Like the advertising quote from Jaws “…just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” here we are again, with events, at least in Auckland, back in abeyance. Hopefully it does look, notwithstanding the extra week and a bit continuation of Levels 2.5 and 2, as though things are under control […]

Firstly my apologies….although I sent out the pdf version of this News last weekend, as I didn’t have full internet I forgot about this Web version. If there are any avid readers out there who wondered where it was, read on….. As events pick up in New Zealand but second waves of Covid-19 hit many […]

Three weeks into Level 1 and signs of orienteering life, at least in New Zealand, are starting to emerge. PAPO were first off the mark with an OY on 14 June attended by about 175 people. More local events have taken place around the country including Bay of Plenty, Palmerston North and Wellington. The Auckland […]

Well, if I thought April was difficult to find anything to write about, it was nothing on May! However, as (touch wood) the drop to Level 1 appears just over the horizon there is now at least the opportunity for some forward planning for what remains of the 2020 orienteering season. Read on. Malcolm Ingham […]

After 5+ years of writing HP News this is the first time I have had to put one together with absolutely no actual events or training camps to report on! It leaves me therefore to at least keep people up to date, as far as possible, with the likely implications for domestic and international orienteering […]

Well, what a difference a month makes. At the end of February we were looking to trials for JWOC and WUOC, and those in Wellington were fully engaged in preparations for the ONZ Champs. Now we wonder when we are even going to be able to orienteer again, and globally major events, if not cancelled, […]

After the sprints of January there has been somewhat of a lull throughout February although weekly club events have started up around the country. From a HP perspective the main happening has been a training camp held in Nelson/Nelson Lakes, reported on below. But as we move into March and the serious business of trials, […]

Season 2020 is underway! A highly successful Lonely Mountain Sprint series saw a strong international field and gave a great demonstration of the new IOF knock-out sprint format. A full report follows, including an analysis of the map choice option of splitting that was used in the semi-finals. Also, as we move into 2020 a […]

With essentially no events of note the main feature of December is the Under 23 Development Camp, held this year courtesy of Counties Manakau Orienteering Club. However, after a long year it also provides a chance to take a short break before launching into the next year. Of course, 2020 will see an early start […]

After the plethora of events in October, November has seen a dearth! Hence, no pictures, no results, but the chance to reflect on a couple of the issues that came to light before and during October – not least the allegations of cheating that arose out of the world Military Games and World Cup races […]

October has been a month with a hectic start and an even more hectic finish. Beginning with the second weekend of the Oceania Carnival – which saw some excellent individual performances , but Australia taking the Aspin-Key Trophy – and culminating with both the final round of the IOF World Cup and the Auckland Championships […]

It seems somewhat odd to be writing this in Wellington while a substantial number of NZL orienteers are in Australia at the Oceania Carnival. Nevertheless it has allowed me to keep an eye on both the goings on over the ditch over the weekend, and the happenings in Switzerland where the final round of the […]

A little later in the year than usual, but the first forest only WOC since the advent of sprint orienteering has now come and gone. The compressed programme compared to previous years left little time for reflection during the event, those appear below. WOC has also left little time to consider other issues so the […]

July is the traditionally busy month in world orienteering although this year the later date for WOC has made things a little less congested. Nervertheless, JWOC, WMTBOC, O-Ringen and World Rogaine Champs have all fallen within it. Having been in east of Canada for when JWOC was on I found it quite hard to follow […]

As usual June has seen a major upturn in happenings. This started, of course, with the massive turn-out at Queen’s Birthday. This was followed a week later by the first round of the World Cup for 2019, though it was not particularly uplifting from the local point of view. Now we have the departure of […]

With no second JWOC trial this year to fill the gap between the ONZ Champs and Queen’s Birthday there has been a bit of a lull, notwithstanding events on the various local scenes. Following the naming of the JWOC and WOC teams, in mid-month there was a successful HP camp held in Auckland, largely, but […]

So the ONZ Championships, with new locations and a variety of challenging terrain, have come and gone. Congratulations to all the winners and place getters and to PAPO as the lead organizers. Out of the ONZ Championships we now await the final announcement of the WOC and JWOC teams and, below, is updated the points […]

As we move towards the ONZ Championships at Easter, March has been a relatively busy month, not only with the start of many of the regional OY Series, but also a HP camp in Rotorua, the Otago Champs and, at the end of the month, the first set of JWOC Trials. Outside orienteering there has […]

After a busy January with training camps and the South Island Champs, February almost seems like a break between the summer and the real orienteering season starting, as despite numerous local mid-week introductory events, the only goings-on at HP orienteering level have been somewhat in the background. Nevertheless if we look more widely at the […]

A New Year, new hopes for all of us as we seek to improve our own and others performances and further develop orienteering. Before launching fully into the new year, below are further comments on a couple of issues arising from the Under 23 Camp in December – food for thought at least. There is […]

Having reported in brief on the Canterbury Champs last month, the main happening in December has been the Under 23 Camp which has again tested the physical and mental stamina of our up-and-coming elites. Also, however, December has seen the submission of the ONZ bid for JWOC2022. So now, sit back, relax and enjoy the […]

Although November started with CDOA Championships, highly successfully hosted by OBOP, it has since been an essentially quiet month. On the HP front much of it has been taken up with final preparation of the ONZ bid for JWOC2022, and with mapping, planning and general organization for the U23 Development Camp which starts next Saturday. […]

October brings with it the end of the international season and, with the exception of the rejuvenated CDOA Champs and the Canterbury Champs, also the wind-down of the domestic competition year. Still to come of course are the U23 and Junior Camps in December. Here though we can summarize the last round of the World […]

September always seems to be a bit of a dead month coming after the excitement of JWOC and WOC, and before the Australian Championships Carnival. For that reason it is the time to pause, take stock and work out where we are. Hence…no major event reports but a lot of reading. How did we really […]

Clearly the single outstanding highlight of August was Tim Robertson’s silver medal in the WOC sprint – the first ever podium finish at WOC for NZL. However, there were other pleasing results, as well as a few disappointments. Also, we should not forget the performances of Georgia Skelton at the Junior WMTBO Champs in Austria. […]