You can’t miss an opportunity to orienteer when you travel, so we were pleased to see a NavDash event on the WA calendar. NavDash events are sprints, held on Saturdays in parks or campuses in or near Perth.  They use colour maps and SI and are 2-3 kms long.  They get about 8o people per event and lots of kids.  This one was a little further out, at John Forrest National Park, on the eastern side of the escarpment and before Mundaring, and the terrrain would be familiar to anyone who has orienteered in WA bush.  Grass trees, granite, and scratchy stuff.

Luckily most of the controls were close to tracks, and it was all centred around the main picnic area.  We were greeted by colourful parrots and a mob of well fed kangaroos lazing on the grass beside the tavern.

I opted for the short course, and Ian for the long.  We both took about 30 minutes.  It was easy navigation and the flags were nice and visible; the slowest parts were when you went off track and had to climb or descend through the veg.

It was fast and furious and lots of fun.  Plenty of locals told us they were just back from Victoria, so we told them we were in WA recovering!  They were impressed we’d come all that way for a sprint, though we fessed up that we were really there for a family reunion.  Couldnt convince my family to have a go, but they enjoyed the park.