Rebecca Wardell

Broken...again!

2013-04-13T11:50:00.001+12:00

Last weekend I headed down to Naseby in Central Otago to compete in the Naseby 12 hour mountain bike race in a mixed vet team with Raylene Bates (Batesy), Matt Stoddard and Richard Young. We woke to a very, very frosty morning in Grahame Sydney country which was a shock having flown down from muggy Auckland! The race started at 10am and finished at 10pm and involved the four of us trying to do as many laps as we could individually, like a relay, with the winners being the team that did the most laps. There was even a solo section where riders did as many laps as they could on their own - crazy cats!

The 11km course was set through the Naseby forest and camping ground. The camping ground was full of all the riders tents set up where they had slept the night before and rested in between laps during the day. It was awesome fun riding through the camp ground amongst tents and 800+ people! Mum, Dad, my bro Andy and his girlfriend Em came to visit about lunchtime on their way from Hawea to Dunedin for the Paul Simon concert, which I was slightly gutted to be missing out on! It was hard going doing a flat out lap then trying to stay warm in between laps! Each lap took me roughly 35min and I had about an hour and half between laps while the others did theirs, spent seeking out spots of sun and cups of coffee to stay warm!

Course snaking through camp ground

At 6.45pm I was setting out for what would be my last lap...we were sitting in 4th and our team had a cunning plan using the faster boys in our team to do the laps towards the end to try and sneak us into 3rd. It was starting to get dark so had my helmet and bike lights on. I was feeling pretty good after about ten cups of coffee and was trying to get past the girl in front of me and get a PB lap time. With about 500m to go I was getting a bit cocky and going pretty fast down a slippery section with tree roots and my front wheel caught one and I crashed, landing on my wrist. I was pretty sore but was close to the finish and still wanted a good time so jumped back on the bike and finished the lap in agony trying to hold the handle bars, adrenaline is handy at times!!

Batesy took me up to St Johns and it didn't look anything like my right wrist, not a good sign, and I had fully smashed my watch! They said I needed to get to hospital to get it checked out. For Batesy and I it was a case of dejavu of us sitting under the stands together in Delhi after me breaking my foot in the 200m at Commonwealth Games in 2010, bugger!

My beautiful watch took a hammering, stopping at time of crash. It maybe acted as a kind of wrist guard and saved my wrist from worse damage?

We had to wait a couple of agonizing hours until 10pm for the race to finish before we could get the car out of the camp ground and head to Dunedin hospital, then an hour and half drive later we met mum, dad, Andy and Em in ED as they had just finished up at the concert, good timing! After an eternity waiting in ED as staff dealt with varying degrees of drunken student accidents (pretty good people watching) I had an xray and was then put out while they re-set my wrist and put it in plaster. I was told I would need surgery and eventually at 4.30am was put in a ward for some sleep and good drugs!

"The Claw" in a cast

The next morning they said it would be a few days until they could do the op and suggested I went back home to Auckland. So I went back to Hawea that afternoon with the whanau for some mountain/lake healing vibes before flying back to Auckland on Monday morning. I went straight into Auckland hospital and was operated on two days later by a surgeon who happens to be the wrist guru, so I was pretty lucky to get him. He put in 8 screws and 2 plates and I am now in a cast for 6 weeks. Worst thing is I am not allowed to drive!!

Metal-ware holding my left wrist together

So I am parked up on my sisters sofa...she happens to be a nurse which is very handy...one handed typing and I'm knocking back the pain killers and trying to stay coherent when I actually feel drunk as a skunk!

Athletics New Zealand Award

2013-04-02T21:24:00.001+13:00

Last weekend I spent the weekend at Mt Smart stadium for the New Zealand Track and Field Champs where I did some on-field commentary with my friend Sarah Cowley. We had a fun time in our high-vis vests with the mic on the infield, mostly being told off by the officials for all kinds of "infringements"! The highlight of the meet for me was being awarded a plaque and beautiful bunch of flowers from Athletics New Zealand in recognition of my contribution to athletics over my career. I was blown away as it was pretty special to be presented with this by Annette Purvis, chair of Athletics NZ, and Mayor of Auckland Len Brown in front of everyone at the Champs. It is something Athletics NZ is looking to do on a more regular basis - to recognise athletes (who have represented New Zealand at major champs) retiring from the sport.

Its been a week of pretty cool stuff actually....I got to go to Sky TV's headquarters in Mt Wellington and get a behind the scenes tour and then watch The Crowd Goes Wild sports news programme being put to air. Its amazing to see what has to be done to put what we see on the telly to air. Then on Thursday night my sis Nins and I went to the basketball at Vector Arena to watch the Breakers dominate Sydney Kings in the Australian NBL semi-finals. Basketball was my big love sport-wise at school and it was awesome watching the 2m tall guys slam dunking it!

The reason I got a behind the scenes tour at Sky was because I went there for a meeting to prepare for doing commentary for the Queen Street Mile, which was held on Monday. I was commentating with John McBeth and Steve Ovett (Gold medallist 800m 1980 Olympics). It was rather nerve wracking for a former heptathlete to be trying to say something semi-intelligent about middle distance running on live TV in such esteemed company! The only major slip up was kicking the plug which was connected to our monitors so there was mild panic while we were flying blind for a few minutes commentating on a black screen before I figured out what I had done, woops!

The event was organised by the great John Walker to raise money for his foundation that helps disadvantaged kids and aimed to re-introduce the mile on Queen St after its success back in the 70s and 80s. Its a great concept, and its the third time this summer Auckland has hosted an athletics competition in a different settting - there was also Summer Vaults (where they hold a pole vault competition at a cafe in Mission Bay) and Shot in the City (where Val Adams and others had a shot put comp inside The Cloud on Queens Wharf). Its a great way to get people interested in track and field and hopefully there will be more of it!

Motatapu Mountain Bike

2013-03-20T15:24:00.000+13:00

The move up to Auckland made things a little tricky for training for the Motatapu mountain bike race, after having had the mountains and trails at my doorstep at Lake Hawea, all of a sudden I was stuck in rush hour traffic on a three lane motorway driving 1 hour to go for a ride after work. I campaigned to the organisers to let me start in the elite section in the race, as with 2,500 riders I wanted to be able to start near the front to eliminate the congestion factor and also try and push myself by keeping up with the pros.

View back to Auckland CBD from top of Riverhead forest

I crashed a lot and mostly struggled training for an event measured in km instead of metres! I learnt how to repair a tyre after a "snakebite" and how to fix a broken chain, learnt to suck on gels whilst riding (and puffing!) and how to use "speed as my friend" (in other words don't touch the brakes!) flying downhill. It was a far cry from the relatively controlled environment of an athletics track or gym. But I had lots of helpful advice from experience mountain bikers and got to the start line pretty confident I could meet my self imposed target of sub 3hrs for the race.

I dismantled and packed up my bike (which was a weird feeling after usually packing up a bag full of spikes!) and flew down to Queenstown. It was so amazing to be back in the mountains and the weather was incredible.

Bro Andrew showing off on the ski on a pristine Lake Hawea day

Pre race carbo loading dinner with Hannah Fox, cousin Dave Harper, Dad, Mum and Andrew

After a bit of carbo loading (something I had always been jealous of endurance athletes being able to do - eat heaps!) we headed down to the start at Glendhu Bay on the shore of Lake Wanaka with 2,500 other mountain bikers and all the people competing in the triathlon. Those who were in the marathon and multi-sport event had already started early that morning. There was a half hour delay to the start due to a bus crash (the bus carrying marathon runners to the start went off the road!) and at about 11.30 we took off up the valley, through the Motatapu Station towards Arrowtown.

Stunning scenery en-route (photo courtesy of Iconic Adventures)

It was uphill for about 30km and then we hit the "highest point" mark at which point it was mostly downhill to the finishline. There were some nasty little hills in the first 20km but then it started to flatten out. It was fun being out there with the tail end of the marathon runners and offering each other encouragement along the way.

The legs really started to burn biking through the rivers in the last 4km, and having no real idea about pace judgement over this distance I was worried I was going to hit the wall in the middle of a river! Crossing the rivers was something we had practiced in a trip up to Macetown before Christmas, which paid off as I managed to pass a few people who were walking through instead of riding. The last river crossing was right at the finish line with a large crowd of people gathered to watch the entertainment, the entertainment being very tired bikers crashing in the mud and water!

I finished pretty exhausted but stoked to be well under three hours (2hr41min) and on the podium in third in the Elite Women 30-39 category, 13th woman overall (fastest woman was Katie Fluker from Queenstown in 2hr09min - a course record). Even better was a super prize pack with Smiths sunnies, bike gloves and a 15-pack of Speights that got sent to me in Auckland...the last time I won beer was after a hurdles race in Belgium! The environment at the race was amazing, they do those events pretty well and you can see why entries are sold out pretty quickly.

My amazing mum also did the race and finished in just under four hours, an awesome effort for someone in their 60s! So, so proud of her. Both of us were stuffed that night, lying on the sofa and being generally pretty useless!

I am now back in Auckland with the next adventure already lined up....the Nasbey 12 hour mountain bike race with Raylene Bates, who was our Athletics NZ Team manager and who is a hard out mountain biker. The race is the weekend after Easter and I can't wait to get out there as part of a team and to do some night riding too - just bought a headlamp (biking is not kind to the bank balance - paraphernalia central)!

A new year and new beginnings

2013-01-23T18:07:00.000+13:00

Happy New Year!

Its been a while since I wrote my last post and a lot has changed in my life since then! I have been living at Lake Hawea since returning from overseas and enjoying the amazingness that is Central Otago. I have been working part time for my brother's girlfriend Emille at the Federal Diner in Wanaka as a waitress, which was such a cool change of scene - being on my feet all day and not worrying about its effect on my training. I even managed a bit of waterski action which was a good test for the old hammys!

Lake Hawea - I never get tired of taking photos of this view!

Jet boat trip down the Clutha in "Chuck"

I am still adjusting to life away from being an elite athlete. I certainly am not missing the ongoing battle with niggles but not a day goes by that I don't miss that pursuit of excellence and utter focus on a single goal. But I am finding other things to pour my energy into...

I got a mountain bike and have been loving being able to smash myself physically without getting sore, as unlike training for heptathlon there is no "impact" and its way easier on my body...unless you crash! I have been having a few of those - my feet are clipped into the pedals and its taken a while to get used to that, often just falling sideways and ending up lying on my side on the ground with my feet still clipped into the bike! I managed to fall on my side at the end of a trail that as my luck would have it was right beside the road so I got a couple of toots from motorists passing by! Its such a cool way to explore and down around Lake Hawea where there are so many amazing trails. Its also fun as its something you can do with others in a more social setting (Its a bit different from inviting people to come along and throw javelins for fun!). I'm also slowly getting used to the lycra shorts stuffed with padding to keep your bum from getting sore!

