1. No category

Bearing
North
PO Box 39152 Winnellie NT 0821
www.teo.asn.au
[email protected]
October 2014
2014 TEO Event Calendar
Date
Sun 12th Oct
Sat 1st Nov
Location
Casuarina Reserve
Holmes Jungle
Organiser
Phil Giffard
Emily Prichard
Course Planner
Daniel Eakins
Lachlan Hallett
Mon 3rd Nov
Mon 10th Nov
Mon 17th Nov
Mon 24th Nov
Mon 1st Dec
Stuart Park
Leanyer
Bayview
Malak
CDU
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Help wanted
Sat 6th Dec
TBA
Committee
Event Type
OY
OY Night event
Wet Season Series
Wet Season Series
Wet Season Series
Wet Season Series
Wet Season Series
Presentation Event
OY= Orienteer of the Year, CATI = Come and Try it, C=Coaching, S = Social,
Please contact Annie Whybourne if you would like to organise an event, or plan a course, or work
with someone more experienced to learn the ropes, or if you’re interested in lending a hand on the
day to our overstretched group of regular volunteers.
Main items in this issue:
 Next event at Casuarina Beach





Night event coming soon
Wet Season Series help needed
Katherine event wrap-up
Holmes Jungle revisited
Plus a few other bits & pieces
THE N.T. GENERAL STORE
10% Discount for TEO members
(No credit card discounts)
Regular Stuff
In this issue…
Club Prices 2014
Event fees
Individuals (age ≥ 5)
Groups
(2 or more people)
Extra map
Compass hire
Whistle purchase
Coaching days
Members
$5 per entry
$8 per group
Non-members
$10 per entry
$15 per group
$2
$1 per event
$3 each
$3 per entry
$2
$2 per event
$3 each
$5 per entry
First event: Free
Membership
Families
Individuals
Juniors
Local
$45
$30
$15
Full
$65
$50
$30
Newsletter distribution
All TEO members automatically receive the
monthly Bearing North newsletter either by email
or hard copy. Non-members will receive a
complimentary copy of the newsletter after each
event in which they participate, or it can be
emailed every month should they wish.
TEO event calendar _________1
Regular stuff ______________2
Club contacts ______________2
President’s Chat ____________3
Committee news ___________4
Membership list ____________5
Local event info __________ 6, 7
Interstate events ___________7
Results: Holmes Jungle ______8
Results: Katherine __________9
Report: Holmes Jungle _____ 12
Report: Katherine __________ 15
More photos ______________ 19
Newsletter contribution and
reproduction
Please contact the TEO newsletter editor if you would
like to contribute to the newsletter or reproduce any
of the material it contains. Copyright of material
remains with the authors.
Email event reminders are sent approx one
Thanks to the Fannie Bay Electoral
Office for their assistance in
photocopying this newsletter.
week before each event.
Email [email protected] to join this list.
Club Contacts
General enquiries
[email protected]
President & Club Coach
Secretary (correspondence)
Treasurer
Schools coordinator
Susanne Casanova (committee)
Lana Luders (committee)
Veronika Walter (committee)
Susi Bertei (committee)
Mapping Co-ordinator
Technical & Fundraising
General committee member
Equipment & Public Officer
Publicity & Fundraising
Lachlan Hallett (committee)
Brett Spaulding (committee)
Dennis Luders (committee)
Andrew Simon (committee)
Matt Jong (committee)
Secretary (Minutes)
Event Coordinator
Cathy Shilton
Annie Whybourne
Newsletter & Catering
Results & Web Admin
Julianne Giffard
Adam Liedloff
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected];
8981 5841
[email protected]
[email protected]
0410 212 124
[email protected]
89481187
[email protected]
TEO is a country club of Orienteering South Australia; http://www.sa.orienteering.asn.au/home/
2
President’s Chat
Hi again folks.
I hope you have been enjoying the bush event part of the Darwin orienteering season. We certainly
had some terrific dry season weather that went on and on and delivered some beautiful Sunday
mornings, perfect for being out in the bush with a map.
