Uringa News

Update on the Permanent Orienteering Course in Centennial Park

2012-01-31T11:17:00.002+11:00

Just a bit of an update on the permanent orienteering course in Centennial Park which our club is involved in.

Centennial Parklands has partnered with Uringa and Conservation Australia volunteers to set up a permanent orienteering course in Centennial . The project started about a year ago and is nearing completion with control site markers going in by the end of February, hopefully!! Linda & Dave set the courses (with a total of 31 control sites), and along with OANSW Development Officer Barbara Hill attended several meetings throughout 2011 to help push this project along.

Following article has been published in the Centennial Parklands summer news bulletin, see page 5:

http://www.centennialparklands.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/57834/Cent_SummerMag_2011_LR.pdf

This year also marks 40 years of orienteering and mapping in Centennial Park, with the 1st ever event held in April 1972, so the opening of this permanent course in 2012 will signify a great milestone in the Uringa Club history.

It is anticipated that the official opening will be held in conjunction with our Metroleage/Juniorleague event on 17 June.

Happy New Year

2012-01-05T09:53:00.002+11:00

Hope everyone had a marvellous Christmas time and is now ready for some more great orienteering in 2012!! With the new year already in full swing, the next Uringa events are once again just around the corner..........below are the details:

11 Jan Summer Series Balmain

30 Jan Sprint Callan Park

5 Mar Sprint Balmain

As usual helpers are required at all events and organisers will be grateful for anyone lending a hand !!

To a happy and successful New Year, and to the terrain and beyond !!

2011 XMAS 5 Days

2012-01-03T07:27:00.005+11:00

A small but hardy crew of Uringans made the trip north to Newcastle for the 2011 Xmas 5 days. 5 days, 5 events in a variety of terrains. Sounds good.

The courses, set by Junior orienteers supported by senior mentors, were well received. I can vouch for that as when you sit in the finish tent you get all sorts of comments and for these 5 days there was a steady stream of positive comments.

Our accommodation - Bonnay!

This year the 5 days featured a different style of event each day.

Day 1 saw a long sprint at the Ourimbah Campus of Newcastle University. Unfortunately it was a little wet underfoot and all had tp cross a rather broad marsh - wet and muddy feet was the order of the day. However it caould have been worse as two weeks ago all the low lying areas were under 30 - 40 cms of water.

Linda Sesta had a win in Womens B and fortunately for me Aldo cam with her and he helped me sort out the myriad enter on days. Jared McKenna scored a very solid 3rd on the Enter on day easy course. Dave Lotty was next in line with 7th in MD and Dick scored a 16th place in the same class. Gayle Shepherd led home Maureen Ogilvie in Womens D with 18th and 20th places respectively.

Day 2 and into the bush we go with a Middle distance course at Sothams Road. Jared improved his placing with a 1st in EOD easy. Dave was ever consistent with 7th in MD along with Dick who stepped up two places to 14th. Gayle and Maureen also headed up the leader board with 10th and 13th respectively.

Day 3 and it was a traditional Long Distance Event near Abernathy. Times were as expected longer than previously. Dave had his best day so far with a 3rd in MD whilst Dick continued the climb up the leader board with a fine 12th placing. Gayle had not one of her best runs with Maureen heading her home in 13th and gayle in 17th.

Day 4 saw the mob assemble on Jacobs Oval at Pelaw Main. This was the day that caused me the most concern as it was "MASS START" day. The thought of all 270 runners in the bush within 20 minutes had visions of a long long queue at the download. Alas it was not to be as everyone finished in a civilised fashion and the longest the queue got was about a dozen.

It was interesting to watch the mass starts 5 in all and there is a very interesting photo of Dave face planting just after starting- reading the map and not seeing a nasty dip in the ground! Despite the fall Dave continued to score well with a 4th placing and Dick did things by 2 again with another jump of two placings to move to 10th on the day. Maureen continued to head Gayle into the finished with a fine 11th placing with Gayle next in in 12th.

Here we go "Loopy d Loo" was the theme for the 5th and final day staged in the hills behind Glendale High School.. Competitors in each class started in pairs with each one doing loops in a different order. Perhaps the highlight of the day was Nicola Blatchford heading home mum Karen in a fierce sprint down the finish shute. This was Dave's worse result with a 20th and Dick once again in powers of 2 was two in front in 18th. Gayle came in in 12th with Maureen in 15th.

And so it was that the crowd eagerly awaited the results as in the 5 days you drop your worse run. Dave was a very healthy 4th place in MD with Dick 13th overall. Maureen managed to head Gayle in WD with a fine 15th placing with Gayle ( 16th) by 0.56% in the overall score.

Superbly organised by Nick Dent the 2011 event was a great success.

2012 5 days will be in northern Victoria. Beechworth Bakery here we come!

2012 events (March to October)

2011-12-12T16:59:00.006+11:00

Thanks everyone for putting their hands up to volunteer for course setting, mentoring, controlling and organising!

17 June 12 METROLEAGUE

Centennial Park

Course setter: Maggie & Ian Jone

Controller: Dave Lotty

22 July 12 JUNIOR LEAGUE

Callan Park

Course setter: Alison Pearce, Chris Brown

Mentor/Controller: Sarah, Rick & Jan

25 Aug 12 STATELEAGUE (MIDDLE)

Beyond Rocklea (Belanglo)

Course setter: Dave Lotty

Controller: Dick Ogilvie

Organiser: Ron Pallas

Presidents Cup Orienteering questions

2011-12-03T08:54:00.003+11:00

By popular demand the three orienteering questions which were part of the Presidents Cup run last weekend have been added to the blog. Happy problem solving !!

1) How many buildings can be found on this map extract?

2) Which control is located at the highest point, which control is located at the lowest point on this map extract?

3) Guess the distance of route a) and route b).

Congratulations !

2011-12-02T10:52:00.004+11:00

There is some great news to share:

Hannah and Michael got engaged last weekend !!

Congratulations on your engagement from the Uringa family !! This is a wonderful time for you both and we wish you all the love and happiness for a beautiful live together.

All the very best !!

Southern Series - 'The Warren'

2011-11-30T10:02:00.001+11:00

Uringa's event for the inaugural Sydney Southern Series was 'The Warren'. Assembly was in Gough Whitlam Park (in Wolli Creek, or Undercliff, or ... the GPS's and the street directories seemed uncertain), a lovely location alongside Cook's River.

Dave Lotty did the mapping, course setting, control putting out, and is seen here on the registration table (he's wearing one of the new club shirts, by the way). (Michael Tompkins and Dave picked the controls up the next day.)

Several other club members were on hand as usual to do what needed to be done - the Southern Series being a much more low key event than the Sydney Series, there was lots of time for talk.

Ron Pallas, of course, sat in the technology seat. It's amazing what you can do with one of those little netbooks and the SportIdent software.

A photographer for the Bankstown-Canterbury Torch came to photograph the event (anyone who gets this paper, please watch out for the photo!), and was well briefed by Maggie Jones.

And there's always something special at a Uringa orienteering event. This time it was spotting a pair of grass parrots on the lawn (tentatively identified as turquoise parrots).

Uringa Christmas Party

2011-11-30T08:36:00.047+11:00

Hope you enjoy the photos, courtesy of Aldo's paparazzi service!!

I think next year we need to add some other awards to the President's cup:

- the person with the best finish pose

- the best dessert

Ok, not quite the Uringa eagle watching over us at the start!!

what the.....

chief, cook and bottle washer

Postmortum Urban Max

2011-11-22T09:01:00.005+11:00

A sunny and warm day greeted us last Saturday at the Sydney Entertainment quarters for the start of this years Urban Max race.

As there were over a 1000 runners to be managed, the teams of 2 were split , with one group standing way away from the start, and with the other group with the other team member now at the starting point. Ready, set, go and you had 500+ running over the oval towards an embankment to pick up the clue sheet, and then having to run back to find their other team mate...it was a mad scramble, but once the teams found each other it was heads down, iPhones on to solve the 20 clues on where to find the checkpoints and figure out a route, for example:

Named after the 13th Premier of NSW, travel to the park in the Eastern suburbs where a game of hoop de loop awaits.

Shipped from the Motherland. This shop will satisfy even the most demanding sweet tooth in the red light district.

Solve the Anagram: HET LSTAIUANRA TOEHL.

So activities at check points included a long & high jump (hadn't done that for over 30 years!!), gaming at Time Zone, swimming, hops and kayaking in the Rose Bay area, burlesquing in New Town, answering questions at a pub and in a bike store, stacking 3 golf balls on top of each other, some bike activity in Centennial Park.....it was really all fun and games.

After clocking up more or less miles (public transport is permitted) it was back to the EQ for some much needed food, and perhaps some shopping at the markets.

Congratulations to Clare and Catherine who came 3rd in the Female racing category !! Here are the results of the Uringa contingent:

Female Racing (14 checkpoints):

3rd Murphys Law Clare and Catherine Murphy 4:34:19

Mixed Racing (14 checkpoints):

20th Amazing Race Wannabees Hannah Watts & Michael Weiner 5:01:11

Female Social (10 checkpoints):

54th Uringa FastFeet Maggie & Jane McK 5:09:47

Mixed Social (10 checkpoints):

9th Team Hangover Chris Barazza & Kerryn 3:29:10

36th Dynamic Duo Linda & Ald0 4:38:59

Next years date has already been announced, so if you want to try something different and have some fun along the way, and do as much walking or running as you want, why not pencil in 17th November 2012 !!

Urban Max

2011-11-18T09:56:00.002+11:00

Quite a few Uringa members are taking part in the Urban Max race tomorrow starting from Moore Park. It's based loosely on the "Amazing Race", and can involve anything from eating toasted grubs and raw eggs to doing zumba dancing or diving for things in the pool, or finding a clue at the archaeological site in the Rocks (Sydney YHA). Wonder what they will have in store for us this year !!

Maggie has teamed up with Jane McK as team Uringa FastFeet, our new member Chris is running in a team called Hangover, Linda and Aldo are the Dynamic Duo, and Catherine and Clare are using Murphy's Law to get around. They came 2nd in the female racing division last year and are surely looking to go one better this year......Good luck everyone and be sure to have fun !!

Follow up Award night

2011-11-13T11:34:00.002+11:00

My apologies, I did forget to mention an award which was handed out to the first place getters in each class of the Summer Series 2010/2011.

Congratulations to our new member Chris Brown who came 1st in the age class "Walking, Men" .

OANSW Award night

2011-11-13T11:10:00.003+11:00

A small group of Uringa members ventured to Dundas for the annual award night. Our club once again took home many trophies and badges !! Creative director Maggie went out of her way to create a replication of the Uringa eagle and while she got a mention for her creativity, unfortunately Uringa missed out on the "Best decorated table" trophy. The Uringa decoration will be on display from about 5pm on 26 November at the Gayle and Ron Gallery !!!

Awards:

Wattle award: Sophie and Georgia Jones, Jarred McKenna

W10A 1st Sophie Jones

W14A 1st Georgia Jones

W40A 1st Linda Sesta

W65A 1st Angela Murray

W70A 1st Maureen Ogilvie

M45A 1st Ian Jones

M16A 2nd Lawrence Jones

W21AS 2nd Jane McKenna

W50A 2nd Lisa Lampe

M10A 3rd Jarred McKenna

M35AS 3rd Dave McKenna

M65A 3rd Dick Ogilvie

Handicap awards, based on the handicap for each participant on their specific course (for further details on the mathematical formula please refer to Gordon Wilson!):

Blue course Sophie Jones

Wombies Nick Willmott, Aldo Sesta

Congratulation to everyone - well done !!

Uringa training course - Week 2

2011-11-08T14:08:00.006+11:00

This week saw our intrepid participants tackle some of the key orienteering techniques to make their navigation more secure. Jane and Jared McKenna came along to say hi, climb some trees (well Jared did anyway) and help talk through some of the finer points with the team in training. After a quick map matching exercise to get the blood flowing to the brain we were off looking at lots of lovely maps and spotting the handrails and catching features of past events. Then it was onto some distance estimate, an explanation of attack points and another squint at some old maps and the competition of the day - the Star Relay!

Using last week's scores we matched up the teams for the adults course - Therese and Dad Riccardo were paired with Catherine, Chris with Roslyn and Matt with dark horse Gillian. Beniamino decided to try the children's star relay by himself, and did a great job, making Ian's shadowing of him a mere formality. He was up against stiff competition with Sophie determined to show him how it was done, and Georgia on good form despite having just returned from some training with the Stingers in the morning. In the end Chris and Roslyn won the adults course by a couple of lengths ahead of Matt and Gillian (who is clearly rather good at all of this when she doesn't have to carry a pencil) with Therese, Riccardo and Catherine very close behind. Next week - contours!

Beginner course kicks off

2011-10-30T20:23:00.007+11:00

Linda Sesta and Maggie Jones, with the two Jones girls to help out, ran the first session of the new 5 week Beginner Orienteering Course at Centennial Park today. There was a good turn out which means that we have some new members! We welcomed the Briganti family, with parents Roslyn and Riccardo and children Beniamino and Therese, Matthew Nicol, Chris Barraza and Catherine Taylor to Uringa. Gillian McCartney who also came on the course, has signed up to Big Foot as she lives over the bridge, as will mother and son Jen and Rory, who came to say hello and said they will come along to some of the later sessions as they have orienteered before. Lucky Big Foot! Thanks to Sarah Garnett for the excess maps of Centennial Park from the recent CATI - they were appreciated as we took the team on a map walk around the Green course she had set, looking at terrain to map, and map to terrain. The basics covered, next week we are onto techniques - lets hope the weather is as kind!
Results for the example SSS event (25min score - 150 pts)
1 Georgia 150pts
2 Catherine 120pts
2= Chris 120pts
3 Sophie 110pts
4Matthew 90pts
4= Therese 90pts
5Beniamino 60pts
6 Gillian - but then she did lose her pencil - maybe she actually won!

Master mapper Dave Lotty shows Uringa how its done!

