While the weather on the day was blustery but fine,
the heavy rain of the last few weeks, has made it soggy underfoot,
however most competitors made it to all 4 Radio Controls.
We had 9 starters in a combo event, with cakes afterwards.
First Name
Second Name
65 min place
01-05
2 Pts
06-10
3 Pts
11-15
4 Pts
16-20
5 Pts
Radi-O
Controls
10 Pts
Return Min
(or part there of)
Final Score
After Late
Tim
Hatley
1
4
4
5
5
4
3:02
105
Jim
Glaspole
2
3
1
4
4
4
3:04
85
Adam
Scammell
3
2
2
3
2
4
3:05
69
Neale
Banks
4
3
2
2
1
4
2:58
65
Suzanne
O’callaghan
5
1
1
2
2
4
3:10
48
Dianne
6
0
0
0
1
4
2:58
45
Denis
Haustorfer
7
0
0
0
0
4
2:57
40
RadiO Only
Junken
Okabe
8
0
1
2
0
2
3:03
31
Abi
Salek-Beard
9
2
1
1
2
4
3:27
0
(Just remembered 65 Min for the Combo event, scores updated)
Hamish McDonald
Blacksmith shop with industrial strength nailsCity square Sibiu
Arrived safely in Transylvania in the town of Sibiu, only slightly misty and light fog. It is light till fairly late and enjoyed strolling around the city squares and along the old wall. The squares were within the fortified walls and protected the guilds of many crafts. The blacksmith’s shop had a good array of industrial strength fasteners.
Lutheran church Sibiu with 4 towersBlacksmithing displaystone masonery
Note the 4 towers on the church, this meant the town had a legal system and justice would be metred out for criminal behaviour. (we escaped Sibiu without penalty)
Climbed the clock tower of the Lutheran church, the clock was very old, but the driving mechanism was very up to date (electronic). Pipe organ inside.
Outside there was a display of blacksmithing and stone masonery
Stained glass window Orthodox church SibiuInside Orthodox church SibiuCarved entrance door Orthodox church Sibiu
Orthodox church with exquisite stained glass windows, gold leaf frescoes and intricate wood carving.
Road side stop enroute to Biertan? Magic mushrooms at road side stop enroute to BiertanMore magic mushrooms
Road side stop along the way, a little sample of what we are expecting in the ARDF area. Interesting fungi. Not the edible kind.
3 walled church in BiertanDoor with many locks (19 altogether)Square and round (improved design) towers BiertanShortbread moulds in museumGenuine Singer machine for sewing leatherGrave digger’s house Biertan
At Biertan, fortified church with 3 walls of protection and if that failed there was the room with the door with many locks. The town was settled by German people and hence the buildings have a similar style about them. Many German people left Romania after Ceausescu was deposed, but send their bodies back to be buried in the cemetery here.
Food and hospitality is excellent in Romania. 250 mls of house white of exceptional quality for under $3 and then complimentary palinka and black currant “cordial”. We enjoyed a late evening stroll around the city wall at Sibiu.
City fortifications Sibiu 1City fortifications Sibiu 2
We thought of you all as we headed off to the salt mine in Turda (this word causes me some grief) today. Salt mining was one of the main industries in Transylvania.
Many flights of stairs to climbView of lower level from top
Upper level walkwayLower level playgroundLower level playgroundSalt mine walls and ceilingBirds eye view of lower level of salt mineSalt crystal formationsMore salt crystal formations
Many flights of stairs to the bottom, the queues were quite long for the lifts, so we got lots of exercise. To make it entertaining for the families they have installed a children’s playground on the bottom layer. Of course we had to ride on the ferris wheel, but there was also table tennis tables, pool tables, mini golf, even a pond with paddle boats but no coffee!!
Ewen is still puzzling how the walls stay up. If you take a vertical cross section it looks like a conical flask about 90 metres deep, with elevated platform at the neck. Not good if you don’t do heights very well.
Another interesting old wooden church tucked off the road on the way to Maramures. Inside was particularly interesting.
Typical roadside viewsOldest wooden churchOldest wooden church 2Inside oldest wooden churchInside oldest wooden church 2Using a ladder to get into heaven
Our trip began with a short 20 hour flight to Bucharest. The most impressive building in the city is the Parliament House, second largest building only to the Pentagon. Ceausescu thought he would leave his mark by commencing this build, fortunately for the people of Romania he didn’t live to see its completion. It is a magnificent building inside, very tastefully decorated with high ceilings, marble floors and beautiful rugs and chandeliers. (no photos unfortunately as did not have a camera pass)
View from balcony of Parliament houseArc de Triumph – Bucharest
Music Hall – BucharestLight globe changing in Music HallCeiling of music Hall
Another beautiful building was the auditorium for musical concerts. We chanced upon workers changing a light globe, quite an art in itself.
