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A Tasmanian conundrum features in an International Technical Orienteering Group! Which way would you go? 🤔 Thanks Euan and Jett! I wonder if you know how many Orienteers around the world are discussing your route choices!
Orienteering is a NEW ADVENTURE EVERY TIME!![]()
🌳🌲🏃🌳🌲🌳 Yes, I'm shouting it out to the sky! When it was announced that this year's City Race was heading to Williamstown....well, it was all hands on deck as we set sail for this Ye Olde Melbourne port! ⚓![]()
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Williamstown is absolutely packed full of amazing things to discover. History, beaches, walking trails, rocky intertidal zones, botanical gardens, Navy ships, yachts, motor yachts, 19th Century timing devices (not SportIdent), fish 🐟, fisherpeople, festivals (Macedonian today!), trains, Surf Lifesavers, and what seems to be a million places to eat! 😋 ![]()
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I knew that this City Race would be so much fun and would be fantastic. To me it seemed pretty obvious how to dress when coming to Williamstown and, to be honest, I felt like I fit right in!!! 🤣😆🤔 Yes, there were some odd looks from general random people and Orienteers, but there was actually more smiles from the public than any negativity. Plus I stopped a few times to people to explain what was going on! I especially enjoyed the long range call out from the Williamstown SLSC who did use the term Captain!! 😆🤣 I would have loved to go for a ride on their IRB!![]()
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With so many highlights, I have highlighted just six and tried to show why this event was so great. Imagine getting to go to ALL these spots and another 19 controls (Course 10k) including cannons! 😲 ![]()
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Top 6 Highlights![]()
1. The Beach. It was amazing running right next to the salt water on the hard sand! I wanted to go for a swim. 🏊![]()
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2. The Botanical Gardens![]()
These gardens actually named their lawns! There was the Summer Lawn and the Liquid Amber Lawn!!! Did anyone else notice this??? 🤔 Well, neither did I until I went back afterwards! The lawns were manicured to an even better standard than the MCG! It was so beautiful, and tricky! So many tiny pathways saw people lose precious seconds, and more, trying to find only two controls in there!! 🤣😆🤣😆🫣![]()
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3. HMAS Castlemaine![]()
How exciting was it to be dressed like I could come aboard and fit right in! But more to the point, having a control right next to the gangplank onto the ship was an honour! 🫡 Plus seeing everyone run back past you as runners went towards the ship and knowing the finish was not far away lifted spirits enormously!![]()
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4. The Timeball Tower![]()
Orienteering, a sport that would not exist without timing! It was only fitting to go to this tower. However, I could not set my Garmin watch by the tower. I don't think this ball drops anymore, unlike the Sydney Observatory one!![]()
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5. The Bridge![]()
I actually got to stand on a bridge and look out to sea as if I was piloting my own vessel!!!!! Wow, how good was that.![]()
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6. Not a single location but, well, hundreds of locations???!!! There are anchors ⚓ literally all over Williamstown. Not all as old as you might think!! 🤔 Control 17 on C1 was not a very old gift at all!! However, it still looked pretty impressive. But there were plenty of other Ye Olde Anchors ⚓ ⚓ everywhere else! The photo location could have been there outside the Maritime Museum and the photos would have also looked great!![]()
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Well, ok, talking to much as usual right?!! That is hardly very many of the highlights in total but is probably all that needs to go here. I had an absolutely fantastic orienteering experience in Williamstown. I think, again quite common, that I spent longer out there than anyone. I even went back to the time ball tower and enjoyed a soft serve with flake! Did you know, I really and truly love 💕 Orienteering! Because it is the best adventure and exercise combo with brain activity thrown in too! I just love it!![]()
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Dandenong Ranges are always excellent at putting on orienteering events. But when they get a series going that grows and grows in popularity, well, they actually then outdo themselves again and again. They keep getting better! 👏 👏 👏 It was all hands on deck and it was magical to see them working as a slick well oiled club to bring this event to everyone. With the sponsorships and coordination with 4th Williamstown Sea Scouts, it was so clear how much work and effort and thought they put into this event! 👏 👏 👏 ![]()
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Thankyou so much Debbie, Ian, Damien and all the team at Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club. I loved my sailing trip around Williamstown and cannot thank you enough for putting an outstanding event! Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!![]()
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Hey, did I tell everyone how much I love orienteering! 😊 💕 🌲 🏃⚓🌳 Well, I do..... heaps!
