The Great Cranleigh Kauri Run

3rd time at Coromandel

Back! Back from my 3rd trip to Coromandel. And again, I enjoyed it very much. Cathedral cove, hot water beach, clevedon oysters. It's like deja vu, except with a different bunch of people.

The people: Me, Karen, Yin, Wei En, Ivan, Shaun, Dallas

Car Rental: NONE!! Wei En and Shaun's car. Perfect!!!

21st November

We left Auckland around 6, with chicken sandwiches and snacks packed in the car for munching. The traffic was rather slow moving as it was just after work. I was in Wei En's car with Karen. We were trying to reach Coromandel town by 9pm to register for our race but failed to. The roads were windy and it was getting late. Having Karen in the car made the trip so much shorter. All her "kiddy" songs and brain teasers.... awesome!! Nobby hall ... Bachelor's Boy .. Aunt Betty ... Di di di ... Wei En was so funny trying to figure out those brain teasers... "I'm listening!! My head already so close to you!!!" ... Sorry, you gotta be there to know what happened :p

We reached Colville at 10. We stayed in a farm backpackers. It was pretty cool. First time staying in a farm. The guys slept in the caravan and the girls slept in the house. Colville is a very small place, 30 mins from Coromandel town. It was where the 13km finishing line was.

22nd November

We all woke up around 6.30, even the support crew, i.e. wei en, yin and dallas, also woke up. So nice having wei en and yin being the mummy figure and preparing breakfast for us runners while we headed to coromandel town to register. When we got back to colville, half boiled eggs were waiting for us on the dining table to be eaten. So nice!!

At 9, Shaun, Ivan, Karen and I headed to Waikawau Beach to start our race. Waikawau beach is located close to the tip of Coromandel. It was beautiful. Never been there before. The race started just after 10, with 320 runners. It started off with a 2km run along the beach. We had a pretty good start, completing the beach run just over 10 minutes. Following that, the rest were all trail running, crossing streams, muddy grounds, climbing hills.

It was tiring. I slipped a few times. Lost Karen around the 4km mark. Couldn't keep up with her. Had no idea when we lost Shaun. Thank goodness I had Ivan beside me, making sure I don't fall back, motivating me throughout the run. For every uphill I saw ... I'd go FUDGE!!! And after every uphill, I will take a deep breath before I start running. But not long after, another uphill will appear in front of me. Can never run the uphills. Always end up walking. And Ivan will be behind me saying .. small steps! small steps! At one point, I really wanted to give up but he was behind me, pushing me up the hills.

We had one pit stop which was at the 8km mark, the Waikawau lookout. The view was breathtaking. After consuming two cups of water, god knows how many pieces of sweet, juicy oranges, we continued our run. The run from then on wasn't too bad anymore. It was mostly flat or downhill and just a lil bit of uphill. At around the 10km mark, the trail diverted, where the 32km runners had to go uphill and for us 13km runner, it was all downhill. At the point where it diverted, we could see Karen from afar, running up the hill. I was like.. man! Thank goodness I chose the 13km.. I wouldn't be able to do it. I was already dying.

Downhill running wasn't tiring but painful. My feet were hurting, my knees were sore from braking and trying not to fall. I was so afraid of falling. And Ivan goes... Big steps! Big steps! During the last 1.5km, I told him to sprint and don't wait up for me. Reached the finishing line at 1 hour 38 mins, one minute behind him. Our very loyal support crew were waiting for us at the finishing line. Once I crossed the finishing line, I headed straight to where the oranges was ... I swear those oranges were the sweetest ones I ever tasted! Sweetest and juiciest!! Shaun came in 10 mins later and ... we sabo-ed him!!

It was a great run. First time doing such run. Sure it was tiring and torturing at some point but I'm glad I did it and finished it. I came 14th out of 45 in the 20-39 yrs women category so I guess it's not too bad. Gotta really thank Ivan for staying with me throughout the race. I think I would have started walking the rest of the race if it weren't for him. I remembered earlier this year during the Whenuapai 10km run, I had Sharvin beside me to keep me going. This tim, I got Ivan. I really wonder what would happen if I were to run alone in races. It's gonna be a challenge next year, as I do plan to continue running when I go to Sydney.

