This one looks like a beauty. The controller Mark Copeland ran a 12/6hr rogaine in the Wairamarama area in 2001. The rogaine was well set, the countryside was great, and the local farmers who did the catering were extremely supportive. It all looks great for a 24hr and this year's NZ Championship.
The description of the terrain is: "rolling limestone farmland country encompassing large pockets of pine trees and native bush, coastal scenery, limestone tomos (deep pits) and caves, spectacular waterfalls and stony bottom streams." You can camp at the site, there are motels and a campground at Tuakau, Auckland is one hours drive away, and Hamilton one and a quarter.
For the first time in New Zealand a rogaine will use electronic controls. These consist of a box which sits on each control, with a hole into which you put your e-card. The box beeps and a light flashes to confirm that the box has written its ID and the time onto your e-card. At the end, you put your e-card into a similar box which reads the data onto the organiser's computer. Within seconds you get a printout of the controls you have visited, your score, and probably all the times as well! With so much checking to be done in a short time using clipcards, errors in the results have been almost unavoidable, the system should fix this and also enable teams to move away from control sites much more easily.
The Sport-Ident system is one of two which are used in orienteering around the world; it is the one adopted by Australia and the clubs in the Auckland area are the first to purchase in NZ. The e-cards are quite small, orienteers wear them on a finger; they cost about $50, and will be available for hire for $3. It may be that intention sheets will not have to be used with this system, as the control box retains a record of the cards that have visited.
The Green Coast 2004 NZ Rogaining Championship starts at 1pm on Saturday 6 March and finishes 24 hours later. There are also 16-hour and 6-hour non-championship options which start at 9pm Saturday and 7am Sunday respectively. Entries close on 1 March.
This page written by Michael Wood, installed on 19 Jan 04 and updated 31 Jan.