 mal g
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 1:40 AM
The Xmas 5 day has serious merit. Looking from the outside in - when our european trips are organised, there are back to back multiple events and generally only one travel day between them, and we are travelling between countries!!! A small road trip through the South Island would be sensational esp when the events are of such a high calibre. The expectation would be sport ident at all events and lots of southern hospitality. Alistairs comments about linking the Site to WoO has serious merit. The Europeans will come. Market the HELL out of it
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Michael
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 5:26 AM
A "small" road trip thru the South Island, anyone remember the South Island Mobile D Squad Camp? We started at Picton and went to Hanmer and Chch and Tekapo and Craigmore and Naseby and Seacliff and back thru Chch and Rotoiti. A fantastic time but at the end of it we were STUFFED. Note that Waikaia wasn't included, wanted to but it was just too far. OTOH I've always been surprised how compact Europe seems.
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SimonB
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 6:09 AM
there has been an unofficial timeframe thrown around and it seems like there will be two days warm up, then about 4 days at the end of the carnival where things are allowed for, already oceania organisers are talking to us so it sounds like this is going to happen. i think the three WRE events is a big enough european draw card?
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Greg
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 6:21 AM
Dont confuse your excitement with wanting to go to Europe as the other way round, especially for WRE's. A summer training trip in the middle of their winter is more likely to be a bigger draw card than 3 WRE's with weak fields
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mick finn
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 8:29 AM
Yeah, just to clarify, the xmas 5-days can be deliberately low key, a long and short red course to make it easy for organisers and early starts usually 8-10am, followed by beaches, runs thru Abel Tasman etc. So, not necessarily sportident and WREs but more of a social warmup before New Years Eve. Would take advantage of the fact that lots of us are forced to take 1/4 of our precious holidays at that time and that a lot is happening at Nelson then.
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SJ
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 9:34 AM
It clearly has to be SI though, even if it is low-key.
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Michael
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 9:49 AM
When I drive past sports fields in the afternoon or evening, I see teams that have driven up, pulled a ball out, and started their sport. I search for ways that we can make orienteering like that. Squads and teams on tour get close with the toilet paper method, and Q&A controls have made scores of rogaines possible. Are these not acceptable any more?
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Paul I
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 10:22 AM
Whoops! I thought the toilet paper was there for a different reason.
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SJ
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 11:26 AM
I don't think orienteering is the same sort of sport though. For example, you can't just pull over on the side of the road and go orienteering wherever you like. Equally, the fact these sports teams have just pulled up and started playing doesn't affect the quality of their play, whereas toilet paper is only used for orienteering when something like sport ident would be far too much effort to be warranted. Imagine how awesome it would be if we could have splits for all our training! I think it would be foolish not to use sportident, and I never understand why there are so many people in NZ orienteering who still seem to insist on clip cards...
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Jamie
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Posted: 19 February 2008, 1:50 PM
Agree in principle, but i'm also a little disturbed at the current discrepancy between investment on sportident and investment on maps.
I would way rather do a toilet paper course on a good map, than a fancy sportident race on a crappy map.
The south island trail has been done many times before, seems to happen every few years. My preference for an aftermatch would be just naseby/middlemarch (plenty of scope for 3-4 days) rather than travelling further.
Looking forward to Naseby in a few weekends time...awesome!
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Tane Cambridge
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Posted: 20 February 2008, 2:41 PM
I agree with you there (naseby/middlemarch), Waikaia in all its grandure is bitch of a place to get at....no matter which direction you come from
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Jenni
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Posted: 22 February 2008, 11:53 AM
What about that great little map Bruce made at Paradise?
Only big enough for a middle distance and a long way in but has to be the most beautiful surrounding scenery I've run on in NZ and comparable to running in Switzerland. The map was up there on technical challenge as well.
Now if we made the map in the Beech forest opposite Klondyke corner we'd have a map that would be one of the most technical challenging in NZ with the most beautiful surrounds.
This message was edited by Jenni on 23 February 2008, 9:18 AM
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Paul I
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Posted: 22 February 2008, 3:02 PM
Another one of those "hey this would make a cool orienteering map" places, is up on Deer Park Hill overlooking Queenstown and the Remarkables. As is the beech forest around Lake Sylvan and north of Diamond Lake near Paradise as you say Jenni.
Usual story though; how can we get to run on these tempting terrains, unless maybe someone can come up with a great little compact event/course format using tiny wee maps of the best parts (so they are much cheaper to produce) and incorporating this into a big event such as the Oceania Afermatch Central Otago Muster. Could say three or so 30min races accumulate to find the winner at the end of a frantic but memorable day. Maybe Michael Hill Jeweller will let us run on his cool looking private golf course which is another one of those "hey this would make a cool orienteering map" places!I am semi joking of course. There must be quite a few detailed little spots around the rocky landscapes and old gold digging areas of the region...or is Naseby still so nice that it satisfies all our needs?
Klondyke corner sounds like one of those places you dream about, and when you wake you try to go back to sleep.
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