THE ROTOITI PROJECT
The Rotoiti Project covers an area of over eight square kilometres based around the village of St Arnaud roughly 90km south of Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand. The project begun in 2012 with the acquisition of Lidar data from Tasman District Council. With the support of a grant from Network Tasman additional data was processed by NZ Aerial Mapping to form the contour map which the project is based around.
The Lake Rotoiti area has had a strong connection with the Nelson Orienteering Club having been the location of one of the first club events based on a crude hand drawn map of the village back in 1992. Soon afterwards a map was produced of the flats at West Bay. Contours were determined by levels and the map stood the test of time lasting over 15 years with little updating required of the manuka/kanuka scrub.
In 2011 the local Council commissioned Lidar data as part of their asset management programme for St Arnaud village. Stage 1 of the Rotoiti Project in 2012 saw the remap of the Rotoiti map at a scale of 1:7,500 for the Middle Distance and the mapping of Teetotal at 1:10,000 for the Long Distance at the South Island Orienteering Champs. Stage 2 now involves the mapping of the eastern area linking the village with the previously mapped area as shown below.
The primary aim of the Rotoiti Project is to create a hub for orienteering in the upper South Island readily accessible to Nelson and Marlborough Orienteering Clubs and to Peninsula and Plains Orienteers from Christchurch. The terrain is unique being the only mixed native forest map on historic glacial terrain in New Zealand and provides a wide range of tests from subtle morraine contour features to intricate boulder clusters to vague open beech forest slopes to fine features within dense undergrowth.
Some orienteers have found the terrain too challenging but others have embraced it as a true test of both navigation and physical ability. Enjoy!
The Lake Rotoiti area has had a strong connection with the Nelson Orienteering Club having been the location of one of the first club events based on a crude hand drawn map of the village back in 1992. Soon afterwards a map was produced of the flats at West Bay. Contours were determined by levels and the map stood the test of time lasting over 15 years with little updating required of the manuka/kanuka scrub.
In 2011 the local Council commissioned Lidar data as part of their asset management programme for St Arnaud village. Stage 1 of the Rotoiti Project in 2012 saw the remap of the Rotoiti map at a scale of 1:7,500 for the Middle Distance and the mapping of Teetotal at 1:10,000 for the Long Distance at the South Island Orienteering Champs. Stage 2 now involves the mapping of the eastern area linking the village with the previously mapped area as shown below.
The primary aim of the Rotoiti Project is to create a hub for orienteering in the upper South Island readily accessible to Nelson and Marlborough Orienteering Clubs and to Peninsula and Plains Orienteers from Christchurch. The terrain is unique being the only mixed native forest map on historic glacial terrain in New Zealand and provides a wide range of tests from subtle morraine contour features to intricate boulder clusters to vague open beech forest slopes to fine features within dense undergrowth.
Some orienteers have found the terrain too challenging but others have embraced it as a true test of both navigation and physical ability. Enjoy!
Image Supplied by Jason Markham
