Day 43: Woo hoo!

We awoke in the night, as is our habit, and heard a kiwi calling out in the bush, how good is that?  We had to be up early for the Long Distance Race as it was taking place in the area around Kerr Bay Campsite which was embargoed (unnecessarily we thought) for several hours from 9am.

We gathered our gear and walked up to the Event Centre at Rotoiti School, a cheerful place painted in primary colours with a great adventure playground and flourishing vegetable boxes.

I had another hour to wait after Tony set off to the start so I progressed with reading the 'Rosie Effect' which needs to be finished before we leave New Zealand.  I then walked up the State Highway to turn off in to Big Bush Forest towards the start.  The forest looked as impenetrable as yesterday's and indeed the first few controls were tough going.

At the Start Area I was painfully introduced to the plant we were warned about in the event notes, Bush Lawyer which looked pretty and inoffensive till I brushed against it, at which point it attached itself to my bare arm in several places and drew blood!

On my run I found that I was better able to plan ahead and read the terrain than yesterday, and when the course emerged from the forest I decided to make up lost time by running my hardest around the village controls.  When I finished I was in first place!  Some time later I was pushed seriously in to second place but there I stayed, woo hoo!

Tony finished in 6th place so a good ending to the weekend's orienteering.  We lunched at the Alpine Hotel (I had a very strange potato and onion soup) and then totally ignored the embargo and walked  back to the campsite for showers and a relaxing couple of hours.  The sun was out and the views of the St Arnaud Range breathtaking.

5.30pm arrived and it was time to go back up the hill, this time to the Rotoiti Community Hall for the Gala Dinner, prepared by the local ladies of the PTA to raise funds for their school trips.  It was lasagne with lots of salady extras and very welcome, particularly as I didn't have to cook!  A range of desserts appeared afterwards and then it was on to the Prize-Giving.  I got to go up on the podium probably for the first and last time ever, although there was no 'trophy' because it is a National Champs.  We felt a little like the 'aliens in the room' at first but then the lovely woman who had answered all my 'foreigner at an O-Event questions' came over to ask about us and eventually her family followed and we chatted about orienteering and Scotland.  Her daughter has promised to e-mail me a certificate!

Prize-giving over, we walked back down the hill in the very dark.  There is no light pollution here so it was marvellous to be able to see the Southern stars and the Milky Way!