WARA is sponsoring the inaugural 6hr Millstream Rogaine in the Millstream National Park about 2hrs drive from Karratha (WA)
As part of WARA’s “regional development program” we have responded to interest shown in Karratha by some of the locals led by
David Westley.

David, to date has contributed an enormous amount of his time and effort to get the Rogaine to the stage it is now at. A previous visit was made by myself to ascertain the viability of such a project that could, in the future, see a regional Rogaine Association in our northwest.

By the time WARA members get to read this article some of our most experienced rogainers will be on our way to Karratha to “set
and vet the 6hr rogaine in one weekend” (Ron Lockley, Mal Dennett, Vince Harding, Colette Sims, Paul (Wil) Williams and
myself.)

While the rest of the team head straight out to Millstream, Mal Dennett and myself will be preparing to conduct two seminars on “How to Rogaine Successfully”. The first seminar is on Friday evening and the other on the Saturday morning. As soon as we are finished Mal and I will be heading out to Millstream to help the other members of the team to finish the set and vetting task.

David Westley has received quite some interest from the surrounding townships and businesses. Pilbara Iron has donated some money and logistical support, the Water Authority has given the setting team accommodation not far from Millstream for the set and vet weekend and the rogaine itself, and the Apex Rotary Club are bringing a trailer to provide hot food for sale on the weekend of the rogaine.

It’s great to see the local people get behind something that they have never seen before other than on the WARA web site and the
website set up especially for this rogaine by David Westley.

We have been encouraged by the enthusiasm of the Millstream Ranger and the Aboriginal Elders that co-manage the National Park. There is only one area that the Elders have asked us to refrain from entering due to its sacredness; naturally it will be “out of
bounds.”

I would like to thank some people for the part they have played in the organising of this exciting venture; Gary Carroll for obtaining
the data from David and generating a map for us to work with in the setting and vetting procedure, Jim Langford (our President) for
arranging the funding through the Karratha and Perth DSR offices, Emma Brown, the local DSR person in Karratha, for helping us
obtain local contacts and radio interviews, Kerry Cowie for taking on an extra set of entries whilst also administering the next 24hr
rogaine in Perth, and Colette Sims who will be generating the final competition map.

The workload has been enormous in the lead up to August because time is very short and some of us are also setting the August
Rogaine in Perth. We need to get essential administration equipment to Karratha and back for which we can thank Ron Lockley for taking it up in his van.

If you have the time (and the money!) then I can suggest that you would have an enjoyable time if you could make the trip to the
Millstream National Park. See http://www.karratha.com/nwrogaining for details and entry form!

Warren Smith and team