I personally have had a ball doing the Short Hard courses over the last few months, and have been
impressed by the quality of the courses at each event. Cathy and Plaxy’s ‘Florence Falls’ event in
July, Andrew Simon’s Short Hard course at Charles Darwin in August, and the Holmes Jungle
courses set by Brett Spaulding on the first weekend in September, all rated as some of the best
orienteering I’ve experienced in my six years here. Perhaps it is just the pregnancy hormones talking,
or the fact that the walk/jog pace is more pleasant than the run, but I truly do think that the quality of
our course planning has somehow stepped up a gear. The Short Hard courses I’ve experienced have
all been interesting and well thought out. Sometimes I think I can see what the course planner was
thinking, and why our course was set through the areas that it was…..checkpoint sites have been
chosen at times for the picturesque views they offer, to give us variety in the features we visit, to set
up interesting route choices, and in general, to give us competitors an enjoyable time. Top job guys,
and big thanks to your organising teams too! I’m really disappointed that I wasn’t able to get to the
Katherine weekend – I heard that was pretty good too.
The committee has already been at work constructing next year’s program. Given the enthusiasm for
orienteering from within the Katherine community, and the feedback from the Darwin-based
orienteers who ventured south for the Katherine orienteering weekend in mid-September, there will
be orienteering held again in Katherine in 2015. So if you didn’t make it there this year, you’ll have
the chance to experience it next August.
Further afield, there are always numerous orienteering event options interstate throughout the year.
You might want to have a look at what’s on in the area you are visiting on your next interstate trip to
visit relatives, or when you are heading somewhere for a conference or work. The Orienteering
Australia website has a page with links to the various state organisations:
http://www.orienteering.asn.au/state-organisations/ . The various club secretaries and contact people
will be only too happy to help you find out about what is on.
Regarding ‘big’ events, every year there is a multi-day event held right after Christmas, in the week
between Christmas and New Year. This event is usually held around Sydney, Canberra or in Victoria
and it is called the ‘Christmas 5 Days’. It is an entirely ‘not-for-sheep-stations’ type of event, with a
variety of different course lengths and difficulties offered each day. You can enter as many or as few
of the days as you like. As an opportunity for getting out there and grabbing some navigation practice
on unfamiliar terrain, this is one of the best annual events you can find. Attendance at the Christmas
5 Days is usually around 200–300 people. This year the event will be held near Sydney.
Every year there is also an annual Easter time orienteering event held somewhere in the country, and
in 2015 this comes about as close to us as it ever does – it is in the mid-north of South Australia. The
orienteering occurs over 4 days, from Good Friday to Easter Monday, with each person’s results from
the Saturday, Sunday and Monday events added together, to determine overall placings. Again, there
are a variety of course lengths and difficulties offered, although in this event participants are divided
into age class groups to make things simpler, as there can be up to 1000 people attending.
So, there are some orienteering options to whet your appetite over the next few months. Now here at
home, there are just a couple more weekends of regular (bush) events to go (including night time
adventures to be had at Holmes Jungle), followed by some Monday evenings of scatter series
courses throughout November, and then our local orienteering season concludes with our
presentation evening in early December. Further details in this newsletter, or on the TEO website.
3
You probably would have realised by now that the TEO website was revamped this year, thanks to
many hours of work by Adam Liedloff. It looks fantastic – if you haven’t yet visited it you should check
it out here: http://www.teo.asn.au/
All the best, and hope to see you soon.
Susanne
TEO President
Committee News
TEO 2015 event calendar planning
Soon it will be time to make our TEO event calendar for next year.
Is there a particular map that you think we should have an event on?
Would you like to do course planning on a particular map?
Is there a particular event type we should include in the calendar?
Is there a particular time of year when you would be able to set an event?
Suggestions welcome. Contact a committee member to discuss. We will have a calendar
construction meeting happening shortly (TBA). Anyone is welcome to come along to and have input.
Congratulations to Jon Potter
Jon Potter, one of the very early members of TEO, a past president and keen organiser of many
events over many years, was recently awarded an NT Senior of Excellence award for his endless
enthusiasm and contribution to motor sport, orienteering and rogaining. Looking at Jon tearing
around an orienteering course, it is hard to imagine that he qualifies as a "senior"! Well done JP.
Volunteer acknowledgements
Every TEO event is dependent on the time and commitment of volunteers. The event results aim to
acknowledge those volunteers but sometimes people’s names are inadvertently omitted. Apologies
and thanks go to those people who were not acknowledged in the previous newsletter’s results
section: Susanne Casanova, Mirjam Kaestli, and Stephen Pennington who helped with cooking,
admin and setup at the Litchfield event; and Peter and Rose Stephens who helped with admin at the
CDNP event.
