One of the reasons we were keen to see part of the One Day Coast to Coast race, was to watch a young Canadian fella by the name of Jakob Van Dorp take on the challenge. Unfortunately we were submerged in a cup of coffee at Arthurs Pass when he ran through at the sharp end of the field, so we never actually saw him.
Jakob (Jack) won entry thru a race he had won in Canada, and had subsequently been put in contact with us thru our mate Al (Jelly Sandwiches) Belcher. We tried to assist him with a few bits and pieces re the course in general, transportation etc......all of which proved of little use with the course being changed so dramatically due to the weather.
In the end, Jack ran over the line in 13 th place in the Longest Day. (Despite his support crew losing a few minutes by not making it to the start of the kayaking before him due to traffic !!) Top effort Jack !
An email 10 days later and Jack and crew were going to be in our patch and were wondering about trying out this pig hunting business. Unable to get any time off work I managed to convince Ross that taking 5 Canadians out for a hunt would be a good idea anyway......I think it was the 3 females that swung the vote.
After getting the posse to Ross' place, I returned to night shift with the echo of "be here by 6.15" bouncing around the ute. The night dragged until the last boat finally departed at 2.00 am and I was home and sacked out by 2.45.
The alarm was louder and ruder than usual, but after a hasty shower whilst the jug was boiling and a caffiene shot or two, I duly made the designated time with 8 or 9 seconds up my sleeve.
Two utes, 4 boys, 3 girls, and an assortment of dogs headed for the tree block. Waiting at the last gate were Duncan and elder sister Sarah so now the party was 9.....and only one ute, no way my flash baby was going up that track !
Long story short and we were at the top, out in the open, and the new GPS tracker was telling us the dogs were moving fast along the top ridge about 800 metres away. A hard left and straight down the hill into the native.....which was good because it rapidly halved the distance between us. Clearly they were on to something !
Barking soon commenced from the finder, and continued as other dogs arrived..........no one trying for a hold so probably a good pig.
I asked, 'who wants to go' and Ross replied, 'we all will eh ?'...........so we Browns Cowsed our way to the scene of battle. The dogs grabbed the pig seconds before Ross arrived so it was almost a perfect hunt. 128 lb of fat blue boar and absolutely huge smiles all around.
It was a bit of a gutbuster back up to the truck but everyone had a go and got 'blooded' for their troubles ! Being tail end Charlie also gave me the dubious honour of being (pun there) selected as target A number 1 for the wasps nest that somebody disturbed as they went past. Thank the good Lord I had long pants on as the two hits I took to the inner thigh were a near thing.........Doctor, take away the pain and leave the swelling please ! I managed to escape with a total of 6 stings......nobody else got touched.
Feeling a little worse for wear I drove the ute back down with a lovely Canadian nurse for company.......just in case. Ross took the rest of the troups on a bit of a nature walk which proved uneventful.
Back to a big feed of choccie cake and pizza courtesy of Aunty Paula, Helen and Soph......these Canadians think pig huntings cool !! The visitors were all off to catch flights etc later that day so I got the farewells said and was away home for some kip and back to work again. Two days later and the swelling has just about disappeared thankfully.
I've been enjoying the 'fat paddock' a bit too much since Wanaka and 1 March was to be D day......I reckon it will be 3 March before I can train again properly so we're having a birthday KFC and choccie cake pig out tomorrow night for my darling wife, any old excuse is fine with me.
After that, proper training regime again and a few roar hunts already planned. I have a goal to also get a chamois on the main roar trip so I hope my legs and nerves don't fail me if things get a bit steep !
Also have a new Black Stag sleeping bag to test out which i am looking forward to after testing it on the couch for about two minutes when it arrived. I can tell you its plenty warm enough in those conditions !