Arriving all of 2 minutes before the start I had no time to plan a route. A quick look at the map suggested controls #15, #30, #21, and #70 might be a good place to start. #15 was a breeze to find, and then as I made my way through the graveyard towards #30 I nearly fell into an old grave! As I was walking along looking at the map I strayed off to the right and walked into the side of an old grave with mid-shin height concrete sides. It just so happened that the concrete top on this one had caved in, so I really could have fallen in!
With a head torch that wasn't as bright as it could be it took a while to find #70 in the bush. After some indecision I decided that up the hill to #14 and #80 would be my next move.
On my way up from control #70 I was caught by Anna McDonnell and Helen McKendry, and from there we stayed together heading over Johnson's Hill (control #80) then ran along the Skyline track to #90 and #81, and down to #100. The night was calm and clear, treating us to spectacular views across Wellington and the harbour.
Coming down from #100 we briefly touched on suburbia before heading into the bush towards #82. Anna and Helen's lights were far superior to mine, enabling them to run much more quickly through the bush. They arrived at #82 ahead of me and then sat down to plan their next move. I had a vague idea of where I was heading next, so I set off for #31, #35, and #3C, joining up with Michael Wood and Gordon Balfour along the way. Michael and Gordon then went off to collect #56.
I pondered my next move and decided on #45. While I was making that decision Anna and Helen reappeared and I joined them again as we trudged up the hill. #45 collected the girls were quickly off to collect #46. I was feeling a bit tired by now and took a while to convince myself that this was a good idea! But eventually I did, and while I was heading in on the bush track the girls were already heading back out. Thanks Anna for the tip on the sidetrack to get to the old quarry, without that tip I would have kept going on the main track and missed it!
Back out on to the road, #54, #53 and #40 were the obvious choice. Time was running down so I then opted for #27 and #3D, with the option of #60 if there was sufficient time. There wasn't, so I finished with 920 points.
Anna and Helen finished on 1110 points, 10th out of 37 teams and 2nd all women team. 920 points would have put me in 20th place, but with a 10% penalty for being solo I dropped to 26th place. Time for prior planning would have been good, as would better lights, but I still might not have been able to match Anna and Helen.
Official report and results are here.
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