Not only was it the AFL Grand final (more on that later) but it was ours as well – the week culminating in the Australian Long Distance Champs today.  We were back at Hill End, in the gold mining and erosion gullies of last weekend.  I was quietly hoping for another good result, but as […]

We woke to light rain, for the first time this week.  The radar suggested it would clear out during the morning, but it hung around until lunchtime, dampening conditions for the Schools Relays, but not dampening their enthusiasm.  It’s always great fun watching them race so hard, hair dyed, faces painted, and barracking loudly for […]

Phew – today we were out of the forest, and back into Sprint mode. In a moment of madness, I’d entered the Womens B course, the equivalent to the Senior Girls Schools Sprint course.  At 3 kms and 27 controls, it was a bit longer than what I’m used to – but what the heck.  […]

Our dear friend and club member Wally passed away about a week ago, after having been ill for some time. He was approaching 90.  Wally was the most influential person in street orienteering when we started, and for many years subsequently. It was inconceivable that one day he wouldn’t be around, but his health meant […]

Anyone who knows me, knows that Middle Distance events are NOT my favourite. Not so much because of the navigation, but because they often involve lots of scrambling in and out of erosion gullies or sliding down rubble-strewn slopes.  For years, I have toughed it out by entering my “A” age group for Middle Distance […]

The Australian Champs carnival has rolled around again, as it is wont to do.  This year it’s based around Bathurst in NSW.  Pete and I left Ian and Ilze at home to ensure that streetO ran smoothly in our absence, and along with Pres Pete, pointed the Suby north and drove all day.  The Holbrook […]

After a very welcome rest day, we steeled ourselves for the Dungaree Challenge.  This involved head to head loop racing in some supposedly fast open spur-gully terrain.  Turned out to be not that fast as there was a lot of fallen sticks and branches on the ground, but it was very much like Bendigo. Pete […]

Day 4 – Easter Day 3 It was another foggy start to what promised to be another sunny autumn day. The final event was on a new map, Cherry Farm. It promised more rock and more steep stuff. It was a long walk from parking down to the arena, which was set in a very […]

Day 2 – Easter Day 1 (yes I could write a book about the stupidity of the structure of the Easter 3 day carnival that runs for 4 days…) Morning dawned all too soon, and Ilze was very grumpy. The resident rooster had started crowing at about midnight, and continued at regular intervals all night. […]

Day 1 – Prologue Another year, another Easter come and gone. This was my last year in W45AS, meaning that next year I turn 55, and get to move into another age group. What with being one of the oldest in my age category, and my recent disasters, I had absolutely no expectations or ambitions […]