New Zealand Training Camp Locations in Early Dec before 70.3 Worlds

Triathlon Forum
1

So I got a big rolldown hobbling thru St. George being the old guy in my age group, I took the slot after missing one by just over a minute (when I raced, not hobbled) last summer.

I suspect my October and November will be just a lot of swim+jogs at lunch (typically 90 min) and some trainer riding at nites and weekend, so I may take 2 weeks of vacation for the trip and spend my first week at a place with good swimming (50m pool ideally) and access to good riding (probably ride 2-3.5 hrs per day, 1-1.5 hrs swim, 15-30 min run).

I was eyeing Rotorua on the North Island. Looks like it is impossible anyway to get anything around Taupo. I figure the weather on North Island may involve “less rain” than South Island (but if I have high rain days, if I am somewhere with a good pool it can just be a big swim day with some running). I will have rental car. If there are any locations on the coast I should hang out at for swim + bike camp, please suggest.

Last time I was in NZ was ITU worlds 1994 in Wellington, so it’s 30 years later. Back then I would have not guessed that I would still be doing this sport, but here we are. On that trip, I was mainly in Wellington area the entire time.

One more thing, if there is nearby access to any 20-30 min climbs (like 300-500m vertical range) that would be a nice option (or 3 hrs loops with 1000m of vertical)…I don’t want to be riding somewhere flat, just cause I enjoy riding flats marginally more than riding the trainer (which is not much…it just feels like exercise, not adventure)

2

Rotorua has a nice geothermally heated outdoor pool but the riding is best on an MTB. I’ve found it a bit limited on a road bike. Town is still suffering a bit from pandemic emergency housing measures.
New Plymouth is on the West Coast so has black sand beaches. Nice 50m outdoor pool, nearby mountain to ride up (Taranaki/Mt Egmont) and lots of quiet roads with accumulated elevation
Cambridge (where I am) has a 50m outdoor pool, reasonable access to quiet, hilly riding. If you want a longer climb there’s ~1.5hrs of flat to rolling each way but you could drive closer.
Hamilton has a 50m indoor pool, you would likely want to drive for a bit to get out of town before riding.
Tauranga on the East Coast is not flash for road riding, I don’t know about 50m pool options.

3

Tauranga (I’d say it was on the north more than east) and is basically 2hrs drive south-east of Akl Airport. would be Pilot Bay (ocean but protected harbour) for swimming. There are several open air 25m pools but no 50. There is a large triathlon community here, plenty of training partners, and is ‘only’ 2 hours to Taupo if you did want to do some day trips there to get familiar with the course. We start coached sessions swimming in Pilot Bay in October, but in fairness water only gets down to 14degrees at coldest. Also some good shorter distance races you can use to ‘warm up’ before December. Javier Gomez normally does winter here, in part as this is where his Missus is from and as a bonus he gets to do some ‘recovery jogs’ along the coast path at sub 4:00 pace to rub it in to the rest of us. :wink:

For riding then we tend to head out east from town, use the bike path beside the TEL and then head out to Maketu or via Paengaroa to Old Coach Road - all these have more bikes than cars once you get out of Papamoa. There are some other routes that you can do for variety too if you are in town for a while. Welcome Bay Road is a heavily used route and then off there are the ‘5 angels’ (hills) that lead off here. Te Mata Road loop via Te Puke is another decent loop we do quite often.

Napier / Hastings is a great place to be, again strong tri club for sessions and has the 50m pool. But there’s limited safe open water swim options. 2 hours from Taupo.

Agree with comments about Rotorua - definately go visit whilst your here, great for some trail runs, the Blue lake is good for swimming and the MTB is awesome if that’s your bag. Aso some good cultural things to do which you ought to if it’s your first visit.

Just one final thing now, when you are moving about NZ and have been swimming in different water (ie lakes, rivers, estuary, ocean) then please follow the government and Dept Conservation advice to clean your wetsuit to make sure you don’t transfer any pests or weeds between waterbodies. It’s easy and really doesn’t damage tri wetsuits. Thanks.

