The “DItch” is the slang term for the Tasman Sea, the 1340 mile expanse of ocean that separates Australia from its cousin New Zealand to the east, or Kiwi’s as we call them.

Last weekend Ali and I flew across the Ditch to Auckland, then drove via Tauranga and Rotorua to Lake Taupo, the picturesque location of Ironman New Zealand, the longest running Ironman in the world after Hawaii.

The trip had originally been planned for Ali to compete in IM NZ, but after several viruses in quick succession Ali’s coach sensibly pulled the plug, and she will now focus on IM Coeur d’Alene in June.

With everything in place to go over, it was a daunting task to “unscramble” the omelet, not the least was Ali’s brother Tony who had for months been planning and looking forward to “relieving” our summer responsibilities where we caretake a ski lodge at Thredbo, Australia’s premier ski resort.  Thredbo provides good altitude training, hills/mountains, and a first class Olympic pool not 100 yards from where we live.  What is does lack is the heat and humidity that we love at home in Darwin.

We decided to head across the Ditch anyway, and do a detailed reconnaissance of the course for competing there in 2011,  and squeeze in a bit of Ironman spectating and cheering.

The drive to/from Auckland (around 3 1/2 hours) is through bucolic New Zealand countryside, mainly sheep and dairy, with some dramatic mountain backdrops.  In the distance behind Lake Taupo is Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano that occasionally reminds locals that they live on a tectonic plate boundary.  Fortunately the earth did not move for us during our visit, thank goodness.

Rotorua is famous for its thermal activity, and whilst we did not actually visit any of the theme parks/geysers, we came across bubbling mud and steaming hot springs in many places downtown, where it is fenced off to save the unwary from themselves.  Just the stuff of an everyday run around Rotorua.

There was an excellent IM Expo at Taupo, and we met and talked with Peter Buckleigh, better known as Mr Timex New Zealand, and his enthusiastic sales people.  He warmly welcomed his antipodean Team Timex members, and was keenly interested in my favourite toys, the Timex Global Trainer (on the right arm) and my Timex WS4 Expedition (on the left arm).

Ali, of course, was cowering silently in embarrassment to one side, partly because she is so very shy, but also because she was actually married to this anthropoid who walked around with a huge watch/computer on each arm.  It was nice being part of the Timex world family.

The Expo also led us to Aquanaut New Zealand, the distributors of Aqua Sphere products in this patch.  We borrowed several wetties (Oz slang for wetsuits) and tried them out in Lake Taupo.  Very soft and comfortable, giving lots of shoulder flexibility, and really easy to get on and off.  And Lake Taupo has pristine clear water, drinkable I am told, so no need to carry drinks on the swim!

The race outcome is now history, with Cam Brown posting a record 9th win in a row in his hometown race.  He trailed slightly off the bike, but his beautiful running style quickly took him to the lead and he never looked back.  We shared a high-five as he turned into the finishing shute.  Well done Cam!

We also cheered a number of fellow-Darwinites, who revelled in the cool conditions, and other friends whom we know on the Ironman circuit, in particular Kate Bevilaqua (Perth, Western Australia), with whom we were staying.  Kate had a day from hell, but toughed it out to the very end.

No report on IM NZ would be complete without recognising Event Manager Janette Blyth (whom we call “Big Bird” – after the NZ Kiwi, which is a small bird).  Big Bird always has a huge cheeky smile on her face, is always full of bubbling enthusiasm and energy, and has that happy knack of always being everywhere all the time, helping everyone in any way possible. (Photo coming)  IM NZ was very well organised.  We would recommend IM NZ as a really nice race to do.

We are looking forward to returning and competing in IM NZ next year.