JWOC spectator and JWOC O-Tour experience

Zara Soden

Getting to Baia Mare was quite an undertaking, with supporters taking different travelling options but all experiencing a lengthywait at the border withHungary. This led to some of us arriving later than planned.

Baia Mare is a regional city with a population of 100,000, with forested hills nearby. The soil is volcanic in origin and very fertile particularly in the hills. Most rural houses had productive vegetable gardens, complete with fruit trees and chickens and Monet-style haystacks. Several times on the way to events we passed horses pulling a farmer in a cart!

In Baia Mare there were some impressive historical buildings and a beautiful traditional town square with many restaurants, plus some Soviet-era civic buildings and apartment blocks. It was exciting and nerve wracking to watch our juniors in their events. Like back home, we watched dots on our screens until we got glimpses at spectator controls or cheered our athletes along the often very long finish chute. The yellow jerseys helped our team stand out. We also cheered on our NZ neighbours.

The JWOC O-Tour was the name for the public races that occurred alongside the JWOC races, comprising two sprints, two middle-distances and a long. Despite most events being hot andhumid we enjoyed experiencing themaps the JWOC athletes had earlier raced around on (or trained on in the instance of the first event).It felt surprisingly normal and familiar to be orienteering despite being on the other side of the planet. In the sprints we had to look out for cars on the ‘wrong’ side of the road while running about, and ignore the sun and trust the compass. The 'bush' maps were comprised of runnable beech forest with some open meadows with very long grass. It was lovely to be in the shady forest after being in the hot sun (or under the marquees) at the arenas.

Overall it was a great experience. The Aussie supporters were a friendly group and we often ate out together in various combinations in the evenings. The Romanian countryside was beautiful with the lush green fields, and distinctive with the low-set old wooden cottages, barns and carved gates at the entrances.

We were really proud of the team’s effort and great results especially for such a young team.

It's fun to compete in the JWOC O-Tour. Running on the same maps as JWOC gave us an insight on the challenges they faced. Aussie tour winners were Sophie Taverna W20, Jenny Enderby W55 and Marcus Cazzolato Open Hard.

Jenny Enderby

Orienteering and weeding in South Australia

Jeffa and John Lyon, Tintookies Orienteers, South Australia

The quote from the June editorial: ’I am unaware of any conservation projects (…) by orienteering organisations’. The following is a very minor effort, but it may reassure you that we are conservationists (OSA has been a member of Conservation SA for over 30 years) and our club (Tintookies) has until recently helped Friends of Para Wirra Park and Forestry SA to remove bone seed plants and Pinus radiata seedlings from native forests on which we have maps. As you say, blackberries are a curse, and olives and bridal creeper aregrowing nuisances. There is still so much to do but our efforts are good for public relations. Yes, there is an appetite to organisea weed removal group.

Orienteering and weeding in Victoria

Neil Barr, Bendigo Orienteers, Victoria

In response to your weeds article in The Australian Orienteer, there is an informal alliance between Bendigo Orienteers and the Loddon Plains Landcare Network. The target is wheel cactus. This might not be on the national list of top weeds to control, but for orienteers it is probably top of the list for the threat it poses to our best granite terrain. Left uncontrolled, it can leave areas totally impassable. There is no green deep enough in the ISOM specification to represent how impassable wheel cactus can be.

Kooyoora - The cactus was noticed on a course setting trip. It was on the tough upper northern slopes of the mountain. We got in touch with the Landcare Network and offered our services. The Landcare Network provided the equipment for each trip and left us to it after discovering how rough the approach was and how hard it was to find the infestations with a map. The public health restrictions ended the work but it’s time to restart.

Korong - The cactus is controlled by a local landcare group that seems to be composed of residents of the local surrounding properties. Our course setters have supplied them with information about cactus plant locations and they go out and eradicate. They do a very thorough job. This week [early May] the landcare group reached out to the club for another cactus update. There are seven plants to report.

The Granites - The cactus here is much more widespread. In mapping the area recently I created a cactus symbol and recorded 985 plants on the map. The area is surrounded by farmland on which cactus is rampant. Control is problematic. We have made informal approaches to the Loddon Plains Landcare Network who were then to approach the Dj Dja Wurrung Corporation seeking support in the form of equipment and herbicide and agreement to start the task. Still awaiting responses. The governance of management of this land is more complex.

The mapping of the weed, whilst mapping or remapping an area for orienteering, is probably one of the most useful contributions we can make. If we can also get in there and do some eradication, even better. But as you suggest in your article, it’s not just a simple matter of turning up with gloves. You need equipment, herbicide (in the case of wheel cactus) and to sort out the permissions. The question of insurance and training will come up, and at that point it’s sensible to make an alliance with a group that already has these issues in hand.