2011-10-22T19:00:00.007+11:00

Last Uringa club members training date in the diary for 2011 was Dave Lotty's mapping master class at Gough Whitlam Park near Tempe. Dave took us through the basics, which turned out not to be so basic after all, and involved an alarming amount of maths. There were some coloured pencils on show which made us think that maybe it wasn't beyond us after all and then we were let loose to investigate the surroundings and try and translate them into map language. There was a lot of discussion over open, white, and different types of marsh and how to map them. Does a tidal marsh equal a swamp? What do you show for a rock wall around a raised island? Is the rocky lump a high point, a boulder or a small cliff? Should you show a vegetation boundary with a dotted line if that doesn't add any useful information to the competitor? All these and more were chewed over by adults and juniors alike, giving us a renewed respect for mappers past and present who provide us with something worthwhile to run on.
Once we had tried our hands at mapping Dave revealed his finished version - oh, right, that's what its supposed to look like! Using this elegant version Dave set a course for us to race around. An interesting route choice from control 4 to 5 caught many of us out, with Ian and Duncan being the sensible exceptions who read the contour detail and avoided the rather steep climb and descent that left the rest of us puffing. Back at the finish to find out how we all did, and then it was a leisurely BBQ in the cooling afternoon to round it off. Thanks Dave for a great afternoon - it was a real treat!
Results of the Gough Whitlam Challenge:
Ian Jones 11:31
Duncan Currie 14:33
Georgia Jones 15:19
Maggie Jones 18:03
Colin Currie 22:50
Brian Clelland 25;15
Sophie and Ellen 27:38
Mary Jane Mahony 28:35

AUSSIE MTBO

2011-10-18T15:58:00.003+11:00

Uringa had a very small group attending the Australian MTBO Championships in Victoria.
Nick and Marg tossed their trusty Speedwells into the back of the Prius for the trip to Wangaratta.
Altogether there were 4 events so lots of pedalling and numb bums!
The competition started off with a Middle Distance race and disaster struck early for Nick a navigational error saw him miss control 1 and so a mp was his final placing. Marg was better however disaster struck after control 10 and that was the end of her race.
The next race was the sprint and the trusty Speedwells and the brains were as one together and Nick finished a handy 24th in M50 and Marg was placed 10th in W50.
Then there was the long:
Nick did well to finish 21st in his group whilst Marg unfortunately recored another mp.
The final event was a relay and Marg's team competing in mixed length (short, medium and long) finished just a handful of seconds in front of Nicks - 34th and 35th respectively.
I think this is the first time in MTBO Champs for our intrepid pair. Well Done

Message from President - Presidents Forum 22 OCT

2011-10-13T09:43:00.002+11:00

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON THIS POST, OR SEND ME AN EMAIL. THANK YOU!!

A few weeks ago I sent out an email regarding the upcoming President's Forum, which is now definitely taking place on 22 Oct, and which I will be attending. I had a few replies to my last email (see below), and now invite you again to make any comments on below topics.

From below comments you can see that we already have a few points to bring forward:

- Navigation on website not really clear / not straight forward to obtain event information

- Fee standardisation should be considered

- Offering discounts to members, rather than penalties to beginners/newcomers etc

- Pricing of sportident into new membership (this is really a great idea, Rick)

- registration card (access to database with all members info on it to facilitate event entry)

- involvement of younger generation into organisation of events, mapping, course setting etc

Here are some questions which could be addressed, and perhaps you could provide your comment / opinion on this:

- what do you think about having an Events Series Coordinator in our club dealing directly with OANSW re events?

- do you think standardisation of membership fees is a good idea?

- do we require any additional equipment (we have just bought locks for use with sportident at the summer series & sprints)?

- do we have any sportident requirements?

- have you got any comments/feedback re OANSW administration?

- do you have any comments re schools development? Should schools development continue?

- any requirements/needs etc from OANSW?

- any other items you think should be discussed?

I am going to put this information on the blog too, so feel free to comment there too. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers Linda

The topics that the Board have under consideration for discussion are as follows:

(1) NSW Annual Calendar

- Structure of events

- Process for establishing the calendar

- Timing for commencement and finalisation of the calendar(s)

(2) An Event Series Coordinator and reciprocal person from each club Proposal

(3) Club Membership Map Proposal

(4) Standardisation of Membership Fees

(5) Association Equipment / Club Equipment – what is needed or wanted?

(6) SportIdent

- Unit Numbering/Rationalisation

- Software for the future

- Options

(7) Association Manual Update

- What requests do clubs have

(8) Marketing Review

- 2011 Changes – Good, Bad? Improvements?

- Ongoing Publicity – where, when?

(9) ONSW Administration

- 2011 arrangements – Good, Bad, Problems, improvements?

(10)Event Results Publication

- Who, where, when, format,

- Conflicting formats, conflicting requirements (ASC, DSR, OA.......)

(11)Schools Development

- The future? Is there one? Club ideas and feedback desired

(12)Clubs Wants/Desires/Needs

(13)Easter 2014, Aus Champs 2017

(14)Any Other Business

Oceania Odyssey part 3 The Badja

2011-10-11T21:49:00.004+11:00

Umbrellas seem to come out when presentations happened

Aussie Longs Champs

Oceania Sprints

For those who have been around they will know that Badja has been part of the orienteering circus from way back in 1987. The complex granite has been causing headaches ever since.

And so it was that we once again headed east from Cooma to the Badja for 3 more rounds of testing.

Friday was the Oceania Sprint. We ran on an area called Wombat Hill with the scale at 1:5000. Oh boy the complexity of the course sorted out a number of people and for me well i crashed and burnt. For me I met my Armageddon with a disastrous hunt for my first control. cannot believe that I actually stood beside the ant mound 1/2 way to #1 and then for some inexplicable reason marched off a little NE and then became totally lost finally relocating off the large boulders on the eastern fence!. Oh well 26 minutes wasted. Back to 1 and then around we went. Boy what fun.

Others managed a far better attack on the hill than I.

M45A Ian Jones 6th

M40A Dave McKenna 29th

M55A Ron Pallas 24th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 6th

M65A Dave Lotty 14th

W10 Sophie Jones 3rd

W14A Georgia Jones 5th

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W40A Maggie Jones 4th

W40A Jane McKenna 7th

W55A Gayle Shepherd 16th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

With the day done we then returned to Cooma for a well earned rest in our 5 star accommodation ( well ours was 5 star if you were a termite).

Up again under slightly cloudy sky Saturday was the Australian Long Championships. Back out on a very scenic drive through Numerella we went. Marginata was the name of the map and it is dominated by granite, open paddocks and green.

The early legs on most courses were set in the greener scrubby sections of the map before heading out to areas dominated by clusters of rock, copses of trees and open paddocks. Speed ruled.

Ah at last I can say that I had a decent run with no real big losses of time well around 6 i was a little bit astray..

M10 Jared McKenna 3rd

M16A Lawrence Jones 14th

M45A Ian Jones 7th

M55A Ross Coyle 7th

M55A Rick Steele 28th

M65A Dave Lotty 7th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 9th

W10 Sophie Jones 1st

W14A Georgia Jones 2nd

W40A Linda Sesta 3rd

W50A Sarah Garnett 9th

W50A Lisa Lampe 14th

W65A Angela Murray 5th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

M45AS Dave McKenna 4th

M45AS Ron Pallas 8th

W21AS Maggie Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 10th.

Right on cue a large clap of thunder heralded more rain and the crowd scattered as the cloud spattered.

Sunday Morning event 9 saw the crowds line up for the Oceania relay Championships. By now walking wounded were everywhere and relay teams changed as fast as Imelda Marcos changed shoes.

We were running on the same area with more time spent to the west of the previous two maps.

Relay results- teams containing these Uringans were placed:

M16A Lawrence Jones 10th

M45A Ian Jones 6th

M55A Rick Steele 4th

M65A Dave Lotty 2nd

M65A Dick Ogilvie 3rd

W16 Georgia Jones 3rd

W40A Linda Sesta + Maggie Jones 3rd

W50A Sarah Garnett + Lisa Lampe 4th

W65A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

MW12A Sophie Jones 1st

W21AS Gayle Shepherd 4th

Mixed Length Dave McKenna 6th

Mixed length Jared McKenna 7th

And so it was that the final presentations were made in the dry. The crowds dispersed taking the well worn tracks to their various homes and the organisers were left with the mammoth job of packing up. ( Worse to come is unpacking, sorting and storing)

What a great carnival, what a week and all that was left was the drive home, the smelly socks and O gear and a lot of great memories..

Now if memory serves me correctly Oceania is happening in NZ in a year or two...

Photos Oceania Carnival

2011-10-11T10:12:00.019+11:00

Where's Gayle???
Where's Ron?? Wonder whether they ever found each other on the day!!!
Looks cute here....but wait.....
...but what a fierce competitor!!
IPad orienteering??
The nerve centre at the Australian Relays!
Georgia in action
Uringa injury of the week, until Jane injured her knee on the 2nd last day of competition. Hope it's not too bad Jane!
A very focused Lawrence
Stop smiling Sarah, it's serious business..
That's it Dave, hard at it!

Yes Gayle, your hair is in place !!
Rick's "Running" Repairs !!

Oceania Odyssey part 2- Wagga Wagga

2011-10-10T20:57:00.010+11:00

Alex Davey - course planner for Aussie relays hard at it

The caterers brought their own tractor to negotiate the track in

One needs to look one's best when running for NSW

Anita and Lorna

Schoolies Week- invasion begins

Georgia interviewed after her great run

The Odyssey moved on to Wagga well Tumbarumba well half way between - Murragoldrie state forest.

The weather had cleared and we were blessed with 4 days of fine weather- and warmth and sunshine and no rain!

Over the next two days there were 4 events- 2 for the Australian Schools Championships and 2 for the punting public.

Uringa had two representatives in the schools Georgia and Lawrence Jones. Both were competing for the first time and both in Junior division. The Aussie schools champs is hot competition and especially in the Junior Boys / Senior Boys this year.

Georgia had two really solid runs finishing 9th and Lawrence put together a really strong run to record 10th, The following day they backed up for the school relays and both Georgia and Lawrence's teams finished 4th. For both of these up and coming juniors it was the first year in their respective divisions and I am looking forward to the 2012 Schools Events - Tasmania I think.

Meanwhile back at the maps the orienteering public had two races. On Tuesday it was the "Burngoogee Bash" with participants running on the same courses as the schools. It was interesting to see that most winning times were in fact those of the school runners.

Results:

Easy- Sophie Jones 7th

Easy Jared McKenna 9th

H1 Ian Jones 21st

H1 Ian McKenzie 51st

H2 Jane McKenna 30th
H2 Dick Ogilvie 32nd

M2 Maggie Jones 1st- (did she beat Georgia's time? Yes but only by a handful of minutes!)

M2 Maureen Ogilvie 17th

The next day it was the Australian Relay Championships. This was the first time and probably the last time that these champs will be held mid week. The turn out was small ( I didn't mind as I handled the entries and ran the finish) but I feel it was a poor result for the planners who put so much work into the day.

That said the relays were fast and furious and fun. the spectator arena was well planned and gave everyone a few good viewing points of competitors on their courses.

Results ( teams with these people in)

M/W12A- Sophie Jones 3rd

W16 Georgia Jones 5th

M16 Lawrence Jones 5th

M45A Ian Jones 5th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 1st

W21AS Maggie Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W65A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

Uringa had a fair hand in these events as Dave Lotty was the controller for the relay events and Gayle and I were joined by Gary and Sandra Stewart were in the thick of things in the finish tent.

Well Wagga done and dusted and so it was a very quiet Thursday and a beautiful drive over the mountains to Cooma ready for part 3!

Oceania Odyssey Part 1- Victoria

2011-10-10T19:46:00.016+11:00

Tracking on the big screen

Day 1 Map- Northern Spur

Day 2 - Rowdy Flat

Sophie &Jared finding a sympathetic umbrella

Team work at its best

The Oceania Carnival had three distinct parts. this, the first posting covers the first two events down Wangarratta way. So it was a rather mad dash out of Sydney Friday afternoon to hit the Hume for the drag down to Victoria. Fortunately for us I was on Holidays and Gayle was granted an early mark so we didn't need to do battle with Sydney's infamous Friday arvo traffic!

Day 1 - Oceania Long Distance Championships saw us all on "Northern Ranges" in Warby Range National park. The map contained three basic colours white green and black with a delightful mix of open forest, green and granite rock features. Now when i said open well it was but there was a certain amount of deadfall timber which made going straight at times very difficult. Sorry should have added brown as there were a lot of contour lines. Whilst the green drove you crazy there were some delightful areas and the leg 3 to 4 I chose to drop down the follow the creek south to a point just west of the control. This route was so beautiful with a fast running stream gurgling over numerous small waterfalls. Just this one leg made up for all my frustrations at trying to find control 3. But enough about me.

Team Uringa did very well, with a number of podium placings.

M10 Jared Mckenna 5th

W10 Sophie Jones 9th

W14A Georgia Jones 4th

M16A Lawrence Jones 15th

M45A Ian Jones 6th

M60A Ian Mckenzie 3rd

M65A Dick Ogilvie 2nd

M65A Dave Lotty 14th

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W40A Linda Sesta 3rd

W40A Maggie Jones 10th

W50A Lisa Lampe 13th

W65A Angela Murray 15th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 5th

W35AS Gayle Shepherd mp

M45AS Ron Pallas 5th

Perhaps the worst part of the event was that it rained constantly throughout the day and the temperature was far from welcoming. Many were unprepared for the weather and froze whilst me - forgot me hat which made visibility difficult when one is wearing glasses.... Made sure it was in the car for the next day!

Day 2 dawned bright and fresh with brilliant sunshine and a certain warmness in the air.

We were off to a new map near Yackandandah for the Oceania Middle Distance Championships. This map was heralded as the " best goldmining terrain" ever.

It didn't disappoint and "Rowdy Flat" really was very difficult. Kilometre rates were way down and even the best of the best had some fun.

The many small tracks at times confused the picture. The myriad gullies, high points all shrouded in a variety of vegetation made the whole day a real challenge. However that said it was brilliant fun.

Once again Uringans did well.

M10 Jared Mckenna 6th

W10 Sophie Jones 4th

W14A Georgia Jones 2nd

M16A Lawrence Jones 16th

M45A Ian Jones 16th

M60A Ian McKenzie 16th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 17th

M65A Dave Lotty 22nd

W21AS Maggie Jones 5th

W21AS Jane McKenna mp

W40A Linda Sesta 4th

W50A Lisa Lampe 12th

W65A Angela Murray 6th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 6th

M45AS Ron Pallas 14th
M45+B Aldo Sesta 1st

Now I did say it was a beautiful day but right on cue as the presentation was just beginning down came the rain and it weren't no sprinkle. People bunkered down under any shelter to await the cessation of H2O but alas it wasn't to be and so many girded their loins and made the mad dash to the car park. Some were smarter and the NSW Junior Squad picked up their tent and walked back to their bus holding the tent like a giant umbrella.

The highlight was the first time use of live tracking of elite compettitors on a big screen. I had seen this a number of times at WOC races O/S but this was the first for all australians presnt. It was fascinating watchng where poeople went. This was couple with a few cameras which brough vidoe feeds and interviews to add to the day. Well done Darren Meeking who was the driving force behind the whole adventure.

Unfortunately for some it was back up the Hume Highway to work for the week. For others a days rest before heading to Wagga for Part 2 of the Oceania Odyssey.

2011-10-10T15:02:00.002+11:00

Relays were an exciting time for Uringans. First leg runner Lawrence concentrates on not losing his nerve as the organisers organise and the athletes shuffle about. Linda flys out of the traps for W40A team getting one of the best times of the day and making us all wonder, once again, why she was not on the challenge team. The only thing you could say about Maggie's contribution to the team effort was that at least she didn't mispunch.