We visited the old town and enjoyed a drop of the local ale.
View from hotel window
Many old buildings in state of disrepair, including this ruin outside our hotel window. (more interesting than a carpark) Taken from our room as there was a sign outside indicating no photos to be taken (left over from communist regime)
From Bucharest we headed west to the church (in white limestone) where the Romanian kings were buried. Lavishly decorated inside. Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) lived in the building behind this church.
Kings churchOrnate interior of Kings churchCrumbling fortifications protecting TransylvaniaRomanian donut
This is one of the fortifications that the Austrian Hungarian Emperor sent German people to build in 12-13th century. It has suffered due to earthquakes over time. Opted not to climb the 1460 steps. Chose to indulge in a Romanian donut instead!
Dam wallThe road through the valley leading up to the pass to TransylvaniaEnjoying the viewTransfagarasan Road 1Transfagarasan Road 2Cable car
There was a very large dam (about the size of Hoover Dam) that needed closer inspection. Traversed the Transfagarasan Road (of Jeremy Clarkson fame), (perfect for road testing a corvette or similar vehicle) and then took a cable car for a less exhilarating ride.
Please excuse the erratic formatting. Only get to practice this once a year. Jenelle
For the July hunt we were pleasantly surprised to get 4 teams (MZ, BLN, FAST, FOX) despite a number of people being unavailable. The hounds gathered in Glen Waverley for a cold but fortunately dry night of hunting. All hunts were on 2m and single leg.
Fox team for the night was Ian (CI), Mark (BES), Suzanne (FSZI), Kostas and Pano.
Details of each hunt #1: Pano and Ian were hidden in a bush at the northern end of a grassy laneway near Brandon Park. A few hounds tried to get in by simply saying it’s in the bush without seeing either us or the fox. All found us except MZ, with Darian first in.
#2: The fox was located at the north end of a long pathway that runs between shops/factories and a shipping container yard. The only way in was from the south but teams tried to get in from the east which was close to the fox (strong signal) and appeared to possibly offer access. Darian worked this out first and then Marta appeared a very short time later. Unfortunately MZ and FOX did not find this within the 10 minutes.
#3: Pano and Ian were standing under shallow alcoves just under Ferntree Gully Rd at the end of another grass lane. Teams trying to access us from FTG Rd would have been only 2m from us but unable to see us or access us due to the large drop. Thanks to Bruce for discovering this while cycling to StreetO. Only 2 teams found us within time – Darian first, followed by Marta a minute later.
#4: We were in a clump of trees near where the bike path goes under the Monash Freeway. We had expected teams to come to us along the bike path, either from the west or north. But the teams all approached us from the south and crossed the creek. Fortunately it had not rained for a while so there was not too much water to cross! MZ seemed to get their act together in this hunt – despite earlier DNF’s they were first to arrive. This improved performance however was short-lived.
#5: The fox was located under the metal steps of a portaloo located behind houses along the north side of the railway line near Carnegie station. Pano and Ian were hiding nearby, behind a large signalling control cabinet to watch for any hounds crossing the tracks from the south side. That’s where we spotted Darian. Fortunately he kept running until he found the pedestrian crossing about 50m past us. Pano jumped into the loo and sure enough Darian thought the fox was inside and was greeted by a smiling face but no fox. Didn’t take him long to find it however. A few minutes later BLN’s car appeared almost opposite us in a street on the south side. Marta jumped out, yelled something at the car, jumped back in and they drove off. Roger also approached on foot from the south side and kept running past and crossed at the correct place but arrived a minute after time was up. BLN finally arrived close behind (as expected they drove in). David complained the signal was weaker than expected, probably due to the Faraday shielding of the loo steps and trailer. If Marta had stayed out of the car and run where Roger and Darian went she would probably have got in within time. We felt generous so gave Roger and David 8 and 9 respectively rather than 10. BLN had been within a couple of minutes of the winner in the previous hunts – maybe the change was due to David and Marta’s baby testing out the touch screen rather than fox issues? – Never too young to start fox-hunting. This was the first test of CI’s fox controller which was quickly thrown together to turn an old IC22 into a fox – cycles PTT with a (sinusoidal) morse ident added every 2 minutes. From reports it seemed to work ok. Not bad for < $5 plus some junk box bits.
#6: Suzanne and Mark located the fox in Sir Zelman Cowan Park west of the Monash Freeway in a narrow area between the freeway fence and some cricket nets. It seems that the wire fences shielded the signal in some directions. MZ were first to drive into the closest car park to our location but decided the signal was too weak so unfortunately for them went away and tried to approach via the creek under the freeway. Ironically we had earlier thought of putting the fox there but thought the creek was a bad idea if there was heavy rain on the night. BLN, FOX and FAST all approached from a different direction and ran to us across one of the ovals, arriving in fairly quick succession – but apparently a few of them had thought the creek was the likely location of the fox and had already done a run down the Gardiners Creek drain.
