Akatarawa Rogaine

6 or 3 hours, 20 April 2008

Entrants

Wellington's next rogaine is a real bushie - in the wilds of the Akatarawas. This huge area of native bush between Upper Hutt and Kapiti has been used for MTB-orienteering and the longer Akatarawa Attack - but these are restricted to the ridable track network. This rogaine will push those bounds.

Starting from the Maungakotukutuku Valley on the Kapiti side, the area is centred on the 708m Maunganui, second-highest point in the Aka's. The topo map is notoriously unreliable in this area, and planner Gordon Balfour has done a huge amount of fieldwork, and the tracks have been updated by Michael Wood. Greg Thurlow has checked most of the controls, and came back raving:

"Had great fun on Sunday cruising through a large chunk of the Akatarawa Rogaine course. My little adventure wasn’t without drama though. Not only did I have to wade fast flowing, waist high, dis-coloured streams (often at carefully chosen spots), two vicious looking dogs liked the sight of me, unnerving to say the least…. But by the end of the 8.5 hrs I spent out there I had had a ball - testing my trail finding skills and navigation in the dense native bush.

"Even managed a couple of glimpses of Kapiti island... Must say that Devil's Staircase isn't nearly as bad as the name suggests or all those mountainbikers make it out. Maybe it's the extra 10-15kgs that have on their shoulders !!!

"Some tips:

• Use your compass all the time in the bush
• Southern end of course requires little compass work, the more exacting nav is on the bush trails
• Travel will be slower than you think but overall is clean
• Take heed of the different trail specifications on the map - as usual the OHV mapping is multipurpose and it actually attempts to describe the speed of passage for biking on the trails.
• For those that enjoyed the Eastbourne Rogaine, the terrain is very similar. Mr Sheridan must be getting excited at the thought.

The event will be more formal than the usual afterwork event, complete with colour A3 map, and post event BBQ. However, Gordon wants to minimise admin and costs. Therefore pre-entry is in the same way as afterwork – ie. email to There is a huge discount for registrations received before 15th April:

• $15 pp for 6hr, $10 for 3hr
• Juniors (U21) $5 for either event
• Extra $10 pp for registration received after 15 April

Registration information required in your email:

1. Name of each team member.
2. A contact number for the team captain – cell phone if you have it
3. Team grade – Mens, Womens or, Mixed. And Junior (all members U21), Open or Vet (all 40+)

The Start/Finish is in Maungakotukutuku Valley. From Wellington pass through Paekakariki, negotiate the perennial roadworks at Mackays Crossing, and look for "Waterfall Rd" on the right. Care turning right off state highway, look for advance signposting "FourX4 Adventures". Waterfall Rd for 2km, right into Maungakotukutuku Rd, follow windy road up hill to "FourX4 Adventures" and contine 500m.

Timetable:

• 6 hour maps from 9am, start at 10am and finish at 4pm.
• 3 hour maps from 11.30, start at midday and finish at 3pm

Enquiries to the course planner who took these photos with a humble cellphone! The top one is a compilation looking south from near Maunganui; the bottom one looks north. The coast in the distance has been washed out by a bit of fiddling with the contrast. Gordon's trusty cellphone is 027 212 2740.

This page was written by and installed on 9 Apr 08.