Our roving reporter, Bruce Greenhalgh, looks at the recent ‘Ramble’ from a different viewpoint
Mid-morning on Sunday at the Oladdie rogaine and Team 46 (Chris Graves, Farley Wright and myself) decided that our route back to the Hash House would be ‘conservative’, thus ensuring a timely return without any dramas. It possibly wasn’t the correct decision as we might have had time to collect one more outlying control (yep, one of those decisions). However, our less frantic pace did give me the opportunity to take in more of my surroundings than usual. And what surroundings! As we made our way down the Oladdie Creek under a clear azure sky the sunshine glistened on the clear waters in the creek. Majestic river red gums lined the watercourses and were frequented by colourful birdlife, and on the banks of the creek and into the distance a sea of vibrant green undergrowth prevailed. Even this perennially dissatisfied old bugger was impressed.
I later thought that if I was creating an advertising campaign to promote rogaining it would contain pictures of the scenes I’d witnessed on Sunday morning. Following that line of thought, I wondered what else I might use from the Oladdie event for an ad campaign. I figure that a few photos of people gathered around the campfire at night would also add lustre to rogaining’s appeal. Who doesn’t like a campfire? I might neglect to mention though, that the campfire at Oladdie was the only thing that made being outdoors after dark tolerable. Away from the fire it was literally freezing. The days may have been sunny and pleasant but the nights were cold, like minus five degrees cold (roughly half way between the temperatures your fridge and freezer operate at). In the mornings everything was covered in frost and the water in the portaloos froze. The ‘Ranges Ramble’ is almost certainly going to be remembered as the ‘Frosty’ or ‘Icy’ rogaine.
Instead of mentioning the frost, my advertising campaign would provide images of some of the great views found on the course. We collected control 91 and the views from the summit were – take your pick of travel brochure descriptors – ‘stunning’ or ‘breathtaking’ or ‘spectacular’. Again, though, I might skip describing the long slog that reaching the summit required. It was the sort of climb that leaves you breathless or using what little breath you have to curse your route choice.
Not long after control 91 the light began to fail. Darkness doesn’t lend itself to great images (shots of the moon maybe?) so it would be up to the copywriters to make this phase of rogaining attractive. Perhaps concentrate on describing the excitement the onset of night brings? In my case the excitement usually approaches something like fear and my concerns were compounded at Oladdie by the plummeting temperature. I recall, having put on all my various layers, wondering whether I had enough clothing or whether I would be getting acquainted with hypothermia. Once underway it was tolerable though, and, of course, we were distracted by trying to work out if the latest creek tributary was marked on the map and all that sort of stuff.
We made it back to the HH alive (always a bonus) and tried not to think about what starting the next day would mean. As an advertiser I’d simply ignore any mention of the commitment required to leave a warm sleeping bag and prepare for Sunday rogaining amidst the frost. Similarly, I’d delete anything about how the ‘vibrant green’, noted earlier, hid rocks and branches making crossing the verdant sections slow going and a potentially ankle spraining experience. Anybody who visited control 85 will know what I’m talking about.
What I’d do in my ad campaign is try to make something personally appealing to potential rogainers. I know this is an effective strategy because I was delighted, and my opinion of rogaining elevated, by being named in a control description. Control 40’s clue read ‘The broad spur (for Bruce)’. The reference, which I’m sure is mystifying to many, is to one of my earlier reports where I nominated a ‘broad spur’ as being one of the clues that worry me. In my experience a broad spur can be a large, uniform area that often makes control finding difficult. My aversion was remembered by event coordinator, setter and possessor of a steel trap style memory, Trent McInerney. Thank you, Trent!
My favourite clue or feature is a saddle and there were a pleasing number of these at Oladdie. At their finest, saddles feature two distinct high points connected by an aesthetically pleasing downward arch with two watercourses running in opposite directions off the arch’s base. This arrangement allows you to locate yourself to the nearest millimetre. Oh! If I could imbue an ad campaign for rogaining with the joy a good saddle feature brings me I’d surely be on a winner.
The joys (and sorrows) of rogaining are, of course, only possible through the selfless work of volunteers. Their efforts were made all the more laudable at Oladdie because of the weather. Trent described to me a day he spent setting as being not only cold, but wet and windy as well. And here’s me whining about a little frost. I am indebted to the cast and crew who created the Oladdie Ranges Ramble, thank you one and all for your time, energy and ability to withstand the cold.
