GODZone Chapter 9 - Rotorua
Stage 4: Fool Of A Took
Adam Rose / 06.03.2021
As advertised by course designer Neil Jones, legendary adventure racer who stated his occupation for ARWC New Zealand as “pig hunter”, stage 4 Whirinaki is a nasty one.
The picture shows the tracking map on the left, all 11 CP locations in the middle, and the contour map sample on the right for the upper section of the stage.
There are 11 controls. 2 are mandatory, which we can take to be CPs 16 and 17. Of the 9 non-mandatory CPs, only 7 need to be collected.
This is a rogaine stage so controls can be collected in any order but due to the linear nature of the stage, there’s not likely to be too much variation in the teams’ planning.
The reality will likely be MUCH different, especially for less experienced navigators.
How can you tell? Well, for one it’s in deep forest. That is always a tough call. Much like desert navigation, you can’t see any significant features to focus on, every direction looks the same, there aren’t many tracks to follow based on the contour map, and how do you relocate yourself if you get lost? And at night?
“There’s the stream!”
“Which stream?”
“The one on the map, right there!”
“But isn’t it this stream?”
“….I DON'T KNOW!!”
The stage is 21km long, in theory. This could easily take between 10 and 20hrs. It will definitely stretch the field between those that steam through, and those that wander helplessly, pining for a GPS, and staring into the abyss. There will be plenty of bush whacking, for sure, scratchy, irritating, frustrating.
The best option might be to aim for high ground, keep to ridgelines, avoid the dense scrub on the lower slopes, and pray.
The only point working in the teams’ favour is that this stage is relatively early in the race, so teams won’t yet be shattered. However, once they get through, there are still the epic trek stages of 6 and 7 awaiting, which will be the crux for this fiendish course - that’s where the wheels really might fall off.
I can see Neil chuckling in my mind’s eye as the teams enter ‘Moria’, rubbing his hands in glee. MUHAHAHAHAAA!
https://www.godzoneadventure.com/ar-races/tracking/