OCEANIA ORIENTEERING CARNIVAL

2011-10-10T10:48:00.009+11:00

Well, what a great carnival this was with 7 events held over 9 days, taking us to Warby Downs NP with rock/spur gully terrain near Wangaratta, to Yackandandah gold mining, to Burngoogee another rock/spur gully map south of Wagga and ending up at Badja near Cooma for some great orienteering in the granit !! Weather was a shocker for the first event, with the sun appearing at Yackandandah! Although it was mainly overcast for the remainder of the events, the big rain thankfully stayed away.

Photos will follow shortly as soon as I can work out how to post them!!

2011-09-28T08:08:00.001+10:00

Here is my two bob's worth

I agree with fee standardisation. All clubs have similar fees but not the same. Just adds unnecessary confusion to new members. Membership fees will be small in relation to total club revenue (compared with event fees which are variable) so may as well be same as between all clubs.

I really liked the brochure that was sent out to all covering upcoming summer events. Very impressive, very clear. Presume its available on-line also (haven't looked).

Related to this I have find that the navigation on the website in relation to events is very unclear. This is a very important and changing element of the website so must be clearer. Events should relate to all events and be accessible from anywhere on the site - at least in more places than at present.

I think the Association registration card is a good idea if linked to all future events. ie event organisers should be able to use a single on-line tool to manage all entries to events which has existing (static) member information included. Participants then enter online as a rule (snail mail by exception) and can update static information and enter details for particular events and pay for entry. (Actually Sarah does our entries so this may already be the case!)

On marketing, the best marketing we can do is to support the summer/metropolitan events. These events attract participants and are a measure of success in their own right. The conversion to bush orienteering is a smaller step than recruiting from scratch. So care needs to taken in pricing for these events that does not turn away potential members. Dave McK and I talked about this at the curry night. We know the marginal cost is low and that there is a core of support for these events. So I suggest pricing for students/families/groups be low (it can add up for a family). For rental sportident sticks consider as an investment with a multi year payoff. Offer discounts to those who have their own rather than penalty fee for those that don't. Free sportident for those that join a club? (Price the sportident into the club membership?)

Message from President - Upcoming Forum

2011-09-28T08:07:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone

OANSW is holding a forum for club presidents to discuss various topics of interest to the Association. I will I be attending this forum, representing Uringa, which will take place towards the end October. Any proposed changes are then being taken to the November OANSW Board meeting for discussion and consideration.

Below are the topics that the OANSW board have under consideration for discussion:

1) NSW Annual Calendar
- Structure of events
- Process for establishing the calendar
- Timing for commencement and finalisation of the calendar(s)
(2) An Event Series Coordinator and reciprocal person from each club Proposal
(3) Club Membership Map Proposal
(4) Standardisation of Membership Fees
(5) Association Equipment / Club Equipment – what is needed or wanted?
(6) SportIdent
- Unit Numbering/Rationalisation
- Software for the future
- Options
(7) Association Manual Update
- What requests do clubs have
(8) Marketing Review
- 2011 Changes – Good, Bad? Improvements?
- Ongoing Publicity – where, when?
(9) ONSW Administration
- 2011 arrangements – Good, Bad, Problems, improvements?
(10)Event Results Publication
- Who, where, when, format,
- Conflicting formats, conflicting requirements (ASC, DSR, OA.......)
(11)Schools Development
- The future? Is there one? Club ideas and feedback desired
(12)Clubs Wants/Desires/Needs
(13) Easter 2014, Aus Champs 2017
(14)Any Other Business

I understand that a couple of the points are not very clear and will require clarification at the actual forum, but perhaps you have an opinion on a particular point/topic. If you would like to comment on any of the above topics or if you would like to raise a concern, have a query or any other type of input, can you please let me know by 20 October. Thanks for your contribution.

Cheers Linda

Ymmm Curry!

2011-09-26T08:23:00.004+10:00

Dave attacking the chocolate fudge desert with Sophie waiting patiently for the first slice!

Happy Birthday Mary Jane

Linda, Maggie and Sarah

Ian and Lorna at the feast

22 Uringans made light work of a delicious array of scrumptious curry dishes at the ShepherdPallas Curry night.

Joining us for the evening was Lorna Hollenstein who jetted in from Zurich just for the dinner. Well actually Lorna is Linda's mum and she is a frequent Uringa member both here and in Switzerland where many have enjoyed the Hollenstein hospitality. Also joining in was June, Gayle's mum, who likewise has tagged on to a variety of Uringa functions over the years.

The food was as usual outstanding and the variety wide. For desserts the pavlova was absolutely melt in the mouth so to the chocolate fudge.

The highlight of the evening was indeed the opportunity to surprise Mary Jane with a birthday cake. Although we were 1 day early it was great fun to light up some candles , deliver a most tuneful rendition of Happy Birthday and delight in the cutting and subsequent eating of the birthday cake.

A good night was had by all.

Annual Uringa Winter Social, aka the Curry Night

2011-09-25T18:33:00.000+10:00

A flock of Uringans braved Sydney's sudden return to winter to travel to Ron and Gayle's home at Gray's Point for the club's annual curry dinner. Social butterflies all, we ate, drank and laughed ...nobody got wet feet, and Lisa wasn't cold.

Ron and Jitka

Club President Linda

Each main course was named,
and the name immediately forgotten.
Was that the vegetarian dahl or the lamb?

Jarrad

Lorna (from Switzerland, visiting her
daughter Linda) and Rick

Desserts were wonderful
though some skill involved.

Celebrating Mary Jane's birthday

A club night usually includes prizes, and Gayle stepped up with a bag of curry ingredients for awards.

Gayle, the prize giver

Jitka, for filling out the visa
for the Shire, even though
she lives in the Shire.

Brian and Mary Jane,
for their RSVP from Montenegro

Sarah, for...

Uringa Training at Lake Parramatta

2011-09-20T13:14:00.005+10:00

A lovely day at Lake Parramatta courtesy of Bennelong Northside and Marina Ishakova (her first time organising and planning in Australia) - and what a good job she did too. She was hamstrung with the control sites she could use with various restrictions in the area, but she made the best of what was left and it was nice to have controls so fairly placed - or maybe I was just orienteering well and looking at my control descriptions properly! After the event we had some Uringa training - some basic compass work with a bearing walk to experience the difference between basic baseplate and thumb compass. Ron and Adam Garner took advantage of the session to brush up their skills, and Mary Jane and Brian Clelland also had a go, just back from 9 weeks up over and looking really well. Duncan Currie of Garingal (and a regular at Uringa training sessions) also came for a look fresh from his win at the Junior League. This is a boy worth watching in the future - showing just enough obsession with maps to think that there might be another Julian Dent in the pipeline!

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS - LITHGOW

2011-09-12T19:05:00.005+10:00

Super Coach - Sophie on the job!

Roy is now a veteran of the string course- Thanks Sophie

Well yes Lithgow lived up to its reputation for being a cold place. 6 degrees with a wind chill factor lowering it alarmingly.
The weekend started at Gardners Gap for the NSW Middle Distance Championships and for many it was a case of yes now I remember. The rock on the edge of the ridges surrounding the valley is huge . The Pagoda like formations tower over the valley and are linked by bare rock and crisscrossed with steep ravines. Straight line orienteering would make the "Man from Snowy River" become a cur!
There were some who mastered it and some who survived and some who were given a fair hiding. The vegetation on the slopes was good but on the ridge top there was a vast area of scrubby spindly growth that scratched and grabbed and tripped and made life tough!
Uringa once again did well with Jane, Sophie, Georgia, Ian Mc and Linda coming in #1. Gayle and Maureen scored seconds and Rick, Lisa and Jared 3rds.
Results
W10A Sophie Jones 1st
W14A Georgia Jones 1st
W21AS Jane McKenna 1st
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 2nd
W40A Linda Sesta 1st
W40A Maggie Jones 4th
W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd
W50A Sarah Garnett 6th
W50A Margaret Wilmott 7th
W65A Angela Murray 7th
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 2nd
M10A Jared McKenna 3rd
M35AS Dave McKenna 4th
M45A Ian Jones 4th
M45AS Ron Pallas 8th
M50A Nick Wilmott 7th
M55A Rick Steele 3rd
M60A Ian McKenzie 1st
M65A Dave Lotty 4th
M65A Dick Ogilvie 6th

I was amongst those who were chewed up and spat out as a fall saw my compass as well as my pride broken. The second half of my course was a case of wrong way Ron as i consistently made odd calls as to which way north was. Lynn Dabbs suggested I copy her trick of pinning a spare compass to her bra strap- so when is Bras and Things having their next sale?
Sunday was marginally warmer as we lined up for the NSW Long Champs at Rydal. The bush was much kinder well almost as there was a lot of dead fall timber on the ground and so going straight involved a lot of climbing up and over logs and tripping over branches. There was a large amount of climb on all courses and it was a case of if you weren't going down you were going up!
Again some great results for Uringa Whilst Maureen was our only winner there were a number of 2nds - Ian, Sophie and Georgia Jones as well as Ian McK and Linda clocked up 2nds. Mum Maggie scored a 3rd along with Angela.
Results
W10A Sophie Jones 2nd
W14A Georgia Jones 2nd
W21AS Maggie jones 3rd
W21AS Jane McKenna 4th
W35AS Gayle Shepherd mp
W40A Linda Sesta 2nd
W50A Sarah garnett 5th
W50A Lisa Lampe 7th
W50A Margaret Wilmott 9th
W50A Jan Sargood mp
W65A Angela Murray 3rd
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st
M/WOpen Antonia Coyle 4th
M10A Jared McKenna mp
M35AS Dave McKenna 4th
M45A Ian Jones 2nd
M45AS Ron Pallas 6th
M45AS Keith Richardson 7th
M50A Nick Wilmott 5th
M55A Ross Coyle 9th
M55A Rick Steele 10th
M60A Ian McKenzie 2nd (5 seconds behind)
M65A Dave Lotty 5th
M65A Dick Ogilvie 6th

A largish group of Uringans braved to cold to maintain the Uringa tradition of forming a coffee and cake circle and staying until the bitter end. Bitter was the right word but the coffee was steaming and the cake yummy and the camaraderie super warm. I can report that no picnic tables were harmed by the Richardson/Sargood Prado this time. I think when they saw the industrial strength bull bar on the front they hid!
And so it was once again back down the mountain. Winners are grinners and the Jones's Hyundai was certainly the place to be with a total of 6 podiums between them for a great weekend's orienteering.
Must compliment Maggie and the Juniors for fine food at the catering tent. For once beans meant - inner warmth not ....
See you at the next event - Oceania I believe..

State League 10 & 11

2011-09-04T16:40:00.002+10:00

For the Southern Highlands is was positively balmy on the weekend of State league 10 & 11. State League 11 was also the NSW Schools Champs which had great importance for Lawrence and Georgia Jones who were hoping for strong results and a place in the NSW Schools team for the upcoming Australian Schools Champs.

State League 10 was held in the well known Belanglo State Forest. The courses were well set, taking in the best of the eucalypt with the odd bit of pine tossed in for good luck. Uringa had 17 orienteers in the fields and with 4 firsts, 6 seconds and 3 3rd places we certainly featured in the results.

Results:
W10A Sophie Jones 2nd
W14A Georgia Jones 1st
M10A Jared McKenna 2nd
M16A Lawrence Jones 2nd
W21AS Maggie Jones 1st
W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 4th
W40A Linda Sesta 1st
W65A Angela Murray 1st
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 2nd
M35AS Dave McKenna 2nd
M40A Anthony Nolan 3rd
M45A Ian Jones 2nd
M45AS Ron Pallas 9th
M60A Ian McKenzie 5th
M65A Dave Lotty 3rd
M65A Dick Ogilvie 4th

An equally large crowd of Uringans plus a few hangers-on gathered at the Mittagong RSL for dinner. The food was fine service a little slow but who cares when your with friends.

Sunday saw a move a little further south to Penrose State Forest. Again there was plenty in the courses to test you and almost all red courses had a nice long leg of around a km to get the brain active. Again Uringans performed well with 7 first placing and 4 second places. It was a good weekend for Sophie, Maggie and Georgia Jones with 1st placings on both days. For Georgia, Sophie and Jared McKenna they won their class in the NSW Schools Champs. Linda Sesta also completed a fine double header with first placings in W40A
The highlight was no doubt the naming of Lawrence and Georgia in the NSW Schools Champs team for the Aust School Champs.

Results:
W9A Sophie Jones 1st
W13A Georgia Jones 1st
M10A Jared McKenna 1st
M15A Lawrence Jones 2nd
W21AS Maggie Jones 1st
W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 5th
W40A Linda sesta 1st
W65A Angela Murray 2nd
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st
M35As Dave McKenna 1st
M40A Anthony Nolan 4th
M45A Ian Jones 2nd
M45As Ron Pallas 9th
M60A Ian McKenzie 4th
M65A Dave Lotty 4th
M65A Dick Ogilvie 5th

Well now it is on the the State Champs in sunny and warm Lithgow.

Australian School Championships

2011-09-02T13:05:00.001+10:00

Congratulations to Lawrence and Georgia Jones on their selection for the NSW Schools Team to represent NSW at the upcoming Australian School Championships which are being held in the Tumburumba area in October. Good luck and all the best !!

Scottish 6 Day - Day 5 report from Ian Jones foreign correspondent

2011-08-06T20:32:00.003+10:00

Day 5 report is somewhat late due to the correspondents hotel hosting the local weekly Music Night on a Friday. This means that there was some incredible traditional and modern music played on Scottish instruments by the locals which carried well on into the night. The haunting sounds of the pipes, whistle and fiddle accompanied by a sung gaelic melody really seemed to match the scenery, its mix of sea and islands, peat and heather in a summer evenibng where it never seemed to get properly dark. Of course, listening to the evening's music required consumption of malt whisky, so a good result for Day 6 probably more of a pipe dream (ha!) than a real possibility.

Back to the event - Day 5 was on a coastal area surrounded on three and a half sides by the sea, rather than the high moorland of earlier in the week. Did this mean that the area had less climb and was more runnable? Not a chance! All but the shortest courses started about 2km south of Assembly, winding their way back through to the finish through a mix of complex terrain separated by large areas of marsh or, in a few places, sea!

The thick heather cover over some of the marshes hid deep drainage channels. Your correspondent ran straight into one, much to the amusement of the competitor running alongside him - now you see him, now you don't! (though there was the sound of muffled cursing...)

The other big excitement of the day was the lorry carrying the Portaloos getting bogged down to the axles in Assembly (also known to Uringans as 'doing an Audi'). There was a tractor in the area to pull out the stuck vehicles but nobody to drive it. It was a refreshing request that sounded around the Assembly field 'If anyone here is a tractor driver, could they make themselves known to the captain'. A driver was found, the vehicles were moved and the sun came out to reinstate the festival atmosphere that is The Scottish 6 Days.

