After a successful swim for all participants and a great dinner, what do swimmers do the next day? We get up of course and go for another swim! At 9am the next morning 6 of us met down at the Lake for a very easy very short stretch out swim. I think Mark was trying to show us up as he had already gone for a run as well. (Note: Mark was competing 2 weeks later in the Lake Taupo Ironman competition…see you thought I was crazy). After this morning swim, we finally noticed the mural on the building on the shore. There was a phrase “Fit enough to swim the distance?” It seemed very appropriate that we took a photo as we could safely say “Yes.”

After our morning swim, we had all decided to gather at the cabin that Chris, Penny and I were staying at to get even more of the stories from swim. It was a wonderful afternoon of lounging and story telling. We also went to the Thermal Hots Spring pools at our campground/resort area. We knew that there was a waterslide. What I wasn’t prepared for was the feeling of being shot out a tube like a bullet from a gun. This wasn’t a very long waterslide, but it was fast. Also at the end of the slide was some very sharp hairpin turns. Usually in the turns you slide up the side and then settle back down into the center. This was not the case with this slide, you were shot up the side, but the next turn came so fast and so sharp that you were launched into the other side of the slide. It was like being a pinball with 10 gallons of water rushing around you. I think I ended up more sore from the waterslide than from the swim all together. Don’t worry there are some pictures.

We ended the evening enjoying the sunset and a nice barbie out by the grill. I was really disappointed to see the evening come to an end as this was the last time we would all be together for a little while.  I say a little while as we naturally discussed when the next swim was going to be.  We don’t know where, but we are all excited by the prospect of another fun trip and adventure.  Tonight we had to say goodbye to Steve J and Stephen S.  The group was starting to head back to their respective homes.  I had a hunch that the lows after this swim were going to be bigger than other swims due to being with so many amazing swimmers and all of us getting along so well.  (Note: Leading up to and after a big event, I’m on a huge natural high, but eventually you have to come down.  Having a new goal to go after typically helps these lows from being too bad.)

 

So yes the day after the swim, we do tend to relax, but 2 days after the swim is a completely different story.   Chris had read about the best hike in New Zealand and he wanted to go.  Since I didn’t know when I would get the chance to do this again, I signed up to go as well.  Now I knew that the hike was the 19k Tongariro Crossing.  However, everything I read about difficulty was mixed.  There were some that said it was challenging and some that said moderate.  I thought for sure that it was going to lean towards the challenging.  The fact that we had to get up at 5:30am to meet the bus and the hike was going to start at 6:30ish should have been my first clue that I was in for a big challenge.  Now I actually like to hike, but I’m not a skilled or fast hiker.  That and I’m complete crap going up hills at altitude.  Hmmm…the start of this hike is to head straight up a mountain under the a clear blue sky and a blistering hot day.  (We found out later this was the hottest day on the mountain yet that season).  The views and the hike was amazing.  Chris, Penny, Lucy, Mark and Dougal were very patient with me as I huffed and puffed my way up the mountain at a snails pace.  They also made sure that I was continually lathered in sunscreen as there was absolutely no cloud cover.  I quickly found that Lucy and Mark must have had some mountain goat genes as they just ran up the mountain…seriously way fast.  When we made it up and over the mountain there was a shack to rest.  Since I had been struggling to keep up, I decided to set out early as they would catch me in no time.   As I was walking down, there was this streak of blue that shot past me with a quick “How’s it goin’ my dear?”  I thought that I was starting to halucinate, but after a quick second I realized that it had been Lucy that just breezed past me.  Dougal followed shortly thereafter.  It was a crazy hard and beautiful hike.  I was certain that I was going to die out there on the trail.  When I passed the 18k marker, I kept thinking to myself…this is almost over it only has got to be like 20 minutes more.  I started to watch the clock and there was no break in the trees.  20 minutes came and went and I was still walking in the silence of the wilderness.  Just as I was sure that this was the neverending hike and that I would have to crawl my way out of the place, I heard the voices of people at the end and of course there was Lucy cheering me on “Almost there. Keep going.”  It was sweet and she looked like she had just walked down to the store.  I on the other hand looked like I had been through hell and back. 

