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
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