Chopper Swim Challenge 2019: the day dawns.

The night of the 17/18 March was fairly blustery: I could hear the wind in the flax and cabbage trees outside my room, and this suggested that the sea would be choppy. However, I woke up at 6am, and could hear nothing but some early-morning birds - not even a whisper of a breeze😊 

My breakfast involved a hefty amount of porridge eaten very slowly (it was hot, the weather was hot, and I worked up quite a sweat just eating) and a strong cup of tea. I'd worked out during various training swims that having milk pre-swim made me feel strange, so I avoided milk in the porridge or tea. However, the Kiwi House proprietor was laying out breakfast for her other guests, and the plain yoghurt looked refreshing, so I had a few spoons of that, and it was delicious. 

After checking I had organised my bags correctly for the boat, had all the food ready, and the drinks mixed, I was ready for the taxi. The taxi driver knew all about the swim - one of her family had participated in a relay team the previous year and warned me (kindly, but alarmingly) that I shouldn't push myself too hard!

The scene at Matiatia exuded busyness and purpose. Phil, my kayaker, texted to say he was on the ferry and I got my togs on and sunscreen applied, then registered and picked up my cap. Phil and I made our rendezvous (we'd never met!) and then found our boatie. After the briefing, I loaded my bags into the boat, and my food supplies into the kayak. We made sure that the trackers were on, and that the kayak and boat were in good VHF communication. 

The Scene at Matiatia - kayaks on the beach

More of the scene at Matiatia - more kayaks on the beach, and the ferry terminal in the background.

Phil's kayak, laden down with drink bottles, string, and other things.

After these flurries of activity, there was little to do but wander around, and talk to people. I met some swimmers whom I'd only known previously from swim groups on Facebook (Sarah, Christina!), and applied some more sunscreen. Then the boats moved out from the beach to wait at the end of the bay, and the swimmers were allowed in the water. 

The water was warm! Compared with Wellington, it felt like a bath! The bottom was a bit muddy and silty and rocky, but other than that, things were comfortable. Everybody seemed to be in good spirits, whether they were in or out of wetsuits or wearing fins and diving masks, young, old, individuals, and team. Any apprehensions I had had now floated away. We were all just out for a swim - nothing more or less - and the sea was flat, and we would all see each other again on the Other Side.

 After a bit more chatting, it was time to move off! During the briefing, Olaf had suggested treating the first hour as the 'warm-up' and a chance to get a feel for the conditions.   My 'feeding plan' was to have a first feed stop after 1 hour of swimming, and then every 30 minutes after that.  I was swimming beside Christina, and Phil was on my left. We stroked along, and after what seemed like a short time, Phil flagged me down for the first break and the amazing news that we'd covered more than 3km already. This seemed like good progress, but also early days! I had some of my Pure drink, and off we went again.  I'd said that I didn't want to know anything about times or distances, but it was good to hear that I'd covered more than 10% of the swim already!

Really, I can't remember many details more details about the day. Some of the 30-minute phases went by extremely quickly. Others were slower. During one patch, as we moved past the VAST area of Rangitoto (it's huge, it seemed to go on forever), I had a strangely intense pain where my neck and right shoulder joined together - I'd never felt anything like it before - as if a nail was being driven into my flesh. The pressure built up, and I did a sort of huge shoulder-shrug, there was a  massive CLICK sound in my neck, and the pain went away completely!

I discovered that I really needed a snack at every break. I only drank Pure at the first two stops, and while that seemed fine at the time, I began to run out of steam at the end of hour two and really needed actual food. The peanut butter balls were great, but it was crucial to take a swig of drink after eating them because otherwise, the little particles of peanut formed a choking hazard. My hands became progressively more claw-like. I tried very hard never to touch the kayak, but during one feed stop we were hit by what seemed like massive swells; in fact, it was wake from a container ship leaving Auckland. I was in danger of dropping the food, so had to grab the kayak to steady myself. But that was only time I touched it intentionally.   

The Pure electrolyte drink (raspberry flavour) worked well. It's very natural, not chemical at all. I had one bottle mixed to full-strength, and the other mixed to about 75% of full strength. The raspberry cut through the effects of the saltwater in my mouth, and proved consistently refreshing. In other words, it's really great stuff, and I recommend it. The electrolytes seemed very effective: I didn't need huge amounts of fluid at each stop, and never felt thirsty. Because I only needed small sips of the drink, I didn't feel weighed-down or water-logged. Gosh,  and what's more, even after the swim I wasn't sick of it. Mmmmmm. 

However, food was also good. I stuck to eating just half of a peanut butter ball at each break until probably the last 90 minutes. Then it seemed like a good idea to get stuck to the nice jelly fruit things, and the dried apple, just for something different. My snacks, therefore, grew larger during the final stops.

Regarding the conditions: the chop was minimal for swimming, more rolling than choppy. For one patch - I think when we passed the channel between Rangitoto and Motutapu - there was a weird current. However, in the main, swimming conditions were perfect, and kayaking conditions a little more challenging. 

And now a few words about Phil. Who could ask for a better kayaker! He stayed right by my side, led me on a straight line, tracked my stroke rate, timed each 30 minutes down to the second, and showered me with praise and encouragement on every stop. I always felt totally secure. Phil's experience doing Iron Man, and Coast to Coast meant he knew exactly what I wanted to hear (encouragement!) and that my own lack of response was more due to focus than grumpiness. Generally, I only nodded in response to his comments and gave the odd thumbs-up from the water. 