That evening the hikers all got together for dinner and much needed libations.  Yes there are photos…see below.

On Friday, Chris, Penny, Mark and I decided to drive down to Napier to see this art deco town.  Brief incomplete history: Napier had some natural disaster that destroyed most of the town.  The towns people then decided to rebuild the town in the art deco style.  It was very art deco, cute and quaint.  Penny and I also introduced ourselves to Pania of the Reef.  It is the bronze statue of Napier.  The story goes that the sirens of the sea lured out the girl out into the sea.  As she was swimming out to sea, she turned into the reef that is now out in the bay.  Side story is that the statue was stolen at one point.  It was found in the backyard of a local. 

On the way home from Napier we visited one of the Hawkes Bay vineyards.  Yum…wine.  It definitely helped dull the pain in my legs from the hike the day before.  For the record, I looked like I needed a walker to get around the next day.  I couldn’t get out of the car, couldn’t stand upright, and walked with a limp for a good 30 minutes before my muscles loosened up enough to move more smoothly.  But god forbid if I had to sit or stand up again as the whole loosening up process would have to start all over.  The wine made it less noticible. 

That evening the remaining swimmers got together for one final dinner.  Peter, Michael and Barbara had taken the chair lift to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view.  I thought to myself “THERE WAS A CHAIR LIFT????”  Ok not really, but I’m totally taking the easy route next time. 

I don’t know about the other swimmers, but I was dreading this night to end.  It meant that my adventure was over and it was time for me to head back to Oregon.  Not that I didn’t want to go home, but this was an amazing trip and I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye.  Barbara, Peter and Michael were going to spend some more time in New Zealand and planned to do a swim on Sunday, Lucy and Heather were also planning on being at or participating in the swim. 

After delaying as long as possible, we all said goodbye and see you at the next adventure.

The Day after the swim photos – Dragon waterslide

The Tongariro Crossing Hike

Napier day trip with Pania of the Reef

Chris, Penny and I get up at around 1:30am to get ready for the swim.  We load up the chilly bins (aka eskies, coolers, etc).  Heather shows up to help us get all the gear down to the harbor.  Heather picks up Julie and Lucy.  Chris, Penny and I pick up Stephen S. and then it is off to the harbor.  We meet the rest of the team and the boat pilots and crew.  We quickly load up the boats and start the trip to the other side of the lake.  We have been advised to sleep for the trip over and most of us take that to heart.  As we get about 40 minutes from the start of the swim, Penny starts getting suited up and ready to kick off the swim for the women.  Steve Junk is the lead off for the men.  I’m awake at this point as is the rest of the team because I’m so excited for the swim to start.  Plus I’m a nervous nelly and like to be uber ready for when my time comes to get in the water.

Steve and Penny were in the dinghies and getting taken to the shore.  Peter and Michael had gotten up super early and drove to meet us at the other side of the lake.  It was so nice of them to be the onshore support.  Plus they were the only ones to get the photos from the start of the swim.  Penny and Steve kicked off the swim with a bang at 5:33am.  They ended up swimming together for their entire leg.  It was great to see them working together….as this wasn’t a race.  Then it was time for me and Mark to get in for our legs.  Before each of my legs, I took the prerequisite cheesy photo.  I had decided to wear a different swim cap for each of my legs so in case I saw photos I would know what leg I was in.  So Barbara agreed to take my cheesy photo before every leg.  Now Mark and I also swam neck and neck but we weren’t right next to each other like Steve and Penny as there was a boat in between us, but the boats were still very close.  During my leg, I realized that although this “wasn’t a race” it was definitely a race and I would have to work my hardest to help the women’s team.  Basically it was an hour of sprinting every 5 hours.  It was tough.  After my first leg, I was standing on the deck and watching Barbara in her first leg and over the water I hear Steve J calling “Nice swim Miss America”.  Needless to say the nickname stuck.  I thought it was so amusing, so I didn’t mind.  I of course tried to give my best beauty queen wave. 