Scottish Six Days - Day 3 etc

2011-08-04T05:09:00.000+10:00

Each day has been more challenging. Day 3 offered courses through all possible terrains and vegetations available. Bracken still played a significant part in the open areas (of which there was much, though with so many knobs and lumps it took careful map-reading), and, yes, there was heather, but not much, and the marsh plants were very well represented.

Scottish Six Days - Days 1 and 2

2011-08-02T03:28:00.000+10:00

The Scottish Six Days - really seven days, since there is a rest day midway. Somewhere between 3500 and 4000 participants, depending on whom you talk to.

The NGOC tent graciously loaned to Uringa and Australian associates filled up with gear and people. Only mild rain on Day 1 afternoon, but enough to make us all grateful. Look for the Aussie flags! (Day 2 Finish Shute and Assembly Area)

View from the car park, which was just off the A85, the road to Oban. Car park the same for Day 3 but a longer trek to the Assembly area.

The maps below are W60short. We've learned a lot about marsh... and bracken (sometimes as tall as me). A new one for me was the 'linear' marsh.

2011-07-31T18:11:00.005+10:00

It was a beautiful day at Boronia Park, Garingal's Come and Try It event on 31 July. Anthony and son Will came for a trot around the rather muddy course, as did Dave Lotty, who managed despite wearing running shorts, to have pristine legs at the end of his run - did he run so fast that he skimmed over the muddy puddles? Not natural! Ian was at his last event before going off to the Scottish 6 days to join both his parents and the other hardy Uringans near Oban. Mary Jane has organised a rota to use the club tent loaned by North Gloucester Orienteering Club so it should be a jolly affair even if it pours with rain -and lets be honest, the heather doesn't grow when it is dry and the hills are covered with the stuff! The wily NGOCers are looking forward to an Orienteering Ashes so I hope they all run better than Ian did today:)

WMOC- LONG FINAL

2011-07-09T01:42:00.005+10:00

The advertised temperature was tipped to be 35 degrees and it was pretty darn close to it although there was a cooling breese today. Where as on previous days no escape from the sun, today we were fortunate to grab - that is the ANZAC alliance- some shade which stayed with us most of the day. When it disappeared we ended up in the bush.

Uringans once again did battle in their respective finals. Readers of the previous posting will remember my moaning about the green, well today we had the sort of forest that was promised. Reasonably open fast and fun. The sink holes were huge and it was always interesting as to how you approached the area. The holes were not symmetrical and it was always easier to go in on the slightly less sloping side.

The weather played a part in performances as the heat was debilitating. Needless to say the A Final winners absolutely flew and Km rates were very very fast. Thankfully at the end of the race the local fire brigade had a hose set up which sprayed you with a drenching of cold water. This drenching certainly reduced your core temperature in a hurry.

The beer tent was doing a roaring trade and whist there was no pig on a spit, as there was the previous event, the food was varied. Mind you the gelato ice creams were melting faster than could be served

Results

M50 B Final - Nick Wilmott 64th

M55 D Final - Ron Pallas 19th

M60D Final - Ian McKenzie 22nd

M65C Final - Dick Ogilvie 41st

W50C Final - Margaret Wilmott mp

W55C Final - Gayle Shepherd 15th

The highlight of the week was the fantastic 2nd place and silver medal for South Australia's Susanne Cassanova. It was a delight to see her perform so sonsistently over the week. Sister Jenny also did well with a top ten performance, Both girls were running in W35. Somewhat coincidently it was Susanne's birthday.

After each run you were given a brand new map, not printed on tear proof paper. There were the tragics who were going through collected maps later in the day looking for their map.

Perhaps the only aspect that one could criticise organisers was in the organisation of busses. The concept of forming an organised queue seems to be totally lost on organisers and many orienteers. They seem to feel that people who were there early are meant to be swamped by late comers. It is amazing what can be done to block a bus doorway to ensure easy access for early arrivals.....

Mind you no aussie reported having their map snatched this year so maybe things are changing!

Next year will see WMOC in the Harst Mountains in Germany. Tempting but I want a guarantee of cooler temperature.

For Nick and Marg it is off home via Hong Kong, Dick is off to Oringen and Gayle and I are heading for Croatia to take in the beaches and beer halls and have a good time.

WMOC Long Qualifiers

2011-07-07T16:49:00.013+10:00

Long Qual 2

Long Qual 1

Shooting Hide

Down into a sink hole

Clear open and runnable note the tracking

The greenest spot we found

Those sink holes were deep and cavernous

Well it was like this we went to the Long Model event and we were dished up terrain that bore some semblance of similarity to that of the qualifiers.

Where the model had these beautiful sink holes open terrain etc ( see photos) the Long Qual 1 had deep ravine like gullies and no sink holes and Long Qual 2 had sink holes and plenty of vegetation in around and about!

And so we travelled out to Long Qual 1. I must say the organisation has been brilliant and nothing is left to chance.

Petocz was the venue for Long Qual 1. The assembly area was in open ground ( no shade) around a mine ventilation shaft. Nothing to be concerned about except for the nuclear warning signs around as the mine was a uranium mine.

The terrain was crisscrossed with many tracks which made navigation easy and hard if you know what I mean. The toughest part was that the gullies were very steep, hard to get into and hard to get out of. In general the vegetation was easy to cope with although the course setter did like sticking controls into green gullies or green knolls. I was lucky and had an early start as the day proved to be quite hot and so we were on a bus at 7.45am for an 11.10 start. Gayle was off after 12. By the time we got a lift with Nick and Marg back to Pecs we had had 6 hours out in the boiling sun.

Dick was the standout Uringan at this race finishing 15th in his heat. The rest of us were well down the list but not disgraced at all

Long Qual 2 was at Orfu with the assmbly just 600m from where Nick and Marg were staying. Gayle and I had early starts and again it was the early bus. Georgieu, our hotel host just loves 6.40am breakfasts. The area is very scenic and a feature on all courses was the "Man from Snowy River" descent in the final stages of the courses- I went down 22 contours on my descent. I felt rather sorry for some who missed their control on the way down and had to head back up the hill. It would have been soul destroying. Fortuntely Gayle and I along with Dick, Nick, Ian and Marg we made it down unscathed.

For me this day was my waterloo and I struggled. I lost confidence after a ridiculous miss at control 2 and I went from bad to worse. In the end I just took easy route choices to avoid more errors which in many cases added distance and climb. Dick had problems with a period of reading his course upside down and backwards whilst gayle had a run with only one frustration. Nick loved his course but agreed that he lacked speed and so was a good 25 minutes off the pace whilst Margaret was on target for the majority of her course.

And so we look to the finals and hopefully a better performance by some of us

Nick Wilmott- M 50- 24th 27th overall 27th B Final

Ron Pallas - M 55- 60th, 61st, 60th D Final

Ian McKenzie- M60- 44th, 43rd, 44th D Final

Margaret Wilmott- W50- 39th, 49th, 47th C Final

Gayle Shepherd - W55- 37th, 48th, 41st C Final

WMOC Sprint Events

2011-07-04T14:06:00.008+10:00

Sprint Qualifier in Pecs

Komlo - sprint Final- sorry about the quality but you will get the idea.

Opening ceremony - look far right in crowd for Uringa heads

Nick powering down the stairs to the final control

Nanospeed nanna in the finish straight

Marg heading home

Nick and Marg catching up with O/S aquantainces

Well Uringans didn't trouble the scorer by reaching A finals

The qualifier was run in the old part of Pecs and was very tricky - trying to find a way through between streets so that you didn't meet dead ends in courtyards etc

It was fun and what was also great was that you ran through the streets and the every day rhythm of the city was unchanged. picnics, sight seers, dog walkers, wedding parties all went on around oblivious to our endeavours.

The level of competition is huge with mens 55- 65 each having 4-6 heats. You coughed and you were out of A final calculations, and if you paused to breathe well there goes B final aspirations and if you are like me I was very happy to make D final! (there was no lower).

The opening ceremony was held that afternoon and was as usual rather long with some classic folk dancing that could have been a bit shorter.

Pecs is the gelato capital of the world- never seen so many gelato bars..

Sunday saw us in Komlo a mining town established in the 20th century. Very ordered and almost symmetrical in look. The challenhe here was that whilst Pecs had some climb - there was plenty in Komlo where Pecs had the occasional park Komlo had forests and parks. So you had to switch between thinking processes. It was fun and a challenge but no where near the same as Pecs.

We did okay in the finals:

Ian McKenzie M60D - 45th out of 64

Dick Ogilvie - M65B 21/80

Margaret Wilmott W50B 51/77

Nick Wilmott M50B 37/81

Gayle Shepherd W55C 8/48

Ron Pallas M55D 9/39

Greetings from Hungary

2011-06-29T13:57:00.009+10:00

Parliament House

The last monument to communism- left as part of the pull out in 1991 is strangely located directly outside the heaviestly guarded building in Budapest - Yes the US Embassy

Dinner Uringa style

It is indeed a small world when you climb a hill to Castle Buda and there standing on a street corner was Ian McKenzie studying the map of the castle intently. Well let us make it even smaller by tossing in Nick and Margaret with whom we shared dinner on a couple of nights and then as we were waiting to tour the ""Underground Hospital" who should walk out on the previous tour none other than Mr Summer Series - Ross Barr.

There is no doubt that travelling to Eurpoe is mind numbing. Even with a magical personal entertainment system spitting movies at you and some great foo,. 30+ hours of sitting bolt upright in a far from comfy chair is not my idea of fun especially if you do not sleep. Mind you it is a means to an end.

The beds at our hotel are not exactly soft and lush but by goodness when the head hit the pillow and the body became horizontal on the first night here there were plenty of zzzzzzzzzzz!

Budapest is a beautiful place. The contrast on the river flats - boy did they have some fun with floods over the years, and the hills on the Buda side of the Danube make it a very picturesque city. There is history and charm dripping from every corner. There is a marked constrast with some buildings having had centuries of grime cleaned from their stonework and others still a very black looking grubby appearance. Some buildings have only the bottom floor cleaned - that is because the rich live on the bottom floor and only they can afford to get the building cleaned.

The transport system is far easier to master than the names of the stops.

Food is good and cheap and beer is very good and cheap. Yes they have bananas at $1.25kg and tasty they were and I can tell you we will be eating more than our fill over the next few weeks.

Lots of walking and yes blisters are a part of life for someone( not me).

I can recommend the "Free Communist Walking Tour" great info and an outstanding guide who had experienced life under communism. Life here is still subject to corruption that became the norm after the carve up of communists owned utilities.

We are now heading for Pecs home of WMOC.

Stand by for chapter 2 -Peaking at Pecs (pronounced paish)

Centennial Park CATI and Junior Series

2011-06-19T16:07:00.013+10:00

Maggie Jones (OANSW's New Communications Officer!) will be writing

up the event for the OANSW web news in the next days.

In the meantime, here's some photos of a

most enjoyable, sunny and successful orienteering event set by Sarah Garnett.

QBIII 2011 - a few notes from tortoise Mary Jane

2011-06-14T14:00:00.009+10:00

The annual Queen's Birthday Orienteering Three Day Event is one not to be missed, no matter what the weather. Fortunately, though it was cold, it was pretty much not wet ... when we were all out in the forest. The time for exploring Lithgow and environs, well that was another matter and wet certainly did feature.

There are a lot of photos linked to the event website, which give an inkling of the experience. The Uringa social outings aren't included there, though, so here's just a quick one from Saturday night at the Workies. Unfortunately, my closeup photos of the kid's table and of the teenager's table weren't good enough, but you certainly can get the big picture of Uringa and Garingal taking over a neatly set out room of small tables and rearranging to suit!

What about the 'tortoise'? I just have to share how successful my tortoise strategy turned out to be. QBIII is a three day event (with each day also a separate NSW State League event). The top three on each course over the three days are awarded a patch. When I moved up to red courses my only goal has been to finish the course and, maybe, not be last. No patches expected! Over three days this time, however, mispunchi

ng, course setting (one of the hares in my age class) and injury left only two of us standing... and so for the first and perhaps only time in my orienteering career I received an A course patch. Persistence can have its reward. (The emblem plays on the history of the Lithgow Flash.)

QBIII- Lithgow

2011-06-14T05:46:00.007+10:00

Well it wouldn't be Lithgow if it wasn't cold and damp and generally speaking bleak.
Fortunately the orienteering was enjoyable and the company warm and friendly.

Day 1 saw a sprint in the grounds of Lithgow High School. What an enjoyable event it was even if I mp'ed. The buildings and surrounding grounds were complex enough to make it interesting and it was rather novel to actually start inside the building.

Uringa performed pretty well Sophie, Georgia, Lawrence, Jane, Angela, Ian, Dick, Dave, Linda, Brian and Maureen all managing a Podium finish.

Results:

M16A Lawrence 2nd
M35AS Dave McKenna 5th
M45A Ian Jones 3rd
M45A Ian Mckenzie 9th
M45AS Ron Pallas mp
M65A Dick Ogilvie 1st
M65A Dave Lotty 2nd
MopB Brian Cleland 3rd
W10A Sophie Jones 1st
W14A Georgia Jones 1st
W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 6th
W40A Linda Sesta 3rd
W40A Maggie Jones 5th
W50A Lisa Lampe 4th
W60A Mary Jane Mahony 3rd
W65A Angela Murray 2nd
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 2nd

Day 2
We were off in the hills surrounding Mt Piper Power Station. It was rather inconvenient to be stuck at the rail crossing on the drive in when an extremely lengthy coal train rumbled through. The walk to the start was up, up, up, down and up. The terrain was rather friendly and very runnable and the courses were challenging enough to maintain interest although my course had a track run to control 1 with what could best be described as a green control at its end. At least 1-2 had some options. That was all I saw of my course as i stopped with Peter Meyer to assist an injured competitor.
There was a great deal of talk about the steep downhill section towards the end- something about older knees suffering.

Results:
M10A Jared McKenna 1st
M16A Lawrence Jones 2nd
M35AS Dave McKenna 2nd
M45A Ian Jones 2nd
M45A Ian McKenzie 9th
M45AS Ron Pallas dnf
M65A Dick Ogilvie 3rd
M65A Dave Lotty 4th
MopB Brian Cleland 5th
W10A Sophie Jones 1st
W14A Georgia Jones mp
W21AS Jane McKenna 4th
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 3rd
W40A Linda Sesta 3rd
W40A Maggie Jones 5th
W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd
W60A Mary Jane Mahony 4th
W65A Angela Murray 3rd
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

Day 3

We headed back to BAAL BONE JUNCTION. This was a lightning fast map that is being eaten by the coal mine ( see the out of bounds section in south western area). A load of fun and fortunately the assembly area in the bush was sheltered and there was a minute amount of warmth coming from a very milky sun. The hot soup was a treat and the junior catering really cleaned up over the weekend. By end of day 1 they had exhausted their supplies and hence the late night Coles and Woolies were targeted.
The unique start - a run through a box culvert under the rail was a novelty although you had to re-focus when you entered the outside world.

