Our clubs are rightly proud to unveil new bush maps - but there's nothing quite like opening the vault, dusting off an an old classic and giving it another airing.
So it was at Canyonleigh in the Southern Highlands on Sunday when Uringa called up the Arthursleigh map out of retirement for the NSW Long Championships.
Setter Nick Wilmott - giving up a weekend of his beloved hockey - tested everyone with long legs to pretty much every control on every hard course.
"Hey Nick, did you forget to pack all the controls?," quipped one wag. No, simply a case of doing more with less. The men's Hard 4 course, for example, was 5.6km and just 4 legs, plus a short hop to the 5th control and finish.
It was faster to contour around than to red-line, but the vagueness of the terrain (very little besides termite mounds and contour lines) also posed its own problems. You could really stretch the legs out (our M21A winner covered the 15.3km in 85 minutes!), but at the same time map contact was paramount.
As Australians we are used to seeing kangaroos on course, maybe even a snake, but today we were treated to emus! What a hoot! With the forecast rain staying away until mid-afternoon, it was a perfect day for orienteering. Hrad to think of more ideal conditions for a bush run.
Massive thank yous also to organiser Margaret Jones, SI guru Ron Pallas and the entire Uringa team. Happy Mothers Day everyone.
Clare Jessup's terrific photo album is on Facebook, and results are on Eventor. Please fill out the very brief course setter surveys for both days.
Our next State League weekend is the Australian 3-Days carnival in Wagga from June 10-12. Entries close Monday May 22.
