Category Orienteering in Australia
Easter Day 2
My enthusiasm was slightly less apparent at 5am, just before the alarm went off, and the world outside was dark. We dragged ourselves out of bed, and were on the road at 6, the sky brightening already with promise of another lovely day. There was an upside and a downside to my pre-9am start. The […]
Easter Day 1
Today marked the start of the Easter 3 Day competition, where the war of attrition starts. One mispunch, and you are out of contention for the whole comp – game over. Even if you are holding up the bottom of the results, there is satisfaction to be had in completing all three days intact. That […]
It’s All Good
Glorious sunshine woke us. We opened the blinds, eager to see our surroundings in daylight. To our surprise, there is a mountain on our back doorstep! There are parrots, cockatoos and lorikeets in the trees, and we had a leisurely breakfast on the verandah, watching their antics. The back yard has an enormous tree stump […]
DIPDYDO
Yep the DipidyDoo gang is (almost) back together, though not quite overseas, but for the first time in 2 years and 6 months, we’ve jumped on a plane and flown somewhere to go orienteering (it’s been a year since the last major carnival in Australia, but we drove to that one). This time we’re in […]
Sprinting for Home
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 […]
Crooked Straight
Day 2 – we anticipated more of the same, but over a larger area, as this was billed as Long Distance. Again, we were on the riverlands north of Renmark, but it was quite different. More vegetation, bigger hills, deeper gullies. In fact, most of the map was on a giant sand plateau, with steep […]
Bound for South Australia
It’s strange when you arrive somewhere new after dark. You have no idea what your surroundings are like. I vividly remember alighting from the tram in Istanbul, at the stop right next to the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome. It was 7pm, we’d had a very stressful trip from Paris with my wallet being stolen […]
Last Hurrah
Ah – a sleep in, leisurely shower and breakfast, and no Forest of Doom to be worried about. Ilze didn’t come to Millthorpe last time we were here, so we took her on a sightseeing tour of the area – Lake Canobolas, then Mount Canobolas, with its extensive views over the Western Plains. At over […]
It Was Fine Till We Crossed the Fence …
Day Three. Warm and sunny again. Mid morning start time again. Multitudes of rocks again. Thick scratchy vegetation again. Remind me why we’re doing this? Oh yeah – cos it feels good when you cross the finish line and you haven’t mispunched on any of the three days. It’s all about still being upright at […]
Bumbling Around the Gumbles
Today’s map rejoices in the name of Gumble Pinnacles. There must be a story behind the name. We were on typical central NSW farming property, with a mass of rock of every shape and size, covering a large area that would be no use to anyone other than a bunch of crazed orienteers. It was […]
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