#7: When Pano & Ian arrived at the planned spot near the start of Whitehorse Rd we thought it might cause a problem with residents so we investigated the park neartby. Fortunately a small drain was found in a hill that fitted the fox perfectly. All teams found it pretty easily, most via the nearby side street, within a couple of minutes of Darian who was (yet again) first. Mark and Suzanne were surprised to catch up with the hounds while driving east along Toorak road on the way to the supper location. Knowing that the fox location was near Burke/Whitehorse Road, we were amused that no-one had headed north by the time we saw them well east of Burke Road. We resisted the temptation to yell out “turn left” as we passed them. By the time we reached Warrigal Road, the last of the hounds headed north and we proceeded to supper.
The late start and need to wait a couple of times for teams to gather their runners and assemble for the next hunt meant we were a little further than hoped from the supper location when we renamed hunt 7 the supper hunt and abandoned the remaining planned locations.
BLN and MZ both won a hunt, thus just preventing FAST getting a perfect score. Scores have been posted to the web site (note FOX is up next month), details below.
Hunt
BLN
FAST
FOX
MZ
1
3
0
3
10
2
1
0
10
10
3
1
0
2
4
4
1
1
5
0
5
9
0
10
8
6
0
1
1
10
7
1
0
2
2
Total
16
2
33
44
Place
2
1
3
4
A big thanks to Olga and Pierre for braving the cold and organising a BBQ supper in Halliday Park for everyone – yummy!
And also thanks to Mark MD for loan of his baby monitor / fox and battery.
For the July hunt we were pleasantly surprised to get 4 teams (MZ, BLN, FAST, FOX) despite a number of people being unavailable. The hounds gathered in Glen Waverley for a cold but fortunately dry night of hunting. All hunts were on 2m and single leg.
Fox team for the night was Ian (CI), Mark (BES), Suzanne (FSZI), Kostas and Pano.
Details of each hunt #1: Pano and Ian were hidden in a bush at the northern end of a grassy laneway near Brandon Park. A few hounds tried to get in by simply saying it’s in the bush without seeing either us or the fox. All found us except MZ, with Darian first in.
#2: The fox was located at the north end of a long pathway that runs between shops/factories and a shipping container yard. The only way in was from the south but teams tried to get in from the east which was close to the fox (strong signal) and appeared to possibly offer access. Darian worked this out first and then Marta appeared a very short time later. Unfortunately MZ and FOX did not find this within the 10 minutes.
#3: Pano and Ian were standing under shallow alcoves just under Ferntree Gully Rd at the end of another grass lane. Teams trying to access us from FTG Rd would have been only 2m from us but unable to see us or access us due to the large drop. Thanks to Bruce for discovering this while cycling to StreetO. Only 2 teams found us within time – Darian first, followed by Marta a minute later.
#4: We were in a clump of trees near where the bike path goes under the Monash Freeway. We had expected teams to come to us along the bike path, either from the west or north. But the teams all approached us from the south and crossed the creek. Fortunately it had not rained for a while so there was not too much water to cross! MZ seemed to get their act together in this hunt – despite earlier DNF’s they were first to arrive. This improved performance however was short-lived.
#5: The fox was located under the metal steps of a portaloo located behind houses along the north side of the railway line near Carnegie station. Pano and Ian were hiding nearby, behind a large signalling control cabinet to watch for any hounds crossing the tracks from the south side. That’s where we spotted Darian. Fortunately he kept running until he found the pedestrian crossing about 50m past us. Pano jumped into the loo and sure enough Darian thought the fox was inside and was greeted by a smiling face but no fox. Didn’t take him long to find it however. A few minutes later BLN’s car appeared almost opposite us in a street on the south side. Marta jumped out, yelled something at the car, jumped back in and they drove off. Roger also approached on foot from the south side and kept running past and crossed at the correct place but arrived a minute after time was up. BLN finally arrived close behind (as expected they drove in). David complained the signal was weaker than expected, probably due to the Faraday shielding of the loo steps and trailer. If Marta had stayed out of the car and run where Roger and Darian went she would probably have got in within time. We felt generous so gave Roger and David 8 and 9 respectively rather than 10. BLN had been within a couple of minutes of the winner in the previous hunts – maybe the change was due to David and Marta’s baby testing out the touch screen rather than fox issues? – Never too young to start fox-hunting. This was the first test of CI’s fox controller which was quickly thrown together to turn an old IC22 into a fox – cycles PTT with a (sinusoidal) morse ident added every 2 minutes. From reports it seemed to work ok. Not bad for < $5 plus some junk box bits.