Schools event
Unfortunately the Territory level school’s orienteering championships, which was supposed to be on
Friday Sept 5th at Holmes Jungle, was cancelled. Thank-you to those who had volunteered their time
for this event.
Want some pocket money for the School/Uni Holidays?
This year Top End Orienteers are encouraging our juniors to get involved with the running of the Wet
Season Series. As an incentive, part of the proceeds from each event will go to the course setters.
Course setting for these events is not as onerous as standard bush events and would be suitable for
orienteers who regularly compete in moderate (or hard) level courses.
For more info contact Lachlan: 0432 906 335, [email protected]
4
2014 Wet Season Series
Top End Orienteers are once again holding the popular Wet Season Series. These orienteering
events be on Monday evenings this year. We have a brand new map in Bayview which should
provide some new welcome challenges – there are quite a few hills in there and the courses will pass
over the harbour lock so you might be racing a boat for the crossing!
These events will be in suburban locations but courses will be set to use parks and nature reserves
where possible. The courses will not cross major roads. Participants can compete individually or in
groups. See the Local Orienteering Events section in this newsletter for more information on dates
and locations.
If you are able to assist with course setting, event setup or publicity then please contact Lachlan.
Lachlan is very keen to get these roles filled as he and Susanne are expecting a new addition to the
family during the series!
Contact Lachlan Hallett: 0432 906 335, [email protected]
TEO Membership list (as of July 2014)
Listed by last name only
Alderson /Mules
Anderson
Atkinson /Reed
Baker, B /Croft
Baker, G
Bertei
Boland
Bow
Bruekers
Campbell /Price
Creswick /Park
Ditterich
Dunbar /Berger
Eakins
Fong
Forrester
Fyrne
Giffard
Hagan
Hallett /Casanova
Haritos
Holt /Irlam
Hughes
Jan
Jong
Kaestli
Keith
King
Koch
Laird
Lamb
Liedloff
Luders
McGrath
Morris, E
Mumme
Newton
Park
Petty/DeKoniock
Phillips
Pitts /Colley
Potter
Purich
Radford
Richards /Lakenby
Riley
Robertson
Samuels
Saunders
Sherrock/Hayman
Shilton
Simon
Sinclair
Smith
Spaulding
Stephens
Sturgess
Thrift
Tremblay /Boyle
Waites
Walter
Westacott/Banister
Whitbread
Whiteside /O’Loughlin
Whybourne /Baschiera
Willis
Memberships are per calendar year. Membership forms are available at events and on the TEO
website.
5
Local Orienteering Events
Casuarina Beach Reserve – Sunday, 12th October, 2014
What:
When:
Where:
OY (regular) event
Sunday, 12th October, 2014
Casuarina Beach Reserve, Brinkin.
Picnic area near the surf club. Follow orienteering signs from roundabout
at end of Trower Rd, Brinkin.
Planner:
Daniel Eakins
Organiser: Phil Giffard
Start:
Between 7:00 am and 9:00 am
Finish:
By 11:00
Courses:
The usual range of very easy, easy, moderate, short hard and long hard courses
will be offered.
BBQ:
Sausage sizzle, vege burgers, fruit and soft drinks
Dig down into the ice if you want a ginger beer or purple pop.
Holmes Jungle Night Event – Saturday, 1st November, 2014
What:
When:
Where:
OY (regular) night event
Saturday, 1st November, 2014
Holmes Jungle hilltop picnic area.
Enter the Holmes Jungle Nature Park from the main entrance off Vanderlin Drive.
Planner:
Lachlan Hallett
Organiser: Emily Prichard
Start:
Between approx. 7:15pm (sunset) and 7.45pm
Finish:
By 9.30pm
Courses:
Easy 2.3 km; Moderate 3.2 km; Short Hard 3.4km; Long Hard 4.7km.
BBQ:
BBQ from 6.30pm, Sausage sizzle, vege burgers, drinks. BBQ and fruit also available
after event.
Other info: Don’t forget to bring your torch!
Dogs on leads at all times.
Wet Season Series – Monday 3rd Nov until 1st Dec
Each Monday there will be two options:
• Easy course: suitable for novices (2-2.5 km) or
• Scatter style course: (4-5.5 km)
Participants on the Scatter course can visit as many or as few checkpoints as they want.