Stoked to be at the top, almost! Bike to Minaret Burn with Lake Wanaka in the background

This ride almost killed me, but the views were so worth it. Crown Range along Pisa Range to Cardrona

Dad and I at the top of Snow Farm

Mum and Dad fording rivers on way from Arrowtown to Macetown (Motatapu race practice!)

Mustering on West Wanaka Station

I competed in a race, the Bannockburn Classic, with Mum and Dad just before New Years. It was a 35km ride that took just under two hours. The transition from a speed/power event to an endurance event was a big shock and I had absolutely no idea about pace judgement! The scariest part of it was that being 35 I am now in the veteran category, ouch! I have also entered in the Motatapu in March which is a 42km race from Lake Wanaka to Arrowtown and the one of the NZ Cross Country series races in Auckland in February. Its pretty cool to be back in competitive mode, but the hardest part about new competitive challenges is trying to not treat them like a full on Olympic campaign, however I think my competitiveness will ensure that on the day I will pretty much treat it like an Olympic final!

I am also trying to keep up going to the gym a few times a week, with a slight change in focus for some endurance specific work for the bike, but also for me its just good to be able to stay in shape. Thought I might also have a crack at some cross-fit style exercises.

I made the transition from athlete to full time working life by throwing a party to say thank you to people who had helped me along my journey - coaches, medical staff, training partners, sponsors and supporters. It was a great celebration and a few champagnes and stories were had! The next day I flew to Auckland to start a new job working for the NZ Olympic Committee. I am pretty lucky to be able to get a job working for an organisation that represents something that was such a massive part of my athletic life and something I am very passionate about. My role is to coordinate the Athlete Ambassador programme and also liaison with athletes in general. Whilst living in Auckland is a bit of a shock after the lifestyle in Central Otago I'm really looking forward to exploring more of the North Island, where I have spent very little time - as I traveled around the world last year I met many tourists who had seen more of NZ than I have, so I am going to buy a map and get amongst the "North".

Cambodia...and home!

2012-11-09T14:30:00.003+13:00

From Don Det in Laos I caught a bus to the Cambodian border with a group of tourists. We got dropped on the Laos side and walked across, through "immigration" (which was a lady sitting in a tent on the side of the road with a thermometer who took our temperature) and waited on the Cambodian side for our visas and bus onwards. An hour and a half later the bus arrived and we set off, only to have the bus break down about 20min in. We waited for two hours on the side of the road for a part to come by motorbike and then it be fixed. I felt really sorry for most of the other tourists as they were traveling to Phnom Penh and some even further Siem Reap (site of the famous Angkor temples), which are massive journeys anyway, let alone with a two hour delay. I had decided to break up the journey to Phnom Penh by stopping the night in Kratie, which I was stoked about when the bus finally dropped me off at 6.30pm, with another 5 hours to Phnom Penh, and another 10 to Siem Reap for the others!

Trying to shelter from the sun behind the bus waiting for mechanic

On arrival at the bus station at Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, the next day we were swarmed by tuk-tuk drivers wanting to take us to hotels. They were banging on the windows and shouting and then pretty much wrestling each other to get close enough to haggle with us, pretty amusing stuff! I hired a moto-taxi (just a scooter with a driver, of which there are several on every street corner, along with tuk-tuks, all wanting to take you somewhere) and set off to have a look at the Killing Fields.

The Killing Fields are at Choeung Ek, the site where the Khmer Rouge executed about 17,000 people in the late 70's. It is a very sad place, but also very beautiful - a great memorial to those who were killed both there and elsewhere under the Pol Pot regime. It was eerie walking around as everyone was given headphones to listen to the historical commentary, so there was little or no talking, all you could hear was the laughter of the school kids playing at the neighbouring school.

Commemorative 'Stupa', filled with more than 5,000 skulls. Mass graves in the grass in the foreground

A very morbid but powerful memorial

Back in Phnom Penh I stumbled across a mass pilgrimage to the Royal Palace, where thousands of people had gathered to pay tribute to the King, who had passed away last week. I had seen many flags flying at half mast and also photos of the King with flowers and incense burning, and now it made sense why. Everyone was wearing white with a black ribbon on their lapel and most were burning incense which made for a smoky haze across the square. It was an impressive sight, especially when the lights came on on the palace.

Walkway along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh

People paying respects to the King (pictured) outside the Royal palace

From Phnom Penh I bussed south to Sihanoukville, a beach town on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Within minutes of walking onto the beach I had people offering manicures, bracelets, shoe repairs and tuk-tuks and saw a few groups of Aussie bogan backpackers so I decided to find somewhere a little more off the beaten track and got on a boat to Koh Rong island. It was a two hour boat ride to the island from the mainland and I stayed at Paradise Bungalows (the name says it all!), about 100m from the beach. The best thing was it's about 1/4 the price of a motel on Papanui Road - still can't believe how cheap everything is here. It was a stunning island with white sand beaches and crystal clear water and no one hassling me about my toe nails or sandals! I spent hours lazing reading my book and swimming. It was all a little too relaxing so I hiked through the jungle over to the otherside of the island one morning to another beach, which was deserted, bliss!

Rush hour in Phnom Penh...ladies off to work?

There were several international schools in Phnom Penh with hilarious names, including Milky Way, Bright Time, and my favourite: American Idol. Simon Cowell would be so proud.

Small village on island of Koh Rong, with kids demonstrating spear tackling

My own private island, well worth the walk (and my toenails look perfect right?)

Paradise Bungalows

Local kids playing house cleaning

My view most days

I have noticed that many women in Cambodia tend to spend all day in their pyjamas...not sure if this is because they don't want to get sunburnt (women in Cambodia want to be white and are often fully covered up in the sun) or because its just so comfortable, either way they look pretty funny...I even saw one woman carrying planks around a building site in her pink Angry Birds PJs, and shopping in them is totally the norm. I might see if I can get this fashion statement to take off back home.

A lady purchasing live fish at the market in her PJs

I left Koh Rong reluctantly and headed up to Siem Reap, home of the famous Angkor temples, catching another 10 hour 'sleeper' bus. Siem Reap is possibly the most touristy place I have visited so far, with millions of visitors per year. I hired a bike, much to the dismay of the tuk-tuk driver who picked me up from the bus station (he did everything in his power to try and convince me that biking around the Angkor temples was a bad idea, even telling me it was very dangerous and that I would get sick!). I followed the advice of a photographer in his online blog suggesting when was best to visit the temples to avoid the crowds, and went to watch the sunset over Angkor Wat, the most famous of the temples (sunrise is when most people visit this temple). It was an amazing sight, especially in the evening sun, and was amazed at the freedom you have to clamber over ruins from the 12th century.

Reflections in the moat surrounding Angkor Wat temple

Entrance to Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Two monks heading home for dinner

Entrance to Angkor Wat

The next day I was up at 5am following my online advice to beat the crowds to the other temples. The advice was golden...as I cycled out to the site there were literally hundreds of tuk-tuks and buses heading to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. I biked past and headed to check out the other temples in the park. The area where the temples are located is massive, covering 400 square km, with the ruins hidden in amongst the jungle and the outlying rice fields. I had most of the temples to myself, bar the odd tourist who had the same idea. It was magical cycling through the jungle at first light listening to the noise of the birds and insects, and then to be able to explore the temples in the quiet was a treat, even if a little eerie! My favourite part about the temples were the massive trees that had grown through and over the ruins, looking almost like giant alien fingers grabbing hold of the stones.

Dawn sky over Bayon (Angkor Thom's central temple)

Preah Khan

Ta Prohm

Faces carved into the stone of archways leading into Angkor Thom

The area where the temples are located is massive, covering 400 square km, with the ruins hidden in amongst the jungle and the outlying rice fields. By 8.30am I had caught up with the masses and had to contend with weaving my way through huge groups tours for the last few temples I wanted to visit. I have to admit I have become a bit of a tourist snob and can't stand following along with the masses! This is where it was great to have a bike as you could get onto the smaller paths where the tuk-tuks couldn't go. I even managed to see a monkey walk across the path.

Aghh they found me!

Off the beaten track...the monkey wouldn't sit still for the photo

I biked back to Siem Reap and treated myself to a foot massage after a hard day temple viewing...but not your traditional 'hands on' massage, instead I sat on the edge of a pool and had a whole lot of little fish nibbling at my feet and toes...very tickly but also great fun sitting there watching them eat my dead skin. I was walking through the streets when I heard my name and turned around to see Mike and Kate Sidey...it was a lovely surprise to see familiar faces from home. They are on their way to do a bike tour around Laos so was good to swap some stories.

Dead skin delicacy for dinner

Kate and Mike and I sweating in the streets of Siem Reap

From Siem Reap I caught a bus at 6am to the Thai border, walked across the border and then caught a train to Bangkok. There were a whole lot of seedy casinos at the border on the Cambodian side, attracting Thai tourists (gambling is illegal in Thailand). The train cost me $1.50 and took 6 hours. The train ran to Swiss precision timing, surprisingly, to the point that at most stations it stopped for all of about 5 seconds to allow passengers to quickly jump off or on and kept to its schedule. It was only minus the Swiss comforts, with there only being 3rd class carriages with hard seats and open doors and windows for air-con. I decided to take the train as it was far cheaper than the bus and there is something about train travel that I love...and it was well worth it as the views were stunning with thunderstorms brewing across the rice fields. Normally train travel gets a little boring when it gets dark, but this time Thailand put on the most amazing lightning show I have ever seen, with fork lightning going up, down and across the sky. It was great until it dawned on me that I was sitting in a steel train on steel tracks and was slightly concerned that we might get struck!

Storm clouds brewing near Bangkok

I arrived safely in Bangkok where I had a day to have a look around and have a few last Asian gastro treats, including authentic Thai pad thai and my favourite whilst traveling through SE Asia - deep fried bananas. The next day I caught the plane to Singapore to stay with my friend and old uni flatmate Cath, her husband Tom and little boy Angus. It was Halloween so I got to partake in a Halloween party for the kids, complete with dress up parade around the pool and trick-or-treating. Singapore was like another world after the places I had been, with no rubbish, pristine parks and streets and Lamborghinis driving past shops selling Gucci! Oh and the Christmas decorations were all out on Orchard Road, far too early for my liking.

Deep fried bananas, one of my "5+ a day"

Angus the super cute pumpkin off to the Halloween party

From Singapore I jumped on the big bird and flew to Auckland for the final leg of the journey. I was met by my heavily pregnant sister Nina (due on Monday!) and her husband Paul and had a lovely few days chilling out with them in Auckland (where for the first time in my life I wore my puffer jacket and felt cold!) before flying south to Lake Hawea, aka Paradise.

