This year’s Katoa Po was held for the first time since 1994 on the Ōpepe farm . The weather did look a bit dubious earlier in the week but turned out to be fine on the day. Around 175 competitors took part in the events over the weekend with camping in a nice sheltered gully. The Cluedo murder mystery was solved by 17 of the over 100 participants so the name of the winner, Neil Kerrison, was drawn out of a hat .

Both the Relay and the Explorer rogaine was the subject of tough competition with North West coming out on top by a comfortable margin from Taranaki and OBOP with the fastest time on 4 of the 5 legs but with the other teams fairly closely bunched. A comment from one of the most regular attendees of Katoa Po probably says it all . “Thanks for putting on another fantastic Katoa Po, I think that was technically the hardest I’ve done in 30 years of them (which I think is great)”

The Explorer rogaine series (2 in the evening and one on Sunday morning totalling 4 and a half hours duration ) was dominated by school teams and in particular the winners (Arya Chebbi and Max Franks from Havelock North High School) of the sponsored $500 prize for the first school team were outstanding in that they cleared the course around 40 minutes ahead of the maximum time and were way in front of the winning open team. The school section of the Explorer rogaine looks to be shaping up to be a fiercely contested event and as a great preparation for the Get to Go and Hillary challenges.

Jim Lewis who has been a stalwart of Katoa Po weekend and the main reason why it has continued for 46 years was presented with a certificate appointing him as Grand Master of the Order of the Wise Owl as well as a jigsaw puzzle of one of his Katoa Po maps. Having been at 45 of those weekends,.Jim has been a part of every Katoa Po since it began in 1981 and has filled many of the roles to make it happen. 

All in all, everyone had a great time and we look forward to hosting the Katoa Po weekend next year with hopefully more club teams in the relay and more school teams in the Explorer. .

Below: Jim Lewis receiving his ‘Grand Master of the Grand order of the Wise Owl’ award!