4

I second Hawkes Bay as a great training option. Superb road riding and running trails in the hills and through the vinyards. Napier is hosting Ironmaori the earliest half ironman in the NZ summer 2nd November so the ocean will be open for business.

5

Cambridge is a really good spot to base yourself.
So much riding available to you. Home of Cycling NZ, you can be out riding and joined by members of the NZ track and road teams etc, it’s really is a great spot. Good 50m indoor pool. Lots of running options

Just NZ weather in December. As much as it is “summer” the summer peak tends to come later in Jan/Feb but can be highly variable. We have gone back to NZ in December and needed to be rugged up because it’s cold (for us) then other years warm. Be prepared for a few things.

Also the UV index is bad. One of, if not the highest melanoma rates in the world and it traps a lot of tourists. You can burn super fast so be careful in the sun, cover up and wear sunscreen.

6

I’d kind of recommend above Auckland, if you want to see a different part of NZ to where you are racing. Whangarei or like around Waipu. The weather could be slightly better and you’ll get to see the top of the north island in contrast to the bottom (Wellington). Then you’ll get the middle around the race! You won’t get climbs around there much, but it’s rolling hills always unless you are around the coast. And good trail running

7

Rotorua has a nice geothermally heated outdoor pool but the riding is best on an MTB. I’ve found it a bit limited on a road bike. Town is still suffering a bit from pandemic emergency housing measures.
New Plymouth is on the West Coast so has black sand beaches. Nice 50m outdoor pool, nearby mountain to ride up (Taranaki/Mt Egmont) and lots of quiet roads with accumulated elevation
Cambridge (where I am) has a 50m outdoor pool, reasonable access to quiet, hilly riding. If you want a longer climb there’s ~1.5hrs of flat to rolling each way but you could drive closer.
Hamilton has a 50m indoor pool, you would likely want to drive for a bit to get out of town before riding.
Tauranga on the East Coast is not flash for road riding, I don’t know about 50m pool options.

I forgot to mention the “west coast option”. When I travel, if I can stay on a west coast, I can get the sunset on the ocean (I am not much of a morning sunrise person)…sunsets on west coasts in Israel, Dubai, Italy, India California, Hawaii, Florida (Tampa side) are some of my best memories from trips.

I like the psychological impact of a sunset as it reflects on a daily basis that “it’s over” (that day), but eventually "it’s totally over, so use each day positively.

So you all seem to be steering me towards Tuaranga or Cambridge with very good options for everything I asked for (well aside from fickle weather in Dec, but that is Ironman’s fault). I’m not too worried about open water swimming. Happy to swim in pools.

8

If you stay in the Waikato (region south of Auckland that includes Hamilton, Cambridge and Taupo) you could do a couple of nights at Raglan on the west coast. It’s better for gravel riding than road but if you wanted to see some sunsets over the ocean that would be a good spot for it. Slightly hippy, surfing community.

If you were to go to Tauranga I’d look to stay at the southern end (Papamoa) so you’re closer to the places Duncan74 mentioned for riding. In favour of Tauranga is that it is usually about 3deg warmer than the Waikato. It was the wettest of the main cities in December 22 but not by much.

Cambridge 50m pool is shallow, but you won’t have my problem of touching the bottom at one end. Very little in the way of an inspiring horizon for sunrises or sunsets. My preference is to be out early for the sunrise over the rolling hills.

9

Am I doing something wrong to get only $2000.00 flights per person? From Florida?

10

Am I doing something wrong to get only $2000.00 flights per person? From Florida?

What dates are you looking at? I just checked Expedia and I’m seeing about $1100 roundtrip for Miami - LAX - Auckland.

11

Would strongly recommend you look at Air New Zealand - escpecially if you look at the luggage allowances that can add a lot onto other tickets.

Once in NZ then be aware the flights to Taupo from Auckland will be on a small turboprop plane (likely ATR72, possible Bombadier Q300). Bike space is very very limited on those. If driving then be aware it’s a mixed route, some ‘freeway’ to start, but the second half of the journey is on much more challenging roads.