Flying over Lake Hawea en-route to Queenstown on a pristine Central Otago day

Its sooo good to be home - Lake Hawea from the deck of the Log House

So that's my adventure from Valencia, Spain, where my athletic journey ended back on 4th July, right back to New Zealand. I covered more than 35,000km in four months stopping in 19 countries along the way. There were some incredible and varied experiences - Bruce Springsteen in concert in Vienna, paragliding in the Dolomites, watching Usain Bolt win gold live in the Olympic Stadium, goat polo in Kyrgyzstan, camping in the Turkmenistan desert, mass gymnastic performances in North Korea and swimming off white sand beaches in Cambodia, just to name a few. I loved the simple life living out of a backpack, crossing international borders by foot, the daily challenges of communicating with locals, finding your way around and finding a place to stay, meeting great people, the amazing sights and scenery, and sampling the local cuisine. The journey was a great way to put into perspective the injury on the long jump runway in Ratingen that ultimately sealed my London Olympic fate and was just the tonic I needed to be able to return to New Zealand ready to tackle the next phase in life....for now job hunting to fund the next travel adventures!!

Valencia to Lake Hawea. If you like you can see more detail on the live map here.

Laos

2012-10-23T22:46:00.002+13:00

After arriving in Beijing on the train from North Korea I had 6 hours to kill before heading on another train south to Kunming, capital of the Yunnan province. The journey was 40 hours (3174km) so I ended up doing almost 4500km on trains in three days in a row (and that's only half of the Trans-Siberian journey!). I boarded the train in Beijing and found my bunk in a carriage that was like a massive dorm room filled with Chinese people travelling home at the end of the Golden Week holiday. I really wish I had been able to speak Chinese, but again my charades served me well....but there is only so much you can discuss using gestures so spent a lot of time staring out the window at the countryside and chowing down on my two minute noodles...the staple diet of Chinese travelers.

Chinese dorm train (aka "hard sleeper") which was actually very comfortable!

In Kunming I stayed with Lawrence, the brother of a woman called Sarah who was on the Central Asia trip with me. He was great showing me around and getting much needed admin like washing done! From Kunming I caught an 8 hour bus to Jinghong. The landscape changed dramatically en route with rubber trees, banana palms, and tea plantations - much more tropical, and muggy and warm too. Feel a bit silly now having half my bag filled with puffer jacket, polar fleece and thermals leftover from Central Asia camping! On arrival in Jinghong I had no place to stay so after wandering the streets around the bus station for a bit eventually went into a local jewelery store where they spoke english and asked if they knew of a cheap hotel. The owner took me (and backpacks!) on the back of his scooter to some dodgey backstreet hotel, which I thought might have been a mistake, but it was cheap and perfect for overnight stay. I got a bus to Laos the next day...the bus was filled with people, most of the vegetables from the market and the odd animal!

Two chickens in a bag checking in at the bus station

Arrived in Luang NamTha, Laos after getting visa at the border (a process that was remarkably quick and easy compared with my past few months of travel). I was quietly stoked as there was a Canadian and Spanish man on the bus and the visa was cheapest for NZers, nice work! I found a room for $6 (its cheaper to travel round here than it is to live at home) and then hired a bike and went exploring. The bridge over the river on the map was non existent so ended up carrying my bike across much to the amusement of the farmer on the other side! It was beautiful lush green countryside with rolling hills and rice fields. I met a couple of Canadians and a South African who were keen for some jungle trekking, so we signed up for a two day trip and headed off into the jungle the next day. Our guide did the whole trek in jandals and hardly slipped...have decided us western tourists are too precious with all our gore-tex and hiking boots and need to go back to basics and toughen up! We spent the night in a bamboo shack, in bed by 8 with the sounds of millions of insects to lull us to sleep.

Rice fields

Jungle trek lunch, green banana leaf pouches filled with sticky rice

Trail was steep and muddy in places, had to do a bit of de-leeching at times

Our guide and two locals preparing dinner

Village at end of trek, this little pig went to market...

Five of the people I met on the trek were heading in the same direction as me so we caught a bus the next day, great to have some friends to chat with when you are going solo! The bus was packed with locals and whatever they could stuff under the seats and in the aisles, one bus at the station had several motorbikes on it's roof. I spent an hour on a wooden stool in the aisle before I got a seat, which I then had to share with another woman...you get used to cuddling up to the locals on public transport here! Had overnight in a village on the way before catching a boat down river to a stunning place tucked in the mountains called Muang Ngoi Neua which is only accessible by boat and where electricity is only available for 3 hours a day when the generator is on. Did some cool walks up river valley to caves where the villagers lived for two years due to threats from bombing raids. Was also lucky enough to be there when the twice-montly market was on, with people from all around the river communities coming by boat to buy and sell. It also happened to be pouring rain, making bare-foot through the mud the only way to walk!


Not even the driver had his own space, a guy was lucky enough to be able to use the his shoulder as a pillow...and the woman in pink made changing gears difficult!

On a boat on the Nam Ou river weaving through the mountains

Jungle in the sun rays

Muang Ngoi Neua streets

View from lunch...ahh life is tough!

From Muang Ngoi Neua I headed to Luang Prabang, the Laos version of Queenstown, with heaps of tourists and everything from elephant rides to kayaking on offer. I had to leave my new-found travel buddies behind in Muang Ngoi Neua as they had more time than me and had fallen in love with the place, rightly so! The highlight of this transfer was having a bag with a chicken in it between my feet for three hours (he had no hole for his head like the photo above though, poor thing)! On arrival in Luang Prabang I resisted the urges of the local tuk tuk men to give me a ride and hired a bike to get to the Tad Se waterfalls. I got a city bike with no gears and a basket as it was cheap, which I regretted after an hour and a serious hill to climb in 30deg+ (the man at the hire place had warned me too!). It was well worth the ride though as the waterfalls were absolutely incredible, weaving through trees and there were several pools you could swim in.

Chickens in the restaurant near waterfalls...I went for the vegetarian option that day

My own private boat ride across the river to the waterfalls, Bob the Builder driving

I asked a Spanish man who was drinking beer and smoking a massive joint to take this pic for me, am surprised its in focus!

From Luang Prabang I caught the overnight sleeper bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It was a 10 hour journey and instead of seats you had these kind of recliner pod seats, like an almost-business class seat on a plane, which would have been amazing had I been 5ft4! I slept like a baby, in that I was awake every hour wanting to scream! No, it wasn't that bad and was actually surprised how quickly the time passed, and its a great way to travel as you save a nights accommodation along the way. Vientiane is on the banks of the Mekong river near the border with Thailand. I reckon there are more Toyota hilux per capita here than in Kurow! Spent a couple of days exploring the city by bike.

Vientiane version of Arc de Triomphe - Patuxai - built to remember those who fought in the struggle for independence from France

Hammer and cicle (Laos is a single party socialist republic) and Laotian Flag along banks of Mekong

Outdoor gym in the park

Got on another night bus to head to southern Laos, this bus was much older than my first sleeper bus experience and I was very fortunate to have the "bed"to myself as its the size of a large single and many people were sharing with strangers. I was on the top bunk, and with a bus with shot suspension and crappy roads meant I spent most of the night trying to make sure I didn't roll off the side. Arrived in Pakse and jumped on a local bus for the remainder of the journey to 4000 Islands (in the Mekong River, near border with Cambodia). The local "bus" was just a truck converted into a bus, the norm in Laos. I think the driver felt sorry for me and invited me and another lady to sit up front in the cab, so I didn't get to cosy up with the locals, but it was definitely a far more comfortable ride! The system was that the people in the back would ring a bell when they wanted to get off, and the driver would beep the horn in every town to see if someone wanted to get on...worked a treat!

Our bus being loaded up


At every stop local people would try and sell food to the passengers...I think these were some kind of flattened roast chickens

I caught a ferry across the Mekong River from the mainland to an island called Duan Khong, which is the biggest of the 4000 Islands (there aren't actually 4000, most are submerged) and rented a bike to cycle around the island. Its very un-touristy and I got a great taste of local living cycling through the rice fields, which on a hot day shimmer like a big inviting green swimming pool. I went past a couple of small schools and the kids were very interested in a very sweaty, crazy foreigner on a pink bike!

Family home...might leak when it rains, but at least there is satellite TV!

Farmers harvesting rice

Nothing like a swim on a hot day!

Cheeky school kids

View from restaurant overlooking Mekong

I visited another of the islands, Don Det, which is slightly smaller but is equally as lovely as Duan Khong. I grabbed a bike again and set off exploring, coming across a brilliant restaurant which was perfect for watching the sunset. From the 4000 Islands I caught a boat back to the mainland and a bus on to the Cambodian border for the next stage of the adventure. 10 days wasn't really enough to see all of Laos, and would have loved to have stayed longer in places, but I managed to see some very beautiful spots, only one big spider (something I was very worried about on the jungle trek!), and meet some great people along the way.

My standard Laos exploring transport, complete with basket for $2/day

Don Det village

Sunset over Mekong looking towards Cambodia on otherside of river

Fishermen on the Mekong

North Korea

2012-10-16T01:00:00.000+13:00

Many people have asked me why I wanted to go to North Korea...I have always had a bit of a fascination with communist regimes (probably since living in Eastern Europe under Soviet rule growing up) and was looking to head to somewhere that is vastly different from anything I had seen before. So I google-searched North Korea tourism and was surprised at the number of companies offering tours. You can't travel there as an individual, it must be through a company that is recognised by the North Korean government and can organise visas and guides etc. So I signed up with a tour group and they issued me with my North Korean visa, ready for action!

I met up with four of my group at the Beijing train station and boarded the train to Pyongyang in the evening and arrived in Pyongyang the next evening, 26 hours. The rest of the group were flying to Pyongyang - we had the option of either going by train or flying, apart from the three Americans in the group who had to fly as Americans are not allowed to go by train. We crossed into North Korea over a river which separates China and North Korea and spent two hours at the border where we had to have our mobile phones sealed, with strict instructions not to open them until we crossed back into China (the punishment being that the tour company could lose its tour licence and the local Korean guides suspended). Our bags were searched for books, religious materials or other foreign media such as DVDs and CDs. Unfortunately a North Korean visa is not placed in your passport, instead you get a piece of paper, so no cool stamp! We saw a couple of Korean men ('elites' who were allowed to travel abroad) in our carriage whisper something to the guard and then hand over a sneaky cash bribe which he put inside his hat in order that their bags didn't get searched, brilliant! Turned out the bags contained a whole lot of portable Chinese neck massage machines...?!

Bridge over river border, stops halfway on the Chinese side - a tourist attraction to look at trains coming in and out of North Korea

My phone, sealed by customs for the entire journey

My visa paper

It was stunning countryside to go through by train, big fields everywhere with masses of people working in them, all in very drab colours, and lots of army everywhere (North Korea is the most militarized country in the world with the fourth largest army as well as compulsory military service). There were slogans everywhere in the fields and on buildings encouraging the people to work harder for the good of the nation. There was absolutely no commercial advertising anywhere and everywhere there were photos of the two famous leaders, Kim Il Song and his son Kim Jong Il, referred to throughout the trip by our local guides as the "great leaders". The current leader is apparently not yet considered great as he is yet to prove himself! The trip could be summed up as a tour of what the great leaders had done for the country as everywhere we went the local guides described how the great leaders had helped the people, in everything from solving farmers problems to building dams and protecting the people from the "imperialist" USA. The US was always referred to as the "imperialist US" (despite having several Americans in the group). There was also much talk about how much the north wanted reunification with the south, but the imperialist US were preventing this.