#6: Suzanne and Mark located the fox in Sir Zelman Cowan Park west of the Monash Freeway in a narrow area between the freeway fence and some cricket nets. It seems that the wire fences shielded the signal in some directions. MZ were first to drive into the closest car park to our location but decided the signal was too weak so unfortunately for them went away and tried to approach via the creek under the freeway. Ironically we had earlier thought of putting the fox there but thought the creek was a bad idea if there was heavy rain on the night. BLN, FOX and FAST all approached from a different direction and ran to us across one of the ovals, arriving in fairly quick succession – but apparently a few of them had thought the creek was the likely location of the fox and had already done a run down the Gardiners Creek drain.
#7: When Pano & Ian arrived at the planned spot near the start of Whitehorse Rd we thought it might cause a problem with residents so we investigated the park neartby. Fortunately a small drain was found in a hill that fitted the fox perfectly. All teams found it pretty easily, most via the nearby side street, within a couple of minutes of Darian who was (yet again) first. Mark and Suzanne were surprised to catch up with the hounds while driving east along Toorak road on the way to the supper location. Knowing that the fox location was near Burke/Whitehorse Road, we were amused that no-one had headed north by the time we saw them well east of Burke Road. We resisted the temptation to yell out “turn left” as we passed them. By the time we reached Warrigal Road, the last of the hounds headed north and we proceeded to supper.
The late start and need to wait a couple of times for teams to gather their runners and assemble for the next hunt meant we were a little further than hoped from the supper location when we renamed hunt 7 the supper hunt and abandoned the remaining planned locations.
BLN and MZ both won a hunt (impressive for MZ as it was only Ian and Roger), thus just preventing FAST getting a perfect score. Scores have been posted to the web site (note FOX is up next month), details below.
Hunt
BLN
FAST
FOX
MZ
1
3
0
3
10
2
1
0
10
10
3
1
0
2
4
4
1
1
5
0
5
9
0
10
8
6
0
1
1
10
7
1
0
2
2
Total
16
2
33
44
Place
2
1
3
4
A big thanks to Olga and Pierre for braving the cold and organising a BBQ supper in Halliday Park for everyone – yummy!
And also thanks to Mark MD for loan of his baby monitor / fox and battery.
Nine runners enjoyed the ARDF competition and fine weather at Woodlands Historic Reserve on 17 July 2016. A short 2m Fox-Or course was also set up with three transmitters for people to try.
All went well apart from Tx 4 antenna wire falling out of the limb I’d thrown it over resulting in a weak signal which made everyone think Tx4 was miles away! This was exacerbated by Tx 5 strong signal, that location was more in the open. Not having set up 80 m before I was learning on the go and I did not install all of the antennas the same way which added to the variables. Kris Ruuska instructed novice James Kanjo in the art of ARDF but they still ran the course in 55 minutes, Jack doing very well equalling their time and making a video with the Go Pro. Some had time to compete in the orienteering as well.
One fox-Or transmitter also had very low power (afterwards I find it was set to low power), this combined with hearing signals from the other two fox-ors, one quite strong due to the topography, made for some extra running about!
Thanks to everyone who assisted and for efficiently collecting the transmitters afterwards.
Grant Jeffrey
Woodlands Historic Park, 17 July 2016
ARDF Orienteering, 80 m, 5 Transmitters, course length approx 5.1 Km
The weather gods shone on us at Abbey Walk and so did the sun. A magnificent afternoon for strolling or running through the creeklands and surrounding streets.
With the five fox-or controls each worth 15 points the main incentive was to find them and perhaps pick up a few low value plate controls on the way. Most RadiO enthusiasts did just that and returned within the 75min time limit to enjoy the “CakeO” refreshments at the Finish.
It was a lovely day to test your foxoring skills in some urban parkland and 11 competitors turned out for the event at Valley Reserve on Saturday 7 May.
The competition for both the Radi-O combo and the straight Radi-O courses was tight. Kris Ruuska and Ian Dodd were neck and neck for the Radi-O combo. Ian won out on points, when Kris was a couple of minutes late and lost his lead on penalties. Jenelle Templeton went out to collect all 5 foxors in the Radi-O event and came back first followed shortly by Greg Williams and Dennis Haustorfer.
Thanks to all for your help and yummy eaties afterwards!
Darebin Park is surprisingly wild and rocky and Jack Bramham took advantage of its features to set an interesting combination course: a hageby with 2 orienteering loops (1 easy and 1 more difficult); and 1 loop of foxors.
The fine weather drew a mixed group of 29 orienteers and amateur radio foxhunters to test their skills in Darebin Park.
