fiordland). Thus, we felt that by the time we got to the event we were much more cohesive and ready for the challenges ahead.
The Race:
Stage1: Waiau-Borland
We began with a run to get the packrafts, and with some inflation speed and team work we were one of the first teams on the water but we were quickly put in our place by several teams whose paddling ability was far beyond our own, such as the killer combo of Bob McLachlan and Richie McCaw. The Waiau proved a nice intro to the race, with the flow chopping and changing team placings so we could figure out where we sat. Once we got out for the portage, we were abruptly left behind by the Sneaky Weasel Gang (SWG) who chose a better route up the bank than we did.
We finished the paddle, dropped the boats and headed off on the trek. The first couple of controls fell into our lap and set us off on a good start, heading into the mountains up a nice ridgeline. 600m of vert later we emerged with a wicked view, and headed down into the North Borland burn, meeting team Bend Racing for the first time, who had walked into a bluff, and quickly sped off in front of us.
We followed the path down the burn, feeling at ease with the track we already knew from our WTF mission, until we arrived at the abseil with 3 other teams. We powered up the hill to ensure that we had no que at the top and rappelled off into what was total darkness for 150m, it was somewhat terrifying.
The rest of the trek was reasonably cruisy, with a bit of rain settling in as we arrived at TA
We got on our way down the Monowai outlet in the early hours of the morning. The flow wasn’t huge but, in the darkness, we were surprised by the occasional strainer, so that kept us on our toes!
After we jumped out, we grabbed a 4-hour sleep to freshen us up before the lower Waiau.
In the morning we got on the Waiau at 7:45, an hour after the top teams were allowed to, so we were happy with our decision to sleep.
The river was reasonably exciting but allowed us to exercise our paddle arms and get into a rhythm, with the only surprise being some poor sheep stranded on the wrong side of the river.
Stage1: Waiau-Borland
We began with a run to get the packrafts, and with some inflation speed and team work we were one of the first teams on the water but we were quickly put in our place by several teams whose paddling ability was far beyond our own, such as the killer combo of Bob McLachlan and Richie McCaw. The Waiau proved a nice intro to the race, with the flow chopping and changing team placings so we could figure out where we sat. Once we got out for the portage, we were abruptly left behind by the Sneaky Weasel Gang (SWG) who chose a better route up the bank than we did.
We finished the paddle, dropped the boats and headed off on the trek. The first couple of controls fell into our lap and set us off on a good start, heading into the mountains up a nice ridgeline. 600m of vert later we emerged with a wicked view, and headed down into the North Borland burn, meeting team Bend Racing for the first time, who had walked into a bluff, and quickly sped off in front of us.
We followed the path down the burn, feeling at ease with the track we already knew from our WTF mission, until we arrived at the abseil with 3 other teams. We powered up the hill to ensure that we had no que at the top and rappelled off into what was total darkness for 150m, it was somewhat terrifying.
The rest of the trek was reasonably cruisy, with a bit of rain settling in as we arrived at TA
We got on our way down the Monowai outlet in the early hours of the morning. The flow wasn’t huge but, in the darkness, we were surprised by the occasional strainer, so that kept us on our toes!
After we jumped out, we grabbed a 4-hour sleep to freshen us up before the lower Waiau.
In the morning we got on the Waiau at 7:45, an hour after the top teams were allowed to, so we were happy with our decision to sleep.
The river was reasonably exciting but allowed us to exercise our paddle arms and get into a rhythm, with the only surprise being some poor sheep stranded on the wrong side of the river.
Stage 2: Clifden caves
We raced off along the road, stoked to be moving with some decent pace, until we got to the caves, where we met everyone in front of us, bizarrely all sitting on a field, lazing in the sun. the 2-hour mandatory stop for the cave was clearly easily sufficient time to get through the cave with time to spare. The cave was pretty sweet, but quite cold, and Tom’s head torch ran out, but we got through all good, and Glen took one for the team by going into the water to get the furthest checkpoint.
The rest of the bike was reasonably straightforward, with a slight challenge in the forest with the navigation off the bikes, but nothing too dramatic.
We raced off along the road, stoked to be moving with some decent pace, until we got to the caves, where we met everyone in front of us, bizarrely all sitting on a field, lazing in the sun. the 2-hour mandatory stop for the cave was clearly easily sufficient time to get through the cave with time to spare. The cave was pretty sweet, but quite cold, and Tom’s head torch ran out, but we got through all good, and Glen took one for the team by going into the water to get the furthest checkpoint.
The rest of the bike was reasonably straightforward, with a slight challenge in the forest with the navigation off the bikes, but nothing too dramatic.
