Schools Individual event

The Schools individuals were held on a map called Connorton , which is just a short way out of Wagga  Wagga..

 This is the 2014 version of the map, but it hasn't changed much at all.  It was long and tough, with some areas which were very hard to read due to the many rocks mapped in there.

The kids did pretty well - interestingly non of the NZ runners came in the top three this day, which was very unusual. 

Once we went out on our courses and saw how very difficult it was, we realised how well the kids had really done, as they were much faster than most of the adults and didn't have anywhere near as many stuff ups as we did.

Trevor and I were glad that we had both chosen the shortest hard course on offer to do in the afternoon, after the kids were finished, as it was plenty hard enough. We just wanted to go home and drop .

I wasted 30 minutes on the first control and then a good amount of time too at the end of the course in the erosion gullies just south of the dam (having missed the track I was relying on finding as I crossed it) .

A very forgettable effort.

One of my lasting memories of the day will be the tiny joey running around this way and that among the rocks and panicking as the orienteers came close to it.  I wonder if his mother ever found him????

It was very good to have a hot shower and a comfy bed to crash into this night after home cooked spag bog and some nice red wine. Pity about the burn on my finger from the pasta pot!!

We need more practice in this sort of terrain with the tricky rocks and some poor visibility.

Our map with my splits (ouch!).  As you can see, control 2, 3 and 4 are difficult to see amongst the rocks.