Yes, that is Carsten Jørgensen above, featuring in Finland’s orienteering magazine ‘Suunnistaja’, and Yvette Baker features on the following page. Naturally it is in Finnish, with a feature on Hanne Hilo orienteering down under. We have an extensive summary by the managing editor Juho-Veikko . It is followed by some of his own observations and experiences travelling in New Zealand:
The headline leading these articles is ”Käärmeitä karussa Uudessa-Seelannissa”. It means two things at the same time. At first glance the reader might understand it as “Snakes in the barren/rugged New Zealand” However the word “karussa” means “in the barren” but it’s also a conjugated form of “karata” which means “to escape” or “to flee from”. So, in the end the headline means “Escaping snakes to New Zealand” or “In safe haven from snakes in New Zealand”. The headline is not created by me so I can praise it freely. In my opinion it’s brilliant because the previous pages talk about Hanne Hilo’s winter in Australia where there are snakes.
The article begins by saying that if the reader is already tired of travelling to Portugal or Spain every winter, the southern hemisphere could be the option. Australia has beautiful terrain, but there are poisonous snakes. But in the little brother of Australia (sorry that the writer uses that statement), and the only troublesome animal is possum that causes a lot of economic harm to farmers, and also live in the orienteering forests.
The first two pages talk about New Zealand as an orienteering and tourist destination. They advise that readers should reserve at least two weeks to visit the country. Places worth visiting are for example Wai-O Tapu, Waitomoto cave, Hobbiton and Tongariro. Then there are some basic things about geography and nature, kauri, kiwi. And about how much it costs to travel and stay in NZ. It is also recommended to visit New Zealand in the Finnish wintertime when there is summer in NZ. The writer also tells that it is a good idea to visit an Asian location on the way there or back. Border control in New Zealand is quite strict (compared to travel between European countries), and one should definitely clean his/her orienteering shoes before arriving in New Zealand. One of the most challenging things is the left-hand traffic, but it gets easier – just stay on the left!. And one should control his/her driving speed instead of outsourcing it to the local police.
The next pages talk about Carsten Jörgensen and Yvette Baker. Their life in Europe before moving to NZ and why they are living here. They talk about their favourite terrain in NZ (Waikawa Beach for Yvette). Yvette says that the best thing about orienteering in NZ is the very close orienteering community as everyone supports each other, despite living in different parts of the country. The negative thing is the distance between terrain areas and only a few technical areas of terrain where orienteering is very challenging. Therefore, she misses some of the top terrain areas in Europe. But the NZ forests are fantastic for trail running and MTB.
The previous pages discuss Hanne Hilo’s adventure in Australia where she talks about being a coach in Australia with the Coach in Residence programme, as well as Australian nature, snakes and kangaroos. Hanne praises the sense of community among the Australian orienteers, saying she will come back to Australia some day. According to Hanne aiming to be a world-class top orienteer in NZ or Australia requires a lot of dedication and sacrifice because it is practically necessary to live and orienteer in Europe at some stage. At the same time orienteers somehow finance everything which is hard to balance with education and professional careers.
Hanne recalls the “bush” terrain in NZ where a machete would have been a good tool. Thankfully, she also mentions the runnable and great NZ terrain she recently experienced in the 2025 Oceania Champs.
If you can read Finnish we have attached the pdf’s pages here from the magazine. The next issue of their magazine will be about Jukola and Venla relays and of course the WOC 2025 that will be held in Kuopio, Finland. Juho-Veikko also mentioned that he has visited New Zealand three times previously and has some anecdotes:
The first time was in 1994 or 1995 at the age of 9-10 when we went there to meet my father’s childhood friend Heikki who emigrated to NZ from Finland in the 1960’s. They were living in Ngongotahā at that time. When he was taking us through the town by car he said “Ladies and gentlemen – the centre of Ngongotaha. If you blink, you’ll miss it”. Heikki’s wife Kay offered me a toast in breakfast. That was the first time I ate toast. And since then I’ve been eating it every morning.
The second time was a few years later when my sister spent an exchange year there while in high school. My sister and the host family was living in Motueka so that time we got to know the South Island.
The third time was 2013 during the world cup when my wife was still in the national team and ran the world cup races. I came to NZ a bit later with my parents, but my wife stayed 1 week with the Simpson family if I remember correctly. When my parents and I arrived, we met the “brother” from my sister’s host family from the 1990’s in Wellington where he was working. He doesn’t know anything about orienteering or sports in general. He asked me what we are going to do in New Zealand. I answered that we are going to spend a few days in Palmerston North. He started to laugh. “You guys travel from the other side of the globe and among all the places here you have decided to stay in Palmerston North”. Maybe he understood a bit better when I told him about the races. I liked the city, I drank my first IPA beer there, before that I drank only lagers. From that moment on I have been drinking only IPA-beers. But not every day, like I eat toast.
During that trip when the Finnish national team was on their way back to hotel from training, they stopped at a petrol station to buy water and ice cream. Minna Kauppi was sitting on a bench eating ice cream, a car stopped briefly some meters away, a window opened, and an elderly lady took a photo. The car then drove away. One week later (while the team was still in NZ) a Finnish celebrity tabloid magazine Seitsemän päivää (Seven days) published a short article with a photo of Minna Kauppi sitting on a bench next to a petrol station in New Zealand eating ice cream. The headline was “Yummy moment after a hard training” or something like that. Minna was such a big star at that time in Finland. She couldn’t get privacy even on the other side of the globe because a Finnish tourist had spotted her there and earned 150 euros by sending the photo to the magazine. Unfortunately, Suunnistaja magazine can’t afford to pay for photos, especially of orienteers eating ice cream.”
So thanks Juho-Veikko for the article on NZ orienteering. Unfortunately there’s no ice cream budget or payment for Carsten & Yvette, but thanks for taking the time to share our kiwi orienteering highlights with the Finns.
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