Monday 3rd Nov
Monday 10th Nov
Monday 17th Nov
Stuart Park
Leanyer
Bayview
Monday 24th Nov
Monday 1st Dec
Malak
Charles Darwin Uni
Starts available between 5:30 – 6:15 pm
Courses close: 7:00 pm
6
Junction of Guy St and Gothenburg Crs
Junction of Leanyer Drv and Grassland Crs
Junction of Stoddart Drv and Fanning Drive
Note there will not be toilets at the Bayview Venue
Junction of Malak Crs and Darwent St
Signs along University Drive (South)
If you are able to assist with course setting, event setup or publicity then please contact Lachlan.
Lachlan is very keen to get these roles filled as he and Susanne are expecting a new addition to the
family during the series!
Contact Lachlan Hallett: 0432 906 335, [email protected]
Presentation Night
Date:
Time:
Details:
Venue:
Saturday 6th December
TBA
TBA
TBA
Major National / Interstate Events
What:
2014 NSW Christmas 5 days
When:
Location:
Organiser:
More details:
December 27 to 31, 2014
Sydney and surrounds
ONSW
Event website: http://www.onsw.asn.au/xmas-5-days-2014
Visit Sydney on your way to the 2015 World Cup Round 1 and Oceania Championships in Tasmania!
5 days of tune-up orienteering events to speed you on your way to success in the Apple Isle.
Run the sights, then see the sights - the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Manly and Bondi
beaches, the Blue Mountains, Luna Park, Taronga Zoo and much much more.
Events:
Day 1 (Sat Dec 27)
- a long sprint (winning times of 25 minutes) in the late afternoon at Georges
Heights on the lower north shore offering sensational harbour views.
Day 2 (Sun Dec 28)
- a morning sprint on Cockatoo Island in the middle of Sydney Harbour. Stay
on for a tour of the island's maritime heritage.
Day 3 (Mon Dec 29)
- a 45-minute afternoon score course at Pyrmont on the western fringe of
Darling Harbour.
Day 4 (Tue Dec 30)
- a morning bush event at Lapstone (map = Darks Common) in the lower
Blue Mountains, easily accessible by train one hour from Central. Then head
on up the mountains for some sightseeing.
Day 5 (Wed Dec 31)
- the carnival is capped off with a morning micro sprint (with some a-mazeing twists) at a secret location within Centennial Parklands.
More details at the event website: http://www.onsw.asn.au/xmas-5-days-2014
Keep up with other interstate events via the Orienteering Australia website.
http://www.orienteering.asn.au/
7
Event Results — Holmes Jungle, 7th September, 2014
Task
Volunteer
Points
Organiser
Lana Luders, Dennis Luders
100
Course Planner
Brett Spaulding
100
Coach
Susi Bertei
Cook
Julianne Giffard, Phil Giffard, Dennis Luders
Admin
Izabelle Luders
Very Easy (12 controls, 1.6 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Izabelle Luders
U
00:37:46
70
70
2
Tinapple family
U
00:42:35
62
0
Easy (10 controls, 2.5 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Craig Bellamy
U
00:33:25
80
80
2
Oscar Bertei
E
00:47:35
56
56
3
Lynette Bruekers
E
00:49:42
54
54
4
Leo Whiteside, Ada Whiteside, Tim Whiteside
U
00:58:22
46
0
5
Meghan Smith, Brendan Smith
U
00:58:55
45
0
6
Harriet Eeley, Oliver Lawes, Benjamin Lawes
U
01:02:35
43
0
7
Mark Mayo, Jodie Mayo, Lucy Mayo, Denzel Mayo
U
01:21:02
40
0
8
Brooke Barnett, Marcus Selen
U
01:08:35 (-1)
20
0
Moderate (12 controls, 4.1 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Nicolas Tremblay, Pascal Tremblay, Alicia Boyle
U
00:57:43
90
0
2
Jack Devries
M
01:26:26
90
90
3
David Laird, Teresa Laird, Craig Laird, Alastair Laird
U
01:32:46
84
0
4
Peter Riley
U
01:41:45
76
76
5
Lucy Gregg, Cathy Macdonald, Liam Macdonald
U
01:43:57
75
0
6
Andris Bergs, Deb Hall
U
01:46:40
73
0
7
Glenn Reed
E
01:47:39
72
72
8
Colleen Atkinson
E
01:48:45
72
72
8
9
Ron Ninnis, Betty Lum, Julie Mastin, Trish Greenfield
M/U
02:28:25
52
0
10
Ted Mumme
M
01:35:58 (-1)
41
41
Hard-Short (14 controls, 4.3 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Susanne Casanova
H
01:07:10
95
95
2
Bryan Baker
H
01:12:29
88
88
3