12

Am I doing something wrong to get only $2000.00 flights per person? From Florida?

I booked my flight home to Ottawa Canada on Dec 17 for $1100 CAD. I have not booked my outbound (trying to coordinate dates at work), but likely leave around 3 Dec. So my price largely ends up being similar. Coming how I am going Auckland-Vancouver-Ottawa.

13

Would strongly recommend you look at Air New Zealand - escpecially if you look at the luggage allowances that can add a lot onto other tickets.

of significance, air nz will take a bike bag as a standard luggage item as long as its not more than 23kg
i’m not sure how that works with connections on other airlines though
.

14

Rotorua has a nice geothermally heated outdoor pool but the riding is best on an MTB. I’ve found it a bit limited on a road bike. Town is still suffering a bit from pandemic emergency housing measures.
New Plymouth is on the West Coast so has black sand beaches. Nice 50m outdoor pool, nearby mountain to ride up (Taranaki/Mt Egmont) and lots of quiet roads with accumulated elevation
Cambridge (where I am) has a 50m outdoor pool, reasonable access to quiet, hilly riding. If you want a longer climb there’s ~1.5hrs of flat to rolling each way but you could drive closer.
Hamilton has a 50m indoor pool, you would likely want to drive for a bit to get out of town before riding.
Tauranga on the East Coast is not flash for road riding, I don’t know about 50m pool options.

I forgot to mention the “west coast option”. When I travel, if I can stay on a west coast, I can get the sunset on the ocean (I am not much of a morning sunrise person)…sunsets on west coasts in Israel, Dubai, Italy, India California, Hawaii, Florida (Tampa side) are some of my best memories from trips.

I like the psychological impact of a sunset as it reflects on a daily basis that “it’s over” (that day), but eventually "it’s totally over, so use each day positively.

So you all seem to be steering me towards Tuaranga or Cambridge with very good options for everything I asked for (well aside from fickle weather in Dec, but that is Ironman’s fault). I’m not too worried about open water swimming. Happy to swim in pools.

As much as Cambridge is not coastal, still get some pretty epic sunsets from my parents place there.
Cambridge does have Lake Karipiro for open water swimming, will be pretty chilly I imagine at that time of the year but then I imagine it will be close to what Taupo is so may be good from a acclimation perspective.

Cambridge is an easy drive from Auckland now and lots of more reasonable accommodation options. Nothing high end really. I do love the riding in Cambridge, but am heavily bias, I just know it so well and so easy to get away from cars and in general, being the home for Cycling in NZ the general public are quite respectful of cyclists unlike some other places in NZ.

Will see if I can find a sunset from my folks place for you.

15

One more general question. What is the infrastructure like if I rent an electric car (if any of you guys have first hand experience). Browsing the plugshare app is looks pretty good. I would pay a premium on the rental cost, but I don’t mind figuring things out on the ground and the NZ grid is mainly hydro power

16

In North Island pretty good now, and if you are doing say Akl airport to Taupo via Hamilton (Cambridge) or Tauranga then you’re covered. Heading to Hawkes Bay you can also do, but would need at least 2 recharge stops - one in Taupo.

But getting an electric hire may be hard - I think Avis/Hertz group it was sold off all their EVs last year. Also note that the rules have just changed now and you pay a mileage tax for any distance in an EV, Hybrid (or Diesel). Not sure what the car hire companies are doing with that but be aware. It’s $76 per 1000KM full electric and $38 per 1000km for hybrid.

So choice if EVs to hire will be limited, and may not match what you need to carry the bike.

17

EV is easy between the main centres. Z (Shell) and BP have got chargers at a good number of their gas stations. The chargenet ones are slow and you need a cable whereas the gas stations are like superchargers with an included type 2. There is a free one outside the Cambridge pool but it’s chargenet (currently broken but hopefully 6mths is enough time for that to be addressed)

Range is hampered by rough road surfaces once you get past Cambridge and Taupo is on the Central Plateau ~360m above sea level so it always takes a bit more getting there than returning. Most of the towns on the way to Taupo have some form of charging.

