Anaconda Forster

It has been a busy time with lots of overseas racing happening and the latest trip to Forster in Australia was no exception.

The Rollo’s 6 hour was on 2 days before we left prompting a last minute training run. This was a great little race with a format where everyone got 30 minutes to plan how to collect the controls. You could get each control either on your Mountain Bike, running or from your kayak. Plus a 25 control orienteering section which you had to run around. The format saw teams of two heading in all different directions at the start gun with all different modes of travel. We decided to head off on our bikes and after collecting the controls we had planned for the MTB it was on to the orienteering section. Even though Elina isn’t an orienteer I still find I seem to be able to find the controls much easier whenever she is racing with me – with orienteering to Finnish what Rugby is to New Zealanders maybe it’s just a little bit of Finnish rubbing off?  After getting round the Orienteering course without too many issues except for some extra scratches it was onto the kayaking section. With teams all having decided on different routes and orders in which to get the controls it was impossible to know where we were until we hit the beach and learned we were first there. A leisurely transition it was onto the extra section for the last hour of racing. The highlight for me was getting my first spot prize in many years – a new helmet to ad to the collection. The racing was really tight all day and the mixed teams cleaned up some of the rather fancied all male teams. The format was a real winner and meant no support crews or logistical challenges to participation.

2 days later and we were winging our way to Australia for the latest instalment of the Anaconda series. This race was in Forster a few hours north of Sydney. Our travel was somewhat of a mix up. I’d been sent an email to fly into Newcastle and not paying too much attention to this I’d forwarded on to the travel agent and booked the tickets. I’d presumed there was a good reason to fly to Newcastle like; it was a long way from Sydney or ??? so it was a surprise when I finally looked  a t the itinerary and found that the flight was only 45min. Not exactly a long drive either. The worst part was our tickets from Sydney to Newcastle cost more than the tickets did from NZ to Australia! Oh well, live and learn to check whether you should book a car or a plane. So onto the little puddle jumper in the middle of a thunder storm, blown around with a fair few bumps but before we had even gone up too far it was down again and then into the rental car for the final couple of hours up to Forster. Without a map and crammed into a tiny Hyundai Getz with two bikes, some paddle gear and our bags, hoping not to have a late night encounter with a kangaroo or a wombat. Clearly Forster was not a major town as we couldn’t find any signs pointing us towards it and after 10 minutes in the wrong direction we established a town for which we should be aiming for and after a quick u turn on the motor way we were off.

The other thing one needs for a race like this is a Surf Ski. I recently brought a Red 7 Ski in NZ and they had helped me organise a Red 7 ski in Australia for this race. After arriving in Forster I got a call to say they had organised one and if I hadn’t left Newcastle I could pick it up. Seeing as we were already 2.5 hours away by now and the other limiting factor being we had almost the smallest car possible with no roof racks an alternative plan would need to be devised. The next 2 days were filled with charging up my phone bill trying to arrange getting the ski up. I had pretty much given up when the organisers found someone coming through Sydney who could deliver it to me on the morning of the race. Not ideal but better than swimming the ski leg! I was therefore surprised when an announcement was made for me to go and collect my ski after the briefing – bonus, the guy was early. Things started getting a little confusing when he turned out to be a different guy than I was expecting and he didn’t really seem to know who he was delivering it for? Oh well, I stuck the stickers on and then moments later I got a call from the original guy to say he’d picked my ski up and would meet me in the morning. So now I had gone from none to two skis, and maybe someone else was now missing one. Off with the stickers and off to bed after a quick call to the organisers to let them know if someone was missing their ski that it was now here.

Morning arrived and the ski came, no dramas and some time for some racing. The race itself was great. Two days of fast and furious racing started with us running 3 km in our wetsuits to the start of the swim. I felt like a boiled beetroot by the end of that and it was a relief to hit the water. I was further cooled off when I got nailed in the surf coming into the beach at the end of the ski leg. The bike and run sections we fast and at the end of day 1 the top contenders were all within a few minutes of each other. Later that day 700 kids took to the beach and surf for a junior event which provided great entertainment for all involved, including the spectators.

Day two started with a swim where dolphins followed close by before it was on to the run, MTB and kayak. On the final run through the sand to the finish it was time to start thinking about cleaning gear for our early start back to NZ.

Up at 5am to drive to Newcastle we arrived minus any drama for a change only to have our 45min flight to Sydney delayed by first 1 then 2 then 4 hours and finally we ended up on a Bus. The only advantage is we got our excess refunded and got a free breakfast and lunch (which is usually especially expensive for me in an airport).  Having missed our connection to NZ an afternoon of mooching around Sydney airport ensued before being crammed like sheep onto a flight bound for Wellington and an overnight stay of 6 hours before finally arriving home in Nelson a day late. Oh the joys of travelling, and it all starts again in a couple of days.