Our last day in South Australia dawned fine and sunny, although low fog hung over the river flats as we packed up and tidied the house. One last drive along the Goyder Highway and into Renmark. Our mission today – tackle a Sprint race at the local school campus.

I knew I’d run on this map before, back in 2018, but I had no real recollection of it; until I saw the saltbush maze. The, it all came flooding back – dashing across the oval to one of two controls in sight – the wrong one. Damn! Trying to subtly relocate without anyone noticing. Not a hope. Into the saltbush maze – completely bamboozled. Not my best effort.

This time we began with a fairly simple few running legs, into the centre of the buildings, then out to the edge, onto the adjacent street and down to the far end of the school. A butterfly loop to slow things down and force our brains into sharper focus. Sarah was busy keeping ahead of Wayne, and I’d started a minute after Pete, so there was a bit of in-house competition going on. At this stage Pete had the better of me, after I took a poor line to no 12 (OK I admit it, I was following someone on a different course, oops).

The second half was more complex, with a really tight couple of loops that required really close map contact; by now, runners were everywhere. No sign of Pete and I assumed he’d gotten well ahead, but to my surprise he popped up just behind me at 15, after making a mistake exiting from 14. I was finally running cleanly now through the last few legs in the buildings. Then it was through a gate, up onto an elongated knoll, and yes – another run across the oval. This time I lined myself up properly, sighted my target, and headed straight for it, with success! Phew. Now we were in the maze, with its myriad of dirt tracks wriggling through the low scrub. I decided it didnt matter too much which track I took, as long as I popped out on the northern edge eventually. I did – but way too far to the right; Pete caught up to me at the second last control. Turn and dash madly for the final one; Pete is hard on my heels but can’t overhaul me; I am just over a minute faster, and both of us have a pleasing midfield result to show for our efforts. Sarah ran her heart out, but Wayne won the competition because she missed the final control; otherwise her time stood up really well amongst the Course 1 competitors. Simon also had a great run for 10th place in a big field.

Now all that stood between us and home was the 8 hour drive … retracing our steps back over the border, skirting round Mildura, through the never-never land between there and Ouyen, stopping for lunch at the very busy bakery (a bus tour full of people just beat us to it). Through Sea Lake and a dozen dusty wheatbelt towns, before a quick pause in Wycheproof, to check the new mural of Jim, honouring his record breaking win on the Mt Wycheproof Mountain Run (carrying over 50 kgs of potatoes mind you). He had a fine moustache and very sculpted legs back in those days.

Both of us trying to stay awake, we pressed on through Wedderburn, Inglewood and Bridgewater, to Marong, and onto the very familiar freeway (most orienteering events involve a drive along the Calder). We estimated arriving at streetO at 6.45pm, just in time to get a map and go for a walk for a couple of controls, and the satisfaction of orienteering in two states on the same day. Well, Pete managed that feat; I opted to stay behind at Registration, not feeling inclined for a walk in the dark.

All in all, a great weekend, fantastic orienteering, wonderful scenery and weather, and it has whet the appetite for more.