Out of the 2013 Setting and Vetting seminar emerged three eager young rogainers primed to set an event. The next available slot was the 2014 state champs (gulp!) and so into the deep end they plunged. Being their first time setting an event, standards were high. Their ideal map would be mostly bush, with just a bit of farmland for the social rogainer, all based around a spacious hash site. As a state champs event, they were also looking for an area not recently used and that preferably included some virgin rogaining country.

But where to go? A quick look in the WARA archives revealed that WARA once held a rogaine west of Woop Woop. Well, they wondered, why not hold the rogaine in Woop Woop itself? And so the team discovered Woop Woop, hidden deep in the wilds of the Wilga state forest about a 3hr drive south of Perth. This area ticks all the boxes and boasts something for everyone — lots of native bush, criss-crossed by an abundance of tracks, and for those not satisfied with bush bashing there are plenty of plantations and even pockets of farmland to explore. But, the best bit is the hash site. A local farmer has provided one of his more remote paddocks for the purpose, so finding the ideal tent site only a stone's throw from the greatest hash house serving only the choicest food to be enjoyed around the most rip-roaring bonfire in all Woop Woop will be easy!

The course near the hash house is relatively flat, offering easy points for social rogainers, while there are some decidedly hilly parts further out to keep the competitive teams honest. The native vegetation is mostly jarrah (a lot of it is quite open), and the wetter areas are dominated by marri with thicker, but still walkable, undergrowth. For those looking for adventure, approximately 60% of the map is new territory. Keen eyes will spot kangaroos, wallabies, lizards (big and small) and many birds, including red-tailed cockatoos, and the farms are home to cattle and sheep, with an alpaca hiding somewhere in there too. So grab a mate or two, or the whole family and come on down for a weekend wander Into the Wilganess!
The setters and vetters,
... Michael, Kim, Steve, John and Dic