On the (Rail)Road Again–to the Hunter Valley Half

Ok, so its been a while since I’ve updated this blog, but hey, it’s my vacation and even at the best of times, I am a bit writing challenged. For a somewhat more verbose description of the trip check out: http://paigrsbrain.blogspot.com/. This is my daughters trip blog (she is running at Hunter Valley as well)
Since the last post, we’ve left Port Douglas and travelled by air back to Sydney and then hopped on a train to Wollongong, a city southwest of Sydney.
I kind of made a decision to avoid driving on this holiday, as much as possible. Not because I don’t like driving, but I wanted to avoid those family “discussions” about where to drive to and how to get there, etc. I refer all questions (are we there yet?) and suggestions (let’s stop at this tourist trap/junk shop) to the train engineer, while I settle back with the tiniest of self satisfied grins.
The train network in NSW is amazing. City light rail is integrated with inter-city trains, and they are all seamlessly linked to airports, ferries and busses.(city and country busses). All this is supported by web sites that plan out the best route and optimize your travel time. There is no real equivalent to this in Canada, think of having the transit systems from Windsor to Quebec city integrated into a single system. Oh, yeah, cheap too –  $7.00 to travel by train from Winsor to Quebec city.

Sudbury (Wollongong) Saturday Night

Wollongong is an industrial city, similar to Sudbury or Hamilton, but with palm tress and large beaches.
At the far end of the beach you can see a massive coal fired generationg plant.
The weather was cool, wet and windy, but the people were warm and friendly.





This the view from the apartment, not coal fired power plant in the distance.






We don’t have a lot of pics from Wollongong, but this is typical of the area.

 

 

Life is a High (Rail)way – Off to Hunter Valley

It back on the train and off to the Hunter Valley, one of several wine regions in Australia, for the Hunter Valley Half marathon. My daughter is running in the 6.2km race, her first ever!
So we jumped on the train again, this is the route we took: http://www.131500.com.au/plan-your-trip/trip-planner/@@map?trip=3&tps=ULTJP25_616644519



Waiting at a country train station on route to the Hunter Valley.

 

 

And Finally – the Hunter Valley

After more than 6 hours on the train we arrived at the Hunter Valley hotel/race location – Hunter Valley Gardens near Pokolbin NSW (Cessnock is the closest town – sort of looks like small town Alberta mixed with a bit of English country side and attitude).



Our Apartment – they were are separate units.
Views from the apartment below.


















Hunter Valley wine country .










Sunset from the apartment.



And finally, no trip to Australia would be complete without pictures of Kanagaroos in the wild.






















Next up – the Hunter Valley Race report.

Port Douglas – Running in Paradise

 

Leaving on a Jet Plane – to Port Douglas

The Gold Coast Marathon is over, the Hunter Valley Half marathon is a couple of weeks away, and we’re flying north to Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef.

After the Race, Dusk Falls on the Gold Coast

Last View of the Gold Coast on the way to the Airport

Port Douglas:

So we didn’t really know what to expect from Port Douglas, only tht it was supposed to be warmer and close to both the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rain forest.

 

We were pleasantly surprised, this is the view from our apartment:

Four Mile Beach, 100m from the Apartment

Running Around In Port Douglas

I did my first run on Tuesday, July 5, just to shake my legs out from the race. Garmin, the watch, lost track of time, so it was busy charging. I don’t have a record of the run but the pictures can be found here:

 

On July6th, I went for a 10K run along 4 mile beach. This ws in the late after noon around 5:45 because I didn’t want to run in the mid-day sun. It’s winter here, so the sun sets early,something I continually forget. Anyway I was treated to a spectacular South Pacific sunset. My camera really couldn’t do it justice, but some of the pictures are included in the album below:

The Course:

For those that really care, this is the course and run statistics

 

Great Barrier Reef:

I might take a break from this running theme and post some pictures from the Great Barrier Reef in the next blog, if no one objects….

Running for Charity:

I am doing all my runs this year, starting with the Run for Reach Half Marathon and the Ottawa Capital Marathon to raise funds for a local charity called Mood Disorders Ottawa (MDO). MDO is a small but vibrant, volunteer run organization (100% of donations go to programs for our members) the that supports people with mood disorders and their loved ones. To these ends, MDO provides resources, programs, support groups, social and recreational activities for our members and their families and friends.
For anyone wishing to do the right thing and pledge/donate to MDO through my runs may do so here:
Coast Airport Marathon - Gold Coast, NSW, Austalia - July 3, 2011 -Marathon -Donate
Hunter Valley Marathon - Hunter Valley, NSW Australia - July 17, 2011 - Half Marathon - Donate
The pledges are handled through the Running Room pledge site, and tax receipts are issued automatically. Anybody pledges will mentioned in is this blog (if they so choose) , for what that's worth....

****Donate****

Information on Mood Disorders Ottawa can be found at: www.mooddisordersottawa.ca
More Information of the MDO and the races can be found at: http://www.northbridgetech.com/Charity.html

Ads on this Blog: All the profits from any ads on this blog go directly to Mood Disorders

Golden Moments at the Marathon

Gold Coast Marathon:

Gold Coast Marathon July 3 2011

Finally, race day. The conditions were perfect, around 16 degrees at the start and a daytime high of about 21. Most of the race was slightly overcast, so the intense sun (for me anyway) was not a factor.