Last Sunday, at the Buninyong Hotel, Eureka Orienteers enjoyed a wonderful celebration of 50 years and more in orienteering. Some Orienteers present have even been orienteering for more than 50 years because started before they formed the club in Ballarat 50 years ago! While some present were our newest members who joined this year, with one signing up just two months ago to take part in the VIC Relays.![]()
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Many who returned "home" had travelled long distances from Sydney, NE Vic, Melbourne to name a few. I'm sure this trip would have reminded them of orienteering trips all those years ago. The photos on display and the memorable Eureka Moments that were shared sure reflected how powerful the memories were of this "extended family" and how blessed people were to have been part of this club. The retelling of stories and the subsequent beaming smiles on peoples faces when times long ago were recalled and then confirmed with "Oh yeah, I remember that too!" was total proof of how much happiness Eureka Orienteers and orienteering has given so many people in Ballarat.![]()
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As an outsider back in the early 80s, I just remember seeing so many blue O-suits with white stripes and stars. They were everywhere. It seemed to me that every second person on the "mainland" wore these blue suits with stars. Eureka Orienteers seemed to the largest club in the world!!! Then, at the lunch, seeing a photo of 30 or so Eureka Orienteers all wearing exactly the same suit at an event sometime in the Golden Years was so funny to me because it was exactly what I remember! Everyone wearing a Eureka Orienteers club outfit where ever I looked back then. Now, take note, you didn't just jump online and order a new O-top and tight leggings back then. No siree! Well organised clubs bought huge massive rolls of this plasticy polyester type material in different colours and then made their own O-Suits. If you didn't, there was only a handful of pre-made styles. Green or blue or burgundy perhaps? Can't remember! I remember the default green O-suit though, as it was a common sight too!! 🤣 But true credit goes to those seamstresses (I assume) who put the EU suits all together on another industrial scale. Gosh, Eureka Orienteers were an industry unto themselves, I decided, after hearing all these stories. Industrial levels in the fashion industry, the cake making industry, and also, they had a lolly industry too! There wasn't just a cake stall, but a lolly stall too! Far out! This club probably had their own GDP as well! 😲😆 Can anyone confirm if they ever launched on the ASX??!! 🤔 ![]()
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On Sunday, everyone talked as soon as they arrived. People brought maps, control cards, compasses with stencil circles and triangles, copies of the Australian Orienteer, which seemed to have at least one photo of Dale in it every issue through the 80s, plus medals, plastic map bags of the heavy duty last century kind, programme booklets, results booklets, 'Now thats a badge!" badges and so much more. People never stopped talking all through lunch. Most stopped as memorable moments were shared one by one and then, finally we decided to eat the Eureka Orienteers logo! Well a cake of it anyway! If you ever wondered what the Eureka Orienteers logo would taste and look like, well, it's exactly the same but with a slightly larger dark blue border. Then, just bite into it and taste that deep rich mud cake down below. Beautiful it was! Not sure if there was meant to be some link to the mud when orienteering but it sure didn't taste like orienteering mud. It was delicious!! Aaah, EU, you've done it again!! Eureka Orienteers, famous for their cakes! 😋 ![]()
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What was just an idea about a year ago or so, sort of went no where. The months ticked by and the 50th year was moving along. Maybe there won't be a dinner after all. But there is one mover and shaker in this club, who has been there from the start. He hadn't let it slip. The first thing I hear again is how someone has convinced and subsequently confirmed that some 26 mostly former Eureka Orienteers are coming along to the lunch. Wow! Now, former means only because they have not paid the 2025 subscription. But, besides that, they will always be Life Members because of what they have given the club. The club is made from the people and it was just priceless to be part of more Eureka Orienteers than I have ever seen in one room before. I wasn't a member of EU in the 1980s and 1990s, although I did experience and enjoy Eureka Orienteers hospitality, which included Dale's waffles, way back in 1981, which I have never ever forgotten! Then again on Sunday, I got to experience that Eureka Orienteers massive club feeling again! It was like we had done what Cher was only singing about. EU had actually turned back time! Well, sort of, but it was still amazing! Imagine if we could find that many club members again? Oops, I digress as usual....who was that mover and shaker? It was Blake. I wonder how many hours he talked in contacting everyone?! 