Kia ora all

Welcome to 2022, a new year in a number of ways. Over the next few newsletters, you’ll get to see a number of new initiatives we have to get more people engaged in club activities and continue the culture of innovation the club is known for.

View the welcome from Gene  here.

But, the first thing to tackle this year is our events calendar. The pandemic is transitioning. Prior to the release of the COVID Protection Framework (traffic light system) by the NZ Government over summer, NZ was reacting to outbreaks by trying to eliminate the virus. But, with a high portion of the population now vaccinated, we are moving toward reopening and actively managing the virus while allowing regulated community transmission. This puts sports organisers in a better position to organise events without the chance of surprise Level 3 and Level 4 restriction forcing cancellations. Also, thanks to the NZ Government, Sport NZ and Orienteering NZ, we’ve got good guidance on what is acceptable. We’ve also got our own COVID Protection Framework tailored to our events to be released soon. More certainty around events is definitely something to get excited about, but running events under the CPF, especially at red level comes with a lot of responsibility and we have to ensure that our events don’t create undue risk or stress for participants and volunteers, especially once case numbers increase. While I can’t confirm all the details just yet, I can say it’s likely that orienteering event’s we run won’t be as social as usual, but it’s likely we’ll have controls in the terrain and maps at the start.

Coming up in future newsletters, I’ll share our exciting new ideas for the 2022 season.

It is now time to renew your annual NWOC membership if you have not already done so – club fees have been reduced this year and we have a rogaine + membership combo deal.

Gene Beveridge
Club President

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2022 got off to a great start for those of us who enjoyed some strikingly different orienteering terrain at the Not Oceania Champs in Canterbury in January – read about Annemarie’s personal carnival experience below.

Photo credit: Annemarie Hogenbirk

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1. Events Calendar 
2. 2022 NWOC membership fees are now due
3. (Not) Oceania 2022 report
4. NWOC events in 2022
5. Katoa Po
6. Holdsworth Jumbo Trail Race

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1.Events Calendar

Please help event organisers by following the specific guidelines for each event and remembering to pre-enter so that  gathering limits are not exceeded.

The AOC SummerNav events are now taking place under the Covid Protection Framework (currently at Red level).  See  here for details of how the SummerNav events will be run. A number of park orienteering events are still available as orienteering training courses with MapRun6.  Maps (pdf versions for you to print out a copy) are uploaded to the AOC website and in MapRun.  Details on MapRun are given here.
PDF versions of the maps can be found on the Auckland Club website.

February 2022
Tue 15  AOC SummerNav  5.30pm Macleans Park, Eastern Beach (Vaccinated only, pre-entry essential) – Details here.
Sun 20  CMOC  AOS 1 (Auckland O Series) 11.30am – 12.30pm for NWOC members. Barry Curtis Park, Flat Bush. Pre-entry required: https://entero.co.nz/evento.php?eventName=aos1-2022.  Event details can be found here.
Tue 22 AOC SummerNav  5.30pm Point England Reserve

March
Thu 03  AOC SummerNav  5.30pm Auckland Domain
Sat 05   AOC SummerNav  8.00pm Hamlins Hill,  Night event
Sat/Sun 12/13 Katoa Po Relays and rogaine in Taupo. Pre-entry here
Tue 15  AOC SummerNav  5.30pm  Western Springs (Stadium Road)
Sat 19  NWOC AOS 2 Wilson Road – new map!
Sun 20 NWOC AOS 3 Lake Kereta – see more details below.
Sat/Sun 26/27  JWOC Trials

April
Sun 03  AOC  AOS 4  Muriwai (Woodhill Forest)
Sun 10  NWOC  AOS 5 Riverhead Forest
Easter 15- 18 NZ Orienteering Champs – Nelson region. Enter by 18 February (late entry at extra cost). See website for all details.
Friday – Sprint Nelson College/ Sat – Middle at Canaan Downs South/ Sun Long at Canaan Downs North / Monday – Relay at Moturoa East

AOS = Auckland Orienteering Series – events generally have 9 courses of varying lengths and difficulty to suit all abilities and ages

2. 2022 Membership fees are now due – and a membership/rogaine combo deal
We have a bargain for you – NWOC membership subscription rates have been reduced for 2022.

And there is more … this year we are trialling a new club membership and rogaine entry combo which offers good savings for those who love our rogaine series.
We have 3 rogaines planned for 2022.

The new combo deal means you will effectively get free entry to one rogaine – plus all the benefits of club membership.
Club membership subscriptions are now due – ensure you get members’ rates at all orienteering events. Existing members can simply credit the club bank account (WESTPAC Account 03-0243-0247251-000 and include your name in the reference field.) – no need to log in or re-register.

Those selecting the membership/rogaine combo deal will receive a credit voucher before the start of the rogaine series.

3. Not The Oceania Carnival January 2022

Read on for Annemarie Hogenbirk’s first-hand experience of the (Not) Oceania carnival held in Canterbury in January.