Thanks to Jack for his thoughtful course-setting that provided simple courses for novices and some challenges for the more advanced (and for making sure all the controls were on the map!). And to Di Shalders for organising the administration and the sausage and rissole sizzle afterwards.
The hounds all gathered down south in Keysborough with ideal conditions for a foxhunt. The foxes for the night were VK3s VR, MD, MZ and HRL. Daylight savings can make hunts easier but not in the case of the first hunt where on 10m where no sniffers were allowed. The fox was less than 800m from the start but the accuracy of the bearings and the navigators skill resulted in the the hounds being spread out over 10 minutes. FAST was first and were surprised to be, followed by OW and CI 5 minutes later and FOX coming in just before time was up.
The second hunt was placed on the easement of the soon to be open Dingley Bypass road. First was FAST followed closely by FOX and then CI 1 minute later. OW brought the hunt to an end another 4 minutes later.
The 3rd hunt was designed to test sniffing capability on 10m. The is hunt took quite a while for a relatively short distance from the previous hunt meeting spot. VR and MD watched the Starlings darting in and out of the Bird Hide while waiting. This was a good test before the Vic Champs in a few months. FOX found out that their equipment was deaf compared to others. FAST had a complete system failure which was suspected to be in the coax. CI had discovered on the previous hunt that they had no working 10m sniffer. OW was first sniffing on 10 closely followed by FOX on 2m and then FOX again on 10m. CI made it before time was up but alas still got a score of 10 and FAST failed to find the transmitter in time but did so on the walk out.
The 4th hunt was on both 2m or 10m. The devious hiding place in Bangholme was changed by a Roger who thinks he knows best 🙂 First was was FOX, closely followed by CI and FAST 3 minutes later. OW, hunting on 10m, scored a 10.
The 5th hunt location was changed to speed up the night due to long 3rd hunt. The 2m fox was placed on the pier in Mordialloc. FAST was first with FOX a few seconds later. OW scored a 4 and CI scored a 10. The fox was being moved after time was up and may explain the varying signal due to a dodgy switch that CI was mentioning. Still to be investigated.
The last hunt location was also changed to be closer to supper. The fox was placed in the car??? but there were many hounds searching the nearby Braeside Park. FOX was first with FAST and OW scoring 1 and CI scoring 2.
Thank you for Kristian and Bruce for writing the blog during the ARDF competition while Ewen was doing his team leader duties and waiting for Jenelle to be rescued from parts unknown. All six of us are all bringing home extra baggage in the form of medals.
Facilities at Sanyo Hotel exceeded our expectations
Dining room
Where do I start, Kristian was not the only one with this dilemna
In our rooms chaos reigned
The workshop – organised chaos
Work bench
Trying to be tidy
Cable spaghetti
Photos from the closing celebrations
3 Amigos
Kai (W60)
New friends
Banquet _ one of the many platters
With one of the more elegant W60s
With one of the more elegant W60s
Fine and sunny departure from Shibukawa
We left the competition area in fine weather and sunshine (compared to the cloudy wet conditions) to be dropped off at various locations. Jack left before the rest of us were up, Greg was settled in for the long ride back to Tokyo, Kristian joined us for the train trip to Takasaki and was last seen running upstairs with his bag to catch his connecting train in under 4 minutes. (a fair indication of his fitness level). Bruce, Ewen and I continued our adventure and finally arrived in Matsumoto.
We spent some time in the Time Piece museum
Time Piece Museum
This brings back memories
Rolling Ball Clock
and then devised our own street-o to various sites including shrines, temples, gardens and the icecream shop.
Control 1
Control 2
Control 3
Control 4
This looks like a good place to send my boys
Gallery forecourt
Gallery forecourt 2
Choosing dinner is always an interesting experience, our choices so far have been most acceptable.
Japanese BBQ – very good
Yesterdays trek was along the Nakasendo Way (built during Edo period) commencing after a 20 minute bus ride from Nakatsugawa, and continued through Magome to Tsumago. At this point (after 3 hr 30 min of walking and lots of up and downhill) Ewen and I opted for the bus to Nagiso station. Bruce continued on foot and arrived at the same time as the bus.
Road leading to start of Walk _ note artifical waterfall
Ewen at start of walk
Nakasendo Way 1
Mini headstones 2
One more step along the road I go
Mamoth stone tablet
Garden at stone tablet
Entrance to Magome
Little village
One of many water wheels – accosted by two schoolgirls to complete survey
Nearly at top of hill but still a long way to go
Rice paddies and cypress
Rice harvesting
Mini stone headstones
More mini tablets
Another pretty spot
Old Edo town – Tsumago
Rocky creek bed
Water wheels needed a lot of investigation
Rocky creek bed
Entrance to Tsumago
Cleansing facilities in the little towns
A D51351, whatever that is, for the train buffs
Nagiso-end-of-Bruces-walk
We have sorted out our transport across the Kurobe – Tateyama Alpine Route and will head off today for the start.
