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New Zealand: paradise for adventure racers

Mogens Johansen discovers what it takes to compete in one of the most scenic, challenging and dangerous team events.

The Makarora River water level is low after an extended dry spell but it is pouring down with rain and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. I’m in New Zealand’s Southern Alps near Wanaka and I’m waiting for the first teams to arrive at Transition Area 1 during the GODZone Adventure Race.

The aptly named race has attracted 55 teams from around the world for the privilege to race more than 500km through some of the world’s most scenic, challenging and dangerous terrain. They must navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint during various disciplines such as trekking, mountain biking and canoeing as well as using fixed ropes in the mountains. The teams must be fully self-supporting and have a mandatory list of gear and safety equipment they are required to carry at all times and another list for equipment they must carry during each specific discipline. They will race day and night with a minimum amount of sleep to complete the course within the allotted seven-day limit. The teams are a mixture of semi-professional athletes and super-fit amateurs but they share a love of nature and competition.

The teams started the race at the foot of Fantail Falls near the Haast Pass road, from there they were meant to follow the Brewster track and traverse the Brewster Glacier. However, due to the heavy rain and zero visibility on the glacier organisers were forced to reset the course for safety reasons but the teams still faced a very tough challenge during the hike up mountains more than 2000m high.

Team Next Generation make their way through the bush. Picture: Mogens Johansen

I walk along a single track by the river; I’m told the teams will be crossing a narrow suspension bridge about 1km upstream and that sounds like a good photo opportunity.

I get only about 500m along the track before I bump into Seagate, a team of super-athletes from New Zealand led by Adventure Racing legend Nathan Fa’avae. They are the favourites to win the event and have started well — they have been going for four hours 20 minutes but can still manage a smile as they jog past me. I continue onwards and take some pictures of the next few teams crossing the bridge before heading across to the other side.

The forest is lush and green with moss growing both on the ground and on the tree trunks. It is still raining — although the canopy of the trees protects me from the worst of it, I struggle to keep my camera gear dry. Team after team appear from the mountains looking like drowned rats emerging from Middle-earth; they are all smiling, though, and why not? This is paradise for adventure racers. They don’t care about a bit of rain and can’t wait for the next stage, a paddle down the Makarora River before starting another trek over the Albert Burn Saddle and on and on from there on mountain bikes, in canoes and on foot before finally finishing back in Wanaka sometime within the next week.

I’m particularly interested in a team from WA. Tim Sikma, Janet Musker, Grant Pepper and Helke Melville, also known as team Sheepgate (a light-hearted dig at Seagate), are a good-humoured team hoping for a good race but they are realistic about their chances here because of the mountainous terrain, which they have had limited opportunities to train for. Grant has been aerating his lawn using his crampons but has had little chance to use the ice axe he will need when climbing some of the snow-covered peaks here in New Zealand.

Grant Pepper and Janet Musker carry a canoe to the Makarora River. Picture: Mogens Johansen

They finally emerge from the sodden forest almost five hours after Seagate but in good spirits. It has been a cold and difficult trek on the mountains, especially for Helke, who has limited experience in mountaineering — but her favourite discipline, canoeing, is next. They methodically repack their backpacks with the gear they require for the canoeing, eat and get changed into new wet clothes before setting off down the Makarora River.

This is the last time I see them before I head back to Australia but I speak to them about their race later, after they’ve finished.

“The race was great with some spectacular scenery,” Janet says. “It was pretty cold, wet and windy for the first few days, which made the going a little tougher. We were absolutely drenched and had one particularly cold camp. We were all shivering in the tent, drifting in and out of sleep. The toughest part of the course was the long and hilly bike leg after we left from Wanaka. It was a baptism of fire for poor Helke in her first multi-day expedition race. Our knees and ankles took a hammering from the rough ground and on the ascents and descents.”

Despite the tough conditions, the team managed to have plenty of laughs along the way. Sasha the cow befriended Tim after he shared his Pringles with her and Helke and Janet got the giggles watching Grant during the coasteering section.

Team Sheepgate head down the Makarora River. Picture: Mogens Johansen

“He wore bright-red shorts with coloured flowers all over them, red and blue shoes, a bright yellow jacket, blue backpack and orange lifejacket, with his orange kayaking helmet with the GoPro on top, we just couldn’t stop laughing at him,” Janet says. “Another time during the last bike leg, Tim was towing us all while riding up a long steep hill when we passed another team who were all walking pushing their bikes. The double take and looks on their faces as Tim towed us past was priceless.”

The teams that competed in the GODZone race would all have been nursing sore and tired bodies but pain is temporary and the memories from their adventure will no doubt be retold many times in the future.

Adventure racing may not be everyone’s cup of tea but in a place like New Zealand’s Southern Alps there is an endless number of softer options such as day hikes, mountain bike tracks, lakes and rivers, all just waiting for you to come and explore them.

Mogens Johansen was a guest of Lake Wanaka Tourism, Air New Zealand and Alpine ConneXions.

FACT FILE

For more on the Godzone race, see godzoneadventure.com.

Air New Zealand has daily Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights between Perth and Auckland and then onwards to Queenstown. airnewzealand.com.au or 13 24 76.

Wanaka is about a one-hour drive from Queenstown Airport via the Crown Range and Cardrona Valley.

Alpine ConneXions runs multiple daily bus services between Queenstown and Wanaka. alpineconnexions.co.nz.

For more on visiting Wanaka, see lakewanaka.co.nz.