Results

M10A Jared McKenna 1st
M16A Lawrence Jones 2nd
M35A Dave Mckenna 2nd
M45A Ian Jones 2nd
M45A Ian Mckenzie 9th
M45AS Ron Pallas 10th ( troubled the scorer at last)
M65A Dick Ogilvie 3rd
M65A Dave Lotty 4th
MopB Brian Cleland 5th
W10A Sophie Jones 1st
W14A Georgia Jones 1st
W21AS Jane Mckenna 1st
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 5th
W40A Linda Sesta 4th
W40A Maggie Jones 5th
W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd
W60A Mary Jane Mahony 5th
W65A Angela Murray 4th
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

And so it was we had reached the end of three great days. Whilst the weather was a bit "iffy" we stayed relatively dry and warmish. The presentation kicked off with a huge raffle draw put on by the juniors.
The badges were presented and the winners were certainly grinners. Those who were badgeless were left to rue the runs that weren't.
I will be very interested to see the schools team when it is announced. Lawrence Jones is running well and has done enough to catch the selectors eyes. Georgia Jones, in her first year of schools eligibility had a great 3 days - (ignore the mp on day 2) She won the other two days comfortably.
Great to see Dick string together 3 solid runs to take out M65A. Consistency was surely the key to the weekend. Ian Jones - 3rd, 2nd, 2nd for a 2nd place overall. Maggie was even more consistent with 5th places across the board.

Overall results:

M16A Lawrence Jones 2nd
M35AS Dave Mckenna 2nd
M45A Ian Jones 2nd
M65A Dick Ogilvie 1st
M65A Dave Lotty 3rd
MopB Brian Cleland 4th
W10A Sophie Jones 1st
W21AS Jane Mckenna 3rd
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 5th
W40A Linda Sesta 3rd
W40A Maggie Jones 5th
W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd
W60A Mary Jane Mahony 2nd
W65A Angela Murray 2nd
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

Well that is that and we all headed off home. I wonder how many like me did not turn left at Lithgow for "Bells" but rather went straight ahead for the long slow drag down the mountain- remind me next time!

Maggie reports on the Callan Park Training Session

2011-06-05T16:29:00.014+10:00

Winners are grinners!

That was the answer to the conundrum set by Helen Murphy’s training session Sunday 5^th June at Callan Park. Ingeniously using old Sprint maps from earlier this year, Helen set a course to warm us all up for the QB3 where different control cards gave a different start control for each racer, and all controls were taken in reverse order around the original course. For added difficulty each control had a letter which when rearranged at the finish formed the magic phrase. How anyone could work on a conundrum after running hard beats me – maybe they weren’t running hard enough, or maybe they are just that little bit fitter. Control markers were limited to yellow electrical tape, which made sure we had to be absolutely accurate in our navigation. This added quite a bit of spice when some controls were in woodlands where the leaves were turning golden!

As well as Uringans we also had the Currie family from Garingal and a mother and daughter team from Helen’s local school. When we do the CATI in Callan Park in September it would be good to encourage the local schools to join in –Helen will once again be pressed into service as despite her recent retirement she seems to be as much at school as she was before. Lawrence and Georgia ran and then shadowed Sophie and Jared around, making

a nice change for Jane and me, who could stand and chat at the finish instead of heading out again.

Cormac McMullen brought his dog along which prompted the youngsters to indulge in a dog counting spree as they ran around their course – as if they didn’t have enough to think about!

After the runs there was much post race review, possibly helped along by the fine weather

and the delicious cakes supplied by Helen and Georgia. Whilst the adults got on with tea drinking the youngsters had a impromptu hill rolling race. No-one over 14 seemed to want to join in – strange...

Although we had a great turnout it was unfortunate that some Uringans couldn’t come as they were helping at the NOSH event. When we planned the training, the NOSH run had no date and no organisers so I thought that the 5^th of June was a safe and an ideal date for some training just before the QB3. Helen and I did discuss postponing the training in order to help Ron et al on the NOSH, but in the end there were enough volunteers to help Ron that we didn’t need to reschedule. Sorry to anyone who missed out but there is more training coming up so watch the website for details on that. However for those of us who were able to come along it was a very enjoyable morning and many thanks to Helen and Terry for a great training event.

SL3 & 4 Chapter 2

2011-05-19T19:49:00.006+10:00

Is this the next move you will see on "So You Think You Can Dance" or Nick getting a little Physio on the wounded hip?

Well you have read about the cold and windy weather- you have viewed a number of photographs and so now it is time to get the news on just how well Uringans performed over the weekend.

Saturday - Macquarie Woods

W45AS Sue Bolton 5
Mopen B Brian Cleland 2

M/Wopen C Antonia Coyle 2

M55A Ross Coyle 5

M35AS John Fuller 3

W50A Sarah Garnett 2

W50A Lisa Lampe 3

W14A Georgia Jones 1

M45A Ian Jones 2

M16A Lawrence Jones 2

W40A Maggie Jones 2
W10A Sophie Jones 2

M65A Dick Ogilvie 2

M65A Dave Lotty 4

W60A Mary Jane Mahony mp

W21AS Jane McKenna 2

W65A Angela Murray 1

W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1

M45AS Ron Pallas 10

W50A Jan Sargood mp

M45AS Aldo Sesta 12

W40A Linda Sesta 1

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 4

M50A Rick Steele 4

W50A Margaret Wilmott mp

M50A Nick Wilmott 5

And on Sunday Roseberg State Forest

W45AS Sue Bolton mp

MopenB Brian Cleland 5

M55A Ross Coyle 2

M35AS John Fuller 2

W50A Sarah Garnett 2

W14A Georgia Jones 2

M45A Ian Jones 1

M16A Lawrence Jones 2

W40A Maggie Jones 3

W10A Sophie Jones 3

W50A Lisa Lampe 4

MopenB Michael Lloyd 4

W60A Mary Jane Mahony 4

W21AS Jane McKenna 3

M10A Jared McKenna mp

W65A Angela Murray 2

W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1

W50A Jan Sargood mp

W40A Linda Sesta 1

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 3

M55A Rick Steele 8

W50A Margaret Wilmott 6

Quite a good weekend for Uringa

Training Session 2 Report from Maggie

2011-05-18T21:18:00.002+10:00

Tuesday night was the first of the track sessions open to Uringa and friends, run by Spot Anderson of Bondifit. The night was dry and cool, perfect for the ‘test for a man’ session that Spottie had set us! After a lot of stretching of important muscles – hammies, glutes, jaw muscles as we met the other squaddies – and some insider information on how not to fall over in the warm-up exercise, we were off curve running; fast around the curves and a gentle jog on the straight. By lap 3 we were nicely warmed up, and after some run drills to make sure we looked like champions, we were ready for the anaerobic threshold set. This involved 1km repetitions starting at 60% effort and then taking off 20 seconds per km until you could do no more. Before we started the main set Spot asked which of us had been racing at the weekend. A forest of hands went up as lots of the squad had been running the Sydney Half Marathon. Racers are granted a 20% easier time only having to build to 80% effort rather than flat out. Hmmmm. There was a momentary hesitation amongst the orienteers and then all their hands went up, too – well, SL3&4 count as races, don’t they?!

Spot split us up into newbies and old hands, with the newbies given special treatment with the other coach for the evening, known as ‘the Run Through King’. A brief chat to decide on starting speeds, which ranged from 8 minutes per km to 5 minutes per km, and some maths lessons on how to split a km into 200m slices for pacing purposes and we were off. This was the point at which those who hadn’t brought a watch which could mark laps looked around for a new friend to pace with. Despite a determination to only run to 80% by the end of the session it was clear from the warm faces and heaving sides, that the speed bug had affected us and a good effort had been put in by all. A warm down and the first track session for orienteers with Bondifit was complete. And who came along? Well, look at the photo and when Garingal beat us at the next Metro do not be surprised...

We’ll be there same time next week, folks – look forward to seeing you there.

ROSEBERG STATE FOREST

2011-05-18T19:47:00.014+10:00

The new tent!
Aldo and Ron - the engine room!

See we weren't playing Minesweeper as Alex Orr finishes!

The Jones's were hard at work at the Junior catering

Michael, a picture of sartorial elegance finishes

Even colour coordinated undies!

Sarah sprints to the tent

Rick matches Sarah's blinding finish sprint

The discussion regarding which way home, Bell's, Great Western Highway or Crookwell

Jane was heard commenting on Nick's sore hip - "He needs to see a physio!"

Jan was in an inquisitive mood a wherever she went the controls just weren't there

Where are the instructions in how to fold a tent?

See us blokes don't need instructions when there is a women around to tell as how to do it!

The delightful Jones clan ran the string course. It was very popular with a unique reward system. Well done

A great weekend.

A busy time for us all coming up

Metro League at Appin on 29th

Nosh Footrace - water under the Bridge on 5th June as well as Orienteering fun day on run by Helen at Callan Park
QB111 in Lithgow and then our event on 19th June at Centennial Park.

Busy time ahead!

IT WAS CHILLY OUT BLAYNEY WAY

2011-05-18T19:23:00.008+10:00

Cold

Icy

Freezing!

And it made it to minus 5 a little further down the road but the camera was getting a little bit upset.

These photos were taken on Sunday morning as we set out to go to Roseberg State Forest to set up for State League 4.

We were very fortunate in that whilst it was chilly the sun was out and the wind was down. The assembly area was bathed in light and warmth.

It appeared that all competitors were pleased to be sitting out in such lovely weather as many did not leave for some time after the event.

OH DEAR!

2011-05-18T19:17:00.003+10:00

Brand new and never been biffed until!

Was it a kangaroo?

An errant wombat?

There is a story here somewhere..

Uringa Training Officer Maggie reports on first training session

2011-05-09T19:09:00.001+10:00

Sunday dawned bright and sunny which was a relief as the exercises planned required much drawing and scribbling, and marker pens do not work well in the rain. We had a good turnout for the first training event of the year, with just over twenty people coming along.

There were two main exercises, both focussing on map memory and none using compasses.

The first was a point to point, or Nordic course. Here the runners are shown a map with the start and first control on it. They then had to run, without the map, to the 1st control point, where there was a map showing the 2^nd control and so on around the course. The idea is to remember enough of the map that you don’t have to run back to the previous control to check where you are supposed to be going! People were clearly concentrating as I don’t think anyone had to retrace their steps – or maybe they just didn’t admit to it?!

The second exercise was a little trickier and a bit more work. Here the runners had to run to a map posted some distance away from the start, which had the entire course marked on it. They then had to come to the start and were given a plain piece of paper with just the course overprint on it. They had to draw on enough detail on the paper, so that they could get to the first couple of controls of the course. They then ran to the checkpoints using their hand drawn map, and coming back to the start to do the same procedure for the next couple of controls. I had a look at the maps that had been drawn and it was incredible to see the difference between the detail that had been included for the first couple of controls compared to that for the last few. Aidan Dawson was surprised at just how simple you could make the features and still be able to navigate to the control. The word of warning from him was not to be so simple that you didn’t know on which side of a path you were supposed to be looking! Lisa Lampe said she found that without the compass she relied less on direction and more on specific features, something she said felt like sprint orienteering. I shall have to put the next map memory training in some deep dark bushland and see if she still feels like that!

It was good to see everyone who came along. Angela Murray was one of the first to arrive which helped calm my worries that no-one but the Joneses were going to be coming to training. Dave Lotty pretended he had only come along to get Mary Jane to sign some cheques for him but it wasn’t long until he was stripped down to his shorts and donning his signature headband. Brian Cleland and Ian Mackenzie quickly sized up the exercises and were off without much need for explanation from yours truly. Ron Garner and his son Adam whom we met at a Sydney Summer Series at Sydney Olympic Park, were among the new faces. We also welcomed Cormac McMullan and his son Sean, a new family who has recently joined Uringa. There was another son but he was injured from a vicious rugby encounter with another Sydney school and unable to run. We hope he is recovered soon so we can have more entries into the Junior Series and mount some sort of a challenge to the Garingal juniors this year! One of our other juniors, Jared McKenna, was out playing soccer instead of orienteering – argh! but Jane upheld the family honour, getting in some good preparation for the State League events next weekend. Garingal families, the Dawsons and Curries, were also along and on good form. Michele and Aidan whipped around the courses quickly which brought out the mean streak in both Ian and me. Ian invented the IJK race – a time trial to three more distant controls which Lawrence dubbed the ‘Ian Jones Kilometre’ but which was clearly longer than that and probably owed more to the letters he had printed on the control points! Duncan and Georgia were also looking too relaxed so I encouraged them to join Sophie as she did a map transcription exercise (described by Dave McKenna over a recent dinner) which involved multiple hill reps. It was gratifying as the coach to see them all end up sweaty and out of breath! I shall be asking Dave for some more ideas....

The next training is a track session on the 17^th May at ES Marks track in Kensington at 6.30pm sharp. I’m hoping people will come and give it a try.

Sydney Park Map Reading Session 8 May 2011

2011-05-08T14:57:00.000+10:00

HOT & FRAZZLED

2011-04-26T16:07:00.007+10:00

Day 2 Frazzled Again

Day 3Frazzled Out

Day 1 Frazzle Begins

When entering the Australian 3 Days the name Frazzle Rock was very prominent in the promotion. Driving into the event on day 1 the penny dropped as you drove past a property called Frazzle Rock. And so it was the next three days were spent on what was a map of 5 neighbouring properties all featuring lots and lots and lots of granite boulders and vast expanses of bare rock. Unfortunately the farmland was parched and not rally capable of sustaining farming. It will rain apparently on the 7th May.

So let us start from day 1- For those who were fortunate enough to get early starts it was only 28 degrees and for those like Gayle and i who were off after 11am the mercury was rising quickly to the maximum of 33 degrees. Hot Hot Hot and when you toss in the heat reflecting of the massive bare rock areas and lack of shade it was seriously sunstroke territory.

Mind you it was still fun out there and the climatic conditions put added pressure on you to make as few mistakes as possible.

Gayle (W35AS) and Maureen (W75A) finished 3rd and 2nd respectively on day 1. Lisa Lampe in W50A was a very creditable 11th whilst Dick had a strong run in M65A to finish 5th with Dave 2 places behind. I managed a 4th place in M45AS.

Day 2 and the temperature had cooled well it had if you were early and once more Gayle and I had the benefit of a late start and once more the mercury climbed above 32. well I did say it was cooler. the terrain was much the same although a wee bit more green appeared on the map.

Maureen took outright 1st in her class with a very strong run. Gayle maintained her 3rd placing from the day before and Lisa slipped one spot. Dick and Dave reversed places with Dave 4th and Dick 9th. I dropped one spot to 5th.

The final day was a change for all as there was quite heavy fog greeting early starters as they drove out to the event. Ah yes at last an early start...

