Sunday, September 27, 2009

Official Fieldwork Begins






Way before we start thinking about control sites we want to get a good idea about the terrain - what is possible, what is difficult, are the tracks still there - where is the inpenetrable scrub.

Greg and I set oout on Sunday to begin. We probably ticked off about 5 square km of the 200 available to us. Found a new track along a ridge - and the wondered if we could link up the ridge to the vallies on either side. Yes and no was the answer. One vally had very straight forward access via tracks and spurs - And on the other side? You want to pick your spur. We tried one and found it was full of Kei Kei and Suplejack - took about an hour to descend 300m! But then again the next one over took just 20 mins to go back up. Will try and make sure we mark that area of scrub as slow going.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Moonshine 24 - Are you ready

Its now e-official. Moonshine 24 - the 2010 New Zealand Rogaining Championships. The first webpages and the blog are up and all the details are being finalised. Organisers are promising tough terrain in the rugged Akatarawa ranges, adjacent to the Tararuas. Instead of massive peaks and alpine terrain, this 24 hour overnight navigational jaunt offers snaking gorges, pristine pools and native bush to boot - floaties and airbeds might come in handy too.

As the weather gets warmer it could be time to start your training and get some long days out in the hills, we'll post some more info about the terrain in days to come so you can refine your training. Although, if you've ever competed in the Karapoti Classic you might just have an idea of the stunning area that is the Akatarawas...