It was epic

She'd thrown him. Not just off-balance but into some dis-ordered reality where he wasn't entirely sure which way was normal, which was safe.
- A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens

I could say that eating a late breakfast and checking out earthquake damage was the reason for my trip to Christchurch a couple of weeks back and although that sounds quite wonderful (well, the late breakfast bit does) it's not true. I really went to down south for a race which probably doesn't surprise anyone. We had a long drive ahead of us but that was going to pale in comparison to what we were going to face the following day.

Continuing along a theme of eating late, since breakfast wasn't eaten until after 11am that meant lunch was late too...4:30 in the afternoon kind of late in fact and consisted of homemade bread slathered in peanut butter and eaten in the supermarket carpark at Timaru.


You're getting a photo of this because M thought it was really quite funny. We couldn't go into the supermarket until I'd eaten because I was so hungry and we were too lazy to go sit in the park to eat (okay let's be honest, I was too desperate for us to stop so I could eat).

Finally we arrived in Naseby which is one of my favourite places ever. Even better was the fact we were staying in the awesome Naseby holiday park...awesome because it is right next to the forest and I love the forest here.


We were tired and a bit hungry by the time we finally arrived so dinner was quick. I fried up a packet of tofu with some mushrooms then added a packet of soup/curry (seriously, it can't decide which one it is supposed to be) and some broccoli. Delicious.


It really wasn't all that long before we were crawling out of bed again in the morning to get ready for the race...a 12 hour rogaine. If anyone is interested, you can read my writeup of the event here.

It's very unexciting but here is my breakfast before the race - weetbix, tinned fruit salad, soy yogurt and oat milk.


And here is the event centre in Ophir...so awesome! We were based out of their town hall which is the building on the right.


One thing I love about the sports that I do is the amazing countryside that I get to see and explore. I think Central Otago is one of my favourite places and the scenery is just spectacular. I hope to be doing this for as long as I possibly can. My Mum tells the story of a lady in her 90s competing at the World Masters Orienteering Champs one year and I guess that is something that I strive for.








So yeah, the scenery was awesome, M and I worked very well as a team (although I wish his legs weren't so long 'cause it is tough work keeping up) and we made it back with 5 minutes to spare which is always good. My feet were absolutely killing me but it was all worth it as we won the mixed grade...oh yeah!

Although I'm sure you're all sick of scenery by now, but I have to finish with a photo looking down over Naseby forest from our walk the following morning...this place is extremely close to my heart.


Returning home gets harder every time...