Oxen and carts in the rice fields

Workers harvesting rice - almost all farming we saw was done by manual labour

Sign encouraging workers to work harder for the nation

We arrived in Pyongyang and met our guides, we had three of them for our group of 18. They went with us everywhere and were great at explaining the history and significance of places we visited. Often if you asked a question that was slightly too probing they would ignore you or give you a blunt yes/no/I don't know kind of answer. They also told us what we could and could'nt photograph, and sometimes they asked us to delete photos we had taken. They were very friendly though and were keen to practice their english and ask questions about home. It was interesting trying to explain the wide ranging internet access we have at home, things like google and youtube, and how we use email etc. Here they have an intra-net which has no access to foreign sites. They even have a Korean version of facebook called red-star. There are no rock bands or foreign films shown and much of the media revolves around nationalistic themes. There was no such thing as "free time" on the trip to wander off on your own and explore, much like being a teenager on a school trip, except the punishment for sneaking off to the pub is slightly more severe!

Our three guides and bus driver enjoying favourite meal of clams cooked in petrol, clams are laid on stone, covered in petrol and set alight then eaten!

There were many massive statues of the leaders everywhere and whenever we stopped to look at them we had to line up and pay a silent tribute, which meant bowing, and one of the group had to purchase a bunch of flowers to lay at the statue. The statues were in all kinds of different poses from riding horses to posing on a film set. There were also many pictures of them in equally rousing poses, often with the common people, and always smiling - everything is designed to depict a happy and prosperous nation.

Locals posing in front of statue of leaders galloping on horseback. You can just see a small red badge they are wearing, all North Korean adults wear these - a small red flag with photo of the great leader on it, and are presented to them by the government as a sign of their devotion

Me placing flowers at the great leaders statue at collective farm on behalf of the group

Local people lining up to pay tribute to the statue of the leaders. Massive mural on the wall behind of Kim Il Sung


Mural covering entire wall of a building depicting the people of North Korea

and another...


and another...

and yet another...this one is in a metro station which were amazing places with murals and chandeliers

This one is a painting in a museum, showing the leaders riding some kind of hilarious futuristic train and being adored by Korean children

School children posing for a photo on a school trip, also wearing the youth version of the red badge

Apparently there is no unemployment, crime or homelessness as all people are given a job and housing by the government and rations for food and other essentials. Then they are then given a small wage from their job to buy luxury items. We never went to a local supermarket or store so didn't get to see what was on offer, instead we were shown the international supermarket with a lot of imported goods on sale, accessible by diplomats and the elite Koreans. We were not allowed to photograph inside the store. Foreigners are not allowed to have local currency either so we either had to pay for things in Euro, USD or Chinese money. I did manage to get my hands on a souvenir note though which I snuck through customs in my undies!

One crazy place we visited was the National Gift Exhibition hall which was this enormous marble building that displays over 20,000 gifts that have been given to the great leaders by Koreans living in Korea or overseas. There were some hilarious gifts on display, including an old desktop computer, a normal desktop phone, heaps of tacky marble statues, and my favourite was a large tapestry of Kim Jong Ill riding a tiger through the mountains!

Most of the trip was spent in the capital Pyongyang with a couple of nights in smaller cities. Pyongyang is the showpiece of the country with some impressive buildings and monuments.

The Korean version of the Arc de Triomphe, 11m higher than the one in Paris apparently (pissed off the two French in the group!). It was constructed in the 1980s to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925-45

US Naval ship captured in 1968 and kept as a 'trophy'

View of main square where military parades take place

Square at centre of Pyongyang, famous for it's military parades

Photo of military parades - foreigners are not allowed to attend

Dots and numbers on the ground indicate where people in parades must stand

Worker's Party Monument, hammer, sickle and paintbrush representing industry, agriculture and intellectuals

School children visiting Revolutionary Martyr's Cemetery, Pyongyang in the background

More school children visiting Revolutionary Martyr's Cemetery

The army elite travel in style

Whereas the average Korean travels in a beat up Soviet bus

Typical ousing in Pyongyang

Another major highlight of the trip was the famous mass gymnastics performance called Airirang. It was one of the most incredible live performances depicting the history of Korea, with over 100,000 performers. The choreography was magnificent, something the koreans are very good at - apparently the Chinese asked them to help with the design of the Olympic opening ceremony in 2008. The images at the back are actually formed by 20,000 children holding up individual coloured cards, transitioning them in perfect synch to form each new picture. Children, some as young as 5, are taken out of school and practice for a year to perform. The year 1912 is significant as it is the birthday of Kim Il Sung, this year celebrating 100 years since he was born. We were really lucky to get tickets as it was one of the last performances of the year (they have three a week from August to September). Have a look at this youtube video.

We were taken south to the border with South Korea to visit the demilitarised zone (DMZ) accompanied under security by military personnel and could actually briefly cross into the part which was South Korea. We couldn't see any tourists visiting from the south, apparently they time it so the two groups are not there at the same time. The DMZ is a 4km wide stretch of no-mans-land where both sides are only allowed limited arms under an agreement signed in the 50s.

Sunset from viewing area of DMZ

A Colonel of the North Korean Army pointing out the fence at the northern edge of the DMZ, lights of South Korea in the distance


Me and the Colonel, fully authorised picture of course!

Site where the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953 to end the Korean war and set up the DMZ

At the DMZ, North Korean guards in North Korea in the foreground, two US soldiers in South Korean section in the background

Entrance to DMZ area. Massive concrete blocks are positioned above the road ready to be positioned to cover the road and block advancing troops should South Korea invade.

Our hotel in Pyongyang was on an island (to keep the tourists in?!) in the middle of a river that runs through the city. The hotel is famous for its 5th floor which it is rumoured to house surveillance equipment to keep an eye on foreigners in the hotel. There is no 5th floor on the lift buttons, but we had fun late one night trying to sneak down the fire escape for a look, only finding a locked door. The very top floors of the hotel were for foreigners and the remainder for locals. We had a look at one of the lower floors and the contrast from 5 star to 1 star was incredible. If you looked at the hotel at night most of the lower floors were dark as the electricity had been turned off on the floors for locals.

No 5th floor button in the lift, mysterious

Sneaky midnight mission to try and get to the 5th floor...Clement trying to get through but unsuccessful!

View of sunset over Pyongyang from hotel room on 43rd floor. Coal fired power station pollution adding to the red sky

Electricity issues are nothing new in North Korea, several places we went to at night including bars and restaurants had periods when the lights went out! Driving through the countryside at night was pitch-black, with no street lights and no lights in houses except for the occasional gas lamp or torch you could just see through the windows.

The other thing in short supply was cars, most of the roads outside of Pyongyang were used for people to walk or ride bikes. There are different coloured number-plates, one for government, one for military, one for diplomats and one for private cars. The whole time we were there I only saw one private car. Driving in the country side there are checkpoints everywhere. You must have a reason and permission to travel from one area to the next - no such thing as a lazy Sunday drive round here!

Six lanes in each direction leading into Pyongyang, useless given the number of cars but apparently very useful for military and a show of national might

Main road from Pyongyang to southern part of the country. Big concrete pillars are in place ready to be placed (by explosion at the base) across the road should South Korea invade


Typical road through countryside

View from the entrance to our hotel in Kaesong, near the DMZ, with army propaganda poster in background

Street scene in Kaesong. Kaesong used to be in South Korea so survived much of the bombing during the war and therefore has more traditional older buildings

We went to visit a collective farm, which is essentially just a farming village complete with schools, but all produce and work are shared amongst the people. All farms are either collective farms or state farms. Workers get a portion of the harvest based on how hard they work and then there are 'prizes' for any extra work done. The farm we visited appeared to be set up for visitors as it was very tidy and it was one of the farms which the great leaders had frequently visited. People from the city spend two weeks every year helping out in the farms. There was a small amount of sketchy information from the guides about the situation in the north of the country where it is reported there is massive food shortage. We were told that there had been natural disasters such as floods and that it was very cold, but that the great leaders had been there and solved the problems by introducing double rotation harvests and potato crops which grow better in the cold than rice.

State farm just outside Pyongyang. The massive 330m pyramid like building in the background is a new hotel (construction started in 1987 and it is still not finished)

Rural housing on a large collective farm

After five days we again boarded the train back to Beijing. At the border we were searched again and had our cameras checked for any 'illegal' photos. I had several of mine deleted, mainly ones taken out of the train window of the countryside which had local people in them, or photos with military people in them. It was strange to arrive back in China and be bombarded by colour, in particular cars, people's clothes and neon advertising. Overall a fascinating trip, a real eye opener into one of the most mysterious countries in the world. Arrived back in Beijing after another 24 hour train journey and had a 6 hour layover before jumping on another train to Kunming in southern China to start the next adventure...into Laos and Cambodia.

Waiting to board the train at Pyongyang

Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Beijing

2012-10-10T19:19:00.001+13:00

Apologies for the lateness of the blog updates. In Turkmenistan internet access was difficult, in China my blog site was blocked and in North Korea there was no internet access at all! So I will start from where I left off in Uzbekistan....

After leaving Bukhara we had a long day drive to Khiva on the most ridiculously bumpy road (I seem to be saying that a lot on this trip!), which was filled with massive trucks carrying pipes for a gas pipe line being built alongside. The whole drive was through barren desert, flat and dry. Khiva is an ancient walled town with similar architecture to Samarkand and Bukhara.

Main road with pipe-trucks attempting to overtake each other, made for interesting driving!

Khiva, view from the top of city wall

Melons - cant get enough of them in this part of the world

The Olympic brand is reaching far and wide with branded toilet paper in Uzbekistan

Entrance to Khiva with our hotel and truck in the background

From Khiva we had a short drive to the border with Turkmenistan. The border was heavily guarded with a wide section of no-mans land with a carefully raked section of sand (to detect footprints) and several sets of barbed wire fences. The whole crossing process took about 4 and a half hours, mainly due to the border guards having an hour lunch break half way through processing our visas! There were many local people walking across the border carrying various things including massive carpets and huge bottles of beer. We met our Turkmen guide, Murat, who is a friendly guy who, in his own words, "loves football more than women"! We had a bush camp in the desert, with a slight panic on my part as someone pointed out to me that tarantulas were listed as being indigenous to Turkmenistan...anyone who knows me knows this would cause me great distress! Thankfully they are rarely seen, and I didn't see anything more creepy-crawly than a small yellow scorpion.

The roads are so bad we drive slow enough for a man on horseback to pass us!