Susi Bertei
H
01:18:31
81
81
4
Adam Liedloff
H
01:27:04
73
73
5
Julianne Giffard
H
02:00:28
53
53
6
Phil Giffard
H
02:45:57
47
47
7
Gareth Lewis
U
02:10:31 (-1)
24
24
(U) Unofficial time
(-x) Missed x controls
(late) returned after close of course
(lost card) lost card on course
Grading: U-Ungraded, V-Very Easy, E-Easy, M-Moderate, H-Hard
* Points based on volunteer points
Event Results — Katherine Showgrounds, 13th Sep, 2014
Task
Volunteer
Points
Course Planner
Lachlan Hallett
100
Coach
Lachlan Hallett, Zoe Radford
Cook
Julianne Giffard, Isabella Giffard
Control collector
Brett Spaulding, Dennis Luders, Andrew Scott
Admin
Maureen Simon, Dennis Luders, Lana Luders,
Izabelle Luders
Setup-Packup
Adam Liedloff, Alana Flentje
Easy (9 controls, 2.6 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Kylie Smith, Reuben Smith, Bryden Smith
U
00:33:18
80
0
2
Alana Flentje
U
00:34:51
80
80
3
Lana Luders, Izabelle Luders
U
00:48:53
57
0
9
Moderate (10 controls, 3.5 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Andrew Scott
U
00:29:02
90
90
2
Deborah Holt, Phillip Irlam
M/U
00:43:34
60
0
3
Veronika Walter, J.C., Simon Nuttall
U
00:50:16
52
0
4
Dwayne Jones
U
00:51:19
51
51
5
Abbey Daniel, Shane O'Brien, Katie Hicks, Brette Earl
U
01:11:21
45
0
Hard-Short (13 controls, 4 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Adam Liedloff
H
00:36:01
95
95
2
Brett Spaulding
H
00:37:28
91
91
3
Zach Tucker, Gavin Tucker
U
00:41:22
83
0
4
Julianne Giffard
H
00:58:39
58
58
Hard-Long (15 controls, 5.5 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Rod Gray
U
-00:25:37
100
100
2
Zoe Radford
H
00:30:16
100*
100
3
Andrew Simon
H
00:46:00
50
50
4
Dennis Luders
M
00:56:38
50
50
5
Caroline Elliott
U
01:04:58 (-1)
25
25
Event Results — Morris Rd,Katherine, 14th Sep, 2014
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Task
Volunteer
Points
Course Planner
Lachlan Hallett
100
Coach
Lachlan Hallett
Cook
Maureen Simon, Julianne Giffard, Isabella Giffard
Control collector
Dennis Luders, Brett Spaulding, Zoe Radford
Admin
Maureen Simon, Andrew Simon, Lana Luders,
Izabelle Luders, Dennis Luders
Setup-Packup
Adam Liedloff, Alana Flentje, Andrew Scott, Zoe
Radford
10
Easy (11 controls, 2.6 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Alana Flentje
U
00:47:51
80
80
2
Abbey Daniel, Shane O'Brien
U
01:10:34
54
0
3
Izabelle Luders, Lana Luders
U
01:18:31 (-1)
24
0
Moderate (8 controls, 3.2 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Andrew Scott
U
01:11:58
90
90
2
Veronika Walter, J.C., Simon Nuttall
U
01:36:13
67
0
3
Kylie Smith, Bryden Smith, Reuben Smith
U
01:36:27
67
0
4
Gordon Atkinson, Rhys Atkinson
U
01:36:55
67
67
5
Deborah Holt, Phillip Irlam
M/U
01:43:41
62
0
6
Heleen Bontje
U
01:50:48
58
58
7
Jordon Hickey, Gary Hickey
U
02:05:43
52
0
8
Sarah Hurley
U
01:11:17 (-1)
45
45
Hard-Short (10 controls, 3.4 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Bryan Baker
H
00:49:05
95
95
2
Adam Liedloff
H
00:55:04
85
85
3
Brett Spaulding
H
01:01:10
76
76
4
Gavin Tucker, Zach Tucker
U
01:45:24
47
0
5
Julianne Giffard
H
02:20:26
47
47
Hard-Long (14 controls, 4.8 km)
Rank
Name
Grading Time
Club
Points
OY
Points
1
Zoe Radford
H
00:48:16
100
100
2
Dennis Luders
M
01:45:32
50
50
3
Andrew Simon
H
01:47:12
50
50
(U) Unofficial time
(-x) Missed x controls
(late) returned after close of course
(lost card) lost card on course
Grading: U-Ungraded, V-Very Easy, E-Easy, M-Moderate, H-Hard
* Points based on volunteer points
11
Event Report – Holmes Jungle, 7th September
Course: Short Hard, Holmes Jungle
Reporter: Adam Liedloff
I headed to control #1 on the short hard course looking forward to another run on a new map of an
old friend course, Holmes Jungle. Rather than the traditional route down the road or track I headed
straight off the side of the hill of the picnic area with a rough bearing from no clear attack point but
found the control after the ground flattened out.