Stage 3: Southern lakes trek
The 5km trek down the road felt like it took a lot longer than it should, but when we eventually got to the lake, we were greeted by a beautiful vista of the surrounding mountains. We carved through the relatively flat waters to teal bay hut where most of the teams were camped out. This was the last dark zone for a while, and we arrived at 11pm for a 6:45am start. It was pretty unfortunate for the top teams that had gained so much ground only to lose it, but it worked very much in our favour, as we had cruised the last few hours and still got an unusual 6 hours sleep as well as being up with the big boys.
At dawn we paddled into the Wairaurahiri (yes I can pronounce that now) which was a little sketchy in the light that was not very bright yet. But we rode the waves and had a ball! In summer we had got down in 3:30, but this time the flow was up from cyclone Gita so it only took us 2 and a half hours!
We set out on the monster trek, and quickly got lost. We made a beeline straight for a river and got there fast, then only had to follow it up for a couple of kilometres, but we second guessed ourselves and turned back, thinking we had gone too far, but in reality, we hadn’t gone far enough, and were just moving very slowly. When we finally got it 9and team loose moose had caught us despite serving a 2hour penalty, we decided to opt for the south route to the next control, long and flat along the coast on the track rather than straight across the bush and risk slow travel with nav mistakes.
This proved to be a good move and gained us a couple of hours, as we found some fast trapping lines.
We arrived at the control on a beautiful night, where the moon and stars were shining over the pristine lake and the silhouettes of the mountains watched over in the distance. It was truly wonderful to finally be moving at more than 1 or 2 km/h.
The next morning was cold but we made our way over the hills towards the next lake, through some truly magical bush. We chose to paddle across Lake Innes which was probably or half a dozen in comparison with walking but did save us half an hour on our feet.
The 5km trek down the road felt like it took a lot longer than it should, but when we eventually got to the lake, we were greeted by a beautiful vista of the surrounding mountains. We carved through the relatively flat waters to teal bay hut where most of the teams were camped out. This was the last dark zone for a while, and we arrived at 11pm for a 6:45am start. It was pretty unfortunate for the top teams that had gained so much ground only to lose it, but it worked very much in our favour, as we had cruised the last few hours and still got an unusual 6 hours sleep as well as being up with the big boys.
At dawn we paddled into the Wairaurahiri (yes I can pronounce that now) which was a little sketchy in the light that was not very bright yet. But we rode the waves and had a ball! In summer we had got down in 3:30, but this time the flow was up from cyclone Gita so it only took us 2 and a half hours!
We set out on the monster trek, and quickly got lost. We made a beeline straight for a river and got there fast, then only had to follow it up for a couple of kilometres, but we second guessed ourselves and turned back, thinking we had gone too far, but in reality, we hadn’t gone far enough, and were just moving very slowly. When we finally got it 9and team loose moose had caught us despite serving a 2hour penalty, we decided to opt for the south route to the next control, long and flat along the coast on the track rather than straight across the bush and risk slow travel with nav mistakes.
This proved to be a good move and gained us a couple of hours, as we found some fast trapping lines.
We arrived at the control on a beautiful night, where the moon and stars were shining over the pristine lake and the silhouettes of the mountains watched over in the distance. It was truly wonderful to finally be moving at more than 1 or 2 km/h.
The next morning was cold but we made our way over the hills towards the next lake, through some truly magical bush. We chose to paddle across Lake Innes which was probably or half a dozen in comparison with walking but did save us half an hour on our feet.
We reached Lake Hakapoua and paddled down the very short Big River before getting off the rafts for the last time before the slog along the South Coast track. We wanted to get to Wairaurahiri hut before we slept, but this proved to be too far if we didn’t want to sleep in the day time, which seemed a waste of the light. We made a quick stop to collect the control and appreciate the beauty of Westies hut. And the epic coastline. The grind along the South Coast track was muddy and hard and mostly uneventful apart from finding someone’s gopro, which we handed in, and a segment of a split paddle, which would be an unfortunate thing to discover, and reaffirmed our decision to put our segments in bags.
We drove ourselves through the remainder of the trek tomorrow, which I believe was the hardest thing I have ever done. I personally really struggled, particularly along the last couple of hours, in which the culmination of the length, the weights of the pack, bad chafing (that was finally fixed by good placement of a plastic shopping bag – wow, would recommend) the flat, fast nature of the track, I confess it almost broke me.
We reached TA3 ready to collapse on the ground but arrived to a cheering mob of supporters and parents who immediately lifted us up and allowed us to get on with the transition, take in hot food and get out on the bikes.
