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Narrabundah Hill 28th of May

Just on the edge of the Weston Creek suburb of Duffy is a nature reserve. Pine trees once populated the reserve before the 2003 bushfires, but it is now a mix of open land, eucalypt forest, and segments of replanted pine trees. The nature park is a mega for local bird and animal life. Black Cockatoos, Lorikeets, and Kangaroos are abundant, although the burnt-out forest introduced the blackberries and rough terrain. Luckily for our local mapper, the blackberries have been fully mapped. This allows for orienteers to choose their routes wisely. The isolated pine tree is now marked on the map, introducing another feature to navigate from. The local farmer has let in the Herefords, so there are plenty of cow pads to dodge. LOL 

On the 4th of June, is on the Northside at Mt Painter, a course planned by Sir Arthur.

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A small section of the Mt Jerrabomberra map is known as the Jerra Triangle to the locals, most Mt Jerra events have used the front section from the Scar. Although, there was an excellent latent area attached to the reserve with lots of gullies, tracks and spurs in which a created course planner could set. John Foster, the convener of the Weston Emus, who has planned courses for many years, provided challenging map flip courses in a unique niche on the south side of Queanbeyan. Limited street parking, a small assembly area and the threat of a cold front appearing didn’t stop the orienteering juggernauts from attending the event. The Weston Emus convener had plenty of help thanks to the WE limited members. First time organiser, Chris Lucey made way for a cracking assembly.

The WE’s next commitment is the day/night twilight event in Feb 25, which could be our last event due to the club potentially folding. Hope to see you there.

Thanks to John Harding for the photos.

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Starting on Wednesday the 29th of May at 12pm, is the first of 17 orienteering events planned for this winter. It’s a low key event with basic result scoring and copying your own map from the master. Depending on the setter, the courses could be line, scoring (StreetO) and/or map memory orienteering. Either way it’s to promote a fun and non-competitive activity. So, if time permits, let hope to see you at our lunch time event. The following is an AI funny story about little Johnny orienteering at Cooleman Ridge.

One sunny Wednesday afternoon, little Johnny went orienteering at Cooleman Ridge. The organiser handed him the map and compass, and he started off to find the checkpoints. Johnny, eager to show off his navigation skills, charged ahead to make good time.
After a few minutes, Johnny realised he was hopelessly lost. He looked at his map, then at his compass, then back at his map. Nothing made sense. Determined not to give up, he kept running, convinced he would find the next control any second.
Suddenly, he stumbled upon a another competitor who looked equally confused. She was holding her map, trying to figure out her barings. Johnny confidently approached her, map in hand.
“Are you lost, too?” she asked Johnny.
Johnny puffed out his chest and replied, “Nope, I’m an expert orienteer. Follow me!”
The girl, desperate for some guidance, followed Johnny through the bushes, over rocks, and around trees. After what felt like an eternity, they emerged… right back at the starting point, where the finishing control was located.
The organiser looked at Johnny and the other competitor, then at Johnny again. “How did you go, Johnny?”
Johnny grinned sheepishly and said, “Well, I might have taken the scenic route, but at least we made it back in one piece!”
The organiser burst out laughing, and even the girl couldn’t help but a chuckle. From that day on, little Johnny was known as an “Orienteering Expert”, and he never lived down his legendary adventure at Cooleman Ridge.

If you would like to try course planning on a small scale, i.e. not upsetting too many competitors if you make a mistake. Then sign up here.

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WE had provided another challenge, laying the foundation to offer night courses during the Twilight series. With 80 people showing for the day session and 25 people showing for the night, they provided another option for orienteering.

It was a warm day at Fadden Pines, not a drop of rain in sight WE were excited for the up and coming event. Although, on some occasions, there can be a little drama. John Foster (Course Planner), Ingrid Foster and I put out the controls in the early afternoon with plenty of time to setup and sit down for a rest. In the meantime, the pines were invaded by the hundreds of Holy family school children ready to run and play on some of the apparatus within the park. Ingrid having foresight on what some of the little critters can do decided to recheck some of the controls up near the major bike path along Coyne Street. On her return, she reported the worst. Two control stations were missing. With 30 minutes to go before the start, WE were off to the races, that being “Quick, grab the extra control units, with flags and reflectors and re-place the units.” Luckily, on inspections, we were able to find the discarded control units in the nearby bush and fix the issue. Wiping the brow, WE were able to continue with the event.
When you hold these special events, people tend to congregate around with a buss of activity. Peter Miller brought along a huge watermelon and offered it around, our new international coach (Krisztina Gera) also made an appearance and her first event was the night race.

The night race used both the M1 and M2 courses and the feat was to be completed in an hour. Generally, I have trouble finishing the M1 course in the hour during the daytime, but some showed that this night orienteering was quite easy with the first finisher completing in 14 minutes. Most of the competitors were our young elite quad and so it really did turn into a race. As you, peruse the darkness, a line of heads lights seen in single file from control to control. Most of the athletes chose the M1 course so not much for a challenge; just keep up with the fellow in front. Hopefully, they know where they are going. All the competitors made it back within 30 minutes and luckily, for the volunteers, they could be home by 9:30pm. I sensed that most of the orienteers enjoyed themselves with the amount of smiles and laughter at the assembly area. Providing the encouragement to repeat this event, perhaps next year.

Thanks to John Harding for the photos (see Facebook) and of course the WE team.

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Special thank you to John Harding for the memorable photos of the event displayed on Facebook, check it out! Results are available here, and you can upload and view GPS tracks from the event on Livelox.

At the finish, the ACT Australian Schools Orienteering Championship team were able to assembly with pizza and nibbles and be recognised for their outstanding achievements from their ASOC event, the week before. Well Done, Team!

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It’s been a while since Martin Wehner put pen to paper as a course setter. He planned long legs for both moderate courses which provided interesting route choices. The choices were either blackberries, boggy ground or both. Even so, the hill provides unexpected challenges for all types. Although, today’s event was also about whether you wore long stocking to protect the skin. If you didn’t, today you would be scratching at the surface.

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Since it has a 60-hour limit, only 15 runners have finished the race since 1986.

On this frosty wet Saturday morning with snow forecasted, I was tempted to write on the welcoming board at the Narrabundah Hill event. WELCOME TO YOUR NIGHTMARE!

Watching people hunched over as they departed their parked cars trying to avoid the wind and rain. I can only imagine what they were thinking. Why am I here? The course provided a range of challenges. High winds, rain, sleet and snow, the grounds were boggy, pop up creeks in every gully, long gradual climbs and ankle turning vines, the dreaded Blackberries.

Although smiles could be seen at the finishing flag, perhaps a sense of relief or perhaps a hint of enjoyment. The course layout was rock solid, it provided defined directional changes and long and short lengths. It was a masterpiece. Well Done, John Suominen! for the course setting and of course, to the 96-year-old Hermann Wehner for lasting a short time to hand out the maps. Until next time… 

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The clouds are bursting, the rain is spitting

The controls are out, the emus are sitting

The runners are ready, the start is afar

The chaos is a pond us, searching under the stars

The sprint is on, the ground is clear.

Look out, the stumps are here.

The flags are under, the birds are singing

Not far to go, the controls are beeping

The finish is near, the banner is seen

Disappointed its over, the last punch has been

Anticipation, the moment has arrived

The SI is inserted, ready for to provide

The time is shown, the moment has come

Was it disappointment or was it fun.

Walking back to the car, it’s across the street

Maybe I’ll try again, maybe next week.

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Andrew Cheffers

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