2003 Australian Championships
Australian Championships, Ross, Tasmanian Midlands - 18-19 January 2003
Keith Conley and I began our weekend in Tasmania in the best possible way... with a brewery tour. We had flown into Launceston (pronounced Lonceston, and don't let the locals catch you saying anything different) on the Thursday night and had most of Friday to kill before catching the bus to Ross in the afternoon. Our most educational experience at the Boags brewery was followed by a stroll around Cataract Gorge and generally taking in the charming sights of historic Launceston.
While traveling on the bus to Ross, Keith and I analysed the terrain passing by the window. Neither of us had spent much time in this part of Tassie and we didn't know what to expect. We could see lots of nasty looking gorse out the window (not only nasty to the skin but also a horrendous invasive weed). The final instructions promised "mainly open forest with some moderate scrub in places". Hmmmm moderate scrub. What is a Tasmanian's idea of moderate scrub? If the horizontal scrub found in some wilderness areas of Tassie was on the thick and nasty side of the scale, moderate scrub would still be pretty bad. Our worries were not to be realised, the course turned out to be quite delightful with a mix of open forest and farmland. One team of Tasmanians assured us that this was not usually the case for Tasmanian rogaines and that this was a cushy course put on for the soft-bodied mainlanders.
We arrived at the rogaine site with enough time to set up the tent and cook dinner before the light disappeared, which was quite late (about 9-10pm) since we were quite a ways south and it was less than a month after the longest day. Having only 8 hours of darkness during the event, between about 10pm and 6am, was really nice. The mood around the hash house that night was one of nervous anticipation. Keith and I cooked up a storm and it became a bit of a competition between us and another team - who could eat the biggest bowl of pasta.
We woke on Saturday to clear skies. You could already feel that it was going to get hot. The bush also looked tinder dry. It hadn't rained here for a long, long time. The course setters warned that if you see smoke while on the course, then return immediately to the hash house - at the first sign of fire the rogaine will be cancelled. I didn't have to be told twice, this country was ready to go up.
Maps were handed out at 9am. They were absolutely huge! You could have used one as a blanket to keep warm. Keith and I poured over our blankets for the next 3 hours planning a fairly ambitious route. The course setters had done well. It was really difficult to plan a course that just linked up lots of high scoring controls. It was hard not to plan a route that left you stranded amongst 10 and 20 point controls. The hash house was also in the south western quarter of the map, so we had to bite the bullet and plan a route that didn't include a visit to the hash house.... and oh how we dreamed of steaming plates of food and comfy chairs while trudging through the darkness at 3am. The first route plans we drafted had us going a long way before reaching a water drop. I am glad we changed our plan before starting. It was tempting not to go to water drops as they were not conveniently located between controls and there were no points given for visiting water drops. It was really hot and we were pretty much out of water by the time we got to the first water drop and again when we got to the second water drop. Some teams were not so lucky and had to pull out of the event due to dehydration.
One great innovation at this event was that several teams, including Keith and I, were handed a GPS to carry around the course with us. It was contained in a tamper-proof package so we couldn't actually use it, but it recorded our route as we went around. The units were owned by the SES. They use them to determine where they have and haven't searched in an area. At the end of the event, our route was plotted onto the course map and projected onto the tent wall so we could see where we went. Potentially this could have been a very embarrassing situation, but our navigation to most controls looked to be spot on, except for control 50 where we went too high... but we worked out while we were out there actually making the mistake that we had gone too high... which was kind of cool.
Other notable things on the course were, nice views, especially of the Western Tiers mountains and the rolling, Tasmanian countryside. Poppy fields... yes, opium poppies growing in fields with no fences or any obvious security. I could have grabbed a few and taken them as souvenirs only I may have been stopped at the airport.
Keith and I had a great time. Thank you to all the organisers for a great event.
Emma Murray
Australian Rogaining Champs -- Story #2
No prize for guessing which state held the Australian Rogaining Championships with an opium poppy field across the road from the Hash House. The very warm temperatures and lack of water were perhaps more unusual for Tasmania. After being rescued from a hot Launceston in an air conditioned bus, we were deposited next to a large paddock ringed by trees not far from Ross. The surrounding countryside seemed to be a mixture of farmland and undulating open eucalypt forest. We hoped the nearby impressive Western Tiers wouldn't be part of the course. A pleasant evening was had fuelling up for the coming event and getting to know some of our fellow participants.