Leg 4: Bike South Coast to Percy saddle
We set out in good spirits with a marked reduction in chafing and pain from our feet, due to moving in a mercifully different way, and having far less weight on our backs. While the pack rafts are incredible adventure assets, they, and their paraphernalia were really weighing us down.
Spirits were high, and we really felt like we had broken the back of the beast, and that it was relatively downhill from here.
Nice and dry with a change of clothes, I promptly fell into a river on the first ford, which left me cold, wet, and feeling like a complete buffoon, and I didn’t really dry out for the rest of the race.
The Rowallan Forest proved a much greater challenge than we anticipated. it was slow going over the hills and through “tracks” which we had to hike with our bikes. We struggled with some navigation in the night when some of the tracks marked did not exist. We made a gamble to go around rather than bush bashing where we thought the track should go, and this paid off, as our 2nd option track proved to exist. We had our first rain while we were sleeping of the race this night, and at this point we were not in the tent, rather just on the ground in sleeping bags, but the investment in water resistant sleeping bags seemed at this point a wonderful one, as we managed alright despite the precipitation. Once out of the forest, which was in itself beautiful, we got on the open road and discovered the wonderful hospitality of the Clifden valley, as we were met on the side of the road by locals bearing baking, sausages, toasties, lollies and plenty of support, as well as an enthusiastic caravan of Tarbotons driving past, which really boosted our spirits.
The rest of the bike was spectacular going over the mountains, and we made the move then to ramp up the pace, whereas beforehand we had worked on a plan of survival. The climb up to Percy saddle proved to be difficult, too steep to bike, and in bike shoes this meant havoc on the feet, blisters, and especially bad deterioration of those of us with trench foot which had progressed to both Levi and Glen at this point.
The final push of Percy saddle was a real struggle, trying to manhandle the bikes through and over the trees and rocks on the steep slope was really taxing and made us wonder how it could possibly be a “Classic New Zealand Ride”, but we reached the saddle at dusk and enjoyed a sweet alpine downhill in the dark, with only a few close calls on corners with cliffs on the sides. My torch chose to give out at a rather convenient moment when we only had a relatively simple bit of road to go until the transition.
We were met, with great surprise, by Levi’s and my dad, which helped our spirits again.
TA4 was pretty slow to be honest, we were pretty worn out and sat down with little motivation to move fast, until we realised that the next team were not very far behind at all, when we promptly began rushing, and just got off on the kayaks when we saw their lights pop over the top of the hill.
We set out in good spirits with a marked reduction in chafing and pain from our feet, due to moving in a mercifully different way, and having far less weight on our backs. While the pack rafts are incredible adventure assets, they, and their paraphernalia were really weighing us down.
Spirits were high, and we really felt like we had broken the back of the beast, and that it was relatively downhill from here.
Nice and dry with a change of clothes, I promptly fell into a river on the first ford, which left me cold, wet, and feeling like a complete buffoon, and I didn’t really dry out for the rest of the race.
The Rowallan Forest proved a much greater challenge than we anticipated. it was slow going over the hills and through “tracks” which we had to hike with our bikes. We struggled with some navigation in the night when some of the tracks marked did not exist. We made a gamble to go around rather than bush bashing where we thought the track should go, and this paid off, as our 2nd option track proved to exist. We had our first rain while we were sleeping of the race this night, and at this point we were not in the tent, rather just on the ground in sleeping bags, but the investment in water resistant sleeping bags seemed at this point a wonderful one, as we managed alright despite the precipitation. Once out of the forest, which was in itself beautiful, we got on the open road and discovered the wonderful hospitality of the Clifden valley, as we were met on the side of the road by locals bearing baking, sausages, toasties, lollies and plenty of support, as well as an enthusiastic caravan of Tarbotons driving past, which really boosted our spirits.
The rest of the bike was spectacular going over the mountains, and we made the move then to ramp up the pace, whereas beforehand we had worked on a plan of survival. The climb up to Percy saddle proved to be difficult, too steep to bike, and in bike shoes this meant havoc on the feet, blisters, and especially bad deterioration of those of us with trench foot which had progressed to both Levi and Glen at this point.
The final push of Percy saddle was a real struggle, trying to manhandle the bikes through and over the trees and rocks on the steep slope was really taxing and made us wonder how it could possibly be a “Classic New Zealand Ride”, but we reached the saddle at dusk and enjoyed a sweet alpine downhill in the dark, with only a few close calls on corners with cliffs on the sides. My torch chose to give out at a rather convenient moment when we only had a relatively simple bit of road to go until the transition.
We were met, with great surprise, by Levi’s and my dad, which helped our spirits again.
