Newcastle royalty Margaret and Geoff Peel entertained around 100 people with their innovative paddle orienteering event at Lake Macquarie on Sunday.
The novelty three-hour score course event consisted of a paddle section to be done only by kayak, a promenade section for Foot O, and five controls that could be visited in either fashion.
There were 96 participants in 76 different paddle craft. Two 'singles' and three 'doubles' cleared the well set course, most with less than 10 minutes to spare.
One pair completed the course with a staggering 34 minutes to spare (including NSW junior squad coach Rob Bennett) but were shattered to learn they had failed to properly register at #101. This saw another Newcastle orienteer, Steven Todkill, triumph with seven 7 minutes to spare in his hi-tech single kayak.
The event was made possible thanks to a grant from Lake Macquarie City which covered the event aquatic licence, the park usage fee, SES safety boats and map printing.
The weather was sunny and rain only began to fall as the last checkpoint was withdrawn from the water.
The wind grew in intensity mid-race, presenting a bit of chop and paddling resistance mostly in the larger more open bay between Toronto and Bolton Point. Paddlers had the opportunity to explore the backwaters of Stoney, Lt & Mudd Creeks which presented some lovely sheltered areas while the promenade section took in some lovely bushland and lakeside paths.
The Peels were aghast at low tide on the morning of the event - easily the lowest of the low tides witnessed during preceding visits to the area.
"Locals have always told us it's quite unpredictable in this top end of the lake," said Geoff. "We were stunned to see a mud island which we'd never sighted before now sitting in the middle of Fennell Bay. Being rogainers they are fairly adventurous types and they took all of this in their stride and didn't mind getting a bit muddy."
You can see the results here and the map here.
A big thanks to the Peels and the Newcastle club for putting this on, and to the landowners and equipment suppliers for their support.
