Win a T-shirt

Heres hoping everyone is well on the way to recovery after their awesome efforts over the weekend.

Want to win a t-shirt now?

If you have a great photo from the race or a short story or race summary (200-500 words) just send it to one of the organisers eg mickosfinn@gmail.com this week and you could win one of the glow-in-the-dark Race tees.

We have two to giveaway so send your pic or story in now. We'll try and post them (or the best ones at least) online as well as print them in NZ Orienteering magazine.

Looking forward to seeing them all!

Event phone number 04 9744113

Satelite reception being tested at the start finish area at Dude Ranch - Bulls Run Road. The phone number for HQ for the event will be 04 9744113. This number will be available to leave messages at etc.

Travelling to the Start Finish

The start finish is Dude Ranch at the end of Bulls Run Road which is off Moonshine road off state highway 58 - The Haywards road.

Moonshine Road and Bulls Run Road are narrow winding roads - it takes 15-20 mins from SH 58. On the day we ask you to limit your speed to 30km along this section of road. The last 1km is gravel.

The last 100m is across a ford that has a concrete bottom and up the other side to a large paddock. It is fine for normal 2WD cars, but don't bring your low slung sports car or boy racer.

Night time Navigation

I ahve been asked about whether the navigation will be too hard to enable navigation at night. The answer to that is no - About two thirds of the map will be in areas that offer excellent attack points for night navigation.

The other third of the map however will offer some challenges at night. Unless you are an expert or want additional challenge - it is probably best to attck this piece of the map in daylight.

As well as track notes, and vegetation guidance on the map we may also give some guidance on controls that will require care

Partner Wanted

Fit female with some navigational experience looking for a partner.

My background is triathlon so have a steady base and from there went into adventure racing and MTB.

Have done lots of Adventure races approx 8 hour in duration, did the Wild Wellington which is a 12 hour MTB race on team of 3 last November and in January did a 15 hour adventure race near Cambridge.

I also did 1 24 hour race but that’s about a year ago now, although it went fine. am comfortable with 4-6 hour stints on bike at the weekends and between running, biking and swimming I do about 15 hours a week.

I’m assuming though the 24 hour is not going to be all high intensity….what with naving at night time etc so reckon I should be OK to keep going for the duration.

I would love to join a team where I might be able to ‘add’ to the nav but ideally wouldn’t be relied on giving I am still learning the ropes.

Email Mike.sheridan at xtra.co.nz if you are keen

Live satellite from the start/finish

We're at the Moonshine24 start/finish area now and we're online with the Hutt Valley Emergency Management Office satellite system, allowing us to post this blog and call family and friends around the country. This will be up and running over the big weekend, just look for the red phone box.
BTW we're at the end of Bulls Run Road, off Moonshine Road, in the beautiful Akatarawas. Looks like there's plenty of room for tents and lounging around, and even a swim.

Check out the latest Moonshine24 terrain preview...

Newly discovered open forest, streams and tracks all in HD video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cGrNTGj9Wo

More field work

Spent another day in the Akatarawas today searching for links. There is no shortage of tracks and roads - someone mentioned 600km of tracks are in the park. The work we are doing is looking at how we can link areas up in a straight line away from the tracks.

No doubt the map will provide you with lots of options for using the track network. However we want to provide you with options to take the direct line as well. We plan to wtest out as many of these direct line options as possible this month.

Found a couple of cool waterfalls today...about 5m high, which we can show on the map. Slow going but quite straightforward to get around.

Think I will try anoyher catchment tomorrow.

Entries are starting to arrive...

and are being posted on the Entries page. Check out the competition...

sample t-shirts

Sample T-shirts have arrived! They'll be on display, and maybe put through a sweat test, at the Sprint the Bay orienteering races in Hawkes Bay this weekend 22-25 Jan. And testing their glow-in-the-dark capabilities too.

New tee shirts

We were ready to settle for the yellow and black, but after one last search of the product lines we discovered a new collared running t-shirt - in a grey blue with orange accents. Couldn't resist! So it replaces the yellow/black collared tee, as pictured. $45 in breathable BIZCOOL fabric. Bound to be a classic!

And while there is no similar non-collared tee, we found a plain dark blue that is very light and comfortable to wear - and looks great with the orange and glow-in-the-dark white logo. One for the speed demons out there looking to save a few grams! $40 in breathable BIZCOOL fabric. Fast. Yes.

Order before March 1 for guaranteed availability.

Sample terrain? Maybe, or maybe not.

Entry form now available

Prices, t-shirts and transport have all been finalised and the entry form is now available as a pdf download from the registration page http://www.moonshine24.co.nz/registration.html

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.

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...