Yes! We Ran There

Travelling runners from the UK. Since Oct 2016. Kicked things off in the US, now driving around New Zealand in a campervan which is about to blow up.Blog Started 1st Feb 2017.

[yesweranthere-blog]

Levin la Vida Loca.

It's been a while since we last had time to write an update. I can hear it now "How do you not have time when you're travelling?!" - well it's been a busy few weeks of running, racing, gorging, gardening and traffic counting.

We soon managed to escape our predicament of a caring for a Border Collie puppy with separation anxiety by heading to Wellington for a race we booked days ago.

The Cigna Round the Bays Half Marathon was a blowout. With 14,000+ racers over the weekend it surely would get our adrenaline flowing! All in all the race was well organised, with a whole range of pacers from 1:25 to 2:00+. Whilst waiting to start we also manage to bump into a few NZ Insta-running buddies!

A post shared by 74running (@74running) on Feb 18, 2017 at 5:31pm PST

With all of our previous bad luck, looks like today was taking a turn as we experienced quite possibly the calmest day in Wellington's history, making for a fast run for both of us. Sean managed to stick on the 1:25 pacer, with Bets keeping him in view. By mile 10 the pack of 20 of us that were with the pacer at the start had reduced to 3. Meanwhile Bets was fighting for a podium position with her female contenders. As an expression of pure competitiveness and stubbornness we both manage to cross the line with Personal Bests!

Sean grabbing a 1:24:05

Bets getting 2nd Female with a 1:27:17

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 18, 2017 at 1:08pm PST

After we celebrate with brunch and drinks we head on to our next stop, working in the garden a few hours a day in exchange for food and board in a town called Levin. Only after arriving in Levin, Sean discovers that it has been voted as New Zealand's most boring town more than once.

Either way we turn up to a family run dairy farm and meet the team of: Mum, Dad, 5 Kids, Au Pair, 2 Dogs, 1500 Cows, 4 Horses and a Goat called Billie, . This will definitely will keep us on our toes. Luckily the kids were more than happy to help us in our epic battle against weeds (even if it was riding on the back of the trailer whilst we work around them).

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 21, 2017 at 1:56am PST

We spend just short of a week here in glorious sunshine, whilst attacking weeds, touring the dairy farm, riding quadbikes, cleaning windows and watching the carnage unfold when all 5 kids are in the same room together. Truly a great week and our hosts were big travellers in their past. Plenty of conversation to be had there. It was sad to leave on a Sunday after a full week of running squeezed in and around our other commitments but eventually we do need to earn some actual cash... and this is where we are now... 

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 27, 2017 at 9:40am PST

Traffic counting for Wellington City Council, getting up at 5:15am to sit and count the pedestrians coming in to town....exciting stuff. At least we're being paid with actual cash! Hopefully we can get this to lead on to a few other odd jobs and we can pay for flights to Sydney for a vacation in a vacation!

You know how it goes, "Work to Live" not "Live to Work" and besides, someone's got to pay for our almighty food bill since we upped our running mileage!

[yesweranthere-blog]

Racing Double. Dog Trouble.

Things have progressed. It was pissing it down in Hastings, like really bloody going for it. When you’re in a tent, that’s not so fun, and it put an instant downer on the place. So off we trot to Woodville and Palmerston North where it turns out bugger all happens other than an average Instagram photo and more miserable weather. At least we were eating well.

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 9, 2017 at 12:22am PST

We carried on to the outskirts of Wellington. Our first night’s accommodation at a campsite was ruined by some German campers who had no concept of “personal space”. Okay so granted it was a busy-ish cheap campsite, but unless you’re arriving late to Glastonbury festival there is never a need to pitch ones’ tent within touching distance of another. It’s simple camping etiquette. The night was spent listening to their pillow talk followed by their snoring. We PB’d on our morning exit routine of coffee making, tent breaking and getting the hell out. Sean still can’t talk about the event. 100% rage.

The weekend was spent attempting the racing double: A parkrun on Saturday and a 10k on Sunday. Not the longest of distances, but you should know that we push ourselves to near-puking on a parkrun, and if no such feeling we haven’t tried hard enough.

Getting up from a tent at 7am when it’s actually cold (7/8 degrees) and wet is disgusting, so we feel proud of our commitment to our parkrun tour. No offence England but we were actually pretty chilly setting off. This wasn’t the day nor the course for PB’s - a gradual incline all the way to the turnaround point, plus Sean’s foot was still causing him grief. Full credit to the two lads with buggies who took 2nd and 4th position, Sean taking 3rd and Betty 5th.

