Isthmus Peak (can’t actually see it from here): That’s where we’re headed!
If you haven’t read the post written by Claire, I think you should. After feeling a bit low about her situation a few months ago, I can only be encouraged by what she wrote and be more determined than ever to keep going with this journey – only 5 more weeks! That is a scary thought!
There’s been a lot happening on the vineyards recently. I have been busy counting and weighing bunches of grapes, to estimate how much fruit we can expect at harvest, and monitoring a late powdery mildew outbreak. Doesn’t sound like much when I write it down, but try doing that over about 300ha of vines in the space of a couple of weeks, and then get back to me. It involves a lot of walking. So when Claire asked me a couple weeks ago what I had planned for training on the weekend, I think I said I hadn’t planned anything, because I didn’t want to do anything. She had a couple of ideas in mind and I was going to regretfully decline, I was still recovering from the Big Easy.
But I couldn’t let her go climbing a mountain alone! On a Friday evening (31 January) she picked me up and we travelled through to Lake Hawea where we camped for the night at Kidds Bush camp site. It was a gorgeous evening, no wind, we were treated to an amazing sunset – not your typical orange and red, but silvery rays as the sun dipped behind clouds and then the mountains.
The mountains. Wow, I live in such a beautiful country! These ridges seem to just rise out of the ground, tall and steep and almost forbidding. Reminded me of travelling through the Scottish Highlands.
The DoC ranger recommended we make a start on the Isthmus Peak track early in the morning to get as much done before the heat of the day hit. Good advice! The next morning we packed up our camp site and drove to the start of the track by 8am.
It didn’t take long and the lungs were heaving and the legs were feeling the work. Claire thought she wasn’t coping as well as she had hoped but when we turned around, we had probably just climbed the first 100m vertical over 1km, and I wasn’t finding it overly easy either! Climbing mountains with Claire is great because not only is it just good for the both of us, but though she may have some limitations, she gives it 110% of her ability. And that’s what gets her lung function up from 44% to 51%, and us both to the top of Isthmus Peak (1386m) in a little more than 2 hours over 8km. Just like regular little mountain goats!
Honestly, it really doesn’t get much better than this!
What a stunning day. Again, so glad we acted on the ranger’s advice and got going early, it was really hot! Which also means blue skies and views worth the hard work. At the top we had Lake Hawea to the East, and Lake Wanaka to the West. New Zealand does Scottish Highlands complete with Scottish thistle!
Such a steep climb means a steep descent. Just like the Big Easy marathon when you’re looking out for any levelling off or even a slight uphill gradient, considering the possibility of walking down the mountain backwards, you know your poor legs have taken a hammering.
In our true style, it was off to Kai Whakapai in Wanaka for a drink and some hot chips.
Until next time, thanks for reading!
Preparation for a Mountain Race 