7 minute read
ADVENTURES IN AUCKLAND
Aussie Agegroupers’ Adventures in Auckland
Debbie Dodd
ONE of the joys of attending an Easter 3-day carnival is the swathe of invitations one receives to other events, carefully placed on one’s car windscreen. These provide a welcome distraction from one’s less than optimal performances (this applies particularly on Day 3 in my limited experience). This year it was a modest little green flyer that caught our eye – not so much the colour or design, but the content. Five races, including two regional championships and two IOF ranking events, all within easy driving distance of New Zealand’s largest city, and packaged neatly into a 3-day long weekend in early June. Not having orienteered “offshore” before, the annual Auckland 3Day looked like a great way to gain some overseas experience. Now some might argue that NZ is not truly international, but we needed passports and strange money, so that was good enough for us. The Australian Bushrangers sent a team to compete against the local Pinestars in a Test Match. In fact, elites made up a sizeable proportion of the field of almost 300, and we soon realised we were the only age-groupers to have made the trip across the Tasman. New Zealand has 10-year age spreads, so Ian and I competed in M40A and W40AS. The pressure was on to beat at least ONE Kiwi and not let our club and country down! We know how the Socceroos must have felt …
Day 1 – Auckland Middle-distance and Sprint Championships
We were a little nervous on the first day, not knowing quite what to expect, but all the procedures were very similar to ours and the event had a happy, relaxed air as old friends greeted each other. It was strange for us to know so few people – a bit like being at our first event. Otherwise it was very much like competing in a state championship, with premarked maps and pre-allocated start times, and a similar number of competitors. The main difference we noted was that the orienteers were younger on average than at home, and not just due to the number of M/W21s. “We are getting quite a few families coming back into Orienteering as their kids reach an age where they can compete, and there is a lot of interest from adventure racers too”, explained one of the organisers when I asked if the demographic was typical. Auckland’s winter rain had churned the farm tracks at Kaukapakapa into thick mud. The terrain was steep and open, with patches of fragrant manuka trees concealing boggy gullies. Almost all the controls were buried in these quagmires. The challenge was far more physical than navigational – find the right bit of swamp, wade in, punch, suck your shoes and gaiters out of the mud, and squelch off to the next control. Being a drought affected Victorian with a pathological fear of wet feet, I tried to pick my way delicately across on the tussocks, until I did a face plant at my second control and came up covered in smelly brown goop! After that it was no problem - just do as the locals do and throw yourself into it. This technique worked well for us, as we both had more names below us than above in the morning’s results. After a quick dash to our motel to chisel the mud off our shoes, we headed to Auckland’s North Shore for the Sprint, which showcased the striking buildings of Massey University. The field was smaller as quite a few chose to skip this event - a shame as it was great fun racing around the campus and dashing up the stairs to the impressive finish under a large semicircular portico. The map quality was excellent, and good use was made of the many stairs and ramps to set route choice challenges. Sprinting is Ian’s forte and he was looking forward to a fast clean run, so it was disappointing that a strained calf muscle from the morning hampered his performance.
Bushrangers’ Peter Preston battles low visibility in the New Zealand pine forest.
Day 2 – Middle-distance
Heavy overnight rain turned the sandy track to Woodhill Forest into a morass. Today’s terrain was low coastal dunes in pine forest, and the map was a mass (mess?) of convoluted brown squiggles. We had to complete a short course in the morning, then our finish times were used to establish our place in the afternoon’s chasing start. Times for both runs were combined to determine the outcome. Luckily for me, my map was 1:7,500, but Ian had the standard 1:10,000 which was an extra challenge. The forest was lovely and clear underfoot, but highly technical, full of small mounds and depressions which all looked similar. We both ventured out with some trepidation and a good degree of care, as relocation was going to be extremely difficult. After lunch everyone set out on the second loop which was a little more technical and slightly longer, and I made a couple of errors this time. Simplification was an important technique, but the large number of controls in close proximity was distracting – flags and people everywhere! Ian’s age-group was sent out on the same course as the elites, with a nasty final section in a heavily logged part of the forest. It was a battle to find those last controls – Ian stood up on a knoll for a better view, only to see four other “marmots” doing the exact same thing! The courses were really well designed, with a great spectator leg that allowed for some exciting commentary, and we cheered on the Bushrangers as the elites ran through from one section of the forest to the other.
Bushrangers’ Kathryn Ewels was best of the Australians in the Middle-distance Test race, finishing 2nd. Photo: D. Meyer
Bushrangers’ Dave Meyer was best Australian in the Sprint, finishing 3rd. Photo: D. Winslow
Bushrangers’ Rob Preston in the warm-up Zoo Sprint. Photo: D. Winslow
Day 3 – Classic-distance
We headed to Waioneke, on the north-west coast, for the final day of competition. It was a gorgeous sunny morning. There was more pine forest, knolls and depressions, this time with less visibility. The forest was soft, still and silent except for muffled footsteps, panting breath, and the occasional jubilant beep of a SPORTident stick finding its target. My complete brain fade in the second half of the course blew all chances of an age-group win, while Ian had a good consistent run. We both loved the complexity and variety of this map. Overall we were happy with how we’d coped with all this new, intricate terrain (and for the record we managed to beat a couple of Kiwis). The New Zealanders definitely displayed home ground advantage, with a few of the Bushrangers having their worst result of the weekend on Day 3. However, it was great to see the elite Aussie women take out four of the top five places, showing real depth. There were many things to like about this carnival – the proximity of the events to Auckland and to each other made it very easy for us to fly in, compete, have a few days sightseeing afterwards and fly home again. The package of high quality events attracted participants from all over New Zealand. The maps were all first class and the courses interesting, varied and challenging for everyone. We particularly liked the way that elites and agegroupers alike competed under the exact same conditions, ie chasing starts etc. A lot of effort was put into sponsorship, and there were plenty of good spot prizes and special offers. Organisation seemed to run smoothly and we were blessed with great weather. Auckland’s pine forests were lovely to run in (although we did miss our kangaroos). One small criticism was the results displays. The previous days’ and cumulative results were never put up, so we didn’t know our standings in the overall competition until we could access the website later. But all in all, it was a fantastic three days of orienteering. If you’re looking for an overseas age-group adventure, think about Auckland next June.