The course to #2 was flat with some major road and track features, but not long after #1 I was
confronted with knee tall knocked over sorghum which was surprisingly difficult to move through
without lifting your legs high each step. By the time I had met up with Juli Giffard and the road my
legs were tired and wondering what was ahead. I followed roads and tracks before heading up the
watercourse with #2 on a large upturned tree buttress.
I took a bearing to #3 which followed the creek for a way. The small fenced enclosure in the thick
jungle is a must on any Holmes Jungle map for a tough moderate level and above, but whether it's
your first or 20th visit to this control, you must not take it for granted as discussed after the event by
others. I know just how hard this control is to find from the nearest track let alone from the south
west, a direction I'm not sure I have approached it from before. Pacing from the creek bend I noticed
a sole picket with some wire that led me to the control flag, and a sigh of relief.
#3 to #4 was only 150 metres but crossed the major creek
which can be deep and dark and not the sort of water body
any top end orienteerer would feel comfortable crossing
regardless of the season, so I took a more northern route to
use the track water crossing as an alternative. Having to cross
a patchwork of walk thicket, I wasn't totally surprised to come
out of the vegetation at the vehicle turnaround but that put
me on course to follow the track, jump across some rocks that
kept my feet dry and follow the clearing south to find the bush
chook mound and control #4.
I was feeling good and quite confident moving though clearly
the most difficult of the two major habitats at Holmes Jungle.
Maybe too confident. I decided to take a bearing to #5 and
pace the distance. Some time along before I got to the
distance I needed I found a control. Checking it's number of 51
against the control I needed, I decided it wasn't the control I
was after and it wasn't near any tracks and headed south
along the watercourse. Sometime later I had that uneasy
feeling I had now walked too far. After too much time of
trying to match the surroundings with the map, I rechecked
my control descriptions to see I was looking for control #51.
After a "small" hit to the head and a few words to myself, I
headed north along the control I found 10 minutes ago –
where I again met Juli.
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So, annoyed, I headed off along the creek on a bearing to #6. Here, mistakes breed mistakes. As I
crossed the first track I turned left and ran to the bridge before heading south on the western creek
bank. Nothing seemed to match and I was at a loss until I noticed a clearing with a track to the west.
Realising there was no track west of #6, I had to do a major rethink and reposition myself on the map.
I was at the northern of the two bridges (a mistake I'm sure I've made before). A quick run along the
track I found the correct bridge and again met Juli.
Now feeling cautious I still decided to head straight to control #7 across the walk thicket and came
out a few metres from the control. Finally, the landscape changed to savannah, albeit full of tall
gamba grass which I traversed with the compass looking for the fastest route determined by
wallabies. Finding the track I made my way to #8. This should be easy. But somehow I missed the
track from the east and was corrected when the track started turning easy with a distinct hill to my
left, which surely must contain my control, and it did.
#9 to #10 was fine. #10 to #11 was a matter of counting creeks and bike tracks before heading onto
the flat ground to find a buttress. Fortunately, I spotted the control.
Controls 12, 13 and 14 were all found without any issues thanks largely to the new map and some
good rise and fall of the ground to follow. Congratulations to the course setter for making a new
course that caught me out in a small national park we have used many times before.
Lessons learned:
 Carefully check control numbers and read the control number you are going to
and not the one you have just visited.
 Familiarity breeds mistakes.
