Newsflash: New Zealand is stunningly beautiful! After a few long flights from CPT, JHB, Sydney to Auckland, we stayed right on the water (above) for a few days with Princess Hotstuff’s friends. During high tide I swam in the estuary and channel amoungst the boats. Water was surprisingly warm.

Unpacking some cool new toys. The Specialized Compak AirTool travel pump for tyre and suspension is not only long overdue for traveling, but also beautifully engineered from all aluminium. LOOK S-track pedals & since we’re in the “worlds best fly fishing country” travel fly rod.

Brand new bike: I chose the Specialized Sworks “Epic” over the “Epic World Cup” model. This bike has a bit more suspension, the handling a bit more stable, and if I need to, I can put a double chainring on there.

First things first, I pre rode this legendary course a number of times. The Billy T single track is incredibly fun, and I wish the whole 25km bike course could be this much fun…

Grippy soil, flowing, well built trails,

Some interesting sections- VERY different from South Africa’s jerky, rocky trails.

Dont trip over the scenery. Green Lake.

Images straight out of childrens books…

Race venue.

Not called “Blue Lake” for no reason. The run is 2 laps around the lakes under a canopy of huge fern trees.

Cool new goodies- Hoka One One shoes, Thule bacpack and iPad cover & Columbia rain jacket– for the infamous NZ weather.

Leana (Vlooi) de Bruin, Princess Hotstuff (Liezel Wium in her Netball days) and Irene van Dyk.

After a few days training on the course in Rotorua, we went to Hamilton. The highlight was watching Princess Hotstuffs’ old teams (Magic vs Pulse) and her “old” teammates playing a super exciting Netball game- live on TV in front of a packed stadium. The game is huge in NZ!

The lowlight is a costly trip to the eye doctor. I had the pterygium sliced off my eye excatly 6 weeks ago and since then my eyes has been super sensitive to light. Like REALLY sensitive- not being able to drive or be in the sunshine for even short periods. Fortunately its been rainy and cloudy and this course is 99% shaded by tall fern trees.

Race day tomorrow.