We retired early and fell asleep in a lather of sweat. Next day the sun was up early and we pondered the variations of warm clothes versus more water in our packs. We eventually included our unnecessary raingear, after all it was Tasmania and we did need to get used to carrying heavier packs.
The tablecloth size map was the usual 1:25,000 with the out-of-bounds areas and other corrections already marked. We added more information about bracken, gorse and cattle. The map indicated that over 2/3rds of the area was forested and the greatest climb would be about 500m.
As we intended to be bushwalking two days after the event, we opted for a route that would bring us back to the Hash House for a reasonable sleep. Next morning we would tackle controls on the nearer flatter area. The placement of the water drops made the route choice more difficult as visiting these spots might become essential in the heat.
Along with many other participants we set off on a 200 m climb to a control 'inside the tree'. From the hilltop our planned route for the next few hours was visible. The going was relatively easy and we managed to avoid most of the marked bracken patches but not the grass seeds. Navigation also was not too hard, we had little trouble relocating after (as usual) we lost concentration.
We had a few falls on the steeper slippery slopes and I managed to break my compass housing which didn't help my humour for a while. During the daylight hours the only wildlife we saw were wallabies although we were on the lookout for the devils we were told can hang around the edges of farmlands. At night we often caught the eyes of possums in our torchlight. In one dark spot high on a hill, we heard an animal's bell tinkle but never spotted the lost wearer.
By late in the day we were at a control on Strongs Battery, an old rock wall over 11/2 m high and at least 200 m in length. It was built along and up over a high open hill. No-one seemed to know why it had been built up there. This spot was decision time for us. Would we go further out or detour back to another water drop? On listening to the experiences of others over lunch the next day, I think we did the right thing opting for more water rather than more points.
After replenishing our supply it was a big hurry up past a field of barley to get as far as possible on the Isis Hills before dark. As luck would have it, we came across the only thick scrub of the course in the twilight, head high bracken concealing fallen logs. With care we found all the controls up there but relaxed too much as we left the hills for what we thought would be an easy 20 pointer. We were looking for a drain near a hedge but were fair, the terrain not a hard slog and the food worth coming back for. Of cours, the organisers have no control over the weather but it was preferable to the snow I had experienced one previous Tasmanian January. The opportunity to bushwalk in some wonderful country after the event was an added bonus.
Kathy Saw
Read MoreKeith Conley and I began our weekend in Tasmania in the best possible way... with a brewery tour. We had flown into Launceston (pronounced Lonceston, and don't let the locals catch you saying anything different) on the Thursday night and had most of Friday to kill before catching the bus to Ross in the afternoon. Our most educational experience at the Boags brewery was followed by a stroll around Cataract Gorge and generally taking in the charming sights of historic Launceston.
While traveling on the bus to Ross, Keith and I analysed the terrain passing by the window. Neither of us had spent much time in this part of Tassie and we didn't know what to expect. We could see lots of nasty looking gorse out the window (not only nasty to the skin but also a horrendous invasive weed). The final instructions promised "mainly open forest with some moderate scrub in places". Hmmmm moderate scrub. What is a Tasmanian's idea of moderate scrub? If the horizontal scrub found in some wilderness areas of Tassie was on the thick and nasty side of the scale, moderate scrub would still be pretty bad. Our worries were not to be realised, the course turned out to be quite delightful with a mix of open forest and farmland. One team of Tasmanians assured us that this was not usually the case for Tasmanian rogaines and that this was a cushy course put on for the soft-bodied mainlanders.
We arrived at the rogaine site with enough time to set up the tent and cook dinner before the light disappeared, which was quite late (about 9-10pm) since we were quite a ways south and it was less than a month after the longest day. Having only 8 hours of darkness during the event, between about 10pm and 6am, was really nice. The mood around the hash house that night was one of nervous anticipation. Keith and I cooked up a storm and it became a bit of a competition between us and another team - who could eat the biggest bowl of pasta.
We woke on Saturday to clear skies. You could already feel that it was going to get hot. The bush also looked tinder dry. It hadn't rained here for a long, long time. The course setters warned that if you see smoke while on the course, then return immediately to the hash house - at the first sign of fire the rogaine will be cancelled. I didn't have to be told twice, this country was ready to go up.
