The first hurdle of the May Fox Hunt was getting to the start - a serious accident on Maroondah Hwy had resulted in an abundance of police cars scattered around the Mitcham/Ringwood area, making route choice somewhat more difficult than we had anticipated. We had a good turnout, with six teams making an appearance, although VT was forced to return home for the first two hunts due to the absence of some vital and mysterious handle which had to be picked up from Greensborough.

Complaints of Methane gas, cosmetic surgery, voices from dark drain holes; hunt one had it all! Hounds scrambled along Canterbury Road outside a dental practice and cosmetic surgery, resisting the temptations of a quick Michael Jackson makeover. John BLN warned away potential trespassers, redirecting them to the neighbouring paddock. Most took the long route around the 100m fence except one intrepid hound who simply lifted the wire and slipped underneath the barrier.

Inside the paddock, competitors spotted a 2m whip antenna protruding from the ground through a rusty metal grate! After much yelling and cursing, each hound found his way down to the creek, crawled or walked stooped through 20 metres of drainage pipe, and joined Graham and Greg in their cramped quarters. First (with his own version of Methane gas) was Geoff VR, followed by YDF, YQN, TXO and OW.

The transmitter and beam were placed in a prickly bush near a chicken-wire fence surrounding the Whitefriars oval. There was a fairly steep, blackberry and weed-infested incline leading up to our position, and it was our hope that at least some of the teams would choose to crash through that, rather than meandering calmly around the perimeter of the Whitefriars grounds. To our disappointment, the first team, YQN, took the easy path. Moreover, while attempting to switch the transmitter off temporarily in order to confuse the fast-approaching runner, Fitz took advantage of our lack of concentration and slipped his harness, zig-zagging at top speed around the oval, chasing after some rabbit or other... In some aspects, this was a beneficial diversion - while attempting to call him back (in a muffled way, so the runner wouldn't hear), the transmitter was turned off somewhat longer than we had intended, leading Bruce to climb down the hill a bit further than he otherwise would have. With YQN in and Fitz safely tethered after his brief taste of freedom, we awaited the other teams. With much panting, they slowly arrived, confused a little by reflections from the wire fence - first MZ (two runners), then TXO, then YDF and OW shortly after. It warmed the cockles of our heart to hear that a number of the runners had waded through the creek at the bottom of the hill, and when the TXO runner emerged from the very heart of our prickly bush (ouch!), we felt that this hunt had been a success. I'm not sure if the second MZ runner, agreed, however - although Geoff came in with minimal pain, poor Ian, like Gary, got in by bashing straight through our friendly prickly foliage! After handing out punch cards for the next two-legged hunt and welcoming VT, along with the mysterious handle, back to our little gathering, we fed the hounds some biscuits (it's alright, the lumpy bits were chocolate; I'm fairly sure we hadn't mixed the dog biscuits up with those intended for human consumption...) and sent them off to the next hunt.

There were two ways into hunt 3. Graham, John and Greg drove to the footbridge near the small road running south-east from the corner of Bayfield Rd West and Branch Road. Poles that were concreted into the ground theoretically prevented vehicular access, but the gap between poles was wide enough for a careful driver. Hounds who attempted to drive all the way into hunt 3 may have experienced a nasty rut running along the paddock.

Both the fox-Oring and the regular fox transmitters were planted within dense foliage, where thorny blackberry bushes could have made entry painful for some of the hounds. YDF lead the race, joined soon by VR/MZ/JMD, TXO, VT, YQN and OW.

I must admit, we were a bit worried about this hunt. It was fairly close to the previous one, and to get to our position, all we did was drive to the end of a court, and climb up and over a bit of a hill into some reasonably open eucalyptus parkland. There were a fair number of fallen branches, and the grass was knee-high, but we imagined that the teams would all power down Canterbury Rd and be upon us in the space of a few minutes. To make things a little more interesting, David risked life and limb to clamber precariously up a convenient tree, and positioned the beam, fox and very heavy battery up on some of the larger branches, covering them up with leaves and other foliage so they were less conspicuous. Then we settled down to wait. And wait... and wait.... and wait.... Eventually, snatches of conversation were picked up on the handheld. Conversation referring to creeks. Fences. Very steep hills.... Yep, there were a number of entries into our little park, and for some reason, every fox, except for YDF who I believe took a slight detour to Mt Dandenong, chose to enter via the one at the bottom end of the park. That's about as far from our location as it is possible to be. And while there was open forest where we were, the vegetation at the other end was much more dense. There was also the matter of the slight hill that had to be negotiated. YQN were the first to arrive, but the other teams arrived at intervals of roughly one minute. Interestingly, most of the sniffers seemed to die once they hit range 8, and thanks to David's camouflage work, the hounds seemed to have some difficulty pinpointing the exact location of the fox. After some verbal hints on our part, though, which became more enthusiastic as the rain began to fall, all the teams bar YDF got in. So much for an easy intermediate hunt!

When we returned to our vehicles, sandwiches and residual biscuits were handed out and we were about to set off for the next hunt before an outcry was raised by OW - one of their runners was missing, without a handheld or mobile phone. Hmmmm... When his absence became somewhat more prolonged, we sent cars off to man each of the entrances, and a handful of hounds plunged back into the park to see if they could locate him. Meanwhile, we fielded miserable phone calls from the other members of the BLN team, who were waiting valiantly, and damply, in position. Thanks for your patience, John, Graham and Greg! It was after 11pm when we finally found the runner - having lost his glasses, he had been busy conducting a thorough grid search through damp, dark bushland, and luckily located them perched neatly atop a fence. With all hounds thus restored to their rightful teams, we decided that the next hunt would be the last, and sent them off, ourselves hurrying home to heat up the supper.

The Warburton Trail, once the site of a railway line, is now a great bike path. In places, the Trail goes through deep cuttings, as railways do, to maintain a manageable grade.

We took advantage of such a cutting in Mt Evelyn. Our transmitter was hidden on the embankment beside the Trail, at a point where the path was 10-15 metres below ground level. Easy access was possible (but somewhat hidden) by entering from Monbulk Road through a public alley that resembled a private driveway. However, many hounds approached (as intended) from the other side of the Trail. Rain made the ground on both sides slippery and inflamed the delicate temperaments of some hunters. Geoff's advance was preceded with loud swearing (complaints about the dangers of our chosen location). Just as we were almost feeling sorry for his predicament, we watched in awe as he plunged vertically down the embankment's cliff face (clutching at foliage to slow his descent), scuttled across the muddy Trail, and clambered up the opposite embankment. (Mental note for next BLN hunt: don't be so easy on the hounds). YDF (taking a less dangerous route) beat Geoff VR to the transmitter, followed by YQN, OW, VT then TXO.

Each hunt was scored by position in - first team gets 0, second team gets 1, etc. If a team does not get in, their score is two more than the highest score for teams that got in on that hunt.