Going slowly past Rangitoto, with a little wave to the kayak.

So, it just went on and on! The 30-minute phases passed. I counted things, ran through my times tables, made up little chants in my head, or didn't think about much.  Occasionally I breathed to the right and saw Rangitoto. Rangitoto, as I've mentioned, went on forever. Suddenly I saw Kelly Tarlton's to the left, and thought 'Wheeee! We're nearly there!' This turned out to be a total misapprehension. Kelly Tarlton's was a long way from the end.

Then, at a feed stop, Phil said that this would probably be the last stop. Wow. I put my head down and prepared for lift-off. All that happened was that we had entered the last 2km or so, and the closer we were to the harbour, the choppier it became. I felt water swirling around me, pulling my legs this way and that, while the chop suddenly started breaking on my head and getting in my mouth. The water was grey and silty. I was also far too hot, and my cap was coming off. I could see Mechanics Bay, but it never got any closer. Swimmers and kayaks were appearing from everywhere. We were directed by the safety people to swing to the left, but then to swing right. At one stage I put up my head and said 'Where am I GOING?' As it turned out, after 20km of a straight line, we went a bit wonky at the end, but never mind. The temptation to look where we were going became strong, but I tried hard to keep my head down and to start counting again.

Heading into the final stretch. Grey and choppy. Cranes of Auckland wharves.

Suddenly the rocky breakwater of Mechanics Bay was right in front of my head. Where did that come from? I swam around it, took about 10 more strokes, and there I was at the wharf...and had to climb up a ladder. This took careful thought. Lifting my foot to the rungs was challenging. Un-clawing my hands, and persuading them to grip the ladder was also challenging. Not challenging in an anguished, painful, collapsing-on-the-finish-line way, but just perplexing. Climb? Me? Climb up a ladder? What's a ladder?  Anyway, I hauled myself up.

After standing around, looking vacant, and smiling at people who were finishing and climbing up the ladder with no apparent difficulty (although I learned later that this wasn't an accurate impression), I tottered to the other bit of jetty where the kayaks were coming in. En route, I saw that one of the volunteers from Westpac was wearing a watch, which said 3.28pm. That meant I'd done the swim in under five and a half hours! This was very surprising: my only goal was to finish in 7 hours. 

 I found Phil, helped lift the kayak out of the water, and then another helper came along to carry it with him. And it was done. 

The boats had to moor some distance away, and that's where my clothes were. Some kind people went on an excursion to rescue my bags, and those of a couple of other swimmers. We set off to help, but were told to sit down and take a break! I sat on the buffalo grass at  Mechanics Bay and ate my chocolate bar. It hadn't quite melted entirely and was extremely delicious. I mean, *extremely delicious*. 

The BBQ was getting underway, so after a good drink of water, and helping to unload the kayak, it was time to consume that best of recovery foods, a sausage in bread with tomato sauce. Onions didn't appeal, so I didn't have those. Meanwhile, Phil's daughter had appeared to collect him, and drive them both to the airport, so we said goodbye, with thanks and hugs. He thanked me for concentrating and sticking to the feed plan. I thanked him for everything. More swimmers emerged from the water, including some ex-All Blacks who'd been in a relay team, and a couple more people I knew - one of whom had cut her foot very badly on her relay team's boat. It was bandaged but leaking, so we elevated the foot on my bags, and eventually, a swimmer who was also a  nurse appeared and dealt with it. I fetched the patient a sausage, and some icecream. 

After a while, rain began to fall, so I called a cab, and drove to the YHA in Queen's Street. I hope I didn't permanently damage the upholstery: my togs (under my clothes) were still pretty damp, and a strange film of salt, sunscreen, sweat, Vaseline, and silt covered me. I realised, after checking in at the hostel, that I looked deranged, and had huge rings around my eyes from my goggles.

My priority was a shower, and the showers did not disappoint! Very, very hot! Huge water pressure! As I undressed, a very squashed, very dead lizard fell from the leg of my shorts. Horror. He must have climbed up there while I was sitting on the grass, and I must have sat on him. This made me feel a little queasy - and what do you do with a squashed, dead lizard, 7 stories above Queen Street. I peered out the little bathroom window and saw a window box two stories below, so I dropped him into that handy receptacle and settled into my shower. 

I don't think anything beats the feeling of a hot shower after a swim like this (or even a swim of half the distance). Having been very wet all day, I was tingling all over, but not in any pain as such. Washing my hair felt amazing. Putting on clean clothes felt amazing. Drinking freezing cold water from the foyer water cooler tasted amazing. The can of warm Coke (from the BBQ) tasted amazing. Everything was good (hhmmmm, some euphoria here? Endorphins, anybody?) Time to hit the town .... or rather, catch a bus to friends' house in Ponsonby. Fully restored (hmmmm?) I bounded out into Queen Street

Auckland being Auckland, the bus stop had moved since my previous visit, so (euphoria continues) I decided to hail a taxi. It was a day for extravaganze! The taxi I hailed had just stopped to let out two elderly people going out for dinner, so we did a swap. To my surprise, the elderly couple insisted on giving me a $10 note (perhaps I looked a little demented?) and wouldn't take no for an answer (and they didn't know what I'd been doing all day). Whatever next? 

Anyway, dinner was lovely, and that was the day.