Team A

The New Zealand rain forest needs plenty of rain to thrive and maintain its pristine beauty, and today it got it – it truly bucketed down. After each running stint the drenched (though still smiling) runner, would need a towel to dry themselves and a change of socks. It did make good running though.

Waterfalls  – some more than three stories high – could be heard and seen gushing down fern and forest carpeted hills. We would never have noticed them driving past, as many were hidden behind the dense fern cover.

For an Australian, seeing rain like this is an amazing sight. In Australia, we can’t even wash our cars at the moment due to the drought and most of us haven’t seen a fast flowing river in years. To run in the rain was very refreshing.

As we made our way to Haast, the rain gradually cleared and we stopped for a photo at Lake Moeraki...

... and for the panoramic ocean view at Knights Point.

By now the sun had appeared and, as we made our way to Haast Beach Holiday Park, we enjoyed the ocean sunset. And to top it off, a magnificent estuary walk was just metres from our doorstep.

– Grahak Cunningham

Team B

We awoke this morning to a day free of school presentations, due to the beginning of the school holidays. A day of just pure running and sightseeing lay at our disposal.

We set out from Franz Josef in the pouring rain, making our way to the beautiful Fox Glacier, a great white wave of ice, frozen between the hills. We ran over slippery rocks and waded through icy rivers to receive a magnificent view.

Lucky for us, the cold rain of the morning steadily transformed into warm sun. We passed condensed forests that gave way to lush, empty fields which in turn rolled down to the clear ocean.

We reached Haast in time to watch the sun set over the beach.  Now this is harmony...

– Rupashri Brown

Team C

A small editorial team was designated to remain in Franz Josef to update the web reports for the past few days. Someone had to stay inside from the driving rain today and it just happened to be us!

As though by divine decree, as soon as we had packed away our laptops the clouds fled, unveiling a new view from our hotel...

Not far out of Franz Josef we met Kevin, out for a long, hilly training ride.

The remainder of our day was a panorama of astonishing beauty all along our drive to meet up with our teammates at Haast River.

The mist rose before our eyes

Virgin snow from last night and this morning, seeing sunlight for the first time

The Fox Glacier appeared from the forest

Hundreds of rivers and streams rush from mountains to sea

Suddenly, the ocean at Maori Beach

We reached Knights Point exactly in time for...

– Prachar Stegemann

Team Members:
Iris Klapper (Austria), Erika Pongracz, Gabor Horvath (both Hungary), Lubos Svec (Czech Republic), Melinda Pearson, Grahak Cunningham, Nigel Webber, Prachar Stegemann (Australia), Rupashri Brown, , Stacey Marsh, Harita Davies, Shobhavati Davies, Anurakta O'Neill, Tim Cranfield (all New Zealand)

Gallery: See more images!