Penny and I quickly settled into a routine on the boat.  She would swim and I would get ready to swim and cheer for her.  Then when I went in the water she would eat and get warmed up.  After I finished swimming, I would quickly eat, cheer on Barbara and then Penny and I would hit the front cabin in the boat and go down for a nap.  This routine started after the first round of swimming, as I wanted to get photos of everyone’s first leg.  Plus I think we were all too jazzed up to sleep.  And we were beginning to realize that this was very much a race. The first day was just a gorgeous day and calm waters.  Everyone was swimming very well. 

Let me recap my text messages to my dad right now and swim order.

5:33-6:30am: Penny and Steve J.  are neck and neck.  Actually I think that they were just playing with each other; one pulling ahead, and then waiting for swimmer to catch up and repeat.  I could see the smiles on their face most of the time.

6:30-7:30am: Michelle and Mark in water.  Text message: Just finished 1st leg.  Barb and Dougal in the water now.  Swimming is going well, calm water, good temp, cloudy and spirits seem high.  Men in lead for now.

7:30-8:30am: Barb and Dougal in the water.  Pretty much a close race.  At this point we all had the opportunity to see Dougal’s 50 stroke per minute stroke rate, but man he had a strong underwater pull.

8:30-9:30am: Heather and Chris in the water.  Heather has a preference for swimming behind the boat.  It is interesting and it always looks like she is chasing the boat.  I personally hate being back in this position, so I’m in complete admiration for her mental skill to hang out back there.  Plus I would be worried about the boat fumes.

9:30-10:30am: Julie and Stephen S in the water.

10:30-11:30am: Lucy and Steve J in the water.

11:30-12:30pm: Penny and Mark in the water.

12:30-1:30pm: Michelle and Dougal in water.  Text to dad: 2nd leg complete.  Julie and Chris in the water.  Sunny day, still calm water.  Boys and girls are neck and neck.

1:30-2:30pm: Julie and Chris in the water.  Now you may notice that this is a shift in the women’s team rotation.  Unfortunately sometime in the morning, Julie broke a tooth.  Philip Rush worked to schedule an emergency dentist appointment at 4pm for Julie to have her tooth fixed.  Since her original rotation would have put her at 3:30-4:30pm we had a team meeting and switched the rotation for one grouping.  This still allowed for all 6 swimmers to be in the water for the grouping and we wouldn’t have had to drop a swimmer.  Philip went and confirmed the decision with the men’s team and they approved as well.  So as soon as Julie finished her leg, Philip took the dinghy and took Julie to Taupo for her appointment.  She would be back for her next leg where we would return to our original rotation.  It was great of Philip to go to the trouble to get the appointment.  And the rest of the team made sure that everything on the boat went smoothly in their absence. 

2:30-3:30pm:  Barb and Stephen S in the water.

3:30-4:30pm: Heather and Steve J in the water.  Heather and Steve were responsible for completing the first crossing of Lake Taupo.  The women at this point were probably about 5 minutes behind the men.  On the shore, Philip, Julie and some friends were cheering for the teams.  We of course cheered for each other as our boats passed each other. Text message: The women just finished the first crossing.  Heather ran in & turned back around.  Men are 5 minutes ahead. Girls first crossing in about 10 hours 35 minutes

4:30-5:30pm: Lucy and Mark in the water.

5:30-6:30pm: Penny and Dougal in the water. We start gaining some ground on the men.  The water is starting to get a little bumpy.  We got a little cheering squad that came by from the sail boat tour of the lake.  I don’t remember the name of the boat…the Barnably, Barnacle…something with a B.  Also Julie and Philip returned from the dentist appointment.  Broken tooth has been fixed and we are all set to get moving again.

