With a relatively early finish (notwithstanding my 20-25 minutes worth of errors), we had time this afternoon to visit the no 1 tourist attraction – the Monarto Safari Park.  This is an open range zoo with mostly African animals, and in what was a very appealing drawcard, you are driven around in an airconditioned coach.  […]

My start time was 2 hours earlier, and I looked forward to a cooler morning; it was not to be, as the temperature quickly soared again into the mid 30s.  The terrain was very much like yesterday’s, but with less shade on the course.  Setting was similar too, with the first few controls on rock […]

It was my first foray into the forest for at least 6 months, and my first Easter competition for 2 years.  So it was with a little trepidation that I headed to the start, feeling very much like I needed my training wheels on.  I was one of the last starters, and it was blazingly […]

Once again, most of the Dipidydoo crew are back on the road; no planes this time, as we’re just across the border in South Australia.  We left Captain K at home so he could keep an eye on Ian (though there seems to be some partying going on amongst my bear collection, and the Captain […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

We woke up to quite a change in the weather – cloudy and cold with a stiff breeze blowing up the hill. It seemed silly to drive to an event that was literally less than 500 metres away from our front door, so we walked instead, setting off late in the morning.  We set ourselves […]

No sooner had we arrived home and recovered from Europe, than I was repacking my bags, this time for a trip to South Australia with Pete, Ilze, Tina and Vic.  The Australian Orienteering Champs were on, and having chucked in my job, I was free to go along for the ride.  No such luck for […]

Day 2 saw us back in almost the same spot, just a little less distance to drive in. An earlier start was a good way to avoid the worst of the dust. A cloudless sky promised another warm day, and I was glad I was starting before 10am. The terrain notes were the same as […]