After the run, Shaun, Yin and Wei En drove up to Waikawau to get Shaun's car back. Me, Ivan and Dallas stayed back at the farm, waiting under the hot sun for them to come back. We then headed to Coromandel town to meet Karen where her 32km race ends. Not long after we arrive the town, we saw her running towards the finishing line. From far, you could tell that she was exhausted yet determined. It was as if she was in a lot of pain but yet she continued running. Really admire the mental power this girl has. She finished the race in 4 hours 44 minutes. RESPECT!!!! My goal next year.. 32 km.. hehehe.. but first, I need to complete a half marathon first!

After she recovered from her gruelling run, we headed to a fish n chips store in the town for lunch as well as claiming our free beer at a local bar. Monteith's Lemon and Lime ... yumm man .... tho I'm not a fan of beer, it was good! By then, it was already 5pm. Didn't think we would still be in the town at 5pm. So... we went to the school hall to claim our post race meal ... which was just beef, potatoes, mashed pumpkin and bread. Not much was left as it started at 4pm. Haha! Totally forgotten about it. Should have just went there intead of fish and chips. As we were too full, we just packed some beef and headed off to Hahei, where Cathedral Cove and hot water beach was.

Stayed at Tatahi Lodge. Was meant to go to Cathedral cove that evening but we were kinda late as it was getting dark. Plus, we were exhausted. Dinner was mushroom soup with those beef along with pasta ... wei en's instant maggi abalone porridge with egg, potatoes, and ... chips!! hahaha!! We played a round of drinking game with Sangria .. it only lasted for one round :( Should have bought more!! After the game, yin, wei en and shaun headed to dreamland whereas karen, me, ivan and dallas chit chatted for another hour before heading to bed as we felt it was too early to sleep. Haha! but yea.. once I made contact with the bed, it was straight to dreamland for me.

23 November 2008

Woke up at 4.45 as we wanted to catch the sunrise at Cathedral Cove. Didn't really get to see the sunrise when we got there as it was cloudy that day and we were walking and covered by trees when the sun rose. Did the usual at cathedral cove, i.e. cam-whored. something unusual was... i got pranked!!! Naughty mummy Yin asked ivan to hide the bags. We hung them on the tree branches and he hid it. When we wanted to leave to grab our bags, it was not there anymore and I was so worried. I was like asking Shaun to text dallas to see if anyone walked by with our bags as dallas did not follow us all the way down to the cove. I was seriously panicking coz my phone, wallet, and wei en's car keys were inside. I think everyone else knew about it apart from me and karen. Karen was however too blur to notice her bag was lost as well so she didn't panic. Arghh!!! But yea.... seriously.. who would be so crazy to come to cathedral cove at 6 something and steal bags??? seriously!! ahh so stupid!!! If only ying swan was there, then at least got another victim to get conned. RawrRrrRR!!

After that, went back to the backpackers for breakfast. Mushroom soup, toast, eggs for breakfast. Hot water beach after breakfast. sucks how it was a rather cloudy and cold day. Water was still hot but yea.. outside was cold. One thing that I never seen before ... jellyfishes!!! yea.. we saw jellyfishes being swept up to the shore by the sea and were stuck. At first we saw parts of dead jelly fishes... it really just looked like jelly... and then behind a huge rock, we saw a live jellyfish! Well, at least I think it was a jellyfish. So cool!!

After hot water beach, it was home time. I slept most of the way as I was really tired. Stopped by Tainui for lunch, where we were munching on fish and chips by the roadside and huge ass ice cream after that. Two mega huge scoops for just $2.60. Ahh!! I just love eating ice cream in small towns. They are just so generous!!

After lunch, I slept somemore. Just like the previous trip, we ended the whole thing with Clevedon raw oysters, suckin em' oysters by the wharf at Maraetai beach. Haha!

All in all, another great trip. And I think a rather cheap one too! Saved on car rental thanks to wei en and shaun. Saved on petrol thanks to low petrol prices now and wei en's car only consumed 1.5 tank of petrol throughout the trip!! No hassle in printing out directions coz it was all done by mummy wei en. We were well taken care off by mummy wei en and mummy yin. We had daddy shaun driving all the time. Uncle Dallas was .... just uncle dallas.. lolx!!