Each year we put together some of the funny stories from the rogaining season and call them the Lunartic Awards. Here they are for 2012.
Thanks to Peter Milnes for putting the Lunartics together and all those who provided stories for the 2012 awards. There are a lot of great stories that remain untold.
If you encounter any humorous or unusual incidents before, during or after an event that you consider worthy of an award, please give Peter a call on 83221645 or contact.
“A Romantic Interlude Gone Haywire”
Australian Championships – Angorichina – May
Setter: Rob Tucker
This husband and wife team planned to be at Nungawurtina Hut (a replica pug and pine cottage on the course) around midnight for a romantic interlude to celebrate the wife’s birthday. Unfortunately their planning fell behind and at midnight they were nowhere near the hut. A brief kiss on top of a windy hill while they were temporarily misplaced had to be substituted for their romantic interlude in the hut.
The “Romantic Interlude Gone Haywire” award goes to Evelyn and Craig Colwell
“Angorichina’s Red Light District”
Australian Championships – Angorichina – May
Setter: Rob Tucker
Two of this three person team arrived at the event on the Friday afternoon. The third member was driving up after work and would not arrive till late in the evening. How would the third member find his team-mates late at night camped amongst 350 other people? Easy. They already had it planned before they left. They bought a flashing red light and set it going on the roof of their car after dark. It was easily visible as the car was parked on a rise on the northern side of the road. Unfortunately as the third member was approaching Angorichina, he was distracted by the buildings and lights on the southern side of the road and didn’t see the flashing red light. After all their well laid plans he still had to go on a witch hunt to locate his team-mates. Full marks for their plan, nil for the execution.
The “Angorichina’s Red Light District” award goes to Troy and Brett Merchant and Andrew Slattery
“The Cook’s Revenge”
Australian Championships – Angorichina – May
Setter: Rob Tucker
Two of the chefs from our magnificent Hash House team at the Oz Champs volunteered to collect controls to experience some of the spectacular countryside. When they returned, one had a nasty gash above his eye. Apparently one of them was holding down a fence for the other to climb over. As the person lifted his leg over he kicked the other guy in the head. We don’t know if it was an accident or payback for a minor tiff in the kitchen over the weekend.
“The Cook’s Revenge” award goes to Wayne Chettle
“Work Dedication to the Max”
Australian Championships – Angorichina – May
Setter: Rob Tucker
This person was collecting controls in the most isolated part of the course in the north west when his satellite phone rang. It was a reporter from the Messenger Newspaper in Adelaide wanting an interview on the ‘sand pumping project’ along the Adelaide beaches that this person is responsible for. The interview was willingly conducted from the top of a hill 500km from Adelaide, the reporter completely oblivious of the remote location of the person on the other end of the phone.
The “Work Dedication to the Max” award goes to Rob Tucker
“Two Lots of Bad Luck but a Happy Ending”
Australian Championships – Angorichina – May
Setter: Rob Tucker
The first bad luck this team had was to lose their car keys on the course. They came back to the Hash House Saturday night and after a meal went to their car to see if they could get in without the keys. They had secured it well with all the doors locked and windows up. They knew they would have to break in to get some warmer clothes and bedding to avoid freezing. They decided the best option was to break a window, then reach in and unlock a door. Thinking the small vent window would be the cheapest to replace they broke it and gained entry. This turned out to be their second lot of bad luck. The vent window was the most expensive to replace. Sunday they were still faced with the problem of starting their car with the only spare key at home in Quorn and no way of getting there. Fortunately there were a couple of spare seats on the rogaine bus and the organisers were able to offer these to them. The bus even dropped them off at their house. After retrieving their car they received some good news from the Parachilna Hotel. Remarkably some bushwalkers on The Heysen Trail had found their keys, and handed them in to the hotel in case they were still in the area.
The “Two Lots of Bad Luck but a Happy Ending” award goes to Tony Moritz and Sam Nester
“Saddle Sore”
Asthma – 6 Hour Rogaine, 4 Hour Cyclogaine – Second Valley
Setters: Tom Bullock & Peter Clarke
The two setters were walking to what appeared on the map as an obvious saddle to tag a control. When they arrived at the spot, one of them was insistent that it wasn’t a saddle. After a lengthy debate over the definition of a saddle, the other setter finally relented and they ended up placing the control further along the spur in another position. This control appears to have played on their minds, as they retold the story several times during the event.
The “Saddle Sore” award goes to Tom Bullock & Peter Clarke
“Acting like a Silly Goat”
State Champs/AUMC 24/12 Roving – Silver Anniversary – Wirrabara Forest
Setters: Anton Seketee & Cameron Roy
This is a report by one team member of their mishaps during the event.
“The bush did us both a world of good. A few ‘small hiccups’ mind you. I lost my partner 2 hours into the event. We were traversing a bitch of a hill – one minute she was 20m up slope from me, the next minute she was gone. I called out to her and thought I heard her bleating at me just up ahead so I bleated back at her and followed a goat to what I thought was my partner. Meanwhile my partner called out to me, didn’t get a response but thought she heard me breaking sticks as I moved through the scrub. So she followed the sound of the breaking sticks to find me …..turns out it was a goat and a different one to that which I was following. By the time I realised I was following a goat, I could not pinpoint our last known point so decided to make my way to the next control where we had both been heading and wait there. Unfortunately my partner had different ideas. When she realised her goat wasn’t me she panicked and thought I must have fallen down the slope we were traversing and started to try and work out the trajectory of my fall to go searching for my body. Somewhere in this time she also lost her compass.”
Their situation must have improved dramatically after this as they went on to win the women’s open 24 hour.
The “Acting like a Silly Goat” award goes to Kate Furness and Nicole Anderson
“Help Can Sometimes be So Near Yet So Far”
State Champs/AUMC 24/12 Roving – Silver Anniversary – Wirrabara Forest
Setters: Anton Seketee & Cameron Roy
The safety car picked up a guy with a twisted ankle. His 2 partners were keen to make their own way back on foot. The injured person insisted his team-mates take his daypack as it contained their only mobile phone and compass. Returning to the Hash House the injured person discovered he actually still had the compass in his pocket. His team-mates without the compass then became lost and decided to ring for help. They turned on their mate’s phone only to find it required a pin number to access it. Unable to use the phone they then had to relocate themselves and find their way back.
The “Help Can Sometimes be So Near Yet So Far” award goes to Michael Waskiel, Konrad Romaniuk, Jak Allen
