"It is a date that will be remembered for all time. July 20 1969 - the day man first set foot on the moon. That one shining moment was witnessed by a television audience of six hundred million people across the globe. Remarkably, those immortal images came via a "dish" in outback Australia." (Promotional blurb from the movie "The Dish".)

Okay, it may not have been the New Norcia "dish", but we've adopted the name of the movie for our event because we do indeed have a "dish" on the map.

The Winter 2002 Rogaine (22-23 June) is located on farmland 130km north of Perth (apologies to competitors living south of the city) in an area never previously used for rogaining. Bisected by the Moore River (which hopefully won't be in torrential flood at the time). the map area consists of verdant rolling hills cropped or grazed by sheep and cattle. There are odd patches of natural vegetation, but it must be admitted, however, that the parrot bush is not as plentiful as we had hoped. To compensate for this deficit there is the occasional fence.

The site of interest, however, is an European Space Agency antenna that can be seen the length and breadth of the map...well, from a light plane. When it up at night it is more than just impressive, it;s positively awe inspiring (rumours have it that a small group of wayward souls have in fact declared it a shrine to the great god Om). We've placed a control near the perimeter fence of the antenna so that you can get a good close-up view of the 35 metre diameter "dish". In 2003 the spacecraft Rosetta will be launched, and will travel to Comet Wirtanen, 900 million km from Earth. The "dish" will be used to send commands to Rosetta, and to receive the enormous amount of data it sends back.

It's beautiful area, with fabulous views from most parts of the map (especially those bits not at the bottom of gullies and in watercourses). There are suggestions that this means you will have to climb a few hills, but the reward will be worth the effort.

The monastery town of New Norcia is on the map and you may wish to visit or stay there before, during or after the event. For details about accommodation and the attractions of New Norcia, see the May 2002 newsletter. The museum alone is worth a visit to see some of the few original Italian Renaissance paintings in WA - Raphael, Titian, etc..

The Hash House site is a farm paddock kindly offered to us by the Cocking family - Bill, Roslyn, Ray and Doris. In total there are 17 properties on the map. The landowners have welcomed us with open arms, even though most of them had never heard of rogaining (like the bulk of the great unwashed who are yet to experience one of the true joys of life).

We've had a great old time setting and vetting: getting to know new people, getting to know old friends better, and, of course, honing our navigation skills. It's been good fun.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Di, Brian, Warren, Ian and Gary.