World Masters Orienteering

Our tourist activities started with a drive to the touristy (and thus overpriced) town of Katoomba. We had already overpaid there for tae and cakes the day before so found a more reasonable cafe. The walk we planned nominally started at a classic viewpoint where it cost about £2.50 an hour to park so we found a layby a couple of km away and modified the walk. The path network was fairly extensive and we did a four/five hour trip which took us down towards the bottom of the steep cliffs on which Katoomba sits. There were 900 steps back up at the end and lots more on the undulating track, so not a route for the day before a big race.

However the next day was just a model event when we experienced the intricate rocky "pagoda" terrain and realised we were going to be in for a challenge.

The first heat of the long qualification races followed the next day in an adjacent area and I struggled with the rocky area (see map which I'll put on http://public.fotki.com/DaveCo/omaps/ ). Control 5 was my big mistake and when I eventually found it I was 15m vertically above it; I reached it by scrambling down to a 45degree fallen tree which I then climbed down! I cannot really show my route in the complex terrain as it just obscures all the features.The second part of the course was a complete contrast with fast running and easy controls. I just scraped into the top half in this heat, so needed to do at least as well the next day.
The second qualification was in very different terrain - classic Australian spur and gully, with plenty of rock features. A major error on the first control cost me about 10 minutes or more and a smaller error a bit later another few minutes. Then an easy but very long leg, over 1.5km on a 5 km course gave an obvious track run for a large part of its length and running hard here managed to keep me well enough up to get in the A final.
The final two days later was a mixture of spur/gully and rock, but the latter less technical than the first qualification. I began cautiously but speeded up as things were working well and with just a small mistake later on, of just over a minute, was pleased to come 15th, behind some strong competition. An enjoyable race but the planning was unimaginative and the course did not feel as expected for a WMOC Final. Our course was also on the short side, being won in 40.41 rather than 50 minutes.

Sydney

The few days we had in Sydney produced cooler and damper weather than expected but we still managed to see a few major sights. After wandering the streets and parks a bit we visited the Opera House for a performance of The Mikado which I really enjoyed.


The day after that we did the "Bridge Climb" which gave a good view of the city from an interesting viewpoint. Unfortunately you are not allowed cameras on this trip and I was not prepared to spend $25 (nearly £15) for one (of the many photos) that they took. A good trip though a bit pricey, like most things in Australia - especially at current exchange rates.

The weekend gave us two days of sprint orienteering. The heats on Saturday were not that exciting. I had an OK run but only just made the A final, though did not make any big mistakes. The final at Sydney Olympic Park was much more challenging with many complex structures and tricky controls. I got into top half of the A finalists so quite happy with that; maybe I need to do a few more sprint events to improve.

(Talking to some fellow competitors, queues for registration got to five and a half hours before the issue of photo passes changed to blank passes. The only need for a pass seems to be free public transport in Sydney, which is of little benefit to orienteers after Sunday as we are 2 hours out of town).

We are now in Lithgow in the Blue Mountains ready for the Long Distance orienteering races which start with heats on Wednesday, so a day or two for tourism first.

A Whale of a time

Had a great day of whale watching from Hervey Bay. Spectacular views of whales. Will try and put one of pictures on blog when I can.

A two day trip to Fraser Island was also a good trip. A small group of just 5 people. A bit of gentle walking and beautiful beaches. It was quite busy due to being school holidays.

Flew to Canberra on Monday for 2 day orienteering. First day was a bit of disaster not helped by compass sticking and tricky and rough area. Took 90 mins for first two thirds of course. Second day much better (but a very straightforward area).

We drove to Sydney yesterday and completed a marathon! Well that was the queue to collect stuff for the event. Two and a half hours queue! World Masters Games is not good to be associated with!