Orienteering’s Big Day Out

A team works out where to go next at the Orienteering Big Day Out.

About 450 primary and intermediate school students from ten schools in the Taupō and surrounding districts took part in an Orienteering Big Day Out at Owen Delany Park on June 25.  

The course was so tough, only one team finished it, with only a few seconds to spare.

Taupō Orienteering Club chairman Lyndon Haugh says the participation numbers make it one of the larger orienteering events in the country and a “suitable finishing finale” to the series of in-school orienteering training sessions.

“It has been clear from the in-school training sessions that many students have improved their orienteering and rogaining skills so we made the Big Day Out courses a lot more challenging than last year.

Only the Year 7-8 boys’ team of Max Lynn and Archie Richardson from Hilltop School Trail Blazers, completed it with only 4 seconds to spare from the 45 minutes allowed.

Seven of the ten schools competing shared in the first three placings in each section with students from Taupō Intermediate school taking top honours with five placings and Waipahihi and Hilltop schools close behind.

He says the club couldn’t do the in-school sessions and the big orienteering day without the organisational support of Sue Maclean from Kiwisport.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Taupo Orienteering Club, a series of in-town urban orienteering rogaining events will be held, starting in the second half of August.

 Details will soon be available on the Club website  https://taupoorienteering.nz