The race weekend here has about 25 thousand participants in all the races. The marathon had had around 5,000 entrants, and about 4,500 finishers.

I’ve put together a short  album of pictures from the race, taken by my family and I from various points along the course, just click on the picture above.

So How’d You Do?

Why, thanks for asking. Well the good news is (for me) that I finished, but my time wasn’t that good, kinda slow really. I could blame this on the fact that I ran the Ottawa Marathon at the end of May, or on jet lag, or lax training, but hey I finished!

 

Now for this race, you don’t get the t-shirt unless you finish the race. So, the key take away is that I go the T-shirt. There’s a medal as well, but it’s a tacky to wear it around the house, let alone for a race.

 

You can see my race statistics and the course here:

 
Up Next, the Hunter Valley Half Marathon:

The fun isn’t over yet, the next race is the in the Hunter Valley wine region, north of Sydney on July 17. In the mean time we are touring around Eastern Australia; next stop Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rain Forrest.

I’ll keep you posted.

Running for Charity:
I am doing all my runs this year, starting with the Run for Reach Half Marathon and the Ottawa Capital Marathon to raise funds for a local charity called Mood Disorders Ottawa (MDO). MDO is a small but vibrant, volunteer run organization (100% of donations go to programs for our members) the that supports people with mood disorders and their loved ones. To these ends, MDO provides resources, programs, support groups, social and recreational activities for our members and their families and friends.

For anyone wishing to do the right thing and pledge/donate to MDO through my runs may do so here:
Coast Airport Marathon - Gold Coast, NSW, Austalia - July 3, 2011 -Marathon -Donate
Hunter Valley Marathon - Hunter Valley, NSW Australia - July 17, 2011 - Half Marathon - Donate

The pledges are handled through the Running Room pledge site, and tax receipts are issued automatically. Anybody pledges will mentioned in is this blog (if they so choose) , for what that's worth....

****Donate****

Information on Mood Disorders Ottawa can be found at: www.mooddisordersottawa.ca
More Information of the MDO and the races can be found at: http://www.northbridgetech.com/Charity.html

Ads on this Blog: All the profits from any ads on this blog go directly to Mood Disorders

Yesterday all my races seemed so far away

Gold Coast - Australia:
I didn't do any running today, we've been travelling from Sydney north to the Gold Coast region of Australia. We're here now and it looks something like this:

View from the hotel - more good luck with blind booking

Surfers Paradise Beach (No people, its winter only 23degrees)

Life Guard Competition

Race Expo:
The Gold Coast Marathon has about 25,000 competiors and the 2K, 4K, 5K, 10K, half and full marathon. So they have a good sized, well organized race expo.

Here are a some pics:

Kit Pick-up

Really, this is in Australia

Exhibit Floor

Just your average Flying Shoe

The Course:

And Next:
All I have left to do is Run the Race! Wish me luck!
Running for Charity:
I am doing all my runs this year, starting with the Run for Reach Half Marathon and the Ottawa Capital Marathon to raise funds for a local charity called Mood Disorders Ottawa (MDO). MDO is a small but vibrant, volunteer run organization (100% of donations go to programs for our members) the that supports people with mood disorders and their loved ones. To these ends, MDO provides resources, programs, support groups, social and recreational activities for our members and their families and friends.

For anyone wishing to do the right thing and pledge/donate to MDO through my runs may do so here:
Coast Airport Marathon - Gold Coast, NSW, Austalia - July 3, 2011 -Marathon -Donate
Hunter Valley Marathon - Hunter Valley, NSW Australia - July 17, 2011 - Half Marathon - Donate

The pledges are handled through the Running Room pledge site, and tax receipts are issued automatically. Anybody pledges will mentioned in is this blog (if they so choose) , for what that's worth....

****Donate****

Information on Mood Disorders Ottawa can be found at: www.mooddisordersottawa.ca
More Information of the MDO and the races can be found at: http://www.northbridgetech.com/Charity.html

Ads on this Blog: All the profits from any ads on this blog go directly to Mood Disorders

Balls Head Reserve Run

G'day mates, 3 days in Sydney and I reckon I'm going native. The goal today was to run around some of the smaller bays in Sydney Harbour, heading towards Balls Head Rerserve (I am very proud of my restraint in not commenting on that name)

So once again I got a feel for the course with google maps and once again I forgot about the hills. Road planners (if there ever were any) have a twisted sense of humour. The goal seems to have been to avoid anything flat and any streets that cross at right angles. They have been very successful with this approach.

This is a typical road: I am standing level with the train bridge

This is my course that I ran this morning. Garmin and Google were a little too generous, seeming to grant to me the ability to walk across water.



I wasn't really sure where I was going (story of my life), but the general principal of keeping the water on my left on the way out and on my right on the way back seemed to have worked. I am here after all.

Entrance to Sawmillers Reserve

Not that I'm going on and on about the hills in Sydney, but but the walking path entrance to Sawmillers Reserve needs a switch back, before getting to the stairs.

