Three teams HDF, TVB and PW met at BILO, Burnt Bridge Shopping Centre, the one at Burnt Bridge. Later a minimal YQN team of 2 joined the hounds on the second
hunt after giving up waiting for Cameron. Cameron, where are you!?
The first hunt was a two legged. First leg was run by John’BLN and David’XAJ. The “old” fox running on 145.300, with halo (beware the deadly plastic spider!) was hidden in a large clump of reedy bushes, behind a building, up an embankment, on the south side mullum mullum creek (MAP 50, C3) – sort of behind Car City. I know, I know, you’d have to be crazy…. This worked just as planned, with teams running West along the bike path on the *North* side of the creek on Oban Rd. Tee Hee. One team member, apparently a PW, managed to cross the creek. Very impressed. Once on the correct side, the reedy bush had them bluffed! Eventually, they realised they had to walk _up_ the embankment and _around_ the bushes. We were quite amused. HDF was second to find the fox on this leg.
Once teams collected their ticket from the transmitter they headed off to the second leg. Graham’ZKM and Laurel in the ‘sub, were parked in a boggy paddock adjacent to a new housing development at the the rear of Croydon Hotel (MAP 50 E2). Only two teams managed to successfuly complete this hunt, HDF first and PW second.
For the second hunt, John and David hid the fox in some blackberries (especially for you Adam!) in a hard-to-get-to-spot between some buildings off Elsum ave in an industrial estate in Baywater (MAP 50, J11). We “hyperspaced” there in the turbo Lancer. Off course, it’s red and that *really* helps . TVB was first followed by HDF and then PW. Whilst waiting for Bruce ‘YQN, Ron ‘EHF has us captivated with the finer points of some large steam generating machinery located at the meeting spot. Apparently, you must _never_ let the water run low…. Tell my wife!
All teams found the fox for third hunt, which Graham & Laurel hidden with the transmitter at the northern end of Heathmont golf park (MAP 64 E1). This was actually located in a green bit not shown on the Melways and it was accessible from both Miller Rd and Canterbury Rd. TVB was in first, followed by PQ, YQN third (sterling effort for a crew of 2) and finally HDF.
The fourth hunt was located in a narrow alley way behind a vacant builing off Thornton Cr near the south Eastern end Mitcham Rly station (MAP 48 J9). We were expecting teams to approach from the North side and so I’d jammed the gate closed from the Northern end of the alley. Most seemed to follow each other to Thornton Cr Mt Gambier style. Even so, it took them quite a while to realise that the fox was not hidden in the car park, where we were parked. HDF was first to twig, closely twigging by TVB, PW and YQN who had arrived by this time.
Hunt 5 was another 2 legged hunt. The first Leg was to be found in blackberries (Tee Hee) in a freeway reservation off the end off the Eastern freeway (MAP 48 G5). Thanks goes to Graham for finding this spot. We got quite soggy investigating the previous week.
The fox for the second leg was located with Graham and Laurel in the ‘sub parked in a paddock on the south side of the end of the Eastern freeway on the Western side of Springvale Rd (MAP 48 F6). It was possible to enter via an empty house block off Springvale Rd or apparently, if you work for Telstra and have a key for the gate! Again, HDF was first, followed by PW, TVB and YQN.
For the supper hunt (6) John and David used that bastard leaky coax thing hidden in some especially prickly bushes Adam, up on the railway embankment on the South side of railway line in between Madden and New St Ringwood. It was like watching ants at honey as sniffers each found their bit of radiating coax. As expected HDF was in first, followed by PW, TVB and YQN.
Again scoring for the night was based on order, using raffel tickets attached to the fox. First team gets a 0, second team scores 1 point, and so on. Teams that don’t “get in” will score two points more than the last team to find the fox. We find this much easier to run compared to timed hunts; teams don’t give away the location of the fox and is a bit fairer to the novice teams. Any constructive suggestions welcome.
Summary:
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Team Hunt
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Place
HDF 0 1 3 0 0 0 4 1
PW 1 2 1 2 1 1 8 2
TVB 3 0 0 1 2 2 8 2
YQN 3 4 2 3 3 3 18 3
BTW: Thanks for the positive feedback. We went to some trouble to ensure the night went smoothly. We tried to keep them short and compensate by tricky locations (inspired by previous month). Much thanks goes to John’BLN and Sophie as this was the night of their wedding aniversary! Also thanks goes to Bryan for kindling lending us a second fox.
Regards
dB ‘3XAJ