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 10, 2017 at 12:31pm PST

As for the Sunday 10k (an out and back along the harbour) we had heard something about the ‘Wellington wind’ but thought it was just the kiwi sense of humour. Wrong. The headwind was brutal and didn’t seem to offer us much support on the turnaround. In all honesty we were grateful for finishing without being swept into the harbor. It was only afterwards we saw the Wellington sign standing proud on the hillside, complete with ‘wind’ effect. Now we fully understand and also slightly regret our decision to sign up for the Cigna Round The Bay Half marathon this Sunday on the same battlefield. 

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 11, 2017 at 1:30pm PST

At least we had warm showers to follow such a brutal run, After many, many, many slightly garbled emails from a lady in a pickle, we agreed to spend the next few days dog-sitting her 8 month old border collie puppy, in exchange for a stay in her holiday house by the beach. Having both grown up with family dogs, we thought “How hard can it be”.

Well, it turns out, bloody hard. although adorable looking, Alfie needs round the clock attention and soon lets you know if you’re slacking.

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 12, 2017 at 8:32pm PST

They say you learn a lot from travelling, whoever “They” are, we’re sure they didn’t mean at how to become expert pooper scoopers. In addition we spoke to Alfie’s owner just this morning, who, is in England. Currently with no flight booked back to New Zealand. Anyone know the Kiwi equivalent of Battersea Dogs Home - let us know.

[yesweranthere-blog]

Foot Impaled. Key's Failed.

After our last installment we book a spot on the Waitomo glow worm caving tour for the following day convincing ourselves it'll be excellent cross-training. Things were starting to look up. Even better news, we are now the proud owners of Kmart's finest tent and keen to put it to use. 

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 6, 2017 at 11:13pm PST

Thanks to our new favourite app campermate, we pitch our new home in the glorious sunshine at a free campsite and wolf down some pre-run Tim-tams. We carefully amble over the world's most rickety bridge and start a trail run up the river. The run could only be described as a jungle obstacle course, opening out into vast overgrown fields. A few miles in, Sean lands his right foot square onto a sharp rusty spike in the undergrowth, straight through the shoe and about half an inch into his foot. What a twat. Limping back to camp like the human version of our shit van.

So that's the caving tour off the cards, not to mention the running. Bets suggested we head to Lake Taupo, as at least kayaking is something we could do without being on our feet. Lady luck of New Zealand you haven't beaten us just yet. Kayaking was awesome and we had a great time charging around the lake dodging paddleboards and speedboats. Sean enjoyed being a lout:

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 6, 2017 at 3:27pm PST

In high spirits we return to the car, go to unlock the door and the key pretty much shears off... So it's Sunday midday, on a long weekend, in the middle of Taupo and we're locked out. Lady luck we're getting sick of your shit. 5 Hours of waiting around for the nearest locksmith to come visit us, our wallet ever lighter, we're back on our way again.

Next stop: Napier/Hastings, where orchard work is abundant as are wineries. About time we think about putting our working holiday visas to good use. But first, time for a cheeky wine tasting, nodding along politely to all the flavours that were being described that we couldn't detect and ever wishing the tasting portion was slightly larger.

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 7, 2017 at 5:51pm PST

After numerous conversations starting with "What the hell are we doing"?! today's plan is simple: Find work; avoid expensive setbacks! Our hottest prospect on the job front so far is a week's dog sitting. Unpaid. Not fantastic but comes with a new running partner.

[yesweranthere-blog]

Rust in Peace.

Yes - we broke down again.So we only made it about 15k down the road towards Auckland before our Van finally blew, and with it also went our patience. We limped back to Kaitaia with the feeling as though, we would never leave this place. Below is a picture of pure desperation from the last time we broke down... sometimes you just have to laugh...(Whilst hoping for a tow).

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Jan 31, 2017 at 11:52pm PST

We checked in to the nearest motel whilst we tried to figure things out. Long story short, we managed to agree a sale before we'd even checked in. Surprising when we didn't hold back on what a heap of shit it really was. Considering it would cost us $250 to get rid of it I'd call that a deal!