Fauxceania 2022

After a tricky 2021, with lots of events cancelled due to the impact of a tiny, invisible virus, the thought of participating in Oceania was a bright light in a sometimes quite dark tunnel of the long Auckland lockdown. The event, initially scheduled for January 2021, was ’shuffled’ to the same month in 2022, with as an added obstacle the still closed borders, resulting in the ‘Not The Oceania’ or, even better phrased, the Fauxceania Champs.

I stand in AWE of the volunteer organisation behind this event: planning an event this size, with ongoing uncertainty, changes in organising clubs, venues which are no longer available (some of them at very short notice), and forever changing Covid-requirements is an immense undertaking. On the ground, during the event, you would not have known the stress this PAPO team has dealt with!

Although the event had already started with a warm-up Sprint at the University of Canterbury (Saturday 8/1) and a warm-up Middle at tricky Woodend, my first event was the WRE Sprint at Rangiora High, scheduled for a 5PM start on a very warm Canterbury day. Planner Briana Steven and controller Alister Metherell had made the most of the available terrain, complicated by on-going building construction, to create a super-fast, compact, forever turning challenge. I am not quick at the best of times, but finishing within 4.30 minutes of super-athlete Lyn Stanton (AOC) in my age category was a personal highlight ;-)

The WRE Long Distance race was scheduled at Laidmore, a carbon farm planted on top of former farmland, situated east of Ohuriawa Gorge, and east of South Branch Waipara River, 1.5 hours north of Christchurch. The area is formed of the same band of limestone that can be found from the Castle Hill area right across to Kaikoura. The Ohuriawa gorge is rich in fossils and it is one of the few places that the K-Pg boundary, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs, can be observed. Just up the road, a large number of Moa bones were discovered, along with early Maori Rock drawings.

The three kilometre, 180-metre climb to the start was indicative of the actual orienteering courses: hot, long and challenging! The majority of each course was in the steep forest, indicated as ‘white’ on the map but with many low-hanging branches and several areas with fallen trees, resulting in slow progress. The finish area with the final controls was on open farmland, with a steep descent to river level, only having to climb all the way up again to the finish.
Continue reading here.

Photo credit Annemarie Hogenbirk

Also on the Not Oceania topic…
Perhaps the theme of the gruelling Long distance event at Laidmore/ Mt Ellen was “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. This was exemplified by Marquita Gelderman’s performance – after getting spiked by a rogue branch, she completed the course with blood covering her face (rose-tinted glasses?), notching up another win before  receiving 6 stitches courtesy of the first aid team.

Notable elite grade results included Gene Beveridge: 2^nd M21E Sprint, 4^th M21E Long and 3^rd M21E Middle and Relay.
Cameron de LÍsle placed 4^th in the M21E Middle and relay events.
Gene and Cameron together placed first team in the 2-person Oceania Relay.

4. Upcoming NWOC events in 2022
We’ll kick off club events for 2022 with our double header event on 19/20 March – a new map, two AOS events (middle and a long), plus camping at fabulous Lake Kereta. The maps are very close to each other so make a weekend of it and come and camp at Lake Kereta, where the deer roam free and there are even hot showers! Camping may be subject to Covid restrictions.
Marquita has almost completed re-mapping Wilson Road, which we last used for orienteering around 20 years ago - check out some of the varied terrain below.

Sunday 10 April AOS event close to home at Riverhead Forest, exploring more of the map which was first used in May 2021. (Note the new Sunday date).

4 and 5 May and 18 May Year 7 & 8 zone days plus the Interzone final at Moire Park.  These events cannot take place at Covid red level. We are always looking for more volunteers to help out at these mid-week events which introduce hundreds of Intermediate-age students to orienteering.

Rogaine Series 29 May/ 12 June/ 26 June
The always popular rogaines are a great opportunity for club members to become involved with course setting and we can help pair you up with an experienced mentor.  We kick off the rogaine series at Lake Kereta, followed on 12 June by a return to StoneyBrook, which until recently, has been a filming location for the Lord of the Rings Amazon series. We will return to Riverhead for the final rogaine.

If you would like to volunteer for any of these events in any capacity, contact  Club Captain Rob Garden (email: rgmg@xtra.co.nz) or  sign up on the Volunteer Sign Up sheet.

5. Katoa Po Night Relays 12/13 March
This is the weekend for all night owls and also a great option for adventure racers looking for navigation practice in night-time conditions. The relay features teams of 7 or 5 runners with courses suitable for younger runners as well as elite orienteers. The Night Explorer option features teams of 2-4 members and is not a relay. The club will pay your relay entry but you need to pay for the Explorer option or for the rogaine on Sunday. Read all the details here and enter via EnterO. The club will then make up our club teams from these entries. There is lots of support for newcomers and Trevor can often loan runners a powerful head-torch. Pack a tent and camp at the event.

6. Jumbo-Holdsworth Trail Race
Following on from some in-form orienteering at the Not Oceania Champs, club president Gene Beveridge, took race honours at the Jumbo-Holdsworth trail race in Wellington’s Tararua Ranges. This mountainous race included over 1400 metres of ascent – congratulations!