Today’s blog comes from Bruce, and covers the last 2 days of competition here in Gumna.
However, before that, here’s some pictures from the awards ceremony covering the first 2 days.
The Aussie team
GOLD for Australia. Kristian M21 champion
Me ! Bronze for Day 1 ARDF on 2m
Team Bronze for Jack Ewen Day 1
Jenelle 3rd on Sprint Event
Ewen the silver sprinter
Yesterday was the 2nd classic ARDF event; 2m for Jenelle, Ewen & Jack, 80m for Kristian and myself.
Yep more wettish conditions, but far less rain, more just humidity and wet forest. After issues with water somehow making it into the 80m sniffers the day before, in the torrential rain on the Sprint day, we were all equipped with multiple layers of plastic bags today.
On the bus, Day 3 classic ARDF
Flooded river
The start, Day 3 (same start on Day 1,3 & 4 !
The Start location was the same, but we went the opposite direction.
For some reason they had North at an angle and downwards on the map; no orienteering conventions followed here ! At least there are blue North lines.
The terrain was hillier, with some pretty impressive cliffs.
Kristian wasn’t quite able to maintain his commanding form today, but still managed a commendable silver, as luckily others in Open found it tough too. We estimate the running ‘orienteering’ time would have been under 30mins, so the course length was short, but tricky dircetion finding.
Ooops. Typhoon damage.
Not the same story in my age group, with some times around 44 mins (well under the Open times, with the TX we didn’t have to find only a few mins extra.
I had an awful day making mistakes/confused on both my first and last TX, so with 2 major errors consigned down to 7th.
All Jenelle’s W60 girls DNF’d either with overtime or no TXs found, with Jenelle heartbreakingly the closest on only 2 mins overtime. The overtime rules in ARDF are sudden death ! Time limit was 2.5 hours. More some navigational confusion this time, apparently. No medals in W60 for this one.
Ewen and Jack have pulled off a team gold. Jack did a great course to get bronze, but Ewen had a pretty awful time on 2m at one of the TX’s, and made it back with only minutes to spare. Those who beat Jack, though, each only had 1 team-mate, and they both failled to find all TX’s, so that puts the team result up the top, despite the pretty average total time.
Greg, as a roving field referee, may have travelled more distance than any of us competitors, as he visited all controls, both 2m and 80m, and he had a fun time walking aroind with his Japanese counterpart. One 80m TX was misplaced, resulting in it being only about 350m from another 80m TX. Both Kristian and my GPS traces confirm this. The organisers are collecting all contributed competitors GPS tracks in order to do some sort of live replay.
So, another pretty good day for the Aussies.
In the FoxOr today, the courses were yet again from the same start area, this time with a map overlapping with the first classic a fair bit, but landscape rather than portrait.
Again Kristian beats all for gold on a physically tough M21 course (only drop 1 particular FoxOr). By a good 25min margin too.
Today he was joined by Jennelle who picked her way carefully through the W60 course to soundly beat the other 2 ladies. Another gold.
Ewen had nothing left in the tank afterwards but did a consistent course to get a well earned silver. The
orienteering expertise showing through.
That’s it for the medals today. Looked for a while like I might get one despite a poor order selection on my part (really I should know better!), but two Lee’s from Korea downloaded very late, both with shorter times, pushing me into the 4th place twilight zone, with Nikolai from USA in first.
Nikolai from USA (originally Moldova) who thrashed me in the M50 sprint.
Great event by Japan, in challenging conditions, especially the sprint day. This terrain was much more forest runnable than back in 2005.
The only comments I might make were:
– The training day transmitters were not properly representative of those used in the field.
– Downloading at the hotel afterwards is a bit frustrating, not knowing till much later in the day how you fared.
– Transmitter placement a bit off yesterday resulting in TXs too close (but it didn’t really impact on the competition).
– Start list generation needs lots of work. Many in same category starting together.
Pictures from tonight’s awarding ceremony may appear in a later blog.
Sunrise at Izukyu Shimoda (an omen for the weather to come)
Sea kayaking.
Getting ready to kayak
Initial on land instructions, safety briefing, kitted out and out into the sea to practice paddling, and use of the rudder. Only one unscheduled swim from yours truly, unreal sensation. Paddled for about 2 hours to nearby cove (couldn’t call it a beach). Snorkelled, lucky enough to see some pretty little fish, a couple of larger ones that I tried to pursue but they could swim faster than me. Lunch on the rocks and headed back to starting point, Bruce, Kris and Ewen seemed to be quite proficient. As far as I was concerned steering the kayak was not second nature and invariably became unstuck at a critical moment. Arrived back at our starting point just as the afternoon storm broke. Almost didn’t need a shower to wash off the salt.
