Kangaroos' Tales - December 2014
Monday, 22 December 2014
A Year of AchievementThis year the club organised a significant number of events in Street-O, Bush-O and MTBO. We even put on a ski O! All these events were put on with a care and precision that underlines the easy way members interact whenever we come together for an event or a social occasion. I thought the atmosphere at our AGM underlined this. I hope that in 2015 we can achieve and improve on what I think is a very cohesive club ethos. Jenny and I would like to wish all members a safe and happy Christmas and a successful New Year, and thank you for your support.
John Sheahan
BK President End Of Year Gathering and Club Presentations at the home of Steve and Sarah Dunbar in Carnegie on Saturday, 13th December 
To build up an appetite for the delicious Christmas
Party food, we challenged ourselves on the “Blackwood Street Wander”
around surrounding streets in search of light poles. Pleasant sunshine and quiet streets entertained us until the heady perfume of the barbie beckoned. Stephen
and Sarah’s large garden provided shade for the fifty or so attendees
while John and Jennie dispensed their customary hospitality. The Tom Andrews Trophy for Orienteering Achievements in 2014 was presented to Tim Hatley, who won the Australian Middle Distance Championships and was 2nd in the Sprint Championships. He was Victorian Sprint Champion as well as the winner of five State Series events and the Victorian MTBO Sprint title.
Other notable achievements were recorded by Nicholas Collins, Peter Collins, Angus Robinson, Judy Herkes and Helen Alexander, while brushes with fame were noted by Ann Robinson, Bruce Paterson, Andrew Rowan, Deb Sutherland, Liliya Gluschenko, Peter Cusworth, Murray Hanna and Alex Ikin.
The Ian Baker Trophy was presented to Dennis Mews for his promotion work (like Kangaroos’ Tales) and Gwennyth Baker received the Rod Miller Trophy for services to Bayside Kangaroos.
Matthew King presented an interesting slide show and showed maps of his recent trip to the World Masters Orienteering Championships in Brazil.
The Victorian State Sprint Championships at Deakin University GeelongYou thought it went well? Yes it did. In fact the whole event went seamlessly, with challenging courses, very good map, nice area, good attendance and, to top it off, a day made to order with the weather. The morning event worked well, right up to our expectations with a variety of navigational skills required. The second event was also a beauty, with many finding the group sprint concept a new and unexpected challenge. But behind the well-oiled exterior was the story you didn’t know. Matt King, the course setter, had everything organised and ready to go before he and Janet left for the World Masters in South America. No worries. On their return, about two weeks before the event, they learnt that the University had decided, without warning, to cordon off the main building in the centre of the map prior to the area being refurbished. So, on arrival back in Oz, Matthew had to adjust all the courses to cater for the new restrictions then redo the maps and check out the new control sites. This was done quickly and expertly. Not to be outdone we found that on the day the Uni had double booked with an area in the central courtyard allocated to another group. Luckily this was not a major adjustment and our event went ahead as planned. So with some smart footwork our experienced course setters and planners expertly dealt with these challenges.
Big thank you’s go to:
Our Controller Geoff Adams, who along with Greg Tamblyn produced an excellent map. Matt and Janet King for their work in setting and resetting the courses, which illustrated their experience in this area. Greg Tamblyn for his organisation prior to the event and on the day and to Ian and Debbie Dodd for ensuring that the Si worked so well. To the Bayside Kangaroos members who seem to be able to put on these high standard and enjoyable events with such apparent ease.
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