Maps were handed out at 9am. They were absolutely huge! You could have used one as a blanket to keep warm. Keith and I poured over our blankets for the next 3 hours planning a fairly ambitious route. The course setters had done well. It was really difficult to plan a course that just linked up lots of high scoring controls. It was hard not to plan a route that left you stranded amongst 10 and 20 point controls. The hash house was also in the south western quarter of the map, so we had to bite the bullet and plan a route that didn't include a visit to the hash house.... and oh how we dreamed of steaming plates of food and comfy chairs while trudging through the darkness at 3am. The first route plans we drafted had us going a long way before reaching a water drop. I am glad we changed our plan before starting. It was tempting not to go to water drops as they were not conveniently located between controls and there were no points given for visiting water drops. It was really hot and we were pretty much out of water by the time we got to the first water drop and again when we got to the second water drop. Some teams were not so lucky and had to pull out of the event due to dehydration.
One great innovation at this event was that several teams, including Keith and I, were handed a GPS to carry around the course with us. It was contained in a tamper-proof package so we couldn't actually use it, but it recorded our route as we went around. The units were owned by the SES. They use them to determine where they have and haven't searched in an area. At the end of the event, our route was plotted onto the course map and projected onto the tent wall so we could see where we went. Potentially this could have been a very embarrassing situation, but our navigation to most controls looked to be spot on, except for control 50 where we went too high... but we worked out while we were out there actually making the mistake that we had gone too high... which was kind of cool.
Other notable things on the course were, nice views, especially of the Western Tiers mountains and the rolling, Tasmanian countryside. Poppy fields... yes, opium poppies growing in fields with no fences or any obvious security. I could have grabbed a few and taken them as souvenirs only I may have been stopped at the airport.
Keith and I had a great time. Thank you to all the organisers for a great event.
Emma Murray
Australian Rogaining Champs -- Story #2
No prize for guessing which state held the Australian Rogaining Championships with an opium poppy field across the road from the Hash House. The very warm temperatures and lack of water were perhaps more unusual for Tasmania. After being rescued from a hot Launceston in an air conditioned bus, we were deposited next to a large paddock ringed by trees not far from Ross. The surrounding countryside seemed to be a mixture of farmland and undulating open eucalypt forest. We hoped the nearby impressive Western Tiers wouldn't be part of the course. A pleasant evening was had fuelling up for the coming event and getting to know some of our fellow participants.
We retired early and fell asleep in a lather of sweat. Next day the sun was up early and we pondered the variations of warm clothes versus more water in our packs. We eventually included our unnecessary raingear, after all it was Tasmania and we did need to get used to carrying heavier packs.
The tablecloth size map was the usual 1:25,000 with the out-of-bounds areas and other corrections already marked. We added more information about bracken, gorse and cattle. The map indicated that over 2/3rds of the area was forested and the greatest climb would be about 500m.
As we intended to be bushwalking two days after the event, we opted for a route that would bring us back to the Hash House for a reasonable sleep. Next morning we would tackle controls on the nearer flatter area. The placement of the water drops made the route choice more difficult as visiting these spots might become essential in the heat.
Along with many other participants we set off on a 200 m climb to a control 'inside the tree'. From the hilltop our planned route for the next few hours was visible. The going was relatively easy and we managed to avoid most of the marked bracken patches but not the grass seeds. Navigation also was not too hard, we had little trouble relocating after (as usual) we lost concentration.
We had a few falls on the steeper slippery slopes and I managed to break my compass housing which didn't help my humour for a while. During the daylight hours the only wildlife we saw were wallabies although we were on the lookout for the devils we were told can hang around the edges of farmlands. At night we often caught the eyes of possums in our torchlight. In one dark spot high on a hill, we heard an animal's bell tinkle but never spotted the lost wearer.
By late in the day we were at a control on Strongs Battery, an old rock wall over 11/2 m high and at least 200 m in length. It was built along and up over a high open hill. No-one seemed to know why it had been built up there. This spot was decision time for us. Would we go further out or detour back to another water drop? On listening to the experiences of others over lunch the next day, I think we did the right thing opting for more water rather than more points.
After replenishing our supply it was a big hurry up past a field of barley to get as far as possible on the Isis Hills before dark. As luck would have it, we came across the only thick scrub of the course in the twilight, head high bracken concealing fallen logs. With care we found all the controls up there but relaxed too much as we left the hills for what we thought would be an easy 20 pointer. We were looking for a drain near a hedge but were fair, the terrain not a hard slog and the food worth coming back for. Of cours, the organisers have no control over the weather but it was preferable to the snow I had experienced one previous Tasmanian January. The opportunity to bushwalk in some wonderful country after the event was an added bonus.
Kathy Saw
