I was in Stanthorpe in September 2007 and ran around a course on The Cascades, which had been used for a badge event the previous May.
Cascades is the sort of area where you don't want to orienteer when there are no control flags because of how lost it's possible to become, but i could still see the evidence of where numerous feet had stood around at the control sites - because of course in Qld it doesn't rain between May & Sept.
You were brave orienteering at the Cascades alone. Several years ago, l made Peter navigate around a course from the previous year at Kangaroo Crossing, looking for the hole in the ground where the control stands had been. Surprisingly, the holes were still there.
Liz & Eric knew I was out there :)
(so did Geoff)
Under current circumstances, not sure I'll be able to come to Kangaroo Crossing this year...
Not sure many Victorians will be able to either.
In contrast, I went three months later to the Benalla venue of the 2009 Australian Sprint; this had massive tracking of long grass areas on the day but there was no trace of it at the end of December.
I still can't understand how l got lost on that map.....
because of course in Qld it doesn't rain between May & Sept
I assume that was sarcasm...
Some years it does - I experienced some spectacular falls on 1980s May Gold Coast holidays - but more often it doesn't (much), especially away from the coast.
Well I rode the MTBO champs there in July 2011 (dry), July 2013 (very wet), May 2014 (dry), Aug 2015 (wet), Aug 2016 (dry but plenty water on ground), May 2018 (dry) and Aug/Sep 2019 (dry but most of the event was also in NSW). Whether I get to ride their 2020 champs is a mystery though I've got a pretty good idea of the expected outcome.
Probably about the same as for the SA/Vic Challenge I was hoping to hold at Narrinyeri in September...