Dinner around the campfire (fire necessary to keep away the spiders)

At our second camp in the desert our camp was located near a massive gas crater which is constantly on fire. It was left over from Soviet gas explorations in 1971 when the drilling rig collapsed and the crater caught fire and it has been blazing ever since, despite efforts to extinguish it a few years ago. Its one of the most crazy things I have ever seen...we went to see it at night by 4WDs from our camp. Its just this massive blazing hole, about 70m across. We were able to get up close (health and safety nearly non-existent in this part of the world!), and the heat and wind generated by it was incredible. We also visited two other craters of similar size the next day, one bubbling mud, the other filled with bubbling water.

Posing in the desert sunset with our camp in the background

Camels on the skyline above my tent

The sun sets in the west

Giant gas crater - you can see the scale of it with the people standing on the far edge

Crater from a distance and head torches in the foreground!

Bubbling mud crater

Turkmenistan looks similar to Uzbekistan, both the countryside (mostly dry desert-like landscape) and the people. Turkmenistan has a great wealth of oil and gas resources (even though some are burning out of control!). The local people are given free gas at home, an allotment of electricty per month and 120 litres of petrol a month (extra petrol is then available at 20cents (US) per litre).

The money being earned from these resources is not noticeable in terms of investment in infrastructure until you reach Ashgabad, the capital. The desert and smaller citys are still seemingly very poor and infrastructure as worn and battered as anywhere else we have been in Central Asia. However, Ashgabad was a step into another world. Someone described it as a cross between Las Vegas, Dubai and Canberra on steroids. The contrast to other parts of the country can be seen in the roads (transport engineers delight!) - in parts of Ashgabad the roads are so smooth they have heating under them to melt snow and ice in the winter whereas in most of the rest of the country the pot holes make driving so bad that people just drive along in the dirt on the side of the road for a smoother ride!

I have never seen so much marble and gold before, as well as wide boulevards with beautiful parks and trees. All this was built in the late 90s with money from oil and gas and is as much a shrine to the president at the time, Niyazov (who was like a cult figure and one of the only leaders of the Soviet states who wished to remain as part of the Soviet Union after its collapse). In Ashgabad there was a massive ministry building for everything you could imagine, the most comical being a Ministry of Carpets, Ministry of Horses and a Ministry of Fairness (?!). The Ministry of Health was supposed to be shaped like a giant injection and the Ministry of Publishing shaped like a giant book. Its hard to describe the city so will let the pictures do the talking, but what struck me the most was the feeling that there was no one around in the new parts of the city, it was almost like a display town waiting for people to come and live there.

We had to travel to the older parts of the city, where there were all soviet style buildings, to see any semblance of normal life in Ashgabad. The city was destroyed in 1948 after a massive earthquake that killed 110,000 (although Stalin put offical figures at 14,000 as disasters were not a good look for the Soviet regime). One main building survived, a flour mill. The man in charge of building the flour mill was jailed by Stalin after its completion for using too much concrete in its construction. He was then released from jail and instated as a hero after it became the only building to survive the quake!

Our hotel in Ashgabad was typical of the Soviet era...we had a lady on every floor who was responsible for looking after the room keys and the rooms (you had to ask for soap and towels). We had a great view from our room and could just see the Presidents Palace in the distance (it is forbidden to photograph it - I was yelled at from the staff on the ground for taking photos from the balcony) and the mountains and border with Iran (30km away). There were many restrictions including an 11pm curfew and we had to follow our itinerary closely and also register in every town we stayed in. There were also frequent police checkpoints on roads throughout the country and many policemen on the streets of Ashgabad. You cannot be an independent tourist here, you must hire a guide.

You guessed it...the Ministry of Publishing

Enourmous statue that we went up in to get a view of the city - It was built to remember the day in 1991 when Turkmenistan was signed up as a neutral country by the UN

View of desert city and crazy buildings. Big circle-like building towards left of picture in background is the world's largest indoor ferris wheel!

No cars in sight, or people for that matter, despite it being a Saturday afternoon

One of the many golden statues of the President

Empty streets along boulevard with apartments for government elite

Statues dedicated to all things Turkmen

The other side of the city - old style apartments and people and cars!

A statue to remember the big quake: Legend has it the earth rests in the horns of a bull and the bull shifted its neck resulting in the earthquake

View from hotel window with Iranian border in mountains in the background. The gold dome just peaking out is the Presidents Palace which it was not allowed to be photographed, hence being told off for taking photos on the balcony!

Kipchak mosque, which has script on the walls inside from a book written by the president Niyazov called Ruhmana (Book of Soul) which was compulsory reading for all Turkmen people. There is also a tomb next door where he is buried.

You can sell anything you like from the boot of your car at the farmer's market

Katrien and I on the last night on tour. Girls were served beer with straws to apparently make it more ladylike, yea right!

It was the end of my Dragoman trip in Ashgabad, and I was really sad to say goodbye to all the crew. Myself and 10 others finished here, with the remainder continuing on to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. It feels wierd after spending 29 days with the same people and then all of a sudden travelling on my own again! Had some great laughs and experiences along the way. We played a lot of the card game 'shit-head' on the trip, essential at long waits at the borders, with the loser having the title of shit-head until the next game...and unfortunately I now hold the esteemed title of 'eternal shit-head' for losing the last game before I left!!

After leaving Ashgabad I flew to Urumqi in Western China. At Ashgabad airport I went through four lots of xray bag checks, and then a 20min wait at passport control for the border guards to turn up. The impression I got from local authorities here is that everything is done very much by their time frame and the concept of customer service is mostly unheard of!

I arrived in Urumqi at 7am, but the sun was still not up...despite being 3 hours flying time from Beijing in the east, Urumqi, and the whole of China, bizzarly share the same timezone. It was a shock getting off the plane to 8 degrees after leaving Ashgabat in the mid 30s! I had originally planned on catching the overnight train from Urumqi to Beijing but could not get a seat as it was "Golden Week" in China (National holiday week) when most of the country travels to see family. So I had a day and night to explore the city, mainly famous for being the farthest main city in the world from the sea. The Tianshan mountain range borders the city, the same mountain range we saw in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. There is a large presence of Uyghurs (Turkic ethnic group) who also live in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, in Urumqi, so I saw much of the same food and people as I had in Central Asia.

I thought I was pretty clever negotiating with taxi driver in Urumqi using my very best charades (have had a lot of charades communication practice on this trip!) to get a cheap rate and not use the meter which worked a treat, but then was not so clever when I ordered a cup of coffee at the airport without first checking the price - ended up paying $18 for a luke warm cup of instant coffee with powedered milk sachet, big ouch!

I flew to Beijing and into muggy smog. It was strange flying in as the last time I was here was for the Olympics in 2008. I went out to visit the Olympic stadium, and sat inside which was very weird, but it was a great tonic to be able to sit in the stadium and reflect on life's ups and downs over the past four years. Next stop North Korea!

Self portrait at Beijing Olympic Stadium

Inside the Olympic stadium - preparing for some kind of show

"Golden week" travel chaos at Beijing train station

Uzbekistan

2012-09-17T21:20:00.000+12:00

We spent a day looking around the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, having lunch at the market - delicious shashlik lamb which is skewers of meat with raw onion on the side. The metro stations are incredible, huge wide open spaces with beautiful mosaics and marble work with chandeliers, looked like the inside of a palace rather than metro, especially after the London tube stations! Police patrolled and unfortunately you couldn't take photos (not sure why) and we were warned of police trying to take money off foreigners so were on our best behaviour! It's noticeable now that the people are starting to look more middle eastern/Turkish rather than Asian, compared to the people in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, especially as we travel west through Uzbekistan. The exchange rate into Uzbek 'som' is 2,500 to one US dollar, but the largest note is only 1000 so you need a very large bag to carry enough money for lunch! The black market is the way to change money for the best rates, with most shop owners wanting to get rid of large piles of local currency.

These men are carrying a massive bag of money from the bank to their car

We visited the earthquake memorial to the men and women who helped to rebuild the city after the 1966 quake which flattened most of the city. It was a massive statue of two people and a plaque with the date and time of the quake.

Earthquake memorial in Tashkent

The next morning we set off for Samarkand, via the Azerbaijan embassy to get visas for the people travelling on to Istanbul. Samarkand is a stunning place with the most beautiful mosques and medressas (Islamic colleges) with incredible mosaics and tiling. Its one of the key cities of the ancient Silk Route. At night we managed to bribe one of the guards to take us up to the top of one of the minarets, so much fun crawling through the roof space of the mosque in the pitch black darkness!

Shah-I-Zinda - Avenue of Mausoleums in Samarkand

Sunset in Samarkand from roof top of our B&B

I've been sampling the local food whenever I can, the local speciality here being plov (oily rice, fried vegetables and mutton) and the insides of apricot stones cooked in ash, which are very moreish. It's great going to the market and trying things, an amazing array of veges, fruit, seeds and dried fruits. The bread is delish, we stumbled across a traditional bakery where the make the bread in a kind of tandoori oven, and we were given some hot fresh bread to try, heaven!

Bread being baked in a tandoor-like oven

All the bread seems to come to market on old prams

Golden arches Uzbek style! Haven't seen McDonalds in Central Asia - nice change!

Shashlik - meat skewers, usually beef or lamb

You get to see so much fascinating stuff out the window whilst driving, its defiantly the best way to really get to see what a country is like. There are big queues at the petrol stations for fuel in this area as there are not many petrol stations around, and diesel is only 40c a litre, which is expensive given its 20c a litre in Turkmenistan! We have passed many cotton fields with people picking cotton. The cotton crops in this part of the world are the reason for the drying up of the Aral sea, due to using its water for irrigation.

Cardboard cut-out of a police car designed to get people to slow down, they also have cardboard police men!

No restrictions on loading here!


Cotton pickers

Uzbek lady moving sheep and goats

We spent a night camping in the desert in yurts, had camel rides at sunset and spent the morning by a near-by lake the next day swimming. We are currently in Bukhara, similar to Samarkand, but smaller. We hired hilarious old bikes, complete with spokey-dokeys, and explored the city which has some of the most beautiful old buildings. We only have two more nights in Uzbekistan before crossing the border into Turkmenistan where the Dragoman trip ends for me.

Camels hanging out beside our desert-yurt

Medressas and mosques in Bukhara

Kalon minaret, built in 1127

5th century inner city wall, and unfortunately rubbish bins are in short supply

Hilarious selection of hats (wigs?!) available for the cold winter months!

Bike adventures in Bukhara

Soviet-style sign at entrance to Bukhara

Kazakhstan

2012-09-11T02:31:00.000+12:00

We had just three days in Kazakhstan en-route to Uzbekistan. The scenery changed and the mountains turned into the flat plains that run all the way north up to Siberia. It was a couple of long days driving with a day in the middle where we stayed in a homestay and camped near a national park. The camping spot was another gem with beautiful views out over the plains and an incredible sunset. It was my group's turn to cook and we made Moroccan tagine (the winning dish of course!), which was difficult in windy conditions with the gas constantly going out...so we ended up putting the cooker partially inside the truck's hold with a variety of cunningly positioned pot lids to act as wind barriers. It was a little late but totally delicious, even with millet (which we thought was cous-cous!).

