Kia ora is a Māori language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It means, literally, be well/healthy and is translated as an informal hi. It is also used as a farewell and expression of thanks.
16 hour flight from Los Angeles, 19 hour time difference – meant I left Friday night but didn’t arrive in Auckland ‘til Sunday morning. Yikes, where did Saturday go? EVERY day’s a run day but my first run in New Zealand would be on Colorado time 🙂 Restroom stall change-of-clothes, packing service watched my luggage, then logged 4 miles on NZ’s North Island. Heavy humidity & cloud cover, but no rain. Hung a right outta International, mile+ past Auckland’s Domestic Terminal, then north…running roadside – pasture on the left, swampy waterway on my right. Much of this former swamp’s been drain — ‘reclaimed’ in New Zealand talk. Meanwhile…my CT bestie Dawn arrived via San Francisco. Airport splash bath, taxi to town centre, first night digs at the Grand Millennium.
Luckily, caught a few zzz’s in Economy…’cause my NZ two-island itinerary didn’t include a rest day. LOL> Bags at the hotel, prepaid voucher on Auckland’s Hop-on Hop-off Tour. Double-decker YELLOW bus, four long blocks toward the Harbour.
Rode thru a handful of stops, already afternoon so was super selective with my Hop-offs. Auckland Museum, check – that’s my stop. Walked the perimeter, viewed the War Memorial Statue, then crossed Auckland Domain (city park) to Winter Gardens [self-toured past a local cricket match]. The grounds of Winter Gardens, stunning. Introduced to a multitude of tropical flora native to the Island.
2nd stop – quick hike up Mount Eden. Off a plane for 6 hours now…so why not? 🙂 Short quarter-mile trek UP, long walking path ‘round the rim of an ancient/sacred crater, depression from a dormant volcano. Absolutely serious. WOW, just WOW!
Hotel return, power nap, Sky Tower before night fall. Similar to Seattle’s Space Needle, great view of the harbour. Bit unnerving on the Skywalk, standing high above traffic on see-thru glass. Yikes!
730am bus to Rotorua in the morning – but not before a 10K treadmill trot at the hotel gym (running on NZ time now).
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- Hello from New Zealand!
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- Auckland Museum
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- Auckland War Memorial Statue
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- Winter Gardens
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- multitude of tropical flora native to the Island
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- Auckland Domain (city park)
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- quick hike up Mount Eden
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- volcanic crater depression
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- Auckland skyline
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- Mount Eden summit
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- Sky Tower
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- YIKES!
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- high above on see-thru glass
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- Auckland Harbour Bridge
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- Good nite, Auckland 🙂
Auckland Domain (city park)
Slacklining refers to the act of walking or balancing along a suspended length of flat webbing that is tensioned between two anchors. Slacklining is similar to slack rope walking and tightrope walking.
Slacklines are tensioned significantly less than tightropes or tightwires in order to create a dynamic line which will stretch and bounce like a long and narrow trampoline.
After last weekend’s marathon fail, quickly identified a marathon ‘make-up’ run for Sunday. Woke that day feeling crummy & mentally spiraled downward ‘til I called it at mile 15. Prior day glacier hike possibly a factor? Not sure; have both good & bad days…like many facing cancer. That said, planned a light hike today in Eldorado Canyon.
Beautiful sunny skies, temperate weather. Gave $12 (trail repair donation) & watched a young slackliner walk 600ft, high in the Canyon between Wind Tower & Bastille Rock. Didn’t know the kid was wearing a safety line so freaked out first time he fell. They never fall on TV – didn’t know, whew. Windy day – mighty inspiring.
Short UP & down, easy hike in the Canyon. Chose Fowler Trail, WOW views.
Back in Boulder, got my Oktoberfest on, then picked up fresh produce at the Farmers Market before sharing dinner with my North End neighbors. Early start tomorrow – marathon bus leaves Fort Collins at 530am.
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- 600ft UP, high in the Canyon between Wind Tower & Bastille Rock
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- INSPIRING!
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- Fowler Trail: short, easy hike/views did not disappoint
Taylor VanAllen, 24, waves to the crowd below after making the FA, or First Across, high above Eldorado Canyon, on a high-line from the Wind Tower rock formation to the Bastille rock formation 450 feet off the ground and just shy of 600 feet across in Eldorado Canyon State Park on October 15, 2016 in Boulder, Colorado. VanAllen, an athlete with Slackline Industries, recreated the historic Ivy Baldwin high line crossing of Eldorado Canyon in a benefit for trail building at the state park. VanAllen crossed from the exact location as the legendary Baldwin. Baldwin, who was a high wire performer, did the crossing on a high wire over 80 times in his lifetime. The last time he made the 600 foot walk was on his 82nd birthday in 1948. VanAllen’s walk was the first ever by a High Line walker on a slack line.
VanAllen, a Morrison resident, was retracing the steps of legendary tight rope walker Ivy Baldwin, who traversed the canyon many times in the early and mid-20th century. The anchors he used to set a high wire are still in the rocks.
It took VanAllen 18 minutes to get across.
“He did really well,” said Jaime Pletcher, marketing director for Slackline Industries, which is VanAllen’s sponsor.
“He did well considering the wind was whipping him around every place,” Pletcher said. “We thought it was going to take 40 minutes.”
Because he was already up there, VanAllen walked the line three more times, doing tricks on the fourth trip. The third trip, however, was the most important, because he got his “send,” a term slackliners use to describe getting across the line without any slips.
“It was good to see success,” VanAllen said. “It was great to get the send. The first walk was pretty rowdy. It was windy, and the line was moving every way. It slowly started to calm down, so I got some good walking in.”
The money raised through ticket sales will be donated to Action Committee for Eldorado, which board member Scott Bennett said will be used to maintain trails and keep anchors that the rock climbers use, safe.
3-day Labor Day weekend – where to go? How ‘bout a stay-cation? Lame. Well…not if your favourite blogging pal Sarah is flying in from Canada. Super fun, right?
Set the alarm for 530am – ’cause it’s Saturday of course. LOL> Reserved two spots for a hot air balloon ride – couldn’t be a better way to show off my home state, Colorado.
Not a lotta prep required for newbies – just hold on!
Daybreak. Watched the team first fill the balloon with cold air, then switched on the fuel. 8 of us jumped in, then up up & away we sailed high above – AMAZING views of the Rockies.
Beautiful experience. WOW!
Activities complete? Heck no. High elevation hike, fancy eats at 8000ft, Garden of the Gods & a Monday marathon in Colorado Springs. Just started with a balloon ride – wait & see 🙂
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- Colorado sunrise
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- turning up the heat
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- up, up & away
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- our local Flatirons
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- WOW, WOW, WOW!
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- LOVE LOVE my Colorado life!
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- GREAT day to share a ride HIGH in the Rockies!
Ballooning in the Rockies