6:30-7:30pm:  Michelle and Chris in the water.  Gaining more ground.  Water getting really choppy now.  Text message: 3rd leg in.  Barb and Stephen in the water.  Sun setting and water getting really bumpy.  Girls have overtaken boys by 5 minutes.  Time for dinner.  (Note:  Dinner consisted of salad and pasta with a red sauce.  Thankfully Penny had it all cooked and ready to go when I hit the deck.  After a quick dinner and a change, Penny and I went down for our nap).

7:30-8:30pm: Barb and Stephen S. in the water.  At this point the water is getting very choppy and Barb is battling through it very well.  It was only the day after the swim that I found out that Barb was also battling stomach problems.  After her leg she was ill, but kept it a secret from the rest of the boat.  She dealt with the problem silently and with the only medication she had on hand…maalox.  In addition to the waves and stomach problems, Barb and Heather were short on rest due to the switch up in the line up.  They were champs through the whole thing.

8:30-9:30pm: Heather and Steve J in the water.  Battling even more waves.  At this point we have switched to running the swimmers next to the dinghy.  We are all wearing our glow sticks and Philip is the guide in the dinghy. 

9:30-10:30pm: Julie and Mark in the water. 

10:30-11:30pm: Lucy and Dougal in the water.

11:30-12:30am: Penny and Chris in the water.  I remember we are behind the men at this point, but we were going to gain some ground here just due to different swimming speeds.  It was probably interesting for Chris and Penny competing against each other.

12:30-1:30am: Michelle and Stephen S in water.  Now night swimming is fine for me.  I just follow the boat, but I like to follow the boat very closely.  Probably not a good thing and I was having a little bit of trouble judging distance due to the color of the glow sticks on the boat, but for the most part really like the night swimming.  Text message: 4th leg done.  Barb and Steve J in the water.  Lake has got light chop but not bad.  We are having boat trouble. Keep you updated (Note:  Sometime during the night, our boat started to burn off a very dark smoke.  Our pilot decided to speed up to burn off the oil and hopefully get the engine running better…bad news…the boat wouldn’t come out of idle and we couldn’t get it to burn off its oil.  Our boat pilot was very concerned.  He wasn’t sure it would make the return trip.  This scared me to death to think that this swim could end due to the boat, but we all talked about getting in the dinghy to finish the swim.  We weren’t going to quit no matter what).

1:30-2:30am: Barb and Steve J in the water. 

2:30-3:30am: Heather and Mark in the water.  Navigation has gotten very difficult as we are landing where there are no dwellings so there are no lights that help us see the shore.

3:30-4:30am: Julie and Dougal in the water.   There is quite a bit of confusion on the landing and the pilots and dinghy pilots are getting pretty sharp with each other.  Apparently the men’s team is headed up some creek rather than heading towards land.  We have a different heading and seem to be headed in the right direction towards the shore.  I find out that Julie and Dougal finally land and make the turn back towards Taupo.

4:30-5:30am: Lucy and Chris in the water.  Our boat is still limping along and the pilot is doing the best that he can.  He is committed to following this race to its end.

5:30-6:30am: Penny and Stephen S in the water.

6:30-7:30am: Michelle and Steve J in the water.  Text message: 5th leg complete. Barb and Mark in water.  Girls slightly ahead on the third crossing of lake.  Boat can only idle, captain is nervous, but we keep moving forward.

7:30-8:30am: Barb and Mark in water.

8:30-9:30am: Heather and Dougal in water.

9:30-10:30am: Julie and Chris in water.

10:30-11:30am: Lucy and Stephen S in water.

11:30-12:30pm: Penny and Steve J in the water.  We have now come back to our original rotation.  The women are still a little behind the men, but Penny loves the chase and is great at the chase.  I have a great feeling that we will catch up by the end of her leg.  Both swimmers are pounding it.  Penny does close the gap and over take the men.  This will be the last rotation that we will each have.

