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ACT ROGAINING ASSOCIATION BULLETIN‍

Bound out to Bondo Spring Results

Congratulations to all the springy rogaine teams. Ivan Koudashev and Xanda Kolesnikow won the 12 hour event and the 6 hour winners were Sarah and Mary Fien. Everyone enjoyed a dry day and, for the 12 hour teams, some wonderful moonlight. The orchids had just started to flower and kept some teams on their toes trying to avoid stepping on them. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped run the event, and the control collectors who also had a beautiful sunny day on Sunday. Also thanks to Hartley crew who kept us all fed and even made a very yummy breakfast on Sunday morning. Full results on the website.

President's piece

‘That’s a wrap!’ There are many catchy phrases that one hears over a season of rogaining. When it comes to making decisions out on course, one of my favourite pieces of advice is to ‘love your route', but I’ve realised over the years that any phrase that starts with the word ‘just’ (as in ‘just down here and up the other side’, or ‘just across that watercourse’) is usually uttered ‘just before’ heading into a world of prickly pain and is often followed by a not-very-confident ‘sort of ok over here’ when asked by your team-mate how your progress through the ‘just about passable’ bracken compares to theirs. This season we’ve heard ‘forgot to return my navlight tag’ after a few events, but a variation on that theme I am personally hoping not to have to utter again is ‘forgot to put my navlight tag on’ before an event ☹.

Sitting around the campfire—relishing another fabulous Hartley Lifecare chicken curry—near midnight after the 12hr ‘Bound for Bondo’ event recently, the comment was made that it is hard to explain to other people what we do in this sport, which elicited the response ‘it’s harder to explain why we do it!’ Drive a long way, carry all sorts of stuff, fight through the bush, avoid stepping on snakes, struggle to find controls at night, rarely see anyone on course and lose points for being late… OR… See parts of the country you wouldn’t otherwise reach, be self-sufficient, enjoy the diversity of our native flora, navigate with precision, perfect your time management and debrief with new friends over a toastie – whichever version you prefer make sure you encourage your friends to come rogaining in 2023!‍

 ‍Barkley's Bondo Report

Apologies to all the winners at the Bondo Springy event, because I won.  The organisers have confirmed that I went to all the controls.  Admittedly some taping, some hanging and the rest on the day.  I hope you all enjoyed the day.

I thought the best part was going with Ross and Leanne on the day of the event. They just didn’t stop and let me see the moon come up! (Not like taping and hanging – they faff around all the time.) I had to help Ross and Leanne hurry home though so they weren’t too late !

The snakes were a bit of a worry, me being so small I couldn’t wear gaiters.  Most of the time they were too cold to move, but they still look scary.  And the creeks !  Never seen so much water.  Glad I was carried – some of the creeks were very muddy and a bit scratchy.  The little caladenia orchids were just flowering too.  Check out the photos.

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped run the event, and the control collectors who also had a beautiful sunny day on Sunday. Also thanks to Hartley crew who kept everyone all fed and even made a very yummy breakfast on Sunday morning.

My final word of advice: Never take the google’s advice when driving to an event. You could end up in a boggy creek.  Read the final instructions “How to get there” and follow them!!!

If you lost a bag of highlighters, a hammer or enamel mug contact Jean.

2023 event calendar‍

The calendar of rogaines for 2023 kicks off in mid February. See the coming events on the website for the full list of ACT events. More detail will be added as planning for these events progresses. If you are also planning a holiday interstate or overseas, why not include a rogaine in the mix and really get to explore? You can find other Australian rogaine websites from the Australian Rogaining Association website.

Internationally, take a look at the New Zealand Rogaine Association or go to the World Rogaine Champs in Tahoe, California in late July.

Back closer to home, we would love you to volunteer for one event next year. It could be on the day admin, collecting controls or setting/vetting if you are up to that. Take a look at the website for the calendar and descriptions of volunteer roles and contact a committee member.