TA4 was pretty slow to be honest, we were pretty worn out and sat down with little motivation to move fast, until we realised that the next team were not very far behind at all, when we promptly began rushing, and just got off on the kayaks when we saw their lights pop over the top of the hill.
Leg 5: Kayak on lake Manapouri
We paced out from the arm where the power station was and into the lake, but we had a headwind at this point, so hugged the shore and allowed the moon to light up the mountainside so we could find the arm of the lake we wanted. This leg took us 3 and a half hours, where most other teams took about 2 and a half, which we can only really attribute the wind, as we felt like it went reasonably well, all though some of us did feel pretty sleepy.
We paced out from the arm where the power station was and into the lake, but we had a headwind at this point, so hugged the shore and allowed the moon to light up the mountainside so we could find the arm of the lake we wanted. This leg took us 3 and a half hours, where most other teams took about 2 and a half, which we can only really attribute the wind, as we felt like it went reasonably well, all though some of us did feel pretty sleepy.
Leg 6: lake Herries trek
We made a fast move through the transition at the end of the lake and onto the river flat. The track was very hit and miss along here and was very easy to lose, so made for slow going in the dark. We went for a few hours and made solid progress until we got to a known point, and saw another team, which we think was Bivouac IOnov-8, which confused us very much, as we know them to be far above our level of capability, so could only assume something was wrong.
We took a short sleep, which we hoped would be our last for the race, but as most teams would discover, this leg took aaaages. In the morning we met our friends from Bend racing, who we thought might challenge us for the title as the “chattiest” team. They had a rough time trying to get over the saddle to straight line it to lake Herries but were in reasonably good spirits. We were attempting to minimise the damage to Glen and Levi’s feet by keeping them dry, ferrying them across small streams by piggy-back etc, but we got to a point where it was going to be much slower, so we bit the bullet. We cross the Stevens Burn, which was a little bit uncomfortable and risky, but went okay, and proceeded up the steep valley. We were again passed by team Bend (we weren’t sure how we passed them, but they just generally seemed to have a rough time navigating the NZ bush).
The next couple of hours were extremely slow going through the bush and over huge, house sized rocks, which were covered in, moss, and we weren’t sure if we were standing on mossy rocks or moss over a chasm, which was quite scary. After a while, I felt like we should be in the right place to see the control, but we couldn’t see anything. We decided to do a re-section/field- bearing but nothing seemed to make sense, and I was beginning to get very worried about our position and thinking that this couldn’t be the way we were supposed to come, and that other teams could be in a faster part of the forest on the other side of the river, racing past us. But then I heard a cough, which was bizarre, and turned out to be Braden Currie, chilling out at the side of the beautiful lakeside transition, some 20m from where we were feeling completely lost. We popped out onto the absolutely stunning Lake Herries, which was in the most incredible bowl, created by the steep sided mountains around us. We enjoyed the paddle across the lake (especially after being told we were in 9th place!) and got ready to continue trekking, when team Bend racing began to come to our side of the lake from behind us (again?!) we finished the ascent through the most amazing mountains and began the downhill.
We made a fast move through the transition at the end of the lake and onto the river flat. The track was very hit and miss along here and was very easy to lose, so made for slow going in the dark. We went for a few hours and made solid progress until we got to a known point, and saw another team, which we think was Bivouac IOnov-8, which confused us very much, as we know them to be far above our level of capability, so could only assume something was wrong.
We took a short sleep, which we hoped would be our last for the race, but as most teams would discover, this leg took aaaages. In the morning we met our friends from Bend racing, who we thought might challenge us for the title as the “chattiest” team. They had a rough time trying to get over the saddle to straight line it to lake Herries but were in reasonably good spirits. We were attempting to minimise the damage to Glen and Levi’s feet by keeping them dry, ferrying them across small streams by piggy-back etc, but we got to a point where it was going to be much slower, so we bit the bullet. We cross the Stevens Burn, which was a little bit uncomfortable and risky, but went okay, and proceeded up the steep valley. We were again passed by team Bend (we weren’t sure how we passed them, but they just generally seemed to have a rough time navigating the NZ bush).
The next couple of hours were extremely slow going through the bush and over huge, house sized rocks, which were covered in, moss, and we weren’t sure if we were standing on mossy rocks or moss over a chasm, which was quite scary. After a while, I felt like we should be in the right place to see the control, but we couldn’t see anything. We decided to do a re-section/field- bearing but nothing seemed to make sense, and I was beginning to get very worried about our position and thinking that this couldn’t be the way we were supposed to come, and that other teams could be in a faster part of the forest on the other side of the river, racing past us. But then I heard a cough, which was bizarre, and turned out to be Braden Currie, chilling out at the side of the beautiful lakeside transition, some 20m from where we were feeling completely lost. We popped out onto the absolutely stunning Lake Herries, which was in the most incredible bowl, created by the steep sided mountains around us. We enjoyed the paddle across the lake (especially after being told we were in 9th place!) and got ready to continue trekking, when team Bend racing began to come to our side of the lake from behind us (again?!) we finished the ascent through the most amazing mountains and began the downhill.
