Eastbourne Escapes Cold Front

Afterwork Rogaine, 13 Nov 03

With a cold front sweeping up the country, heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon and evening of the third buildup prior to the Colonial Challenge. But it was warm and dry for the briefing and in fact for most of the 3-hour event. Not till after dark did the first rain fall, and it wasn't at all heavy until after the finish time of 9:30pm.

Planner Mike Sheridan who lives at Eastbourne had set a pink-taped course which started at the Eastbourne wharf. The area ran from Days Bay and Camp Bay 4km apart on the harbourside, and 2km east to Gollans Stream. Between is a 300m ridge, lowering to two 200m ridges in the south split by Butterfly Creek, so you don't do a lot of E-W travel without severe climb. The native bush however is surprisingly open, with a network of major tracks and blazed routes used mostly by the "possum-busters".

Dave King and Mark Hearfield posted the top of score of 690 out of a possible 1260, with a circuit in the southern two-thirds of the map, topped off with a last-minute sea-level dash to the 90-pointer on the Days Bay Wharf. 40 points behind were Andrew McCarthy and James Bradshaw who did pretty much the opposite, starting with Days Bay in the north and selecting controls from the northern two-thirds. But there was no easy 90 points to be picked up on the way home! Fiona Clendon turned in an outstanding score for 6th place overall.

Results have been posted. The next Wellington rogaine in the Wellington area will be the Colonial Challenge on 21 Nov. Entries close on 15 Nov.

This page written by Michael Wood, installed on 13 Nov 03.