Monthly Archives: April 2016

A year to date record of 85 entries today saw really good conditions in the bush south of Crusoe Reservoir, Bendigo. This is mostly fast running bush but the course setter (John Wilkinson) used a lot of old gold mining terrain and eroded gullies to hide his controls. This also made the courses interesting and wet for those brave enough to cross the wide water channel in pursuit of a quicker time.

By early afternoon the rain had cleared. Unfortunately for John it was quite wet when he put out controls on Friday. Fastest in course 1 was Leon Keely with a time of 31.41 min for the 7 km, closely followed by Natasha Key (35.23) and Ben Goonan (35.59).

Course 2 was also close, won by Jimmy Cameron (34.09), Shayne Hill (35.06). The fastest lady on course 2 was Julie Flynn (who also braved the water channel). Course 3 was won by Toph Naunton (25.10). Peter Hill and Leisha Maggs came second and third respectively.

Best in course 4 was Oliver Martin followed by Rick and Alison McDonald.
Lachlan Feuerherdt was fastest on course 5 followed by brother Joshua.

Well done to everyone. We hope you enjoyed yourselves. Thanks to those people who stayed behind to collect controls. This area is really interesting but because it is entirely fenced all controls had to be carried in/out by foot or bike.

Results are HERE Splits are HERE Win Splits are HERE. Next Bendigo event is at Chewton.

Leon’s preparation pre Ultra long, that includes other shoes, just in case, and with the spoils of victory

John Wilkinson/ Jenny Ball

In good weather last Saturday, a  mix of 46 people from Bendigo, Melbourne and Heathcote went of a ‘Back to Mt Ida’ event based at the familiar Dargile Picnic Grounds some 9 km from Heathcote township.

Dargile Picnic Area 2015/16

With the use of a remote start and remote finish, Courses 1 – 3 were able to spend the majority of the time orienteering in reasonably clear and intricate spur-gully terrain along the first ridge to the east of the actual steep Mt Ida ‘mountain’. Flatter areas have seen serious vegetation growth since the current (a non-OCAD) map was surveyed in 1992 and tracks are not now reliably mapped.

The map used for Courses 4 and 5 was a re-use of that prepared for the Heathcote Community Games in 2015 and utilized the flatter area surrounding the picnic ground. Because of the present inaccuracy of the 1992 map, this remap at 1:7500 allowed for the area to be now usable by beginners and newcomers. The difference in the map changes in 24 years is shown in the images shown here.

Dargile Picnic Area 1992

While the venue is some distance from Bendigo, those who orienteer in this terrain to the east of Mt Ida always seem to find it rewarding with a good level of physical challenge. It is worth considering how this area can be used into the future where the standard and convenience of mapping has changed so much over almost quarter of a century.

The Space Racing season started with a Come and Try It on Tuesday afternoon at Kangaroo Flat Botanic Gardens. A small but enthusiastic group of Space racers enjoyed the course set by Jack Wigney. Being an ex-Space Racer, Jack understands what makes a good Space Race. The season proper starts next Tuesday afternoon (26/4/16) at 4.00 pm next to the Kindergarten in Spring Gully Reserve. Full report, results and details of coming events: www.spaceracing.com.au

Directions: http://eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/3952

The fantastic weather at Bendigo’s most recent event held at Kangaroo Gully meant that many Orienteers showed up eager for a run. 72 competitors over the 5 courses meant that we even went short a few maps.

David Brownridge held up 1^st place over a 7.1km course 1, closely followed by Jim Russell, 50 seconds down from the winner. Young Louis Cameron came in 3^rd, giving a respectable time only another 3mins 50sec down from Jim.

In the 6km course 2 we saw Jimmy and Andrew Cameron holding 1^st and 2^nd respectively with Nigel McGuckian coming in 3^rd in the wide field consisting of 23 competitors. Neil Barr gave us an insight to his route choices which can be seen DOMA, following the link.

Another wide field in course 3 with 23 competitors didn’t intimidate young Jack Wigney finishing first in the 3.6km course with a time of 37:44 and Jacqui Knee came in only 45seconds behind him, giving her 2^nd place. 3^rd place was achieved by Charles Brownridge with a respectable time only 2mins behind Wigney.

Course 4 winners ‘The A Team’ finished in a convincing win with a lead of close to 7mins over Campbell James, with Raelee Eenjes coming in with a worthy 3^rd place.

Course 5 was won by New Comer Michael Chan followed closely by young Harrison Carter putting in a good show only 4mins 37secs down from Chan. Akira Hill also competing well, bringing in 3^rd place.

From an organising perspective Glenn James, Nic, Don and myself were very happy with how the day unfolded. A big thanks is due to Jim for providing the gear for electronic entering/downloading which allows us almost instant results online, also many thanks to the helpers who collected controls and helped pack up at the end of the day.

Wishing everyone good luck for next weekend’s event organised by Michael Loughnan at Bird Reef.

Results are HERE Splits are HERE Win Splits are HERE. Next Bendigo event is at Birds Reef.

Lachlan, Nic and Glenn getting ready to put out the Controls

Lachlan Cherry