Last week, I was in Queenstown, New Zealand, for a work conference. having just come off the back of running 3 marathons in 3 weeks (the 3rd being the day before I flew to NZ), I was looking forward to a well-earned rest week.

That is, until I arrived.

At my first glimpse of Lake Wakatipu and the long, flat running path that meandered all the way around its edge, I could hear it calling out…. “Run me”……

I did take a couple of rest days, but by day 3 I could resist no more! Due to the heavy conference schedule (Jamming A LOT into a few days to make it worthwhile going overseas) I had to set a 5:30 alarm so I could be back in time for breakfast. Unfortunately in Queenstown in August, it does not get light until a quarter to 8. So unfortunately, my entire run looked like this:

I ran as far as I could before the lamps would end and I would turn back and find another way to run. in the end, I resorted to doing laps of the town centre because it was the only place that was reasonably lit, to try to get 10k’s in.

By the time conference ended and I was there on my own time, we were snowboarding every day, so I decided that was enough exercise for my still-recovering legs.

i would love to go back (maybe in my January holidays) and explore more of the trails in the area. I found a good site offering maps etc… Www.queenstowntrail.co.nz

Queenstown was also trail shoe heaven! I walked into one of the local shoe stores, to see a wall of trail shoes, a selection far better than I have seen in Australia! They were a little pricier, but the choices offered was amazing. I tried on many pairs, but unfortunately the Asics pair that I loved most were sold out of my size.

I miss it already, and I am hopeful of returning soon to explore more of those trails.