We’re sitting ~80g CO2e per KWH so not as good as Ontario (25g) but still means EVs hit carbon neutrality with ICE very quickly. If you’re used to an EV you’ll have no issue with infrastructure.

Taupo has two supercharger sites if you hire a really good car :wink:

18

Top tip. The Z (shell) service station at the SH5 roundabout on the edge of town DOES NOT have a charger, but the Warehouse in the centre does. More likely to be available than the superchargers - This came from a mate that does Hastings to Tauranga a fair bit. Oh, there are 2 chargers on SH5 so that drive is very doable even in a second hand Leaf.

19

EV is easy between the main centres. Z (Shell) and BP have got chargers at a good number of their gas stations. The chargenet ones are slow and you need a cable whereas the gas stations are like superchargers with an included type 2. There is a free one outside the Cambridge pool but it’s chargenet (currently broken but hopefully 6mths is enough time for that to be addressed)

Range is hampered by rough road surfaces once you get past Cambridge and Taupo is on the Central Plateau ~360m above sea level so it always takes a bit more getting there than returning. Most of the towns on the way to Taupo have some form of charging.

We’re sitting ~80g CO2e per KWH so not as good as Ontario (25g) but still means EVs hit carbon neutrality with ICE very quickly. If you’re used to an EV you’ll have no issue with infrastructure.

Taupo has two supercharger sites if you hire a really good car :wink:

Derailing the thread a bit, but let’s not pat Ontario on the back too much about it’s low carbon grid as we’re trying to bribe towns to take on all the “temporarily stored” nuclear fuel. But it looks like I can get electric from Auckland airport at double the price. My company is involved in this transition (www.bluwave-ai.com) so it is interesting for me to figure out how different regions are doing. Generally it sounds like NZ is doing it a bit easier than Ontario.

Back to the thread at hand, part of reason for wanting to rent is it gives me flexibility to go check out things that are outside biking range from where I base myself (or the Mdot hoopla around the event, which i enjoy from the angle of meteing athletes from many different countries). When I was in the Canadian Armed Forces ages ago and was racing Armed Forces Tri, the Commission International de Sport Militaire (CISM)'s motto was “friendship thru sport”. In that context we all play the same sport (in my case triathlon, but there were all the Olympic sports) and largely we all did the same thing (soldiers), except some of us were trained literally to hate the other guy and have zero emotion when we have to stab them wiht a bayonet, shoot them in the heart, or drop a bomb on their head. Then you go meet the guy on the other side and in my case during the cold war the guy speaks Russian and we barely can communicate but we share the same lane in the practice pool or adjacent lanes in the practice track and encourage each other along. Even though we are trained to literally kiill the other guy. The theory of the entire thing by bringing soldiers together via sport, maybe we avoid more armed conflict and just by knowing examples of people on the other side, we seek ways of lessening the violence when we are in conflict.

So subsequently going to ITU Worlds, 70.3 Worlds, Kona whatever, you meet carpenters, bankers, techies, doctors, accountants from the other side of the world and as it turns out we’re totally alike living in different places, different languages, different religions, different professions, but all trying to cram in workouts around all that and go as fast as possible…so for 4 days around racing that’s the draw (I will finish back of pack in my age group being the 59 year old cripple guy fast shuffling along). The draw is the people.

I have some cousins in Auckland who have been asking me to visit forever, I tried to qualify for 2020 Worlds and missed slightly on a rolldown at 70.3 Dubai and then the world went into lockdown anyway a few weeks after IM Taupo140.6 in Mar 2020. So this one has been a target trip for a while.

Also I see that England is touring New Zealand for a test Series the exact same time. So that will be fun to watch (I get none of that in Canada, but still bummed out for you all about the Superover loss at ICC WC 2019). I show the highlight video to my staff about why “every ball counts” every so often when they don’t take every opp they get to score. Test number three looks like it is in Hamilton Dec 13-18, right around the time of our hoopla in Taupo.

20

South Island has Wanaka and Queenstown. Climbing all around. Wanaka lake can be cold but has an oldish but decent swimming pool.