It was at this point that Glen realised that while the uphill had been fine, he had developed an inflammation in a tendon sheath on his ankle which made the downhill agony. Suffice to say that Glen’s pain filled descent off this mountain was one of the most heart breaking, but bravest things I have ever seen, and many hours later we arrived at the last transition on the lakeside with the Sneaky Weasel Gang at about 3am. We were dark-zoned until 6:45 so grabbed what seemed like a free sleep and got ready for the last leg the next morning!
Leg 7: Te Anau Kayak.
We set off onto the beautiful lake with little trouble and solid navigation to all the controls. We were left in the dust by the SWG who recorded one of the fastest paddle times for this leg but made us feel like we were really crawling at this point, although our time was pretty good!
We were pushing, but there were no teams behind us in sight, and the weasels were far gone despite our efforts, so the last hour or two were reasonably cruisy, which was a really strange way to end such an incredibly hard race, and reaching the finish line was odd, as it felt like we had shed the real weight from our shoulders the previous night upon reaching TA6, and this was more of a formality.
Nonetheless it was truly an incredible feeling to have completed such a mammoth event, and just sneak into the top 10, which had been our ultimate goal, as well as taking out the Colt’s trophy.
I maintain that this race has been the hardest task I have ever faced, yet definitely one of if not the most rewarding. I would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a nudge, as the first step is definitely committing to the challenge, and though it is tough, it is very achievable for anyone who Is prepared to do the mahi.
We set off onto the beautiful lake with little trouble and solid navigation to all the controls. We were left in the dust by the SWG who recorded one of the fastest paddle times for this leg but made us feel like we were really crawling at this point, although our time was pretty good!
We were pushing, but there were no teams behind us in sight, and the weasels were far gone despite our efforts, so the last hour or two were reasonably cruisy, which was a really strange way to end such an incredibly hard race, and reaching the finish line was odd, as it felt like we had shed the real weight from our shoulders the previous night upon reaching TA6, and this was more of a formality.
Nonetheless it was truly an incredible feeling to have completed such a mammoth event, and just sneak into the top 10, which had been our ultimate goal, as well as taking out the Colt’s trophy.
I maintain that this race has been the hardest task I have ever faced, yet definitely one of if not the most rewarding. I would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a nudge, as the first step is definitely committing to the challenge, and though it is tough, it is very achievable for anyone who Is prepared to do the mahi.
A massive thanks must go out to, firstly my other team members, for working incredibly well together under extreme stress and for keeping each other up when we might have otherwise drifted down.
Next In line must be our parents, who without cessation (if not without question) helped us, coached us and supported us in every aspect of our preparation for this race over the last 20 years or so, which was just incredible.
And of course, our wonderful sponsors; Duncan Venison helped us greatly to pay the entry fee, GRANT which was also crucial with this. Gurney Goo, which was, IO would say indispensable for the care of our feet and ensuring they didn’t get worse than they did for our trench foot and rendering Rachel’s and my feet almost completely unscathed. Hillary Foods have been wonderful partners and have provided us with great nutrition which I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for adventure fuel. Finally, Shoe clinic New Plymouth who also provided us with nutrition support and have been a great supporter of me personally over the years.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/102329896/rotting-feet-hallucinations-broken-bones-fail-to-halt-competitors-in-godzone-event
http://godzoneadventure.com/fiordland-a-success-for-godzone/
Next In line must be our parents, who without cessation (if not without question) helped us, coached us and supported us in every aspect of our preparation for this race over the last 20 years or so, which was just incredible.
And of course, our wonderful sponsors; Duncan Venison helped us greatly to pay the entry fee, GRANT which was also crucial with this. Gurney Goo, which was, IO would say indispensable for the care of our feet and ensuring they didn’t get worse than they did for our trench foot and rendering Rachel’s and my feet almost completely unscathed. Hillary Foods have been wonderful partners and have provided us with great nutrition which I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for adventure fuel. Finally, Shoe clinic New Plymouth who also provided us with nutrition support and have been a great supporter of me personally over the years.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/102329896/rotting-feet-hallucinations-broken-bones-fail-to-halt-competitors-in-godzone-event
http://godzoneadventure.com/fiordland-a-success-for-godzone/