Gayle returned to the podium with a third for the day and a 3rd place overall. Maureen gave us all a scare with a 8 minute mistake however whilst she dropped back to 2nd on the day her brilliant run the day before left her with a big buffer on the rest of the field and so she finished the carnival in 1st place. Lisa had a strong run to record her carnival best with an 8th which saw her into the top 10 overall. Dave and Dick swapped roles again with Dick in 5th (6th overall) and Dave in 7th (4th overall). Well I stayed consistent with a 5th placing which meant I was 5th overall.

It was a very well run carnival and the WA volunteers did a marvellous job. It was great to have the opportunity to have a chat with 3 of the property owners after the event. They were tickled pink to witness our sport and also to see people enjoying their land.

So Easter 2012- Queensland!

ACT CHAMPS

2011-04-11T07:40:00.007+10:00

The ACT Middle Distance Champs were held on Collector Hill. This rather convenient map has one outstanding feature - the coffee shop. ( Coffee was however a little weak). The central ridge of rock was very tricky. However the feature that perhaps spoils the map is the vast amount of fallen timber. Those who ran on it at Easter 2010 will remember it fondly. That aside it is a challenging map with the timber making for slow progress.

The field for the Middle Champs was not very big but there was quality:

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W50A Lisa Lampe 2nd

W55A Gayle Shepherd 4th

W65A Angela Murray 3rd

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

M55A Ron Pallas 12th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 1st

M65A Dave Lotty 2nd (5 secs behind Dick!)

Despite overnight rain and steady rain on Sunday the long distance champs were a most enjoyable. Awooga was first used for the same event last year. The very open spur gully terrain made for very quick times but whilst the area looked a little "easy" there are traps as Gayle and I found out when heading to control 5.

The rain dragged us from the competition area to the warmth of the bakery at Goulburn where we had a chance to fill the bellies.

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd

W55AS Gayle Shepherd 2nd

W65A Angela Murray 4th

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

M55AS Ron Pallas 3rd

M65A Dave Lotty 2nd

M65A Dick Ogilvie 4th

An excellent weekend.

the travelling orienteers are busily packing their bags for the Australian 3 days in WA over Easter.

A reminder thatUringa is running State league 4 at Lyndhurst on 15th May. Entries close for SL3 ( Macquarie Wood) and SL 4 on May 1st.

The entry portal is via the uringa website:

http://www.uringa.nsw.orienteering.asn.au/sl_4_2011/sl4_2011.htm

see you in the bush!

WATTLE RIDGE WANDER ( WONDER)

2011-04-03T20:38:00.006+10:00

State League 2 at Wattle Ridge was a case of how many finished the course and how many did the course finish!

It was certainly tough with reduced visibility. There is one thing about vegetation give it plenty of rain and sun and it gets thicker. The white on the map would be best interpreted as being green and the green well greener. Mind you there is no excuse for poor navigation.

It was a case of stay in contact or perish.

The very short leg from 2 -3 did me in with a 25 minute leg time ( I managed 8-9 in the same time... dumb dumb dumb.)

Oh well that is why one goes back each week. To invent new errors!

It was great to see Ross Coyle back again in full flight he notched up a very commanding win in M55A along with the comeback king Ian Mckenzie who took on the very challengingM 35A course. Georgia Jones W14A and Linda Sesta W40A were also grinning winners. Ian Jones M45A, Sophie Jones W10A, Brian Cleland MopB and Jane McKenna W21AS scored well deserved 2nd places and Maggie Jones W40A, Lisa Lampe W50A and Angela Murray W65A all manged to step onto the podium in 3rd place.

Full results:

M16A Lawrence Jones mp

M35A Ian Mckenzie 1st

M45A Ian Jones 2nd

M45AS Ron Pallas 5th

M55A Ross Coyle 1st

M65A Dave Lotty 4th

M65A Dick Ogilvie 6th

W10A Sophie Jones 2nd

W14A Georgia Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W35AS Gayle Shepherd mp

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W40A Maggie Jones 3rd

W50A Lisa Lampe 3rd

W60A Mary Jane Mahony mp

W65A Angela Murray 3rd

W70A Maureen Ogilvie 4th

MB Brian Cleland 2nd

The orienteering circus heads south to the ACT for the ACT Middle and Long Distance Champs over the weekend of the 9/10th April.

The terrain will be much more forgiving. ( Well I hope so!)

WATTLE RIDGE WANDER ( WONDER)

2011-04-03T20:38:00.000+10:00

State league 2 at Wattle Ridge was a case of how mant finished the course and how many did the course finish!

METRO LEAGUE 1- HARRINGTON PARK

2011-03-22T05:41:00.002+11:00

To quote event organiser Lyn Malmgron
"and then it started to rain"

Had Nick Wilmott had a better tumble turn he would have finished a little bit quicker as he swam the creek.
Seriously whilst it was rather wet, up to one's thighs in places, it still was good fun to get out and enjoy our sport.
The scoreboard failed to function as there was a rather large malfunction of the split printer and so results were unavailable.
A quick check of the Metro Website tells me that the B - A team defeated IKN 31/21 whilst the B- B team had a narrow loss to WHN 27/28
In C Division Uringa/ CC lost quite comprehensively to GON 17/38.
Individual Results
B Course - 5.2km
6th Paul Prudhoe 42.42
12th Nick Wilmott 46.13
13th Clare Murphy 46.23
14th Rick Steele 47.09
15th Dick Ogilvie 49.16
17th Adrian Steele 49.51
20th Lisa Lampe 50.23
21st Dave Lotty 50.24
28th Ron Pallas 74.16
Matt unfortunately missed control 6

C Course - 4.6km
19th Julia Prudhoe 44.44
23rd Sarah Garnett 51.28
30th Margaret Wilmott 65.52
31st Maureen Ogilvie 70.44
32nd Gayle Shepherd 87.06

D Course
4th Angela Murray 37.39

If you are interested in numbers etc check out the finish times of Paul and Julia Prudhoe....
The next event on the calendar are State league 1 & 2 coming up at the end of this month. Interestingly enough the first use of SL4 area was an extremely wet State Champs a couple of years ago. Will history repeat itself?

HOT TIME IN THE CAPITAL CITY

2011-03-13T18:18:00.006+11:00

Well it was a very hot time in the capital with temperatures in high 20's for most of the weekend.

What an interesting carnival it was with three events spread over the two days.

Saturday morning was a middle event. A very interesting map with one side being 1:7500 and then when you reached the boundary you flipped over to a 1:10000 map.

Catherine and Clare Murphy were running in W21E representing NSW and did a rather good job with Catherine finishing 17th and Clare 24th.

The public races were on the same maps

M65A Dave Lotty mp

M65A Dick Ogilvie 4th

W40A Linda Sesta 1st

W50A Lisa Lampe 4th

W65A Angela Murray 3rd

W75A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

After coffee cake and lunch it was time for a mixed sprint relay. The team of two alternating through the 4 legs. It was run in the grounds of the AIS and was very interesting running. A few ramps and lots of twists and turns.

What was most amusing was that the public watched the elite races and it was noticed immediately that if you left the start and headed virtually dead straight you ran into an impassable wall. At the briefing of the public race this was announced and "the President" Linda even told all she could see about this poor route choice. Interestingly enough who was first out of the blocks at the mass start leading away at a great rate of knots none other than the president and sure enough she went straight into the impassable wall!

Mind you Linda and Eoin Rothery combined to come second ( Mixed Open)to Jenny and Geoff Lawford ( by a mere 3 seconds) Lisa Lampe teamed up with Sue Neve for a creditable 3rd in the Mixed Masters. Gayle and Ron were 7th in Mixed Open. Angela teamed up with peter Kreminski for an 8th in the Mixed masters. Maureen and Dick failed to finish with a mp on leg 2.

Sunday saw us making an extravagantly long 10 -1 5 minute drive to the foot of Mount Ainslie- if you do not know Canberra it is directly behind the War memorial. You had to feel sorry for the elites as not only did they face a late start in very hot conditions the men had a 15km run with 620m of climb and they got to know the top of Mt Ainslie well.

The mere mortals were more content to take on shorter courses.

H3 Linda Sesta 8th

H3 Ross Coyle 26th

H4 Dave Lotty 3rd

H4 Dick Ogilvie 6th

H4 Lisa Lampe 25th

H4 Ron Pallas 27th

H4 Angela Murray 36th

H4 Gayle Shepherd 43rd

H4 Maureen Ogilvie 56th

WOp Antonia Coyle 6th

It was great to see Ross and Antonia again. Their weekends are now their own after 3 years at their cafe.

Well the next bush event appears to be Metro 1 or Hillptop for SL2 or ACT Championships...

see you there

Ron

Callan Park Sprint Event

2011-03-10T11:17:00.000+11:00

Helen Murphy set the last Sprint Series event of the season on our favourite map at Callan Park.

URINGA AGM

2011-02-26T11:06:00.004+11:00

A large excited crowd of Uringans turned out for the 2011 Uringa AGM

Elected Officers:
President: Linda Sesta
Vice President: Lisa Lampe
Secretary: Mary Jane Mahony
Treasurer: Dave Lotty
Blogmaster: Rick Steele
Social Secretary: Gayle Shepherd
Equipment Officers: Matt Peters - Local
Nick Wilmott / Ron Pallas - bush events
Club Captain: Dave McKenna
Training Coordinator: Maggie Jones
Mapping Officer: Dave Lotty
Medical Officer: Lisa Lampe
Membership Coordinator: Lisa Lampe
Delegates to OANSW: Linda Sesta & Ron Pallas

SKINNY LATTE SUMMER SERIES

2011-01-28T20:09:00.008+11:00

Chief Finisher Aldo

Matt and Helen discussing local coffee shops

The crowd

The view (1)

The View (2)

164 competitors were on hand for the Summer series Event at Birchgrove. Matt had prepared a new map which took in some of the most outstanding scenery of the Balmian / Birchgrove peninsula.

Despite the hot weather and the Australia day Holiday there were some hot times.

45th Catherine Murphy Open Women 420 points
67th Dave Lotty Legends Men 380 points

72nd Dick Ogilvie Legends Men 360 points

77th Linda Sesta Masters Women 350 points

89th Terry Murphy Super Veteran Men 330 points
91st Angela Murray Legends Women 320 points

108th Lisa Lampe Veteran Women 310 points

123rd Brian Cleland Legends Men 290 points
131st Helen Murphy Super Veteran Women 280 points

140th Michael Tomkins Masters Men 270 points
141st Mary Jane Mahony Super Veteran Women 260 points
160th Maureen Ogilvie Legends Women 140

Still has me beat when i go to a summer series events how some people arrive at 4.30 and do not run until 6.30 and spend a lot of time hanging around. I wonder if they are listening in to gain clues.

I reckon you should get your map and then have 1 hour to complete the course. If you spend 20 minutes planning then you have 40 minutes running... Easy to implement as you go to the table and register and your time is written on your card then. You must finish within the hour or face the penalty!

Thanks to all Uringans and especially Matt for a great event

SUMMER SPRINTS

2011-01-26T10:33:00.002+11:00

The Summer Sprint series moved to Sydney Park on Monday 24th January. Unfortunately the weather decided that it was time to heat up and the temperature was in the mid thirties when most competitors went out.
Despite the heat there was a great turnout of 75 runners and a few extra helpers.
Dave Lotty set the course and was rewarded with some glowing comments on his use of the area.
Uringans performed quite well on the 3.3km course
29 Linda Sesta 23.38
36 Dick Ogilvie 25.33
41 Clare Murphy 27.27
51 Terry Murphy 31.06
52 Michael Tomkins 31.20
53 Angela Murray 32.23
54 Lisa Lampe 32.43
61 Helen Murphy 38. 48
69 Brian Cleland 50.36

A special welcome to Michael Tomkins who has just joined our club. Michael began orienteering in ACT running in the mid-week events and has recently moved to Marrickville.

Thanks to Sarah, Matt and Aldo who lent a hand on the day. With the use of sportident this event is a very easy one indeed.

Reunion in Snowy Switzerland

2011-01-16T16:40:00.005+11:00

As some of you may know, Aldo and I spent the Christmas/New Year period in Europe. We had a great time, although at times we Aussies found it freezing, in particularly Aldo! He found it quite exhausting having to gear up every time you left the house. It's quite a procedure; longjohns, ski pants, hat, gloves, scarf, warm jacket etc....! We spent 4 days sightseeing in Berlin, thankfully we had packed the ski pants which saved us from turning into icicles. However the pretty Christmas lights and markets, and the interesting sights made up for the cold!!

We also spent a few days in the Swiss ski resort of St Moritz where we had the most magnificent weather and enjoyed some skiing and cross country skiing.

One of the highlights of the trip was our reunion with the Swiss-based contingent of Uringa: Sibylle, Matthias, Noel and Corsin. We had a scrumptious breakfast at their place and wished we could have spent a bit more time together. They are all doing very well and the boys are involved in a sport called biathlon. It combines cross country skiing and shooting, and if you by chance have ever come across it, you will know that it is a very though sport, and it's definitely quite thrilling to watch a competition (they show it on Eurosport here in OZ if you have Foxtel!).

Anyway, here are some photos.

Popularity of orienteering in print

2011-01-15T14:41:00.000+11:00

A little bit of fun. Go to:

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=orienteering&year_start=1800&year_end=2010&corpus=0&smoothing=3

(Then you might want to play with other words of interest.)

Uringa Calendar 2011

2011-01-08T18:43:00.001+11:00

Date	Location	Event	Key People
24/01/2011	Sydney Park (Alexandria)	Sydney Sprint	Dave Lotty
26/1/2011	Balmain	Summer Series	Matt Peters
25/02/2011	Breakfast Point (TBC)	Annual General Meeting	everyone
07/03/2011	Callan Park	Sydney Sprint	The Murphy’s
16/03/2011	St Joeys	Summer series	Lisa Lampe
14/05/2011	Lyndhurst	State League Saturday GSN @ Kahli’s Rocks	P- Dick Ogilvie C- Dave Lotty O- Ron Pallas
19/06/2011	CATI	Centennial Park	Rick & Sarah
4/09/2011	CATI	Callan Park	The Jones’s

More Christmas Five Day photos from the northern tablelands

2011-01-08T13:24:00.000+11:00

Sophie makes it through the long grass

Half the fun is hanging comparing notes (Sophie)

Mates take turns winning their class (Jarrad)

Shadowing is a challenge when the children are fast, the grass is long, and the dad is injured - coming in behind, a fair way behind (Dave M)

I'm sure the control is around here (Brian)

Gayle finishes

Georgia takes the high ground

The control is obvious from the Finish, but not from any of the directions from which the runners are coming. (Dave L.)

Sophie runs in with the best of them

Brian on the home stretch, just before the trip rock

Lawrence

Debriefing (Lawrence and David)

Jarad collects his last prize from Master of Ceremonies Dick.

5 DAYS IN IMAGES

2011-01-01T12:09:00.007+11:00

It wasn't raining however Brian and Mary Jane sort shelter from the extra strong Armidale sun.