Tents in the campsite with beautiful view and sunset

To break up the driving we had picnic lunches along the way with food from the local markets, which are always an absolute treat with so much amazing fresh fruit and veges on offer. Yesterday's lunch spot was in a hot and dusty village near the Uzbek border, where we had most of the children in the village come out to watch us eat. It's always fascinating being in those kind of small off the beaten track places where you get to see a small slice of how the locals live.

Loading up the lada with apples at the farmer's market

Donky and cart used by local villagers for transport

Local children enjoying the picnic lunch show

The border crossings were interesting, as we left the truck and walked through the check points, collecting stamps, filling out forms and through no-mans-land to the next country, all a bit of a novelty, but there were long waits as the truck had to clear customs, get x-rayed and have insurance purchased. We made friends with one of the Kazakh border guards at the Kyrgyz/Kazakh border, who was more interested in the Olympics than our passports and kept telling us how many medals Kazakhstan had won in London. We played a lot of cards waiting for the truck to come through at each crossing, and there were cheers when we finally saw our tour leader Al driving it through the border four hours after us!

Playing cards at the local boarder crossing "cafe"(actually just a family home which sold bottles of drink)

The truck made it through at last!

After leaving our campsite in Kazakhstan at 6.45am we have just arrived in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, 14 hours later (its only 350km but some of the most crazy, bumpy roads I've ever experienced and the border made for slow going). Here we pick up a few new passengers and say goodbye to some others. We now spend two weeks travelling through Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan...

Mountain Kingdoms

2012-09-06T21:31:00.002+12:00

The 31st of August is Independence Day in Kyrgyzstan, a day to celebrate independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. We were in the town of Karakol at the time and went to see the local parade and cultural demonstrations.

Independence Day parade - each group and industry has a float

This section of the trip is called Mountain Kingdoms of Kyrgyzstan, and in the past few days we have seen some of the most amazing and varied mountain scenery. On the weekend we camped in a spot called Jeti Ogyz, setting up our tents where the local farmers graze their animals (hazards included navigating fresh horse poo in the middle of the night to go to the toilet!). We decided to climb a nearby mountain and with no map or trail to follow and scaled the most ridiculously steep section to get the most incredible 360 degree view. On the way down we learned that had we gone the other way it would have been far easier (slight navigation error on my part, woops!). It was so worth the climb though as we could see 5500m peaks and glaciers on the mountain range bordering China, and the other way looked back to Lake Issyk-Kul, which is the world's second largest alpine lake (behind Titikaka in South America) at 180km long and 660m deep. We were wandering through farm land with shepherds sitting in the sun watching their flocks; the traditional method of farming is still used here with no fences or defined farm boundaries.

View from the top looking towards China

Camping Masterchef competition continues...

Horses grazing on our hike

Sheep being herded through our campsite

We fattys had to get out of the truck to lighten the load to cross rivers on the way to campsite

The next day we headed for Kochkor, where we stayed the night in a homestay. The locals have been taught by a Swiss company how to run homestays and we were treated to hot showers, flushing toilets and a banquet of local foods...such a treat after nights camping in the bush. Down the road from the homestay was the local "Olympic stadium" - a very run down soccer field and something resembling a concrete running track. Much of the infrastructure is pretty derelict, having little or no maintenance since the Soviet era. There are many abandoned buildings including houses and factories. The roads are also in terrible condition, although there is a lot of road works being carried out by Chinese firms to improve them.

Desert-like "Fairy" canyon en-route to Kochkor

Boys playing soccer at the entrance to the stadium

Stadium with the Olympic rings on the far slope

Little boy at our homestay

The next day was a long drive to Song Kol, which is a lake at 3000m. On the way we were able to sit on the roof of the truck in purpose built roof seats, and although it was freezing it was a great view. Song Kol is one of the most stunning places I have ever been, the kind of scenery that just blows you away. Its a massive wide open plateau with mountains surrounding the lake. The land is used from June until September by farmers for grazing and in the winter the lake freezes over and there is snow permanently. The area is protected and there are no buildings, only yurts (the traditional tents used by the farmers).

We stayed in yurts and even though there was a frost on the ground in the morning we were super toasty with mattresses and two very heavy woolen duvets. We were treated to feasts breakfast, lunch and dinner, the highlights being an endless supply of homemade apricot jam with fresh cream, fresh bread and something that resembled donuts (athlete's diet is officially over!). The local farmers rented their horses to us and we did a trek down to the lake. Such an amazing way to see the area, despite the fact we were all slightly nervous going very slowly on horses used to being ridden flat out!

Sitting on the roof of the truck

Trying to squeeze past a Lada (popular Soviet car) over 3800m pass en-route to Son Kol

Star jumps at Song Kol (this took several attempts to get the timing, which was hard work at 3000m+!)

Horse trek to local hero's monument and lake

My horse (called "Farty" - so smelly!) and our Kyrgyz guide Billy leading the way back to camp

Pre-dinner drinks in the yurt camp

We headed back to Bishkek with a night in a rocky basin on the way to break up the journey. It was our first night of camping in the rain since we started the trip, but the rain was short-lived and we were then treated to beautiful stars with the sky being lit up every now and then by a thunder storm in the distance.

Camp en-route to Bishkek

Some of the group head to the Kazakh embassy in Bishkek this afternoon to collect their visas and tomorrow we drive into Kazakhstan for three nights there before heading to Uzbekistan. They did not get visas before they left as when they started the trip in Beijing we were originally supposed to travel through Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan and then into Uzbekistan, but have been advised that it is unsafe, so we are taking the long route, through Kazakhstan.

The people who are travelling all the way through to Istanbul also received the news a few days ago that Dragoman are now unable to take the truck through Iran because the British Foreign Office has issued a warning advising against all travel into Iran. This warning means that the truck would not be insured travelling through Iran, so the trip has had to be re-routed through Azerbaijan and Georgia, which is really sad for those looking forward to travelling to Iran.

Jakshy kalyngydzar from Kyrgyzstan...next "Stan" Kazahkstan!

Kyrgyzstan

2012-08-31T15:23:00.004+12:00

I had a day and night in Istanbul on the way from London to Kyrgyzstan. I thought London was busy chaos but man Istanbul was crazy! As I only had a short amount of time in the city I got a hop-on-hop-off bus and saw most of the sights, the most spectacular for me was the Blue Mosque.

Blue Mosque

From Istanbul I caught my flight into Central Asia, first stop Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, arriving at 2.30am, ouch! Bishkek has a big US Airforce base for access into Afghanistan so there were heaps of military aircraft and personnel. I met up with the rest of my tour mates and we looked around Bishkek. The backdrop to the city is the 4800m+ Kyrgyz Alatau Mountain range which we could just see through cloud. Remnants of the Soviet era remain, a large statue of Lenin, which used to be in the main square and then was shifted to the back of the building and replaced with a statue of the local hero Manas.

Lenin statue in Bishkek

We then headed off for three nights camping. Overlanding is a mixture of camping, homestays and hotels. We have had some amazing camping spots, one in the mountains where we did a hike and the next nights by a river bed in a local farming area. The scenery reminds me so much of home, especially Central Otago.

"Kristina" our truck at the camp site

Camp site on local farm land, with farmers gathering hay by hand

I am loving the overland experience, we have a great group of people, some of whom started the journey with me in Bishkek, others who started in Beijing and are going right through to Istanbul, 96 days in total! Camping has been fantastic, despite not being hardened to sleeping on the ground, and its surprising how cold it gets at night...I have been sleeping with puffer jacket and polar fleece on, but in the day its 30deg plus! We are on a cooking roster, which is more of an outdoors version of Master-chef, as it is a competition between groups to see who can come up with the most gourmet meals. I never thought I would have french toast for breakfast whilst camping!

We had a wander around the local village and had a look in the local school. We even bought eggs and fresh milk for breakfast and got to see a game of "goat polo" where they kill a goat, cut off it's head and legs and then play a game on horse back where they have to put the goat in a old tractor tire. Its more like rugby than polo, as they were tackling each other whilst riding and trying to wrestle the goat away, pretty vicious stuff. The winning team got to keep the goat for dinner! It was the village on our side of the river v the village on the opposite side. Things got pretty heated before they even started with a fight breaking out!

The goat being slaughtered

Goat polo in full force!

We have Al and James as our group leaders, they also double as mechanics, keeping the truck going. The truck is our home for the next four weeks and carries all our bags and camping equipment...fully self sufficient. I mistankingly called it a bus on the first day and was told that its very bad form to refer to it as a bus!

Al and James changing the oil!

Asian Adventure

2012-08-18T23:38:00.001+12:00

During the weeks after I knew that I would not be able to compete in London I decided that since I was on this side of the world, and didn't have any pressing reason to be back in NZ, I would tick a few things off the travel bucket list!

I have always wanted to travel from Europe to Asia overland, specifically via the Trans-Siberian railway. However, the only way I could get a Russian visa was to go back to Wellington, so I looked at other routes that didn't include Russia. After lots of hunting on the good old www I found a trip through the "Stans" following parts of the ancient Silk Road, specifically through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, with overland adventure tour operators Dragoman.

The tour goes for a month and we travel by 4WD bus and get to experience home stays, yurts and some nights camping out along with travel through deserts and hiking in the mountains. It's going to be an amazing adventure!

Normally when I pack my bags to head overseas I have two massive bags stuffed with running shoes and a variety of spikes, a whole lot of lycra and a javelin, so heading off tomorrow with just a backpack and my sleeping bag is going to be very weird but also liberating!

My first stop is Istanbul for a night and then on Saturday I fly to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, where the group meets to start the tour.

At the end of the tour I will head off on my own to western China where I will travel by train to Beijing. From Beijing I then plan on doing a week tour through North Korea before heading back to NZ via Singapore.

I can't wait for the trip of a lifetime and have to keep pinching myself that I am actually starting it tomorrow!

Stay tuned for tales from the Silk Road...Internet cafe availability permitting!

London Olympics and Paralympics

2012-08-17T08:00:00.002+12:00

Gold medal celebrations at Kiwi House

On Sunday the London Olympics finished with the closing ceremony...wow what an amazing couple of weeks. Kiwi House was a huge success, the only glitch being a small BBQ fire that destroyed the fantastic outdoor area! Luckily no one was hurt and we were able to re-open the indoor part the next day. We had such huge support from kiwis living in London, visitors and athletes, and the staff and volunteers did such an incredible job to make it all happen. Being a part of the crowd watching live on the big screen when NZ athletes were competing was amazing, and the noise whenever we won a medal was deafening...not sure how the people in the surrounding offices managed to do any work!

The NZ Medals Board

One of the highlights of Kiwi House was visits from the medal winning athletes, the biggest of which was the rowing crew. All the athletes were amazing, posing for photos with supporters for hours (and treated with a beer and a pie after!). One of the most emotional moments was when Val Adams came down the day after her comp. Naturally she was disappointed with silver but the crowd at Kiwi House were still so proud of her and it showed in their overwhelming reception. One of the themes of the NZ Team was "when were you most proud to be a New Zealander?"...for me it was in that moment.