12:30-1:30pm: Michelle and Mark in the water.  Due to our boat troubles I was off the back end of the boat, my least favorite place to be.  I tried everything I could to mentally let it go.  I wasn’t winning that battle.  However, I could see the Men’s boat so I kept swimming with them.  However, after about 30 minutes I took a breath away from seeing the men’s boat and when I looked back they were gone.  (Note: I would find out later that the men’s boat caught a current that was going around Rangitira point.  Thus the shoot forward. )  It was a mentally crushing event.  I had lost the lead that Penny had worked so hard to get.  I was out of the water in tears.  Text message: 5th leg done.  Barb and Dougal in water.  Penny worked hard to get lead for girls and I turned around and lost it.  Getting close to finish.

1:30-2:30pm: Barb and Dougal in the water.  Dougal is turning his arms over faster than I have seen the whole trip.  Barb is working so hard.  We are maintaining position. 

2:30-3:30pm: Heather and Chris in the water.  These are the last swimmers.  It seems appropriate that the local New Zealander will be finishing the event for us.  The men finish ahead of the women.  For the finish, we all enter the water and swim in with our teammate.  Peter and Michael are on the shore with champagne.  Heather’s friend, Carol, has brought chocolate fish, which is apparently a tradition for Heather to have at the halfway point of a swim but we didn’t have them on the boat so we have them on the shore.  There are hugs all around and more than a few smiles.  I’m so happy to be part of this event.  Text Message: Finished a bit ago.  Men time: 33 hrs, 31 min, 15 seconds.  Women time: 33hrs, 33 min, 54 sec.  Basically it was just 2 minutes 39 seconds separating the teams.  We couldn’t have planned it that close.

After the swim, we all took a quick run across the parking lot back to the boats to unload.  We met with the local sports reporter of course we commented that this “wasn’t a race”, but the men seemed pretty happy by their win  

That evening after showers and a change of clothes, we met at a local restaurant to share boat stories and really just enjoy all of our successes.  It is here that I found out about the current, which made me feel a little better…but only a little.

What do we do on the boat?  Mostly we got into a routine on the women’s boat and it sounds like it was very similar on the men’s.  We would eat, rest, cheer and spot for our swimmers in the water, prepare for our leg and then swim.  We had some amazing cheerleaders on our team.  I think I hardly ever saw Heather below deck.  She could always be found on the bow of the boat cheering on the swimmer.  I think she perfected the silent clapping.  Lucy was usually cheering off the back part of the boat.  Overall the support from the team was amazing.  It was rare to be in the water and not see someone on the boat watching you in the water.  I think we all knew how important it was to have someone there going through your leg with you.  Plus it was always great to see the next swimmer start to get ready on the back of the boat and get the 5 minute warning.

Swim Route – I have no idea why the google picture isn’t showing. 
 

View Larger Map

Chris Palfrey’s account of the swim – This is super interesting to see the view of the swim from the Men’s boat.  Click on the link below.

taupo-x-3

Photos from the Shore by Peter and Michael

Photos from the Women’s Boat

Photos from the Men’s Boat

Well it is the afternoon before the big relay swim and the groceries are purchased, the debriefing has occurred and I think the teams are all set to go.  Before I go and have a lie down I thought I would give the update.  There are 2 relay teams each swimming a triple crossing of Lake Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand.  There is a 6 person woman team and a 5 person male team.  Our overall team goal is for each relay team to successfully make the triple crossing and have a rip roaring good time.   I believe that the total distance will be 120.6 kilometers.

Obviously there will be some friendly competition between the teams.  Right now we are pretty evenly tied for time even with the disparate number of people.  I do believe that we will finish very close to each other.  Or at least that is my private goal with the women stepping on the beach perhaps just a little before the men.

