The trip not over yet!! The Rangitoto Island...

After visiting the museum, the rain slowed, so I decided to visit the Rangitoto Island!! This is the view of the harbor... 

It took around 40 minutes by ferry...

Rangitoto Island was formed by a volcano, which became extinct 600 years ago... Rangitoto means "bleeding sky" in Maori .

On the way to the island I met Basile, a french ultra marathon runner, and together we planned to run a big portion, passing through the most scenic spots on the volcanic island. 

On the volcano's path, we ran for almost 2 and half hours!!

We kept a good pace, but always enjoying the environment!! 

We had to stop several times just to admire the scenery!

On the 1920's the island was also an important military base...

A beautiful military base!!

Along the way we passed many people climbing to the summit!

The rain went out!! And blessed by the sun, our adventure was even better!!

Certainly one of the best paths I ever ran!!!

We stopped at some volcanic caves, but without a flashlight we couldn't explore deeper...

The directions were well marked and we also had a map on hands, but we could not contain our excitement on running through the whole island!! 

As a result, we could spend only 5 minutes at the summit, because the last ferry was leaving in 20 minutes and we did not wish to learn what happens if someone misses the last ferry of the day!! lol

The map indicated 1h45min walking time from the summit to harbor and we were not sure if we could make it in only 20 minutes... So we ran and we ran faaaast!! Descending with rocks in the path and some sharp downhills, I almost lost my footing several times over the 22 minutes trip.
The ferry was there!! whew!!

In the end, thinking about our adventure, where we ran for 2h 30min yet only spent 5 min at the summit... I remembered the saying, "journey is what bring us happiness, not the destination..."

And I was reaaaly happy with all that great work done to summit the volcano!! :-D

Not only that great work climbing the volcano, but also trying to get to the Olympics!! 

Thanks God, I can persist in that endeavor!! 

Thanks Renata, Maire, Sergey and Amili for the amazing times in New Zealand!!

Taking advantage of the new year wishes, I wish all the readers a 2012 plenty of adventure, sports, happiness, love, friends and achievements!!!

Feliz Ano Novo!!

Last day - Museum of Auckland

My last breakfast in New Zealand, with the required reading for anyone who lived in Maire's house.

Trying to understand some of life's soap operas!

 The day started raining, so I planned to visiting the Museum of Auckland!!

Plenty of Maroris culture and symbols...

Maoris were the Indians, or aborigenes who lived in Nova Zelândia before the arrival of Europeans.

 The word "maori", in the Maori's language means the distinction between gods or mortal humans...

 There were some crazy Indians there too! hahaha

The Haka, a Maori dance, was used to show the men's stamina and force. The New Zealand rugby national team traditionally dances a similar version to intimidate their opponents, called Ka Mate.

I found the translation from Wikipédia website:

The "Ka Mate" haka generally opens with a set of five preparatory instructions shouted by the leader, before the whole team joins in:

"Ka Mate"

Leader:	Ringa pakia!		Slap the hands against the thighs!
	Uma tiraha!		Puff out the chest.
	Turi whatia!		Bend the knees!
	Hope whai ake!		Let the hip follow!
	Waewae takahia kia kino!		Stomp the feet as hard as you can!
Leader:	Ka mate, ka mate		'I die, I die,
Team:	Ka ora' Ka ora'		'I live, 'I live,
Leader:	Ka mate, ka mate		'I die, 'I die
Team:	Ka ora Ka ora "		'I live, 'I live,
All:	Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru		This is the hairy man
	Nāna i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā		...Who caused the sun to shine again for me
	A Upane! Ka Upane!		Up the ladder, Up the ladder
	Upane Kaupane"		Up to the top
	Whiti te rā,!		The sun shines!
	Hī!		Rise!

Day three!!

The third day in New Zealand was the busiest!!! 

Renata, Sergey and Marie took the day off from work and we went for a tourist, adventure marathon!!

We started at Muriwai beach on the Tasmanian Sea.

We watched Gannets, the birds that can fly up to 60mph and dive down over 40 yards to catch fish!

Hundreds of gannets!

Great views!!!

The Tasmanian Sea is characterized by the rough and cold water, and the black sand.

We hopped into the freezing water to body surf...
Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then began our jungle adventure!

We navigated through many obstacles over 25 yards up attached onto the trees...

Equipment checked!

The tyrolean was the best!!! Woohooo

There were 12 courses with different levels of difficulty.

Sergey takes a break!!

We spent almost 90 minutes climbing on hopes and hitting our shins on wood!! ouch!! lol

After leaving the jungle, we relaxed at a Spas... 

We Challenged each other swimming and raced, my arms never felt so heavy!!

Sergey insisted I not leave NZ without trying Bikram Yoga, so that was our next stop...

Luckily I had a swimming suit on under my clothes. After the first asana, I took everything off except my swimming trunks... In a 105°F room we exercised for 90 min. OMG, I was almost dying!! 

Never before had I seen so much sweat draining from my body. During some stances I could not count the drops falling onto my towel. I took some breaks but showed my stamina by completing the full session!! Afterwards, my towel was at least 5kg heavier!

After drinking several liters of water, we finished the day chilling out and singing karaoke!! 

This long day left me without arms, legs or a voice to use to cry for help!! lol

Day II, Part II: Mount Maunganui

As I wrote in last post, right after the bungy, I drove to Mount Maunganui...

Without thinking, I ran up it!!

There was such beauty that I stopped every minute to take a picture!!

I ran at a steady pace and reached the summit in 12 minutes!!

Actually to get to the highest point it took 12min 23sec!! lol

Lots of colors and life in NZD!!

Going downhill is always easier!!

Here is another shot!!

The ocean beckoned me to race an aquathlon, so I hopped into the water!!

Without a wetsuit, 6 min was too long in that freezing water!!!

I could not fit the whole view in a single panorama!

Taking a break before driving home...

Day II, part I: Bungyyy!

With beautiful views such as this, the 200 mile drive passed quickly!!

My friends were not on vacation yet, so I left early for a solo trip to the famous Taupo's Bungy!! 

Once I got there, I did not have time to be afraid! 

With no line, in 5 minutes, I was already getting ready to jump... 

Everything was amazing!! Here I am on the platform...

I hesitated for a couple seconds, but jumped... Myyy Gossh!!
I could feel Death so close; that was really nerve-racking!!
I couldn't even scream.  I felt like I was suffocating, seeing the lake approach so quickly...
It is only three seconds but felt like an eternity, at almost 60 mph!!

Getting into the water was a relief.  The entry was so soft and when I opened my eyes again, I was already close to 25 yards up... Wheww! Another shock!! lol

A bit more calm, I could yell a "Wohooo!!"  It felt like my heart exploded in my chest!! Today my heart is certainly at least an inch bigger!! hahaha

When the boat picked me up, the feeling was beyond description; it felt like being born again.  I was alive, even light-headed, and not able to control my breath! hehehe

I ran to the platform laughing at nothing, thinking only about doing it again... The second one was half price and after a 200 miles drive, I thought it would be worth it. I also thought the second one would be easier... (I was completely wrong!)

I bought the nonrefundable ticket, and on the platform's first step I realized how bad my idea was...

I was still traumatized by the death sensation... It took me longer to jump, but I would not give up!! 

Take a look and listen to the frightened scream I made once there was no ground beneath me...

All is well that ends well, I guess.  After bungy, I drove towards Mount Maunganui, another awesome beach, where I climbed a hill with stunning views!! I will post the pictures soon!!