I kept our medal tally blackboard up to date - it was amazing to be able to write up our 100th medal since NZ has been at the Olympics and even more amazing to be able to adjust the board to reflect Val Adam's gold (even though Kiwi House had officially closed at the time!).

Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake doing the 100m victory lap

Another highlight of the Olympics for me was being treated to two nights of athletics at the track. I can now say that I have been privileged to see the "Usain Bolt Show" in 2008 and 2012 in both the 100m and 200m events. In 2008 I saw his 100m victory and world record whilst actually standing on the track near the finish line (we had just finished the heptathlon 800m). This time I was almost as close, sitting one row from the front in the best seats in the house. The atmosphere and noise in the stadium was incredible, especially whenever any British athlete was competing. I also got to witness the most incredible 800m race where David Rudisha of Kenya ran a world record.

Holly training in Swansea

The Olympics have finished and Kiwi House is closed and I am now up in Swansea in Wales at the Paralympics NZ Camp with Holly Robinson (Javelin thrower), Raylene Bates (coach) and her husband Craig, and the Paralympic Swimming Team. I am here until Saturday training with Holly and helping out where needed. I think every able-bodied athlete should try and spend some time with the para athletes, these guys are incredible and it puts some of the things I struggled with at training into perspective! The Paralympics start in London on the 29th August, the NZ team has 26 athletes competing in Athletics, Swimming, Shooting, Rowing, Cycling and Equestrian. Check out paralympics.org.nz for more details.

The Greatest Show on Earth

2012-07-28T20:59:00.002+12:00

It has been a massive couple of days here in London, kicking off with a black tie function hosted by the Governor General to announce the flag bearer at Banqueting House. It was spine tingling watching Nick Willis walk in with the traditional korowai on, the Maori cloak all NZ Olympic flag bearers wear; I felt very proud as a fellow track and field athlete! It was an amazing function with food from chef Peter Gordon and Neil Finn performing live.

The next day the excitement was building as the torch made its way through central London to the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. I was very lucky to be given a ticket to the Ceremony, what many call "The Greatest Show on Earth"! Having never been to an Opening Ceremony before (I did not march in the 08 ceremony in Beijing) it was certainly an incredible experience. Highlights for me were James Bond and the Queen parachuting in, Rowan Atkinson doing his Mr Bean act, seeing live sheep and ducks eating grass on the in-field, Sir Paul McCartney singing "Hey Jude", the lighting of the flame and of course the NZ Team marching into the stadium lead out by Nick.

As I sat there I reflected on how lucky I was to be sitting there watching, and even though it really hurts to not be at the Olympics as an athlete, to be here at all is a privilege and something most people don't get to experience in their lifetimes. For me its my third Olympic experience, having also spectated in Athens and competed in Beijing. What really struck me last night was the excitement and passion of the public and how the Olympics really moves people. Its something you feel not just at the Opening Ceremony, but on the streets, in the train station and down at Kiwi House where the NZ Supporters are gathering. I think I noticed this so much more having been a competing athlete and now seeing the Olympics from the other side of the fence so to speak! As an athlete at the Olympics you live in a protective bubble, you are surrounded by security, have your own bus lanes, your own village and you are treated like rock stars! But to sit in a crowd of 80,000 people you get a different perspective on what the Olympics is all about and as an athlete I am so lucky to be able to experience that.

IOC President Jacques Rogge's speech really resonated with me: "I congratulate all of the athletes who have earned a place at these Games. And to the athletes, I offer this thought: Your talent, your dedication and commitment brought you here. Now you have a chance to become true Olympians. That honor is determined not by whether you win, but by how you compete. Character counts far more than medals. Reject doping. Respect you opponents. Remember that you are all role models. If you do that, you will inspire a generation".

Below are some pics of the Opening Ceremony....

The "Javelin" train to Olympic Park

View from Stadium looking at Athletics Warm Up Track, ready for business next week

Yes those are real sheep and ducks out there in the "green and pleasant land"

Everyone is super excited, even Neil Finn in the foreground!!

Lighting of the flame, teary eyed!

Heading home with the masses

Kiwi House

2012-07-26T08:16:00.000+12:00

I had my first visit to Kiwi House this afternoon. The venue was formally blessed by NZ Olympic Team kaumatua Amster Reedy, along with performances by Ngati Ranana kapa haka. (Read more about opening here)

We then had a fantastic kiwi BBQ in the outdoor area and the bar was opened while we watched the first Olympic event - NZ v hosts Great Britain in women's soccer on the big screens, which are showing all the NZ Sky TV feed live throughout the Games.

Its really hard being in London and not being in the village preparing for competition but I am so lucky that I am able to still able to be part of the NZ Olympic Team's campaign at the London Games, even without my spikes on! Its going to be really awesome hanging out at Kiwi House,its a very cool venue, and the atmosphere in there packed with kiwi supporters will be pumping! My role is basically to liaise between the NZOC staff and the operations team at Kiwi House, working with visiting athletes, media and VIP guests. The first big event is going to be the Opening Ceremony party on Friday night.If anyone is in London come on down and say hi. For more info about Kiwi House and visiting click here.

Road trip

2012-07-25T23:28:00.001+12:00

I have just finished a road trip with mum visiting Austria and Hungary, where we used to live when I was growing up, and Italy and Switzerland. I drove the car from Valencia where I was with the Bike NZ crew and picked up mum in Zurich and totaled almost 4000km during the trip!

It was a great trip down memory lane visiting places we used to live and go to school in Mosonmagyarovar (1985, small town in Hungary near Austrian border), Budapest (1988-91), and Vienna (1991-92). I was even lucky enough to manage to tick a few things off the bucket list: Bruce Springsteen aka "The Boss" in concert in Vienna and tandem paragliding in the Dolomites! We also did lots of hiking in the alps and spent a good deal of time sampling the local food - I have a slight weakness for schnitzel!

My awesome team before I left Valenica: Pete Sanford (Sport psych - worked hard to keep me sane!), Angus and Andrew

2500m above the Dolomites!

First you have to bike to the top of the hill (my butt is still so sore!)....

...and then you get to eat whatever you like for lunch, mmmm ravioli!

Hiking in the snow in Austrian Alps...

...followed by wiener-schnitzel!!

The trip was a great way to try and take my mind off the injury and the disappointment of missing out on the Olympics, with little to remind me of athletics or the Olympics. There have been some very rough days and some better days, but I have had so many lovely messages of support that have made me feel better and it was great to be able to get into the mountains - food for the soul. It has been especially hard arriving in London yesterday with Olympics everywhere, but I cant wait to join the team working at Kiwi House, I am heading down there this afternoon to check it out and will post all about it tonight and throughout the Games....stay tuned.

That incredible feeling

2012-07-08T00:33:00.000+12:00

In my previous post I described the amazing feeling you have when you are competing and everything flows and you are smashing out the PBs....well I found some pictures from the comp in Ratingen to show you what that feeling looked like!

London Olympics

2012-07-07T08:30:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone

Well this is one post I really didn't want to have to write, and you might want to grab a cuppa because its a bit of a long one!

Unfortunately my 2012 Olympic campaign is over. The hamstring injury I sustained in Ratingen did not heal in time for me to compete in France tomorrow to do a qualifying standard before the cut off date this Sunday.

I had a self-imposed fitness test on Wednesday in Valencia, and whilst I could run comfortably at about 85% in spikes I couldn't make the next step up to 100% without pain and the serious risk of tearing the hammy again and unfortunately an Olympic level heptathlon requires more than 85% speed in the hurdles, 200m and long jump. I knew that I would not be able to find 25% more in two days.

I had an MRI in Switzerland two weeks ago and the specialist I saw regarding the results confirmed a grade two tear and said that it would be six weeks to heal fully. I tried everything I could to beat the odds and prove him wrong. Andrew and I came to Valencia to be with the NZ Sprint Bike Team to use their therapist John, who did an amazing job to speed the process and get me to where I am now, but unfortunately I have just run out of time as it would have only needed probably another week to be at full fitness.

I guess I can take some comfort in the fact that there are thousands of other athletes around the world who are hurting just as much right now as Olympic teams are being announced and they are not named, for whatever reason. Especially several NZ athletes who I know personally who have also been robbed of their 2012 Olympic dream through injury. What makes it particularly hard for me this time is the fact that I was in the best shape of my career, and that I won’t have another chance to physically express in a heptathlon what we worked so hard to build in training.

Whilst I would love to say that I don't want to finish my career on a low like this and that I will keep competing (as I did post-Delhi in 2010 when I made the decision to aim for the London Olympics), this time I have to look at the past two years and the ongoing injury battles and realise that at 34 years old my body is trying to tell me something! If only I hadn't chosen one of the most physically demanding, high impact events I could consider trying to line up in Rio in 2016, or in Moscow at World Champs next year, but that's just not a reality now. Four surgeries, countless cortizone injections, stress fractures and a good old hamstring tear to round it off...needless to say I've got some good battle scars!

But its the highlights of my career that I need to focus on, rather than the injuries:

- Olympian (2008)

- 2 x Commonwealth Games (2006 and 2010)

- 1 x World Champs (2003)

- 2 x World Uni Games (2001 and 2005)

- 3 x NZ Records (400m hurdles, 4x100 and 4x400 relays)

- NZ Champion in both heptathlon and 400m hurdles

- Top 10 all time in NZ for 400m hurdles, 400m, 200m, heptathlon, shot put and javelin

- The amazing places I have visited, the amazing experiences I have had, the amazing people I have met and the life lessons I have learned along the way....

This particular Olympic campaign has to rate up there in terms of career highlights - to come from foot and hip surgery, a stress fracture and surviving an earthquake or two (!) in the past 18 months to being in the best shape of my life and doing the huge score that was my first 5 events in Ratingen is something to be celebrated, and is a testimony to my ability as an athlete and the work Andrew and Angus have done using some of the most un-traditional training methods that really do work! Had I been able to complete the event I would have qualified with ease and given the NZ record a good nudge in the process. But it was just that one small moment in the long jump when my body was just in the wrong position at the wrong time and boom it was game over just like that. Its amazing how the difference between elation and devastation can be measured in such small instances, but such is life. The "what ifs" have been run through in my head a thousand times since that moment. We often talked during trainings in Dunedin about the strength and technical ability I was building being like a “birthday present” that I would be able to open at the heptathlon in Ratingen. Unfortunately I had the present in my hands and had just ripped a little corner off the wrapping paper to peek inside, but wasn’t allowed to open it and fully enjoy the gift!!

The great thing about Ratingen was that for a few hours I had that feeling that every athlete chases and that makes all the hard work worthwhile...that feeling that I had during the high jump and shotput in particular, where you have the timing right and the energy is right and the performances flow out so easily you surprise yourself and you feel invincible, like you are flying, and you perform better than you have at any other time in your career, and the end result is a personal best. Its like a drug and when you get a taste of it you want that feeling more and more, and I guess for me that is partly why I have continued with my athletics as long as I have - because I am addicted to that drug!

