Katoa Po is New Zealand’s premier night orienteering competition! Teams of 5 or 7 battle out their navigation in the darkness. Steve Oram has been a regular participant and rates this weekend full of events a highlight. 

Katoa Po is always a highlight of the calendar and this year was no different. There was a good number of campers this year, perhaps helped by the Explorer adventure racers who enjoyed a night Rogaine in parallel with the relay. The campsite overlooked Taupo in the distance and the lights of the town made for a scenic backdrop once night fell. The map was the usual mixture of farmland and forest with both proving a lot harder to navigate through than they would in daylight. My personal favourite was the control on a “rock” somewhere in the forest. When it was eventually found, it looked like it had been carried into the forest in the setter’s pocket. Many orienteers backed up their night-time adventures the next morning in the 90 minute daytime Rogaine which shared controls with the relay; a much easier affair and one that is valued more for the ability to revisit controls and marvel at how different they look in the daylight than for any competitive purpose. 

Either side of Katoa Po were two sprint events that attracted a reasonable group of elites – along with spectators and wannabes – due to their inclusion in the National Sprint League. The Saturday event was held at a very hilly Botanical reserve in Taupo with much of the bush out of bounds but with multiple tracks, paths and roads to provide route choice and reward contact with the map. Sunday’s sprint was flatter and a more traditional park and urban environment Sprint in the centre of Taupo with the added bonus of the instruction to “give way to trains” as the courses several times crossed the tracks of the Lions Express Miniature Railway. Special mention must go to the start team who had to put up with the train hooting at them every two minutes as it went past. 
Cheers from Steve Oram   📷: Photos by: Feature image: Paul Ireland, Middle: Steve Oram, Helen Woods. Base image: Rob Murphy