Recently, we ran our second night ARDF event, on the NE Blowmine map adjacent to the State Series event the following day. Maps were kindly provided by NE orienteering club, leftovers from a State Series event run there several years back. Despite being a bit old, they seemed sufficiently accurate for most people to find their way around without too much trouble.
The area we were using was just up the road from the Smiths Reef map where we held our inaugural night event, and so competitors experienced the same open countryside which made last year's event enjoyable. The "green" on the map usually turned out to be thickets of dead trees and shrubs, so while still a bit difficult to get through, it was definitely not as bad as on some of the areas we've run ARDF events before!
Armed with Geoff's superbright rechargeble lamp, we set up the start on a picnic table next to the Red, White and Blue mine's poppet and mullock heap, next to a handy fireplace. We had a reasonable turnout, with most of the Panters, Adam, Geoff (with an organiser, Rob, of the Sunday event in tow - "You must experience ARDF - it's a lot of fun!", he was told, but it was really all a cunning ploy by Geoff to reduce his competitiveness on the following day!), Bruce and Mark B coming along for the ride. It was a clear, dry night, with a bright, full moon, so all-in-all, we were extremely lucky with the conditions. The first part of our adventure saw us working out how to get the spare sniffers out of scout mode so we could check their battery levels. Lucky we did! Some were down below 30%. Anyway, once everyone's equipment was sorted out, we sent them all off at 8pm and then settled back with Tanya, who had come along for the company, to wait for the outcome. Most people headed off quite quickly, except Mark, who stayed at the start for a while trying to get some bearings. Geoff came back soon after, as well, realising that neither he nor Rob had a compass. Oops! Oh, I should note that THIS time, we did remember to turn on the homing beacon once everyone was gone!
The course we set was about 7-8km straight line distance, and all transmitters were audible from the start. We put the flags up high, and also strung up reflective strips (the same silver ones that are used on workers' safety jackets) somewhere nearby. These turned out to be EXTREMELY bright - you could see them from metres away! So finding the transmitters once you were in the general area wasn't a problem, and in fact, some competitors spoke of seeing the strips and then turning off their torches so as to not give the location away to other people behind them.
Adam and Bruce were first back, with only a couple of minutes between them, taking just over 65 minutes each to find all five transmitters. Gary was in half an hour later, and a sweating Geoff and Rob half an hour after that. We are told Rob enjoyed his experience, and both he and Geoff found themselves sprinting up hills while the transmitter was on, something which one rarely has the incentive to do in normal bush orienteering events. Darian and Arnneka came back just after Geoff, also having found all five transmitters - excellent effort, guys! Ryordan came back soon after, deciding, after some bad navigational luck at the start, that he didn't want to battle through and find all five. These things happen, and well done for persevering and finding the ones you DID get! Mark was last in to resounding applause, also having found all five. With everyone back, we settled back for some very novel rocky-road chocolate damper, cooked in hot coals, before picking up the controls and heading off. Thanks to everyone who helped pick up transmitters, and we hope you all enjoyed yourselves!
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1 |
Adam Scammell |
1:06:40 |
5 |
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2 |
Bruce Paterson |
1:08:25 |
5 |
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3 |
Gary Panter |
1:37:15 |
5 |
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4 |
Geoff Hudson and Rob |
2:01:20 |
5 |
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5 |
Arnneka and Darian Panter |
2:02:05 |
5 |
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6 |
Mark Besley |
2:35:30 |
5 |
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7 |
Ryordan Panter |
2:07:30 |
2 |
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