Transported back to Shimoda station, with just enough time to book tickets for the train to Tokyo. We journeyed together for part of the way. The last we saw of Bruce and Kris, was them scurrying along the platform to catch their connection in 4 minutes.
Prepared with our skirts
Setting out
Kayak1
Kayak 2
Kayak 3
Preparing lunch
Guide
Beached!!
Quick escape
Prelunch swim !
Prelunch swim 2
Preparing lunch
Preparing lunch 2
Worth the wait
After lunch stroll 1
After lunch stroll 2
Something in the rocks 1
Something in the rocks 2
Beach
Our Friday in Tokyo, Ewen and Jenelle took a bike tour. Very exhilarating riding on the streets of Tokyo, not for the faint hearted.
Island built on refuse.
Green building with Rice paddy inside
Tokyo Railway Station
View of the entrance to the Imperial Palace
Oeno Park
Lotus flower at Oeno Park
I found a bear!!
Bear and riding companions
Our shelter from the afternoon storm
Good karma
Shinto Shrine
The safe way to cross the street
Riding through Akihabara – not for the faint hearted
One beautiful temple along the way
Tokyo tower – the communication engineers temple
Kiyosumi Gardens – this was the highlight for me
Kiyosumi Gardens 2
Kiyosumi Gardens 3
Kiyosumi Gardens 4
Saturday trip to Mt Fuji
It took about 40 minutes longer than expected to get to Mt Fuji, bus travel is not the way to go in Japan. Passed an amazing fun park on the way.
Fun park Fuji Q
Ewen, Mark and Jenelle joined Jack for a tour. We eventually got to Fuji 5th station (where the climb starts) about midday. The traffic was very heavy and crowds of people. Fuji was being coy, and only managed a fleeting glimpse as the fog rolled in.
First glimpse of Fuji
Mark at entrance to the climb at 5th station
Weekend crowds at 5th station
Selfie
Visited the lava forest, Shiraito Falls and Lakes and garden.
Lava forest
Lava forest 2
Enchanted forest from the Magic Faraway tree.
Maybe some goblin is hiding underneath
Some interesting vegetation
Down to the cave
Some of us were more cautious
A really cool place in more ways than one.
Shiraito no Taki Falls 1
Shiraito no Taki Falls 2
Final glimpses of Fuji 1
Final glimpses of Fuji 2
Manicured Gardens
Walled Gardens
Look who was waiting for us a the railway station. It is a pity we had booked the bus. We could have done with a really useful engine.
PS
These activities seem quite tame after more recent events!!
We have all settled in at event HQ in Ikaho Japan.
The training day was wet, but the signals all seemed to be quite strong. (perhaps too strong?)
The sprint transmitters seemed to be stronger than the classic ARDF transmitters!
Dinner (Chairs not included)
SI controls for classic ARDF
ARDF classic competition #1
On a very wet day the ARDF competitors gathered up a muddy creek ready for the start.
Jenelle, Bruce and Kristian were all on 2m whilst Jack and Ewen were on 80m.
The very first start group had Kristian and Ewen in it, with the other Australians starting up to 30 mins later.
The course provided interesting terrain with some very runnable forest, and some areas that you wouldn’t dream of entering into, and if you ask Jenelle possibly even a nice house with a warm heater in it?
After some mucking around on his first Tx Bruce gathered his thoughts, and finished strong with a fantastic sprint from on side of the map to the other. Bruce managed to grab Bronze in the M50 2m category.
Ewen had some initial technical issues, but then recovered and had a pretty good run, finishing just outside of the medals.
Jack had a couple of overshoots but also managed to get to the end without too much drama. Jack came in in 4th position in the M60 category.
Jack and Ewen secured bronze in the M60 classic 80m team competition.
Jenelle spent a fair amount of time searching for Tx4, but then with time almost up and having switched to her spare receiver she attempted to locate the finish beacon, but this seemed to be in the wrong direction. Eventually after flagging down a passing motorist, Jenelle was shown some true Japanese hospitality, before her hosts were eventually able to get in contact with the organisers, who when they were collecting her also appeared to be some what lost.
Kristian had a great start getting the first 4 Tx’s pretty quickly, but took the scenic route around a pig farm to get the last one, before being the first competitor back at the finish. This run was enough secure gold in the M21 category.
Along the way various people saw Greg wandering around looking very official. Greg found most of the 2m and 80m transmitters.
Bruce route
TX locations
Greg looking official
Bus to the classic comp
80m ARDF Sprint
It was very, very, very wet thanks to Tropical storm Etau.
Bruce got everything he needed, but unfortunately one of his punches didn’t register correctly.