Berrys Bay, looking back at CBD Stydney

Hey, a bridge and (if you look real close, an opera house) from Berrys Bay

Running in Balls Head Reserve

I've been told that there are large numbers and varieties of spiders in Australia. Judging by the number of webs that I ran through in Balls Head Reserve, this is probably true!

Australian Naval Emergency Services
and a nasty little storm cloud that decided to rain just on me on the run back to the apartment

You can find more pictures at: Balls Head Run

That's it for now, on to the Gold Coast Marathon!

Running for Charity:
I am doing all my runs this year, starting with the Run for Reach Half Marathon and the Ottawa Capital Marathon to raise funds for a local charity called Mood Disorders Ottawa (MDO). MDO is a small but vibrant, volunteer run organization (100% of donations go to programs for our members) the that supports people with mood disorders and their loved ones. To these ends, MDO provides resources, programs, support groups, social and recreational activities for our members and their families and friends.

For anyone wishing to do the right thing and pledge/donate to MDO through my runs may do so here:
Coast Airport Marathon - Gold Coast, NSW, Austalia - July 3, 2011 -Marathon -Andrew Goodwin
Hunter Valley Marathon - Hunter Valley, NSW Australia - July 17, 2011 - Half Marathon - Andrew Goodwin

The pledges are handled through the Running Room pledge site, and tax receipts are issued automatically. Anybody pledges will mentioned in is this blog (if they so choose) , for what that's worth....

Information on Mood Disorders Ottawa can be found at: www.mooddisordersottawa.ca
More Information of the MDO and the races can be found at: http://www.northbridgetech.com/Charity.html

Ads on this Blog: All the profits from any ads on this blog go directly to Mood Disorders Ottawa.

The Run Ain't over until the Fat Lady Sings - Sydney Opera House Run

Flew in From Miama Beach Vancouver, BOAC Air Canada:
I'm in Sydney Australia now, having flown 14.5 hours from Vancouver. It was an uneventful flight, except that when you land, Australian immigration sprays the inside of the plane with insecticide. Nothing says "welcome" like bug spray.

Trans-oceanic trips are odd events. You get on plane at one end, endure an endless "sit" in a flying cigar, and de-plane in a completely different place. There is no sense of movement or of traveling any great distance, you just find yourself there (or here in my case).

The first view of Australia after leaving the Internationl Airport Terminal

Choosing hotels over the Internet is like playing darts blindfolded; but we got lucky!

Views from our Apartment

On to the Run:
My planned run had me running from the apartment over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Opera House and back, but this really wasn't that far so I added an extra leg through the Botanical Gardens to Mrs Maquaries Chair.

This is the course that I ended up taking: Opera House Run.
There are a couple of things to note here:
1) Thanks to google maps, I had it in my head that Sydney would be flat. Wrong!
2) It is winter here (daytime highs in low 20s, night time <10), so you will see people in winter coats.
3) I am not the first person to think of running the bridge, there are signs that say, "Joggers slow down"

Here are some shots from the run:

Stairs to the Bridge (centre right)

Walkway on the Harbour Bridge (look another runner!)

Opera House from the Harbour Bridge

Random Stairs on way to Opera House
 (couldn't find 'em on the way back)

Circular Quay from Bridge (Ferry Terminal)

Circular Quay from ground level

Opera House from Circular Quay

Opera House - again, only closer

Bridge from Opera House

Sailing around Farm Cove Point, tough life!

Royal (hey same Queen as ours!) Botanical Gardens and CBD Sydney

Whoa! A runner, an Opera House and a Bridge!

Furthest point of the run along the water in the Botanical Gardens

On the way back, look! The Opera House!

You can see more picture at: Opera House Run Pictures. Warning, there may be some more pictures of the Opera House!

I should get at least one more run in before heading up to the Gold coast for the race and I'll document that one for the blog as well.

Running for Charity:
I am doing all my runs this year, starting with the Run for Reach Half Marathon and the Ottawa Capital Marathon to raise funds for a local charity called Mood Disorders Ottawa (MDO). MDO is a small but vibrant, volunteer run organization (100% of donations go to programs for our members) the that supports people with mood disorders and their loved ones. To these ends, MDO provides resources, programs, support groups, social and recreational activities for our members and their families and friends.

For anyone wishing to do the right thing and pledge/donate to MDO through my runs may do so here:
Coast Airport Marathon - Gold Coast, NSW, Austalia - July 3, 2011 -Marathon -Andrew Goodwin
Hunter Valley Marathon - Hunter Valley, NSW Australia - July 17, 2011 - Half Marathon - Andrew Goodwin

The pledges are handled through the Running Room pledge site, and tax receipts are issued automatically. Anybody pledges will mentioned in is this blog (if they so choose) , for what that's worth....

Information on Mood Disorders Ottawa can be found at: www.mooddisordersottawa.ca
More Information of the MDO and the races can be found at: http://www.northbridgetech.com/Charity.html

Ads on this Blog: All the profits from any ads on this blog go directly to Mood Disorders Ottawa.