A nak'd trek?

Was it her imagination, or did he seem slightly less thrilled to see her than she was to see him? No matter; men were silly about things like public displays of affection."
- The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig

I arrived home last night cold and wet after some training in the rain to discover a package waiting for me inside. I was so excited that I started opening right there and then, all the while dripping on the carpet! Yay, my package swap from Emma of Student Vegan from the UK had arrived (Emma, I hope mine hasn't got lost in the mail!). It totally made my night!


The package was filled with a whole lot of bars from Natural Balance Foods which we can't get here in New Zealand, an apple pie lara bar and some stir-fry sauce. It all looked so delicious and I can't wait to try everything.

Now over the weekend we've been down at a place called Mountain Valley which is, if you know your way around New Zealand, between Napier and Taupo off SH5. We stayed in this gorgeous little A-frame chalet looking down towards the Mohaka River.


The scenery was so beautiful and everything was so peaceful and still...but I wasn't down there for a relaxing weekend. My team and I were down there for the Macpac Autumn Challenge Women's Adventure Race, quite the opposite of relaxing and peaceful!

The race starts off with a mad dash to the rafts where you pair up with another team and paddle 18km down the Mohaka River. It's incredibly scenic but it's difficult to take in with burning arms and the sound of your rafting guide pushing you to paddle faster!


Once at the end of the rafting you've then got to hop on your bike for a very steep ride/push pretty high up into the surrounding mountains before decending back down to the river for the final stage.


The last section (our team's strength) is on foot where you must navigate yourself to the checkpoints marked on your maps and then back to the finish. We made it back just as the light was beginning to fade to be greeted by the cheers of our support crew and the wafting smell of dinner being cooked. Awesome :)

After the race they provided dinner which, unlike last year, had some great vegetarian options. I fueled up on vege burgers and an awesome curried rice...much needed after a hard day's racing. No pictures but trust me, it was delicious!