At this stage I am not sure what the next chapter of my life will entail. If anyone has any bright ideas or job offers I am all ears!! Right now I am staying in Europe as I have been offered a job working for the NZ Olympic Committee in the NZ House in London for the duration of the Games (if anyone is in London come and say hi, more info about it here: http://www.olympic.org.nz/london-2012/kiwi-house). It will be incredibly hard to be in London in the thick of things and not be competing, salt in the wounds, especially when now even looking at a can of coke in the supermarket with the Olympic rings on it makes a knot in my stomach! But who knows what kind of doors may open as a result of being there. I would also like to be able to cheer on my good friend Sarah Cowley who will be there smashing it up in the heptathlon and flying the NZ flag! I know how hard she has worked to get there and it is very cool that she will be able to realise her dream and become an Olympian (Follow more of her story at www.sarahcowley.com).

There are so many people to thank...my coaches, in particular Andrew who has coached me since 1997 and has grown into an amazingly talented coach, I couldn’t have done any of it without you; Angus who took me on when I was at my most broken post Delhi and helped to build me into the strongest most powerful athlete I have ever been; and Phil King who coached me during my 2004 Olympic journey back when I was doing 400m hurdles. To my family, especially Mum, Dad, Nins and Andrew who travelled the world to cheer me on and gave me everything I needed to be the best I could be, and my friends who have given me unconditional support and encouragement, thank you all a million times over. A huge thank you to all the physios, massage therapists, doctors, surgeons and sports psychs who have helped to pick me back up when I have been broken and helped to give me longevity in my career. To my sponsors (adidas, Horleys, Blackmores, Skins, Em’s Cookies, and Kevin Hickman) thanks so much for sticking by me and making the journey so much easier financially. To the staff at Athletics NZ, Athletics Canterbury, Old Boys United Club and HPSNZ thank you for your support and belief in me. And to everyone else who has helped me in some way....whether it was being one of my training buddies, a work colleague, someone giving me a flexible part-time job or even just a few words of encouragement by email, thank you!

Its the end of an era for me...one that started at QEII in Christchurch at my first NZ National Champs in 1997 when I finished last in the U20 200m but had fallen in love with the sport, and ends here, not quite the fairy tale ending I would have liked, but I am still immensely proud of what my team and I have achieved all the same. Thank you to you all for receiving my emails over the past years and being with me in spirit both at training and in competitions.

Aureviour from France,

Becky

Valencia

2012-06-30T22:55:00.001+12:00

I am currently based in Valencia where the NZ bike sprint team is training, getting some treatment from their therapist. It's been 30deg + everyday which is awesome acclimatisation for the French Champs next weekend near Marseille.

My hamstring has been healing well and I am running at about 70%. We have been doing every bit of rehab we can to try and accelerate the healing process and get the strength back...my poor coach Andrew has been doing 900 passive stretches of my hamstring each day (he going to have massive biceps by the time we done!).

We will do a time trial test on Wednesday afternoon to check I can run 100% before heading to France on Thursday.

It's been pretty cool hanging out with the bike guys and watching them training on the velodrome, man they can fly around the track!! It's amazing standing under one of the banked corners and seeing how steep it is.

The athletics track is inside the velodrome, the setting of the 2008 World Indoor Athletics Champs.

Recovery

2012-06-24T00:40:00.001+12:00

It has been a week since Ratingen and the awesomeness that was day one and the disaster that was the hamstring injury in the long jump. Looking back its amazing how quickly you can go from feeling on top of the world to the lowest of lows...in the space of a few steps.

I am back in Switzerland doing everything I can to get my leg right so I can compete in France in the first weekend of July. I am off to Valencia on Tuesday where the Bike NZ sprint team is to get therapy from the bike therapist.

I had an MRI which showed a partial tear, which was definitely not the news we wanted, but I have to just trust that I will heal fast!

I have been able to do stride outs today at about 50% and am hoping that I will be able to progress to spikes in a weeks time.

I have come so far since the injury that put me out of commonwealth games and I am in the best shape of my life, as I saw in Ratingen in the first 5 events, where I was on track to not just qualify for the Olympics but also break the nz record!

It's going to be touch and go in France but I believe in miracles and think that this is an opportune time for one to happen so please send your prayers and healing vibes my way...I don't want my Olympic dream to end like this!!

The rollercoaster ride

2012-06-16T21:32:00.000+12:00

It was a rollercoaster ride of a competition, big highs and big lows!

Starting with the highs....

Up first, 100m hurdles, 14.02 which is 100th of a second off my PB of 14.01, great start to the comp!! I ran 15.2 in my first hurdles race since Delhi in Switzerland three weeks ago, then 14.69 2 weeks ago so to go so close to sub 14 was totally awesome!

Second event, high jump. I knew I was on for something big here after clearing 1.71 a few weeks ago, and I did....cleared 1.72 which was a PB then went on to clear 1.75, yea!!! I had 3 attempts at 1.78 which I missed but I was close which was encouraging. My old PB of 1.71 was 4 years old from Beijing so it was an awesome feeling to nail a bigger height, and I can now say that I can jump over my own head!! Great points in high jump too so I was fizzing going into the next event....

Shot put. Felt amazing in the warm up, the timing was sweet and the Ratingen crowd was surrounding the shot put sector, and the music was pumping, such a cool atmosphere! First round 15.30, boom! PB (old PB 15.08, but the farthest I had thrown in a heptathlon was 14.69 so it was awesome!!). Second round 15.20, third round 14.98. My best series ever. More to the point, my points tally was growing nicely and I was well ahead of my 6150 targets in each event.

15.30 shot put PB!

200m time...one of my favourite events, just run fast!!! I ran 24.51 which was slightly slower than I had hoped, but still a seasons best and I finished day two 160 points ahead of my PB score from 2008 and well on track for day two. I was also leading the competition which was awesome, dominating!!

Back to the hotel for some R&R, struggled to sleep as was pretty excited about my first day and the prospects of a PB and Olympic qualifier the next day.

Woke to rain, but it cleared and by the time long jump came around it was a lovely tail wind blowing.

First jump I landed past the 6m mark, yeaaa!! That would have been a PB (old PB 5.95), but then discovered they had had a technical glitch in the measuring and didn't measure my jump, it was also too late to re-measure as they had raked the sand, grrrrrrrr!!! They did give me an extra jump so I just treated it as a warm up and prepared to start the comp again.

Next jump I was flying down the runway with the crowd clapping and the music, feeling fast and then just on take off felt my left hamstring grab a little, ouch!

It was a 5.91 jump, my second best ever, but my bloody hammy was sore. Stopped the long jump comp and went to get some treatment. Adding up the points I knew I only needed a 42m javelin and a 2.17 800m to do the Olympic qualifier. To put that in perspective my PBs are 48m and 2.10 respectively so well within reach. But the hammy had other ideas, arghhhhhh. I could jog but not stride out, and unfortunately to run 2.17 I needed to be able to run fast-ish so had to pull the pin on the whole thing. Jamee the physio we had with us did everything she could to get me back but it wasnt meant to be (thanks for your help Jamee!) So so so SO frustrated after going so well, and to have another injury set back I couldn't quite believe it.

Last night I couldn't sleep again, but for completely different reasons, rather than being excited like the night before I was upset and couldn't stop thinking about what might have been.....the rollercoaster ride that is sport, and life! To have battled with injury to get to the start line in Ratingen, and then to be doing amazing, and the body feeling great.....it was just a freak thing that sometimes happens in sport when you are pushing the limits (strain most likely caused by slightly over-striding on the final take-off step which just put a little too much pressure on the hammy).

I have one more chance to do the qualifier, at French Champs the first weekend of July. My friend Sarah Cowley and I will both compete there, she too had to pull out of Ratingen with injury after day 1, after dominating in the high jump and being in 3rd at the end of the day, so it wasn't a good couple of days for the kiwi chicks!! Whilst it sucks for both of us its so great to have each other to understand fully how you feel when this kind of thing happens, thanks Geezle for your support!

So that's my story, the first half was amazing, the second half heartbreaking. Ratingen was my good luck charm in 2008 to qualify for Beijing, and was so close to being the same again in 2012! The hammy isn't serious, but enough to stop me in my tracks for now, but I will be back!!!! I will take the positives from this, I got myself in a position to score 6200+ this weekend and I know I can do that again, and more come French Champs and the Olympics.

Thanks so so much for all your messages of encouragement and support, I am sorry I haven't been able to reply individually but I really do appreciate it and love getting the emails.

To my team here in Europe (Andrew, Angus, Mum, Dad, Ben, Jarrod, Jamee, Sarah, Robyn and Tim), you guys were awesome this weekend, thank you for being my cheer squad when things go well and my rocks to lean on when things turn to custard!!

Aufweidersehen from Germany,

Becky

Its heptathlon time!!

2012-06-11T01:00:00.002+12:00

Its come around so fast.....my first heptathlon in two years!! Needless to say I am rather excited about the upcoming competition in Germany, which is on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Preparation for the competition has gone great here in Switzerland and I am confident of getting the Olympic A standard of 6150 points over the two days.

I have been getting faster in my 200m and hurdles races in the local competitions I have done here in Switzerland in the past weeks. I have also had my second best high jump comp ever, clearing 1.70m, just shy of my PB of 1.71. Training for the other events has been going well; I am fit and healthy and cant wait to get out there!!

For those of you who would like live updates online (the meeting is held over two evenings, so its perfect for a bit of early morning NZ time viewing!) this is the link http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/WCE12/Results/ResultsByEventWCE.aspx?/eventcode=4913/index.aspx

A MASSIVE thanks to all the people who have helped me to get back on the heptathlon start line, and in great shape. I will write again with results on Saturday!

Geneva

2012-06-03T07:31:00.002+12:00

Today I competed at a meeting in Geneva where I did hurdles and high jump. My hurdles were much better than last week, with a 14.68 into a -1.1 head wind, so the times are coming down! My high jump was awesome, 1.70m which is my second best jump ever (best is 1.71 from the Beijing Olympics). I also did a PB starting height of 1.65, when normally I start at 1.55 so it was a big step forward for me. This bodes really well for the heptathlon in Ratingen in 10 days time as good high jumping means big points....and big points is what we need!!

Monstering 1.65, my best ever starting height!

Another highlight of the day was seeing Karolina Kluft from Sweden run the 100m. Kluft is the former World and Olympic Champion in the heptathlon, who is now focusing on long jump. She is one of my idols of the sport so it was pretty cool to see her!

On the way home we drove past the famous fountain in the lake...such a beautiful day, its great to be in summer and be in Switzerland!

Olympic Qualification

2012-06-01T20:08:00.001+12:00

Here is a newspaper article explaining the qualification process for Sarah and myself. Very cool to have two heptathletes pushing each other all the way to the Olympics!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/7011650/Heptathlete-Rebecca-Wardell-sure-of-qualification