The March foxhunt was organised this month by VK3MZ/VR/TVB/HRL and TBA. Hounds gathered on a very pleasant autumn evening at the Northern end of the city and headed off around 8:15pm.
The first hiding spot was at Rushall Station (appropriately named for a foxhunt location…). The fox (Roger) provided plenty of signal to allow hounds to move away from the reflections and noise near the CBD. Only two teams got in – YQN first followed soon after by Marta from the BLN team.
The second hunt for the evening was a 4 leg, hunt in any order, event. With 4 foxes hidden around the Clifton Hill area and transmissions switching from fox to fox every 30 seconds or so, this provided entertainment for the next 70-80 minutes.
John (TVB) stood under a street light near Hoddle Street and was surprised by the number of kerb crawlers in the area. Fortunately, he already has a fulltime job and was not really interested in any of the offers on hand. Arrival order at this transmitter was YQN (again), TXO, VXN and BLN.
Mark (TBA) was in an alleyway on the North side of Clifton Hill. Inquisitive neighbors were amused by his explanation and warned him that his hiding spot was generally used by druggies and fornicators. Fortunately (for Mark), John already had the latter group well in hand (so to speak). Arrival order here was VXN (well done ladies), TXO, BLN and YQN.
Ian (I’m feeling cold…so I think I’ll sit in the car) had been persuaded to hide in a tiny park behind a block of flats. Armed with little more than a beanie, woollen gloves and a flask of hot chocolate, he managed to hold this location until all hounds had passed through – with BLN (first), TXO, YQN and VXN somewhere in the distance.
Geoff (VR) had walked into Quarries Park and (in a most uncharacteristic way) had chosen the highest spot around to ensure that hounds had a good signal from his location. Not unreasonably, he took shelter under a bush and waited for the first hound to arrive. First into the area were Marta and Bruce…and the profanities heard as Marta stood less than a metre from Geoff were most unladylike (it must have been Bruce…).
It took several cycles to locate Geoff in his hidy hole and Marta was first to spot him. Amusingly, she whispered her callsign to Geoff and then snuck off leaving Bruce further down the hill. As the BLN vehicle drove away, Bruce realised what had happened and asked his team members if anyone had seen where Marta had been standing. As it turned out he got in a couple of cycles or 3-4 minutes later. TXO followed about 10 minutes later and didn’t have much trouble finding Geoff as the overs were now much longer. As time rolled on, Geoff came out of the hiding spot to look for VXN. Spotting them on the oval below, he climbed on a rock and waved a light….and noted that their runner was heading up the hill. He had just enough time to drop under a bush at the edge of the path as the runner came up onto the ridge. With the whole team there, Di was heard to say “He’s playing with us” as Geoff provided much more regular signals to help them out – and as it turned out, they found him easily within another 4-5 minutes.
The next hunt was in hays Paddock, Kew. Well it would have been except for the gutsy move by TXO in heading down the freeway to Bourke Road (I wish we’d thought of coming that way….it was much, much quicker!). They caught us as we were heading across the oval, so we just wandered across to the other side and tossed the antenna in a tree. Next in was Marta and then Bruce. As newcomer Jim arrived in the area, Geoff grabbed a sniffer shaped branch and demonstrated the proper use of the sniffer. Sadly, this device is tuned to a different frequency and wasn’t able to locate the fox with any precision. It did, however, locate a sizeable puddle (water divining?) and Geoff was heard to curse the branch and toss it away for leading him in this direction.
The penultimate hunt was on the roof of Doncaster Shoppingtown. Hounds had no difficulty here and arrived in order YQN, BLN, TXO and VXN.
The final hunt was pretty straightforward – a creek in Wattle Park. Strategy was simple…head for Geoff’s place and find the device that was almost certainly nearby. First in was BLN with the others all arriving about the same time.
Scores were as follows:
BLN 1st on 15
YQN 2nd on 16
TXO 3rd on 18
VXN 4th on 25
Supper was held at the home of Geoff (VR) and Schon (NCS). Finally, a warm welcome to the newcomers that came this evening – we hope you enjoyed yourself and will come again. Please be assured that, in time, it will all begin to make sense.