2022 AUS CARNIVAL

from The Australian Orienteer – March 2022

THE RETURN OF THE HIGH-O

Granite, Gold and Gourmet – Something for everyone at AOC 2022

To explain what is new and different for the 2022 Australian Carnival, the Australian Orienteer’s roving correspondent Jess Doverthere spoke to Carnival technical director and new JWOC team coach Warren Key:

JD: Warren, it has been a while since we have been to Victoria for a big carnival like AOC2022, What’s the big draw card for the Central Highlands of Victoria?

WK: As you know I am an orienteering nutter, but I can swear on my Victoria chest tattoo that this carnival has some of the finest orienteering terrain in Australia and three of the maps are new. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the atmosphere and attractions of this region are just so fantastic, it is really a beautiful part of the world. We set out to have a brand-new area and map for each of the Australian Championships (Middle/Sprint and Long Distance) and we’ve found three amazing areas that I know everyone will enjoy that showcase the best of gold mining, granite and campus-based Sprints. Adding to that we cherry picked and extended some of our best existing maps into new sections for the other events. From a leisure perspective the food, wine, beer and coffee in this part of Victoria are now renowned! So, there is something for everyone and all within an hour of the airport and a short drive from Kyneton and Daylesford to any event.

JD: How on earth did you find new forest maps of championship quality so close to Melbourne and is there a new gold mining area or did you just dig it over yourself?

WK: A mix of luck and skill. Former coach in residence Fredo and his hosts were out training and had agreed to meet at Blackwood for a picnic and literally stumbled into this gold mining area. They were all so excited they spent the next half an hour exploring it and realised that it was potentially map quality and big enough for a Middle Distance. That’s for the Australian Middle Distance and it will really be something unique, crazy interesting goldmining on a new level and the arena is just picture perfect.

Blackwood - erosion gullies.

Blackwood - mining terrain. Blackwood - open forest.

JD: I hear there is a new granite map for the Long Distance? How did you find a new Granite area?

WK: Luckily, Neil Barr has had his eye on this area for a while, so we have saved it up for this Carnival. It’s the next hill over from Mount Tarrengower and it has some gold mining as well – so it’s a cracker. The area offers our version of the “the big three”, granite, goldmining and gully/spur on the same map. Once we realised that we could get Lidar as well it was just a case of getting permissions from some landowners. It will be a lot of fun and with changes of vegetation as well it is perfect for Long Distance. I wish I was running.

JD: And the Australian Sprint?

WK: How lucky are we!? It fell in our lap as well because for ages we’ve wanted to map Silesian College at Sunbury which is famous because it includes the stately home where The Ashes Urn was created. Then last year the Principal of the college started asking about Orienteering and the OV committee took it from there. That’s in Sunbury less than 20 minutes from the airport and it’s a great campus, very technical. This area, the history and amazing atmosphere is really going to make this event something special.

JD: So, three new maps. Is that it?

WK: Not at all. We have a brand-new event called the Australian Grand Prix on the first Saturday and we’ve combined all kinds of terrains in one. I had this vision of finishing right in the middle of Daylesford and that is what we’ve done. I have to be careful to not talk it up too much, but it is going to be a really exciting event and something for everyone, not just Elites. That follows the VIC Middle on super cool terrain - old school goldmining only minutes out of Daylesford, one of the prettiest towns in Victoria. Enjoy the fabulous selection of coffee places and outdoor eateries between events. So, the first weekend has three top quality events. A totally new area and style of Goldmining for the Aussie Middle, a great new map of goldmining the day before to get you in the zone and an exciting new style event in one of the most scenic locations in the whole of Victoria. As ScoMo would say: What’s not to like? ( I assure you this is not a paid political advert ).

JD: What about the schools and mid-week events?

WK: Yes, I know sometimes they can be an afterthought, but absolutely positively not this year. The schools Sprint map in Kyneton is set amongst historic bluestone buildings in a complex school’s campus and towering European trees in the botanical gardens, both dating back to mid 1800’s. Then the next day we are using part of the huge Mount Alexander map that we haven’t really seen since last century. The granite and

Maldon - granite

Maldon - spur-gully. Maldon - granite.

Maldon - township. Maldon - open terrain.

runnability are amazing and ideal for the schools and public event. The views are breath taking and a fantastic downhill finish into the Arena will be great fun and if you are lucky, you may even see a Koala from the days of the Koala reserve on the map. Then we go to the best part of the famous WOC85 Wattle Gully map extended to include exciting new terrain and a super cool tunnel underpass for the School’s Relay. So, the public events on these new maps will be fun and part of a 3-Day cumulative event and they are super relevant preparation for the AUS Championships events the following weekend. The granite looks and feels the same, the goldmining of the Australian Relays is literally only a couple of kilometres away to the Schools’ Relay and the Sprint buildings are from the same era using the same bluestone coincidentally mined out of Mt. Alexander! .

JD: So apart from the maps and the aqueducts what else could the Carnival do for us (to quote from Life of Brian)?

WK: We don’t have aqueducts, but Victoria’s most famous viaducts are nearby, and the Central Highlands now has some of the best food, beer and wine in the country. We can offer cideries, breweries, smokehouses, cheese, really amazing coffee hide-outs and of course fantastic wineries – the central Highlands is the trendy wine spot at present. Plus atmosphere in spades at the events and after the events amongst these historic hamlets. Some of Victoria’s best chefs have chosen to live and work here because the local produce is so good. Places like Lake House and Du Fermier are famous, but you’ll have to book early. The cafes and pub choices are limitless.

Sprint sample

The OV committee has voted with their feet and three of the committee now live in the area so it must be good!

JD: What’s the part of the Carnival you are looking forward to most, Warren?

WK: Look, this will be the first Australian Champs for three years! I think it’s just going to be wonderful to be amongst friends again from around Australia and across the ditch, doing what we love at the biggest and best orienteering Carnival that the southern hemisphere has to offer.