That leaves us 5 hours drive from Auckland with a load of luggage and no transportation. We grabbed a sharpie, a piece of cardboard and stood at the highway out of Kaitaia with an optimistic sign saying "Ride to Auckland please". Having never hitchhiked before, let alone with a tonne of baggage we weren't holding out a huge amount of hope.

21 minutes later - a lady pulls up and offers us a ride the whole way to Auckland and she needed to get there as soon as possible. Perfect.

Esther was the name of our new travel companion and boy did she have a story. The drive seemed to rush by, we're not sure whether that was from listening to her stories or her 130kmh speeding on the straights. She is working on setting up a trust up in the far north to help children at risk. Esther was very open about her faith in God but never once tried to impose it on us, however when she dropped us off it did have us slightly questioning our own beliefs (or lack thereof). 

Now we're stuck in Auckland with no way out. At least we're a bit closer to civilisation than the Far North. Through the power of the internet we find ourselves in touch with a lad who has a car in Auckland airport and needs it driven to Wellington. Free of charge as long as we cover the fuel and drop it off in 2 weeks max. Another deal done. #delboy

A quick drive and the next morning we wake up in Hamilton to get another NZ Parkrun checked off the list. We heard it was a fast and flat course with a pretty rapid crowd to boot - the perfect setting for our 2017 goals of Sub 19 for Bets and Sub 18 for Sean.

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 3, 2017 at 1:07pm PST

We both went off with our 5k strategy of: Cane it and hope for the best. Seems that recent hellish intervals are doing the trick (bugger!) as we both pull out PBs, Sean with 17.45 and Bets with 18.47. A good base for Christchurch marathon in 4 months today!

Fuelled by successful parkruns, and progress southwards we are feeling much more positive about our travels. Lets see what drama we can cause the further south we go.

Anyway - signing off, gotta go see a man about a glow-worm. True Story.

[yesweranthere-blog]

Shit van for sale.

We hadn’t really thought about writing a blog, until things took a turn for the worse. We’ve been in New Zealand for about 4 weeks now, sorting out a vehicle and making it roadworthy. 3 of those weeks have been spent in Auckland and looks like we’re going to end up back there soon….

A few weeks ago, we bought a van to travel around New Zealand. It needed some work to be liveable and had a number of issues but we were happy to pay to get them fixed up. As you can see below, we were happy as Larry having the freedom to start exploring New Zealand and creating a home on wheels.

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Jan 23, 2017 at 12:34am PST

Two days ago…whilst driving down Highway 1 - we lose all power, pull over and jump out of the van as it begins to fill with smoke. Shit. The engine had overheated due to the radiator leaking fluid. Turns out the semi-dirt track we’d used earlier in the day hadn’t been our best idea.

Now we're sat at the side of the road, in the arse end of nowhere, on a hot day, with a broken down van. Like all well prepared travellers, we get out our camping chairs, make some sandwiches and reconsider our life decisions.

We let the engine cool down and try again. 10k later, we’re in the same situation, except more smoke and a considerably worse road position.

Following the advice of a local mad-man we met - We whipped the cap off the radiator, Bets sat in the foot well of our mid-engine monstrosity, and we began to drive the world’s longest 43km to Kaitaia with Bets slowly topping up the radiator from a Robinson’s bottle. After numerous breakdowns we finally make it. Time for celebratory drinks!

A photo posted by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Jan 30, 2017 at 10:58pm PST

Now we’re stuck with a shit van working our way back to Auckland (if it makes it)trying to offload it to a dodgy dealer or a scrap heap.

If anyone want’s to buy it - Here’s the ad we wrote:

——

Hi All, 

Our shit Hyundai H100 - 2000 Diesel is up for grabs!

WOF due December 2017 (probably not worth the paper it’s written on). 

Rego March 2017

~156,000 kms

As title suggests, the van is a sack of shit. Needs some work and we don’t have the necessary experience, expertise or funds. 

With our shit van you’ll also get:

Bedding, grief, Camper Chairs, uncertainty completing drives over 1 hour, small table, storage baskets, a story to tell your children, cutlery set, pots, pans, cooking equipment, etc. 

Offers welcome, you’ll be surprised what we would say Yes to. 

Shoot me a text on 02749 86950, don’t call as I might be busy setting fire to it to claim on the insurance.

P.s I’m deadly serious 

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Hopefully we’ll have some better news with our next post and we can actually write about interesting things like running and travels!

If we don’t post a followup, we’ve broken down again…