Sunday dawned bright and a little chilly. We set off on our
usual run, which was fabulous in the crisp autumn air. But arrived home to pick
up the small one, reload our water bottles, grab a bite to eat and head off to
our first orienteering session.
Orienteering (the walking version) or rogaining (the running
version) involves using a map and compass (and a torch if you’re doing night
navigation), and logging in at various check-points along the route. In most
instances you have to find the check-points in a particular order, and the
winner is the person or team who goes to all the right points in the quickest
time. Teams are separated at the start by a particular time period (ours was 2
minutes).
You can run or walk, or a combination of the two. You can
follow roads or tracks, or head through the bush. And you can be young or old –
we were behind a lady who was in her seventies, and we came across loads of
families with littlies in tow. This is a sport for everyone – great to be out
in the open, and excellent exercise! You’re slugging up and down hills without
even realising it because you’re so intent on finding your place on the map and
looking out for the orange marker which hangs near the device where you have to
log your station.
The seventy + lady I mentioned arrived in a psychedelic
green tracksuit and decked out with what looked like hockey shin pads on her
legs, black plastic “sleeves” covering her ankles, sturdy boots and a
contraption around her waist featuring all sorts of pockets, attachments and
hidden gizmo’s. We were intrigued, and had a bit of a chuckle at the start, not
know what this was about. But about 15 minutes and 2 check-points later, we got
it. By then we were covered in cobblers’ pegs (black-jacks) and various other Velcro-like
concoctions from nature. And had a small colony of something living inside our
now very muddy running shoes.
We finished our 8 stations in just over an hour, were
drenched in sweat and felt ever so pleased with ourselves. Even the small one
survived, and may have improved her map reading skills somewhat. It has
occurred to me, since looking at her SOSE homework that the kids of today are
not exposed to maps other than the cars on-board GPS, or the mobile phone
version. How are they expected to develop map reading skills from a small
talking screen?
Tonight I try out the night nav series – in the woods in the
dark…..
PS. The cost of our Sunday experience was a whopping $5. Go
to http://oq.asn.au/ for more information.
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