Romantic mist and tendrils of fog unfurling through the towering trees at Waiuku Forest North made for an atmospheric start to AOS8 today. With nine courses to choose from, our intrepid orienteers braved the ferocious cutty grass (some of them belatedly remembering why we recommend leg cover for forest orienteering… You know who you are).

Controls were conquered, terrain was traversed, contours were climbed, and knolls were knavigated. Yes, there was a bit of rain. Yes, there was mud (most of it now drying in the footwells of our vehicles). Yes, someone will undoubtedly forget their bag full of damp, sweaty O gear in the back of their car and discover it midweek when they smell something a bit foetid on their commute to work.

We are proud of all our orienteers and salute your spirit of adventure! Thanks for joining us in the forest today. Results are up on WinSplits here and available in PDF form here: AOS 8 Results 3.7.22

Behold the enchanting photo (taken by CMOC Secretary Renee Motion) that inspired our purple prose in this event write-up. More photos on our Facebook page, but seriously, who could resist the forest on a day like this? We can’t wait to go back.

Sincere thanks to our team of hard-working event helpers, particularly Course Setter Ross Brighouse, Course Controller Wayne Aspin, Ident/Olynx/WinSplits Wrangler Bryce Brighouse, and Coordinators Val Robinson and Renee Motion. We are so grateful to all of you.