David, Ian and Lawrence had fingers crossed during the prize draw hoping to hear their names called out

Maggie all smiles after another consistent run

Ron and Nick at work in the tent!

After so much rain grass was growing wildly. Never seen so much grass that even the cows are sick of it. For orienteers it was a case of pick off the grass seeds! It could be worse as the seeds will change later in the season into those spiky things that penetrate even armour plated o gear

Sophie powers into the finish on Day 4. On her course Sophie was dwarfed by the grass in places.

Brian was extremely happy with surviving Day 4 the most complex navigation days

Jane, put on a brave face whilst she was being patched up!

XMAS 5 DAYS - ARMIDALE

2011-01-01T08:23:00.008+11:00

The first day of the 5 days was a sprint at the university. Pretty fast and furious and a good way to shake off the excesses of Christmas.
Ian Jones MB 3rd
Maggie Jones WB 11th
Lawrence Jones MC 27th
Jane McKenna WC 22nd
Dave Lotty MD 6th
Dick Ogilvie MD 15th
Maureen Ogilvie WD 16th
Gayle Shepherd WD 15th
Georgia Jones WE 3rd
David Jones ME 5th
Brian Cleland MF 4th
Jared McKenna M/WN 1st
Sophie Jones M/WN 4th

The trip to Banalasta was well and truly worth it although there were some mighty long times in the complex rock. We have run a number of times on this map and still it makes life hard for all.
Ian Jones MB 4th
Maggie Jones WB 15th
Lawrence Jones MC 21st
Jane McKenna WC 14th
Dave Lotty MD 2nd
Dick Ogilvie MD 21st
Maureen Ogilvie WD 17th
Gayle Shepherd WD 18th
Georgia Jones WE 6th
David Jones ME 4th
Brian Cleland MF 7th
Jared McKenna M/WN 1st
Sophie Jones M/WN 6th

Jane sustained a nasty injury courtesy of a stick entering her leg just above the knee. Some field surgery by Dr Jane and a few stitches and she was on her feet but unfortunately out of the running for the rest of the competition.

This was a very relaxing day after the trials and tribulations on the rock of day 2. However the gullies were enough to throw a spanner in the works of many an unsuspecting orienteer.

Ian Jones MB 3rd
Maggie Jones WB 15th
Lawrence Jones MC 36th
Dave Lotty MD 6th
Dick Ogilvie MD mp
Maureen Ogilvie WD 23rd
Gayle Shepherd WD 26th
Georgia Jones WE 3rd
David Jones ME 4th
Brian Cleland MF 5th
Jared McKenna M/WN 1st
Sophie Jones M/WN 4th
If ever there was a map where it would be okay to go without your glasses this was the one for Gayle but at times the arms were not quite long enough.

Day 4 dawned quite warm and the cool conditions of the past 3 days were replaced by mid 20s.This was the first use of this map and there was certainly some spectacular rock high on the ridges.
Ian Jones MB 8th
Maggie Jones WB 18th
Lawrence Jones MC 29th
Dave Lotty MD 2nd
Dick Ogilvie MD 10th
Maureen Ogilvie WD 15th
Gayle Shepherd WD 16th
Georgia Jones WE 2nd
David Jones ME 8th
Brian Cleland MF 8th
Jared McKenna M/WN 2nd
Sophie Jones M/WN 5th

Following the event Uringa and others adjourned to the Jones's residence at the Tinsel Cow. This homestead on the banks of the Macleay River was in a superb setting. A number took advantage of the soothing waters of the river where each evening a number of those very shy creatures, the platypus could be seen.

This was our earliest start and the mist was just starting to lift off the dam when the first starters went out. This map has been used a number of times and the vagueness and smaller rock features challenge all.
Ian Jones MB mp
Maggie Jones WB 11th
Lawrence Jones MC 36th
Dave Lotty MD 10th
Dick Ogilvie MD 28th
Maureen Ogilvie WD 16th
Gayle Shepherd WD 12th
Georgia Jones WE 2nd
David Jones ME mp
Brian Cleland MF 5th
Jared McKenna M/WN 1st
Sophie Jones M/WN 6th

The final pointscores ( you were able to drop your worst performance) were as follows
Ian Jones MB 4th
Maggie Jones WB 14th
Lawrence Jones MC 32nd
Jane McKenna WC 28th
Dave Lotty MD 3rd
Dick Ogilvie MD 20th
Maureen Ogilvie WD 17th
Gayle Shepherd WD 13th
Georgia Jones WE 3rd
David Jones ME 7th
Brian Cleland MF 5th
Jared McKenna M/WN 1st
Sophie Jones M/WN 4th

A few thoughts: great to see Lawrence on Red Courses. the 5km red courses were sure a challenge but what a great way to gain experience. well done. Also Miss Sophie out on her own each day did a fine job.
Brian was amongst the most consistent of the team along with Ian who challenged strongly on the first 3 days.
Dave Lotty as always was very competitive as was Georgia Jones.

Unfortunately Mary Jane was reduced to a spectator role for the carnival as i am sure she would have enjoyed the forests.

There are some photos to be posted at a later date.
The 2011 5 days will be held in Newcastle.

More Christmas party

2010-12-05T16:03:00.000+11:00

URINGA XMAS PARTY

2010-12-05T06:16:00.010+11:00

Sumptuous sausages and sizzling steaks prepared by Chef Brett certainly hit the spot after the brutal Presidents Cup run.
Thanks to Matt the map was excellent and the terrain flat. President Ron selected 30 devious controls for the long and 20 for the short ( not necessarily the same questions mind you!) The complication was that participants had to choose only 19 or 13 depending on the course they were running.
Clare managed to score 21/19 on the long course as she picked up two bonus points for working the percentage out complete with decimal points!
The results below show that local knowledge helped some of the Murphy clan but not others.

Long Course
Catherine 18/19 32.58
Matt 16/19 39.46
Clare 21/19 44.36
Maggie 18/19 49.21
Dick 18/19 53.52
Lisa 16/19 54.07
Lawrence 17/19 57.41
Dave 16/19 57.42
Nick 18/19 61.00
Terry 30/30 83.21

Short Course
Jared 12/13 24.05
Dave 13/13 24.07
Brian 13/13 30.00
Helen 12/13 32.15
Christine & Julia 13/13 32.21
Mary Jane 12/13 32.38
Linda 13/13 33.13
Margaret 12/13 33.27
Georgia 12/13 38.19
Gayle 12/13 39.03
Mike 13/13 39.55
Aldo 12/13 58.59
Maureen 12/13 67.20

Now the Presidents Cup was as usual a cut throat affair. There were those who cheated and sent their daughter ahead on foot to get the control card in a few precious seconds early. Topping that was the mother daughter pairing of Christine & Julia with Julia riding a scooter at break neck speeds (tripped the speed camera on Concord Rd) to get back just that little bit faster.
Then there were the smarties- name the reserve- Murphys Folly! Yes Nick a good try!
After a fine round of mains our attention was turned to desserts and as usual the pickings were delicious.
With Australia coping a hammering in the cricket and then Sydney FC in a similar position in the soccer- the President’s presentation alleviated all thoughts of drowning sorrows in a refreshing beverage or two.
The beautifully crafted Presidents Cup (thanks again Jitka) was awarded to Catherine. Sister Clare was awarded the Little Presidents Cup – mainly to stop the whinging especially about the number of drain grates!

A special presentation was made to Lawrie, Georie-Porgie and Soph as they are now Aussie Kids. Maggie, Jonesy and the kids became Aussies last Thursday – but after seeing the cricket score they are rethinking their decision.

It was a fantastic night and hopefully Mary Jane will add to the photo gallery.

many thanks to the Murphy's for the venue and also to Brett, Natt, Clare, Catherine and Pat who were willing slaves: Helen the consumate hostess and of course the "Madge" who esured that we all enjoyed the evening.

OANSW Presentation Evening

2010-11-14T08:11:00.000+11:00

Only a small Uringa representation was on hand for a great night at the North Ryde RSL.
Uringa featured in a number of awards.

NSW Junior Awards
Lawrence, Georgia and Sophie Jones, along with Jared McKenna received recognition under the Waratah Awards for their performances during the year.

NSW Orienteer of the Year 2010
M10A Jared McKenna equal 2nd
M35AS Dave McKenna 2nd
M40A Ian Jones 3rd
M65A Dave Lotty 1st
W12A Georgia Jones 1st
W21AS Maggie Jones 1st
W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd
W35AS Gayle Shepherd 2nd
W40A Linda Sesta 3rd
W65A Angela Murray 1st
W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

Metro League 2010
C Division – Uringa
Linda Sesta, Dick Ogilvie, Adrian Steele, Dave Lotty, Ron Pallas
D Division – Uringa
Maggie Jones, Lawrence Jones, Jane McKenna, Margaret Wilmott, Maureen Ogilvie, Gayle Shepherd, Angela Murray, Sarah Garnett

Sydney Orienteering Series 2010
Sub-Junior Women
Georgia Jones 1st
Sophie Jones 3rd
Legends Men
Dave Lotty 1st
Legends Women
Angela Murray 1st

NSW Interclub Trophy 2010
Uringa 3rd

The night saw a fitting farewell to Dave Lotty. Dave is retiring shortly from his job as the Executive Officer of OANSW. A position he has held since funding was made available. Fittingly Dave was awarded Life membership of OANSW.

(sorry no photos as I forgot to pack the camera)

LEGS OF STEELE

2010-10-05T11:05:00.003+11:00

Congratulations to Bronwyn Steele for running her first ever marathon.

As well as registering this great milestone Bronwyn through the Cantoo organisation raised a considerable sum of money for Cancer research.

Well done Bronwyn

BAROSSA MAPS

2010-10-05T10:41:00.003+11:00

The following maps were used for the Baroossa Aussie carnival
Australian Middle Distance Champs

South Australian Champs

Australian Sprint Champs

Australian Long Champs

Australian Relays M55 course

Baroossa and Back 2010

2010-10-04T13:13:00.007+11:00

Gayle- "I finished- at last!"

Georgia heading for the finish

Spot the error on the clockface

Maggie, Simon and Gayle

Ian checking out relay progress

It was wet in South Australia

Lawrence heading to the spectator control

Goodness it was perhaps the smallest contingent of Uringans at a national Champs for some time with just 10 members making the trip. For those who were unable to make it was without a doubt the greenest that I have seen SA in my lifetime. Full dams and water in creeks were evident on each map (except the relays)

The carnival kicked off with the Australian Middle champs on “Lady Alice Goldfield”. As the name implied there was a evidence of the gold rush with ruins and mine shafts in abundance. The early part of the course featured some outstanding gold mining detail and the latter 1/3 was open fast running – good for some!
Results
Ian Jones M40 3rd
Maggie Jones W40A 10th
Sophie Jones W10 8th
Georgia Jones W12 3rd
Lawrence Jones M14A 13th
Dave Lotty M65A 9th
Dick Ogilvie M65A 6th
Maureen Ogilvie W75A 1st
Gayle Shepherd W55A 9th
Ron Pallas M55A 29th

The South Australian Long Champs was held the following day on “Mack Creek”. The area was predominantly spur gully with some rock. It was a beautiful area and the gullies were alive with grass and flowers.

Results
Ian Jones M40 3rd
Maggie Jones W21AS 1st
Sophie Jones W10 7th
Georgia Jones W12 2nd
Lawrence Jones M14A 13th
Dave Lotty M65A 10th
Dick Ogilvie M65A 3rd
Maureen Ogilvie W75A 1st
Gayle Shepherd W35AS 6th
Ron Pallas M35AS 12th

Mid week was dedicated to the Schools Champs. One had to feel rather sorry for all the schools teams as they were sleeping in tents and the area had its coldest week for some many years.
Lawrence Jones was our only “squadie’ and he was a reserve in the very strong Junior boys team. Lawrence ran well in the individual to finish 23rd and his relay team was 10th in the junior boys. This is Lawrence’s first year in the squad so next year at Wagga he will be hoping to step into the main team.
Sister Georgia is busting her boiler to get into the Schools Team next year!

The “Beat the Brats” event was quite popular with the same courses offered as for the Schools Individual
Results
Ian Jones H1 7th
Maggie Jones H2 23rd
Dave Lotty H2 33rd
Dick Ogilvie H2 40th
Maureen Ogilvie M2 11th

Following the Schools relay there were two events. The first, a teams event and the second a night event. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate results for these.

Friday saw everyone back to school- Trinity College in fact. This was the venue for the Australian Sprint Championships. (Should be called Short not sprint!)
The map was of the school campus and was great fun. The courses whilst well set could not match the complexities of say Macquarie university for the number and size of buildings
Results
Ian Jones M40 10th
Maggie Jones W40A 3rd
Sophie Jones W10 – 12 7th
Georgia Jones W10 - 12 3rd
Lawrence Jones M14A 17th
Dave Lotty M65A 2nd
Dick Ogilvie M65A 5th
Maureen Ogilvie W75A 2nd
Gayle Shepherd W55A 13th
Ron Pallas M55A 19th

And so it was off to “Tanunda Creek” we headed for the Australian Champs. The map was predominantly yellow with a lot of granite strewn across it. The courses made use of the granite outcrops but is was only when there were two or three controls set in the more complex areas that you had to work hard. Yes plenty of people made mistakes getting to the areas too. By now the weather had cleared and the sun had come out!

Results
Ian Jones M40 4th
Maggie Jones W21AS 1st
Sophie Jones W10 7th
Georgia Jones W12 3rd
Lawrence Jones M14A 20th
Dave Lotty M65A 3rd
Dick Ogilvie M65A 22nd
Maureen Ogilvie W75A 2nd
Gayle Shepherd W35AS 8th
Ron Pallas M35AS 7th

Our final event Aussie Relays was out east of the Barossa- on an area called “Rock Oyster” It was littered with shells and steep. If you were'nt going up on this map you were going down. It was indeed a very complex spur gully area and it was easy to make small errors which became larger ones if you lost contact.

Results ( team placing )
Ian Jones M35 - 3rd
Maggie Jones W21AS - 6th
Georgia Jones M/W12 – 2nd
Lawrence Jones M16 – 13th
Dave Lotty and Dick Ogilvie M65A – 2nd
Maureen Ogilvie W65A - 1st
Gayle Shepherd W45A - mp (not Gayle)
Ron Pallas M55A – 12th

What a week. The attraction of the Barossa saw orienteers sampling products of the grape in any number of wineries. Others dropped in on Maggie Beer (cook and the Chef fame). The bakeries, eateries and coffee emporiums were flat out dealing with the trade.
This areas fantastic and the maps were great, the competition fierce and camaraderie as always second to none.
For those who did not make the trip – pity cos’ it was a blast!
Now are you thinking of heading to Perth for Easter (22nd April - 1st May) have a look at the following website for information.

http://www.aus3days2011.orienteering.asn.au/

heading to the Oceania carnival (October 1st -9th - starts in Victoria and ends in ACT) check out the latest information at:

http://www.oceania2011.asn.au/

( this site is not online at time of posting but keep checking )

NSW CHAMPS

2010-09-13T16:58:00.011+10:00

Off into the misty hills around Lithgow we did go. Baal Bone Junction is the name of the new map and it is rather a limited map due with some reasonable spur gully surrounding a large rock mesa. The mesa area pictured above appears to have few avenues to get either up or down and so will limit courses in future uses.