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Event Report – 2014 Katherine Orienteering Series
Reporter: Lachlan Hallett
Top End Orienteers have just concluded a six event orienteering series in Katherine. The events
proved to be popular with the Katherine locals. We had 65 different people attend the events for a
total of 184 participations over the six events. The events attracted a little over 1% of Katherine’s
6000 residents. To put that into perspective, if 1% of Darwin’s population turned up to a Darwin
event there would be 1462 people all trying to register! Unfortunately we got our timing a bit off for
the final weekend of events as our dates clashed with the grand finals of several Katherine sports and
an arts festival which meant that the Katherine participants were outnumbered by Darwin members.
On a more positive note, it was great to see that people were willing to travel from Darwin for these
events. The feedback that I heard was that people enjoyed competing on completely new areas and
that they found the terrain on the Sunday event to be especially challenging but quite rewarding.
The success of these events has encouraged Top End Orienteers to hold another series in 2015. This
will again end with a weekend event which will cater to Katherine and Darwin participants. This
weekend might be held as a two-day event where times are added together. The 2014 series has also
given us confidence to investigate the feasibility of hosting a similar series in Alice Springs in 2015 –
more details to come.
Local Garling Family were regular participants
These Katherine events could not have happened without generous funding of $7,170 from the
Australian Sports Commission and Orienteering Australia. We were also supported by the local YMCA
who put on a free BBQ for the first event and donated the prize of a 1 year gym membership. Many
local businesses also offered their support by displaying flyers in their windows and noticeboards.
Likewise several key people did a lot of work to help get the series up and running. Zoe Radford and
Andrew & Maureen Simon setup each of the events and ran the rego and start/finish. This entailed
several trips down by Andrew and Maureen which was greatly appreciated. Zoe has been living in
Katherine all year and she helped with course setting, control site checking, pulling in controls and
publicity. Lachlan Hallett and Susanne Casanova did some of the course setting and made four of the
maps which required several weekend trips down to K-town. Lachlan also did a lot of the organising
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and publicity. Rod Gray (from Ballarat, Victoria) was hired to make the final map but he also helped
out by putting out and pulling in many of the controls. Many more helpers were present on the
weekend which was greatly appreciated – e.g. Brett Spaulding and Dennis Luders pulled in most of
the controls on the weekend events which freed up the others to rush off to prepare maps and hang
controls.
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3
1
2
3
5
Map of Katherine showing the location and order of the events of the 2014 series.
Article in the Katherine Times on 2nd September 2014
Event 1:
Event 2:
Event 3:
Event 4:
Event 5:
Event 6:
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Tuesday 19th August 2014,
Tuesday 26th August 2014,
Tuesday 2nd September 2014,
Tuesday 9th September 2014,
Saturday 13th September 2014,
Sunday 14th September 2014,
26 people
27 people
39 people
37 people
27 people
29 people
Group from Timber Creek attending on Saturday 13th of September
Susanne also made a trek down to Katherine for a schools event on Thursday 11th September.
This was a come and try it activity day for schools in the Rivers Cluster which had schools rotating
through many different sports throughout the day. The event was attended by some of the local
Primary Schools, one of the High Schools and several of the remote area schools within 200 km of
Katherine. All up 145 different students tried orienteering as one of their activities. Some of these
students came to the events on the following weekend.
The Katherine series proved to be especially popular with the 18 to 35 year old demographic
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OA News
RouteGadget
Orienteering Australia has installed the latest version of RouteGadget on its website which is a utility
for drawing and comparing orienteering routes on a map. It can be accessed at
http://rg.orienteering.asn.au/. Some background information on RouteGadget can be found at
http://support.orienteering.asn.au/. The number of articles on it will expand as required.
The site is ready to use now for events going forwards, and has one of the latest non-Java versions
of RouteGadget installed. Ian Chennell (Victoria) has kindly offered to administer and maintain the
RG installation. This support is greatly appreciated!
As part of this role Ian has kindly offered to update the server as new versions are released. He has
also offered his time to migrate existing RG repositories to the new installation. If you are interested
in doing this please send an email to [email protected].
ADVERTISEMENT
Looking for somewhere to buy a thumb compass?
Silva thumb compasses can be purchased from Silva distributer Robbie Preston who
is based in Victoria. Robbie holds a stock of both left and right handed thumb
compasses and can post you your compass promptly after you place your order.
Phone Robbie on 0403 296 516, or email [email protected].
An alternative supplier is Colin Price, phone 0415 210 339, www.aussieogear.com.
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Photo Board – Katherine week-end
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If undelivered return to:
TOP END ORIENTEERS
PO BOX 39152
WINNELLIE NT 0821
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