Back again....

After blogging and running my way through 52 in 52 I found that I slipped out of the habit of writing my blogs. However now I am in a different job, a job that takes me around the country and gives me the opportunity to run some of New Zealand's fabulous trails.

I have had a great following for the pictures I post from these runs and decided that this blog would be a great opportunity to share a bit about the runs, what was good and what was bad (if there is anything bad in trail-running).

So without further ado.... this last week saw me travel from Rotorua and spend my Monday night in Hawera. With a bit of study I decided that Lake Rotokare looked a likely candidate. The online site said that it was 2 hours walking... so I figured 6 - 10km and that would be ok for a Monday after a big weekend.

So after about a 30 minute drive from Hawera I passed through the automatic double Pest-Proof gate and set out for my run in a lovely quiet and serene setting. The trail, as many of these parks do, started out a bit like a park footpath, gravel and very flat... but soon slipped into lovely semi-technical trail with tree roots, mud and puddles and a few boardwalks.

The ups and downs were very sedate and before I knew it I had completed the lap... at a mere 4km (exactly).... oh dear, what next... I could do it again or check out the 'Ridge Trail' that I had noticed on my lap. So, stopping at the car to get my headlight, as it was getting later, I headed up the trail.

And I mean up... 200 vertical metres in about 700 metres ... up steps, although for once I was glad of the steps as the short patches without them were quite slippery and muddy. The whole way up was right next to the pest proof fence... which I noted had been installed by the company Tim Day used to work for.

Of course the further up I went the better the views and they were great, unfortunately the sky was pretty clear everywhere except around Mount Taranaki which was shrouded in cloud (see pic below left).

Once up on top of the ridge it was a steady up and down for about 3km before the sign pointed back down to the bottom trail. It was on with the headlight, as it was dark enough that (in the trees) it was needed. Made a mistake here, that I shouldn't have, throwing my light on with my cap on. The danger with this is that it throws a nice beam forward, but more than ever in the dark, the peak of your cap cuts out any upward peripheral view - as I found out when a low hanging branch caught me solidly - sitting me on my arse in the dark. Thinking the impact had probably wiped out my light, I was stoked to find that it turned straight on again.

So with a lump and a very sore head, I wound my way back to the car, for what turned out to be a 10km run and one that I would recommend... especially with the Ridge Trail.