Orienteering! Return to Gladbrook after 25 years! Arrived on the late side, couldn't find last bit of directions & stopped at the Middlemarch PD for a boost. Can't say I remembered anything but the bizarre & beautiful (bit desolate, too) terrain. Would like a chat with a U of Otago geology prof/student for an explanation of its origin.
Also
First & main problem was fact that compass needle would not settle or give me confidence in where mag north was. Don't recall using a different southern hemisphere compass back then but maybe being so much further from mag north calls for a different solution. The needle was sooo disinclined to point out mag N! I don't note a dip in the needle -- as we did on the boat around 33 deg S & had to remove a small, nonferrous weight under the compass card that compensated for northern hemisphere dip & caused a mechanical catching with the centerline lubber line on the compass housing. The O compass, as I look at it, appears to have a needle parallel with the ground. Or maybe not - if so, subtle.
I convinced myself I was in the start triangle & got to first point ok. #2 was ok for first 2/3rds but then compass indicated more to right & contours said keep left. Tried to use wind direction better but did not master soon enough (a fairly strong north wind) & was confused re what the needle was saying & where I felt I should be heading. To #3 was a significant directional problem & I returned & started over. The rocky terrain is laid out NW-SE so a leg like 3 to 4 was reasonably straightforward. 4 to 5, cross-terrain was harder. It seemed the needle often was more reliable when I was in motion. I made my way round the course, improving. I did this in 37.5' as an M40 in 1989, 20 minutes faster than today. I'd say 10-12' is due to being just plain slower. The compass issue (unreliability for most part) must have been worth some 5'. I also managed to step in a rabbit hole, wrenching my ankle (there were numerous rabbits & dens). That gave me cause for pause as a sprained ankle there did not seem a good time & place, if ever. Also, 25 years ago, I recall occasionally seeing a runner ahead I was convinced was going to the same point. I arrived at #10 & could see the car near the finish circle. Had to stop at the gate, some 100m early. But the finish field was about the same except for a crop of some green leafy veg growing where the finish was back then.
All in all, a most interesting few hours. Can't say I'll be back again!
Drove to Naseby & thru Ranfurly in arriving. We had a competition in the Nasedy forest in '89, featuring complex gold diggings but the map was nearly half a planet away.
Course/route then & now
(here it is: "An interesting detail is that there are northern- and southern-hemisphere compasses. This has to do with the fact that the magnetic field lines, to which a compass needle aligns, point into the earth at the north and south magnetic poles. In the northern hemisphere the north end of the needle is pulled downwards, and the south end is counterweighted to balance the needle. When you use a northern hemisphere compass in, say, Australia, the south end of the magnet is pulled downwards by the magnetic field, and is also heavier than the north end - resulting in a needle that catches and drags on the bottom of the compass housing when the compass is held horizontal." so just like the boat - not readily apparent as I look at the compass carefully.