😀📞 Over 50 years Blake, amongst others, has done huge things for Eureka Orienteers, for Ballarat, for Victorian Orienteering, for Australian and International Orienteering in both Foot-O and MTBO. But would he ever seek recognition or payment? Nope. Same at the lunch. Yet another superb Eureka Orienteers event that Blake and Dale created. Sometimes I feel Blake takes control of the microphone in order to prevent anyone else from bringing the attention back to him. In this case, that would be an injustice. Thank you enormously Blake and Dale, for organising this incredible get together!👏 I am definitely voting for this as the Eureka Orienteers Event of the Year! Well, I would if there was such a category! Thankyou as always! 😊 ![]()
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Thankyou also to all Eureka Orienteers and special guests who attended because you showed me what it was like being part of the Eureka Orienteers when they were huge! Not because of what you won or anything like that, which you did also, but because of all the happiness and joy you shared when talking about this club. You all gave me another Eureka Memorable Moment to share at future reunions by letting me see how much joy this club has given you all. No doubt this will inspire me to make sure the club lives on and continues to share this crazy, exasperating, odd, challenging and yet extremely rewarding and addictive sport called orienteering that we seem to enjoy (at times!! 🤣😆). Yet, it seems the actual orienteering was only a part of the magnificent memories at the Eureka Orienteers. This club was so much more than just the sport!![]()
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Congratulations on 50 amazing years! 🥂🍾 Here's to another 50 years!! 😲🫣 Oh gosh, that seems way to much pressure to repeat what you have all done. How about here is to another 1 year!! Let's just take it one year at time!!!!! 🤣😆 ![]()
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What a truly fabulous day last Sunday was! 😊 Cant wait for the 51st Anniversary Dinner! 😋
Ballarat Summer Series on tomorrow, 12th of November, from 5:30pm at Mt Pleasant Reserve and Redan. Did you remember? Well, today is Remembrance Day!! 🫡![]()
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Sadly, not much feedback so far on socials so we are not sure how many are coming. Nevertheless Eureka Orienteers have been enjoying our beautiful river so much anyway. Rain, hail, sun or cold, which we have been getting all of today, will NOT stop this event from proceeding. Interestingly, right now I am sheltering from cold, wet, blanketing rain in the BBQ shelter that you will see tomorrow. But I also see blue sky so this won't last long. The evaporated rain on the BBQ is indicating to me the BBQ is definitely functional!!! 😋 So bring your BBQ items and food stuffs! I believe the weather forecast is no rain and much warmer! 😁 🌞 👍 ![]()
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Check out the difference between the chimney photo and the BBQ one! 😲 😂 ![]()
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Enjoy today's Kodak moments from the Yarrowee River! 😊
Event #2 in the Ballarat Summer ⛱️🌞 Series is in this Wednesday, the 12th of November, from 5:30pm. Meet at the North East corner of Mt Pleasant Reserve from 5:30pm.![]()
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So close to the centre of Ballarat, where everyone drives around some of the roads nearby, taking shortcuts through town. But how often do we all really explore the pockets of green spread amongst the streets around Mt Pleasant, Redan and the Yarrowee River. The Yarrowee starts only several kilometres from Ballarat, near the Gong Gong Reservoir, before it heads South eventually reaching the Barwon River and the onto the sea at Barwon Heads. It is a significant river in this region and when I explore I gain renewed respect for this special place and wish everyone would too. For this reason, this map was created to let us explore the river and surrounds a bit more because it was thought that everyone would enjoy orienteering and exploring here. Hope to see you Wednesday from 5:30pm.![]()
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Link to more information in Eventor, including a map on how to get there is found below:![]()
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eventor.orienteering.asn.au/Events/Show/23262
Orienteering Victoria
Eureka Orienteers is proudly affiliated with Orienteering Victoria.
Eastwood Leisure Complex
Eureka Orienteers thanks the Eastwood Leisure Complex for their support with the club's equipment store, and the use of their facilities for meetings and social events.
Goodsports
Eureka Orienteers has reached Level 3 accreditation as part of the Good Sports program. Good Sports works with clubs to help them provide safe and healthy environments for families to play sport.