As a none runner it was interesting to listen to comments about the map and courses. Whilst Mark Darvo loves these areas it would seem that many others found moments on the map quite frightening and some of the course setting rather poor. Having looked closely at the green course that Georgia ran it contained little challenge for the runners.

results:

EOD Orange Aldo Sesta 4th
M50A Mark Darvodelsky 1st
W40A Linda Sesta 4th
M65A Dave Lotty 2nd

W50A Jan Sargood 5th

W50A Sarah Garnett 8th
W50A Margaret Wilmott 9th

W50A Lisa Lampe - chose not to finish

M35AS Dave McKenna 2nd

W60A Jitka Kopriva 4th

W60A Mary Jane Mahony 6th
M45AS Zuzu Burford 10th

W21AS Maggie Jones 2nd
W21AS Jane McKenna 3rd

W70A Maureen Ogilvie 2nd

W35AS Anne Darvodelsky - chose not to finish

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 3rd

M14A Lawrence Jones 6th
MOB Brian Cleland 2nd

W12A Georgia Jones 2nd
W10A Sophie Jones 3rd

M/W10N Jared Mckenna 1st

With such a large contingent or Uringans present it was quite a challenge to knock over the variety of cakes that were produced from various bags. Chief Judge Dick was licking his lips. Mary Jane's superb Banana Bread from Saturday had been demolished but was brilliant. Jane had a particularly delicious sponge whilst Margaret produced one of her special cakes and Gayle had her "non accidental" fruit cake. What a feast.

It took some time for all to pack up and leave. there were still 1/2 dozen Uringans chatting when the organisers had all but completed their pack up. Mind you there was a slight delay in the car park to assist in the Audi retrieval.

There were some who needed a toilet and refuelling stop on the Bells Line which quelled the afternoon food cravings.

ah hat a great weekend in perfect weather!

NSW MIDDLE DISTANCE CHAMPS

2010-09-13T16:28:00.003+10:00

The NSW Middle Distance Champs were held at were held in the hills surrounding Mt Piper Power Station Lithgow.

Courses made the most of the spur gully terrain and whilst some may suggest that they were on the easy side there were many who made small mistakes because of the open terrain.

Uringa had a huge contingent at the event. Our club clocked up some great results:

M40A Ian Jones 5th

M50A Mark Darvodelsky 1st

W40A Linda Sesta 4th

M65A Dave Lotty 1st

W50A Lisa Lampe 6th

W50A Sarah Garnett 7th

W50A Margaret Wilmott 10th

M35AS Dave McKenna 3rd
W60A Jitka Kopriva 3rd

W60A Mary Jane Mahony 8th

M45AS Ron Pallas 6th

M45AS Zuzu Burford 8th

W21AS Maggie Jones 1st

W21AS Jane McKenna 2nd

W70A Maureen Ogilvie 1st

W35AS Anne Darvodelsky 2nd

W35AS Gayle Shepherd 4th

M14A Lawrence Jones 5th

MOB Brian Cleland mp

W12A Georgia Jones 2nd

W10A Sophie Jones 4th

M/W10N Jared Mckenna 3rd.

After the event the crowds scattered to all points around Lithgow to prepare themselves for the NSW Champs the next day. There is a remarkable difference in the way people prepare. Some close themselves off in a room and impersonate a swedish sauna, others consume red wine or white wine, beer and cheese. Some are known to consume some bubbly to wash down a fine fruit salad.

Socialising in the bush (Ben Bullen Forest, September 2010)

2010-09-13T15:01:00.000+10:00

AUDIacious Bogging

2010-09-12T18:03:00.004+10:00

At the NSW Champs it was a case of "just who holds Uringa's bog championships" Older heads will remember Jared ( Dave) McKenna's fantastic effort at JWOC not once but twice.

However Maggie is definitely challenging for the prize as she managed to maroon the Audi in seemingly a very un-boggable place

Fortunately there was a good Samaritan - Thanks Peter and Lewis who were able to extract the vehicle. There were several on the sideline who seemed to want to give verbal assistance and it was fortunate that Maggie missed most of it as it was far from offering assistance but a little bit of verballing!!

Now what makes Maggie's effort outstanding is that she let slip that this was not the first time the Audi had sunk but had had a prior performance at Stockton.

Well played everyone!

A Fine 2nd for Lawrence

2010-08-30T21:39:00.002+10:00

The NSW School Champs were held on Sunday 29th August in Belanglo State Forest. Lawrence scored a very fine 2nd place in Boys 14A

There were a few solid performances in the accompanying State League Event.
With Rick Stele , Dave Lotty, Jane McKenna and Maureen Ogilvie 1st in their age classes. Dave Mckenna, Anne Darvodelsky and Ian Jones 2nd and Lisa picked up a hard fought 4th place.
well done to all.
With The NSW Championships a couple of weeks away the Uringa contingent should be at near full strength.

The rain in Spain fell in Latvia

2010-08-25T23:23:00.008+10:00

Hello all - as Gayle and I prepare for the long haul home I thought I would fill in time by some thoughts on Latvia.

For both of us it was a bit of a shock brought on by ignorance that Latvia was still under the control of USSR until 1990s after their takeover in the 1940's. With over 800,000 soviets being resettled in latvia one can understand all the Russian looking writing and machinery. Having travelled in Estonia and Lithuania it was a similar story here. I have not yet looked but I would say that Latvia is a poor country. There were so many buildings in a very poor state of repairs and the roads were interesting.

That said the people were delightful and many readily responded to a smiling hello.

Like all of Europe there are buildings centuries old and cobblestone roads everywhere. the old town of Riga is very much living in history.

Food once was Latvian stodge but we ate heartily and well. Prices are quite cheap, especially after 10 days in Norway, and the quality very good.

We caught a bus into Riga from the airport, about 12kms, and it cost $1.40 each. We enjoyed Old Riga and the narrow winding streets full of history. The beer was great too!

We ventured both to the east and the west.

Driving along what they claim are major highways was a bouncy affair. In the middle of seemingly nowhere you came across a small town with a multi story apartments blocks, as well as factory buildings. Most of these were empty again signs of the demise of communisim.

Forget Bernard's Bakery in Bathurst we discovered Shirleys Bakery in Sigulda. Patries were 18c each and coffee, I am led to believe of excellent quality, was around $1. We ate well.

It rained often whilst we were in latvia which could account for water laying in fields. Fortunately it rained mainly at night.

We saw many areas of good orienteering country and some great areas for sprints but that was about as far as any thoughts of orienteering went.

We managed a trip to a Baltic Sea beach. Talk about bleak. the wind howling off the Baltic Sea remained cold and strong all day. There were 4 people who swam and the other three people on the beach were Gayle and I plus a guy sweeping up seaweed.

In Leipaja there were many two and three storey timber buildings which we have found to be unusual. Leipaja was a big naval town in the soviet years but now is much quieter. Lots and lots of empty buildings in vary state of degradation.

We have enjoyed our time in Latvia and are now planning where to go next time!

WOC in Trondheim

2010-08-17T02:32:00.018+10:00

Hello all from Trondheim Norway. We have just finished the WOC week and have had a most enjoyable time.

The weather was excellent with sunshine on all days and temperatures that dipped slightly into the low 20s. Trondheim is a beautiful coastal city surrounded by islands. Norway is a very expensive place to visit but I am looking forward to returning to explore the northern section of the country.

The terrain we ran on (WOC runners too) was varied with the first two days on very complex, marshy terrain. You quickly got used to having wet feet and very smelly clothes. The sprint was run in the old town and was great fun. Days 4 & 5 were on flatter, marshier area that featured a last minute dash down a steep hill to the finish. The area featured a huge ski jump and many courses saw legs go under the top of this massive feature. usually there is summer ski jumping but the jump is under repair right now.

The major feature of the terrain besides marshes was the higher land between the marshes. The land was quite bumpy and this was very distracting. As much as you tried it was hard to ignore the bumps. Vegetation also varied greatly with some very thick pine, long green grass and thickets.

The marshes were difficult to cross and one had to be very careful of the pits. Mind you I found out the hard way when after picking up my map I walked straight into a pit and ended up chest deep in bog. Fortunately some good soul jumped the fence and helped haul me out.

We used the emit punching system. It seems to be somewhat clumsy in use compared to SI. The bit you carry (called a brick) is large and can only go into the control unit in one direction and so you have to turn yourself around to punch. The have a piece of paper which you insert under the brick. Each control unit has a spike sticking up and leaves a pattern - good idea if your brick fails but judging by the number of pieces of paper littering the forest it is not very practical.

As far as Uringa performances went Maureen was first overall in her age group and Dick was in the top 10. Gayle and I both struggled with some of the navigation and had no result recorded in the final. Mind you Gayle completed her course on the last day but was after their course closure time as they had to set up the arena for the WOC Relays. I stomped off the map after having brain issues!

Attending a WOC Carnival is always a mixture of great fun and disappointment. You feel the disappointment of the aussie runners as they push themselves to the limit in many cases throwing caution to the wind and yet even then they struggle to get into the top half of the field. Mind you we had a number of runners in each of the finals.

To give you an idea of what we are up against there was a competition being run at the same time as the spectator events. It was for 12-18 year old. Each field had some 30-50 runners and these kids were treated like elites. The majority of each field were Norwegians. Interviews after completing their courses special prize givings etc. I guess only Linda could enlighten us more on the nature of these competitions.

The WOC relays were very exciting and whilst the women went out on the last leg with 3 teams in contention (The Swedish runner blew a 2 minute lead) the mens relay had 6 teams within 100 seconds. It was quite a fight and France blew their third relay in a row and the very happy Russians celebrated like champs in the finish chute.

We were able to catch up with Oystein and Vigdis who were members of Uringa in 1997,98. They live in Trondheim and we visited them in 1999 and were able to enjoy some time together again. Vigdis was a volunteer in the sanitary team looking after garbage etc. Oystein worked on timing and there was a squad of 30 looking after the technical needs of the event. The commentary team had 10 operators sitting behind them spotting worthwhile information.

From Trondheim the 20 plus aussie supporters headed in a variety of directions. Some were off to Scotland for more wet feet orienteering, some sightseeing in Norway and others were heading home, Gayle and I have a week or so in Latvia before heading back to Sydney at the end of the month.

We arrived in Latvia yesterday to 30degrees and a huge thunderstorm.

WOC 2012 - Norway

2010-08-07T20:35:00.002+10:00

At the moment, there is one highlight after the other taking place in Europe as far as orienteering is concerned. Tomorrow, 8 Aug, WOC kicks off in Trondheim with the sprint. Ron, Gayle, Dick and Maureen will be there to cheer on the Aussies.

WMOC 2012 - Long distance final

2010-08-07T20:28:00.002+10:00

Result update of WMOC 2012:

1st Maureen Ogilvie W75B 43.40

Sorry, my mistake, thought Maureen had made the A final, didn't think they would put on 2 finals!!)

47th Dick Ogilvie M65A 1.06.30 (winning time: 45.23)

14th Sibylle Boos W40A 48.45 (winning time: 36.52 - winner won by about 5 minutes, I think she is ex elite)

The Australians picked up one medal with Jenny Bourne coming 3rd in W55A.

Well done, Uringa!!!!

Swiss O Tour 2012

2010-08-06T09:12:00.003+10:00

Hot off the press ***** Just wanted to let you know (and help you with your planning of your holidays for 2010) that the 4th Swiss O Tour will be held that year prior to the World Championships in Lausanne. Apparently it will involve orienteering in 3 countries (I dare say probably Germany, Italy and of course CH). It will include the Italian part of Switzerland also known as Ticino, as well as Glacierworld, and will end in Lausanne for WOC.

The question is, will the Murphy's and Ogilvies make it 4 our of 4 participations ?????

World Masters (#2)

2010-08-06T08:47:00.002+10:00

Great news for the Uringa camp at the World Masters; both Maureen and Dick made it to the A finals of their respective classes, W75 and M65 !! Our expat Sibylle has also made the A final in W40.

It appears that day 1 of the long distance qualifying took place in very runnable, open type, flat terrain as times seemed to be quite fast. Must have been tricky area though, as Maureen took 1h 44 mins to get around her course, while Dick was 18 mins down on the leader in his heat.
Sibylle put in a very solid race in her heat, but we know that she is good in these technical areas.

Day 2 of qualification in the long distance, saw Maureen putting in an excellent performance to come in 5th, only 10 minutes behind the leader, a massivly improved performance and she must really be in a chance for a medal now. Dick also had a great run, finishing 8th, 10 mins down on the leader. While Sibylle had another solid race in what I dare say was another technically challenging area.

The final kicks off Friday, 6th August and apart from our hopes for Maureen to medal, there are a few other Aussies who have great chances to get a podium finish: Tracy Bluett and Natasha Key (W35), Hermann Wehner (M85), Jenny Bourne (W55), and Warren Key (M50) who really dominated his heat.

Good luck, Maureen, Dick and Sibylle !!!

World Masters in Switzerland

2010-08-02T08:07:00.002+10:00

Our die-hard orienteers, Maureen and Dick are on the orienteering circuit in Europe and have just completed their first race at the World Masters which are being held in the Western parts of Switzerland also known as the Jura. Well, before they head into the real technical areas, the sprint was first up and it's great to report that they both made the A-final. Here are the results:

Maureen W75A
10th / time: 16.10 (winning time: 13.09)

Dick M65A
54th / time: 17.44 (winning time: 13.48)

Sibylle B. W40A
26th / time: 15.46 (winning time: 12.07)

Australia has two new World Champions with Jenny Bourne winning convincingly in W55A and Herman Wehner in M85A. Jenny had already been doing extremly well in the Swedish 5-day were she was mixing in with the podium placings! Warren and Natasha Key are becoming regulars in taking home medals for their country, with Warren in 3rd and Natasha in 2nd.

Swiss Tour-O - It wasn't all orienteering (electric bikes in the Emmental

2010-07-30T23:51:00.000+10:00

3rd Swiss Tour-O - introduction

2010-07-30T23:22:00.021+10:00

The Swiss Tour-O is a great combination of orienteering, sight-seeing, and eating, in a multinational group sharing a common interest in orienteering. The events are put on by local clubs. The Tour goes for a week and ends at a major event, this year the World Master's Orienteering Championships.

Seven Uringans joined the tour (Helen, Terry, Maureen, Dick, Lisa, Michael and Mary Jane) with four making this their third Tour-O.

Presentations to the 18 participants of all three Tour-Os

Helen displays their reward