Here is the breakdown of the teams and order of swimmers (from first to last):

Mens Team:

Steve – Australia

Mark – New Zealand

Dougal – Australia

Chris – Australia

Stephen – Australia

Women’s Team:

Penny – Australia

Michelle – USA

Barb – Australia

Heather – New Zealand

Julie – UK

Lucy – UK

Rumor has it that there will be mobile service for the whole swim, so I hopefully will be texting my parents and they will be updating my blog.  This is of course all dependent on mobile service and how busy I am with the swim.  Our guesstimate is that it will take us 12 hours per leg of the lake for a total swim of 36 hours.  Each swimmer must swim a 1 hour leg and then the next swimmer gets in for an 1 hour leg and so on and so forth.  This means that I will swim for an hour and then have 5 hours before my next swim.  The order of the swimmers must remain the same throughout the entire swim.  Water temp is around 18-20 degrees C (66-70 degrees F – very rough calculation).

Looks like our biggest challenge is going to be the New Zealand sun as it is beating down and sunburn is a definite possibility, especially with my fair freckled skin and red hair.  Luckily I packed a lot of sun screen.

Like I stated earlier, we will be starting around 5am New Zealand time (8am PST, 11am EST) tomorrow.  So watch for updates and cheer all of us on!

Ok after some minor snafus, I have things situated. Even with squeaking under the baggage weight limit, I forgot some items at home. Mainly I forgot all the pieces to my international adapter, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to charge my computer. Then the places that I was staying mentioned that they were having trouble with their wireless network, which I found surprising because I could see the network and connect to it, but that is another story.

So today we have located an international plug in adapter, the wireless is working and I’m back on line. As my dad stated, the flights were very long. I flew from Portland to LA, LA to Auckland, and Auckland to Taupo. Somewhere in the air I crossed the international date line, so New Year’s was celebrated in the air. The long flight was pretty uneventful with the exception of about 2 hours where there was extreme turbulance. And I mean extreme. I’m a pretty seasoned traveler so it takes a lot for me to start white knuckling it on the plane, but I was hanging on for dear life. The only message over the PA was “Flight Attendants to your seats”. I think that did little to calm the passengers that were screaming. Only after we landed did the pilot explain that the aircraft was fully equipped to handle that type of turbulance. Thanks could have used that message about 10 hours prior during the turbulance.

Anyways, I landed safetly and Penny and Chris Palfrey picked me up from the Taupo airport which is more like a one room station. Apparently I had assumed that Taupo was larger than it was. I think that the 10 seater plane where the flight attendant was also the co-pilot should have been my first clue that I wasn’t headed someplace really large.

Penny, Chris and I spent the day getting to know one another. We started off with breakfast and then spent most of the day relaxing before an afternoon swim. After one day together it was just amazing. First it seemed like we had already spent 2 weeks together and we were getting along swimmingly (pun intended). I also had the opportunity to meet Philip Rush who was helping organize all the particulars of the swim like pilots, boats, etc. A good laugh was had by all sitting overlooking Lake Taupo and enjoying some cold beers.

Yesterday, 2 more of the swimmers arrived and really does just seem like one big extended family. I haven’t really experienced the ackwardness that usually comes with meeting new people. I find myself spending a lot of time just laughing and really enjoying the company. I have been really blessed to be asked to be apart of this amazing journey.

The rest of the swimmers are arriving throughout today and I would imagine that I’ll meet them either tonight or tomorrow morning. According to Philip the swim will go off on Monday at around 5am. Unfortunately, I will not have this blog updated during the swim as I don’t have anything like that arranged and I’m not sure my phone will work on the lake.

For those that are curious about the time change, I’m 3 hours behind Pacific Time, but I’m a day ahead. For example, if it is 1pm in Portland Oregon it is 11am here, but it is the next day. So the swim will go off at around 8am PST on Sunday January 4th (or 5am NZ time on Monday January 5th).

I’ll be in touch very soon.