A great weekend at Kapinnie Lakes
Monday, 23 August 2010
Andrew Schwenke at Kapinnie Lakes
Swampy areas made for careful route choice
Full results are available on the Results Page Last weekend Port Lincoln Orienteers held the Eyre
Peninsula Championships at Kapinnie, near Cummins. The club had produced a brand new map of the
Kapinnie Lakes area, so neither their members nor ours had any experience of
the watery terrain. After the wild wet
weather of the weekend it was more
watery than anyone expected too. There
was much discussion and trepidation as to how we were going to navigate around
all that water, with all but the hardiest (or was it the rashest) deciding to
“go around” instead of “go across” the lakes, as no-one was too sure how deep
some of them were. The area consists of around a hundred small lakes,
most of which are dry salt pans for most of the year, but after the reasonable rains
this winter the majority of them had filled, and after the rain of the previous
week, even the dry areas were very wet and slippery. Negotiating the road to the start area on
Saturday, was an exercise in itself, with many cars having to be towed from the
mire. A local farmer kindly left his
tractor nearby for emergencies, but between man power and 4WD power, everyone
was safely pushed or pulled in and out.
After more rain Saturday night it was decided that most of the cars
should not attempt the track again, so a warm-up walk of over a kilometre was the only option for
those who couldn't hitch a ride in on Sunday.
Saltbush Club managed to field 12 members in four
teams for the relays on Saturday, but things were looking grim after one member
had to withdraw at the last minute. Ten
minutes before the start the C team only had one starter, but a very unwilling
fill-in was found, and then the third member arrived just in time, after
managing to negotiate the boggy road.
Several very heavy showers made the running challenging, as did the
slippery ground, and quite a few of the 36 competitors took tumbles. One runner, after slipping in the mud was
“lucky” enough to take a second fall in a lake, thus washing off all the mud
from the first fall. After the shaky
start, Our C team managed to claim the trophy for their best combined time,
while Lincoln teams retained the A and B trophies.
Sunday was a much more pleasant day, with over 60
competitors entering the 15 badge classes. It was nice to see many Adelaide
entries too . Commendable times were made
by some of our Saltbush members, but on the day numbers won out, with Lincoln
Club taking the overall honours this year.
A complete rundown of results can be seen on the Lincoln Orienteers
website for anyone interested. Despite the wind and rain and mud, it was an enjoyable
weekend, with great hospitality and food provided by Port Lincoln as
usual. Thanks also to Kapinnie Football
Club for the use of their clubrooms. The kitchen and hot showers were put to
good use, as was the floor on Saturday night, where many bunked down. None of the hardier souls who camped outside
were blown away either, which was a miracle, considering the weather. It was nice to experience the different
(flat) green, wet, countryside of the south, and it wasn't too unbearable to
get drenched and covered in mud, and it was quite funny to see our score cards
and maps turn into soggy, crumpled bits of paper, but.... Not sure we would want to do it too often! Our dry, hilly and sometimes prickly countryside is
probably more interesting, but.... It was pretty good running on flat ground for a
change! Article & photographs by Betty Nottle Saltbush Orienteers Note: More photographs on Lincoln Website
Kapinnie Lakes
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