The event is almosta distant memory now, after Christmas and the New Year activities. We were pleased to see around 150 rogainers in 52 teams brave the 36 degree afternoon. A welcome sea breeze rewarded thosewho stayed close to the coast but it must have been pretty warm trekkingsome of the trails through the dunes and inland bush. Our aim was to givepeople a choice of heading inland through the various parks andbushlands, down the coast to Trigg Island or up along as far as Hillarys Harbour. In doing that, we probably set a six hour rogaine course, as itwould be a challenge to collect many more than half the controls. However,we felt that it would be good to give plenty of options and, as it turns out,every one of the controls was visited.The event map is available for viewing or download on the web site.

Just as every Persian Rug must contain a deliberate flaw, because no mere mortal can achieve perfection, so a rogaine map must have a misplaced control! Ours was Aquarius (78), a huge wall mosaic of underwater life, which somehow moved from the correct street corner to the next one further south. Only one team mentioned this so it mustn't have caused too many problems.  

It's fun to introduce something different into the novelty event and we did a bit of that. Every control had a name, as well as a number, to add an element of curiosity. You'll find the Control Description list on the web site if you weren't at the event. Some favourites were:   360 degree view sites - Sue's Montage (101); Peter's Panorama (103); All around views (108): Beach swimming & flora display - Quick Dip (102): Quirky spots - Western Derby (94), a garden verge display of Eagles and Dockers memorabilia with native animals!; Deceit (84), a finely detailed depiction of Spiderman's face - on an official Give Way sign!; And, of course, the jewel in the crown - Granny Pat's (92); an unbelievable collection of toys, teddy bears and dolls - served up with hospitality in the form of cool drinks, lollies, water, wine and beer along with a toilet stop if you needed it! You'll find photos of some of these in the newsletter.

Another 'left field' feature was a 'sealed section' puzzle component, to be opened after the start and completed before recording the finish time. This comprised three logic brain-teasers to test the teams' lateral thinking skills. Gerard has placed these on the web site for the general membership to tackle. You'll find the answers there too.

Our rogainers also showed their creative side at this event by writing poetry and limericks to gain extra points! A flippant suggestion (by Daisy McCauley) had been raised, around the campfire at a bush event, that we should ask rogainers to compose a poem whilst out competing. My first thought was that - you can't do that, these are rugged outdoor adventurers, they're not sensitive latter-day strolling minstrels! Well, it turns out they are!   

In the spirit of a novelty event we thought we'd give it a try and we received entries (some multiple) from 40 out of 54 teams. (It could have been an excuse to get back early and scrounge points whilst simply lolling back.) You can find all the submissions on the web site and it's certainly worth a browse. They were all impressive, so it would be difficult to nominate an outright 'Rogainer Laureate' but special mention should got to teams 23 and 50 for hitting the appropriate note, with the right meter; team 11 for an off-the-wall surprise ending; and team 19 for two limericks and a 4 line poem which could well become our novelty rogaine theme song and is also a fitting way to finish this review...

We’ll walk in the streets,
We’ll walk in the sun
Repeat after me,
ROGAINING IS FUN!

... Peter, Kathy,  
Gerard and Sue