Ewen managed to find everything he needed, and ended up in the silver medal position in M60.
Jack did the first half, but then went to the finish thinking it was the spectator beacon.
Jenelle found all of hers except for 1 and headed into the finish a little bit early. Which gave her the bronze medal in W60.
Kristian found everything eventually, but finished outside of the placings.
There were a number of (probably water related) technical issues, which are currently trying to be resolved before we go back into the wet tomorrow.
Greg only managed to spot Jenelle out on course in the rain.
(sorry, no pics today, as it was too wet.)
Tonight is the awarding ceremony for the first classic event and the sprint, and apparently it can viewed live at http://www.jarl.com/reg3ardf2015/
The presentations are scheduled to start at 7pm local time (8pm AEST).
From Kagoshima – Coordinating public transport is not without its dramas. Missed the only bus to the Samurai Village and had to take a taxi. Immaculately trimmed and maintained gardens, not likely to be replicated in Melbourne.
An attempt to visit the Kamekazi museum at Chiran was thwarted by heavy rain (big Queensland sized rain drops) and lack of time. We found a warm place (coffee & tea rooms to shelter) as we waited for a bus back to the train.
The second attempt to visit the Kamekazi museum was successful, but needed some fine timing to coordinate train-bus connection. Chiran was the site of the training airbase for young pilots. Old film footage of the servicemen working on aircraft brought mixed feelings (my dad having done the same in New Guinea).The photos of the families waving goodbye and the translations of the messages the pilots wrote to their families were quite moving. Proud young men doing what they thought was the right thing to do for their country and families at home.
The hot sand bath and hot springs were definitely worth a visit. Didn’t know the soles of the feet and heels were so sensitive to heat. It was rather embarrassing having a male voice calling CQ just outside the entrance of the women’s onsen.
They looked so elegant !
We timed our return to Kagoshima perfectly and caught the Shinkansen to Hiroshima, speeds over 300 kph.
Warm welcome for the train
Specialty of Kyushu- green tea iced shortbread
Day 1 in Hiroshima, began with a visit to the Peace Memorial Museum and Park.
Cenotaph in Peace Park
Peace Memorial Park Hiroshima
A-bomb dome
A-bomb dome 2
Impact of bomb on metal structures
Heat-fused glass bottles
Very sad story of one young girl’s fight for life
More of her paper cranes
Sense of achievement
Exhibits included diorama of the aftermath, remnants of clothing, building materials and household items.
The story of the paper cranes made by young girl in the hope that they would save her life.
Our attempts to fold paper cranes were pretty abysmal, and needed much help from the women to get the final result.
Entrance to Hiroshima castle (reconstructed)
Tori at Hiroshima castle
Mid afternoon – visit to the Naka Incineration Plant, not your usual tour attraction, necessitated another run to catch the bus. It is well set up for viewing with a wide corridor down the centre, all behind glass of course, and scaled model explaining the layout. Apparently it is quite spectacular at night when it is all lit up.
Day 2 Hiroshima Today’s excursion to Miyajima Island went ahead despite some pretty ordinary weather. Arrived at high tide and the entrance to the Shrine was under water and not possible to walk to the Tori (gate). Opted to take the ropeway and climb to the top of Mt Misen. Unfortunately we only had a good view of the fog. Ewen and I checked out the waterfall route on the way down. Lots of granite steps and very slippery in parts. By the time we got back down the weather had fined up.
Tori at Miyajima Island at high tide
Start of walk to Ropeway on Miyajima Island
Ewen & Bruce hidden in the fog at top of Mount Misen
Little shrine at the waterfall
Ewen is still waiting for me.
Glimpses of Hiroshima from walkway
Retarding basin below the waterfall
Pretty spot at the end of walkway
A visit to the aquarium. Penguin feeding (Humboldt penguins, saw none of these in Antartica), a sea lion show, colourful fish and various amphibious animals.
Aquarium on Miyajima Island
More interesting fish
Japan tea frog, cousin of Bufus Marinus
Humboldt penguins
Happy to meet you too
Glad to put our feet up at the end of the day. Dinner at a local bar. Very animated waiters. Lots of shouting and cheering. As my mother would have said, less of that and more concentrating on the job at hand. They forgot Bruce’s order.
Fleeting visit to Himeji to see the castle. Wedding cake castle. Seat of power here from 1400s. Castle has undergone several restorations over the years. Huge timber supports. Not a lift up window seat, but a defence mechanism for dropping of stones, pouring boiling oil & water on the enemy. Good view from top. (Photos in my next blog)
Getting expert at changing trains mid journey, successful at one connection, next trip has 3 connections.Let’s see how we go. Very successfully. Arrived at station, shuttle bus appeared, hotel on the coast, brilliant view, superb dinner, onsen, what more could you ask for.
