It was in
the deep dark distant days of the School Certificate that the standard question
was “Compare and contrast the dairy industry of the Taranaki region with that
in your state”.
Welcome to
State Leagues 10 and 11- “Compare and contrast the spur gully of Olney Forest,
Saturday, with the sand dunes of Salt Ash Sunday” Spur Gully has a certain
predictability with water courses providing the gullies and the spurs appearing
either side of the water courses- all leading downhill!
Salt Ash
sandhills are an enigma we seldom get to run on such maps. The Stockton Dunes
came to life for orienteers way back in an Aussie Champs somewhere around 1983.
The sand dunes are a mix of high points, hills and depressions all carpeted
with bracken fern which tends to reduce your ability to see the small features.
Plus, there are no water courses to create the predictable gully spur systems. Sometime
after the Aussie champs the area was burnt out and the bracken fern was just
beginning to regrow. Suddenly the map was so much easier to read. When looking
at the courses for Salt Ash take note of the contour lines especially those
with an eyelash- depression.
For those
who ran in Olney Forest in May, water and leaches dominated the memory banks.
Toss in a few big hills. This version of Olney was a lot drier, less hilly and what,
no leaches! It was advised, where possible to stay away from the green around
creeks- here “lawyer vines” are awaiting to take hold and they are seriously
difficult to escape once they get hold- reverse gear only!
The fields
in all classes were down on the usual as many orienteers have headed to Europe
for WOC, JWOC, EYOC, O-Ringen and a plethora of multi day events in many
countries. Shane and serena are at O-Ringen whilst Jana, Linda and Aldo are off
catching up with friends and relatives in Czechia, Switzerland and
Italy.
Our own Maggie was at European Youth Orienteering Championships held in Brno Czechia. This was her very first experience in Europe. As the name suggests it is a Championship attracting 16/18 year old orienteers from across Europe plus a team representing Australia. Each of the age classes have around 140 runners so the competition is fierce. Australia had quite a large representation this year.
Magge was placed 70th
in W18 Sprint – Aussie Elye dent (ACT) came 4th wow what and effort.
The long event was super hard lots of climb and lots of distance. Maggie
finished 90th in W18. The relays were much more enjoyable and Maggie’s
team finished in 20th place – an excellent effort.
 |
| Brutal climb on the long courses- hot weather! |
Olney Forest- no leeches!
As
mentioned earlier the entry numbers were way down and only 5 Uringans faced the
starters gun.
And believe
it or not all 5 stood on the podium at the end of the day. Jono Nolan 2nd M20A,
Ant Nolan 2nd M50A and Ron Pallas 2nd M65AS
were our top performers. Down just one step on the podium was Jane Boland 3rd W
open B and Gayle Shepherd 3rd in W55AS.
As
mentioned earlier the terrain was quite friendly and you could avoid the
thicker green. The weather was also very friendly and the arena was bathed in
sunshine. It was a then a case of head home to prepare one's head for the
challenges of Salt Ash- part of the Stockton Dunes.
 |
| Gayle's Course |
 |
| Jono and Ant's course |
Salt Ash - mind over contours
Mapper Rob
Vincent gave some wise advice use the big high features to navigate by. Wise
words!
Our famous
five were joined with the timely arrival of Ori and Alon. With the start at the bottom of a
deep depression the only way was up and for many straight into the contour puzzles
Once more
on the podium was Jono and Ant and Ron, all repeating their Saturday placing. They were joined by Gayle who stepped up to finish 2nd in her class. Jane and
Ori, M45As, both recorded 4th places and Alon finished 5th
in M14A.
Once again,
the weather was superb and the arena warm and wind free. A perfect day amongst
the dunes.
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| Jono's course |
 |
| Alon's Course |
 |
| Ori's Course |
What is next- here are the big events coming up!
The NSW Schools Championship on the Southern Highlands - 23/24 August- - including State Leagues 12/13
All students must enter through School Students entry not via Eventor
All non school students via SL 12 and SL 13
Uringa will be handling SL 13- so be prepared when the call goes out for volunteers.
NSW Championships in Uralla (Armidale) -13/14 September
On a personal
note, I am so looking forward to these events. Having been on the map,
Glenburnie, a number of times preparing
for the 2024 Aust Champs it will be a real challenge to compete on what is a
premier granite map.
Australian
Championship Carnival 27th September – 5th October
Brisbane – Ipswich regions.
Carnival web site Carnival 1st Bulletin:
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