We have justed completed the sixth day of orienteering at the Swiss orienteering week. Todays event centre was on the edge of townx and we caught a gondala 300 metres up the hill. The courses wete mostly downhill, but the forest was old rockfall, so the forest was full of large rocks and deep depressions between.

Ians course crossed below a cable car wire, and there were deep holes between the rocks. He was happy to get through the area safely. Ian saw a large frog in this area,about 50mm long with dark spots on a green body.

After a big uphill walk to the start from the gondola, Raewyn had 2 controls in an intricate rocky forest area and then a long run downhill collecting controls. It was Raewyns best run of the week.

We both have sore legs from downhill running and will have a relaxing day tomorrow in Zug, before flying out the next day for NZ.

We have had for days of orienteering now and they have all been very unique. The mossy forest in Flimswauld, the wide open alpine valley. The courses had alot of climb and not many controls. Ihad 130m climb to the first control. Yesterday running on the scree and solid rock at the foot of the vorab glacier was fun. We needed two gondalas and three chair lifts to get to the event centre for the day. Amazing views and sunny days. Spent some time looking at the alpine flowers after our run yesterday.

Today it is a rest day so Raewyn went on a train ride through the Rhine gorge in an open carriage and then ate cake and drank coffee by a lake in the sun. Ian had his own adventure on guided climb of the historic Pinut route. He was not very reassured when the guide said the rungs of the ladder were 100yrs old. He is right out of adrenaline now but pleased he made it! The route involves about three big climbs with ladders and stairs and a ledge cut into the rock. The trip down was just about as challenging although a different route as the weather changed and thunder was rolling around the hills and some hail and rain added to the mix.

We are now in Flims at SOW orienteering event.

Yesterday we had a training event in the local forest. The area was an old rock fall, and it had many knolls and depressions. It was very mossy and soft underfoot.

Todays event was in an adjoining forest. Raewyns course started with 4 controls in the detailed area the same as the previous day, mapped at 1:5,000. It is a lovely damp forest area with lots of rocks and moss but if you lose touch with the map it is very difficult to relocate as every rock and cliff starts to look familiar. It is hard to stay on line due to the small rocks and holes under foot. The other 10 controls were mapped at 1:10,000. Apart from getting a bee sting at control 5 the course was challenging with one large hill climb, and was getting used to the map by control 8.

Ian is running M45 short, and he completed his course in 48 minutes. The area he ran through was less detailed than on Raewyns course, but included 2 large hill climbs.

After the event we had to visit the local petrol station to buy food for the next few days. Supermarkets here do not open on Sundays, and Monday is the national day so most shops are closed tomorrow too. It was a pity that we had to find an Italian restaurant last night, but now we have some food in our apartment.

Tomorrows event Crap Sogn Gion, and we catch 2 gondolas to get there.

We are in Chur, Switzerland, and yesterday went on an amazing mountain railway to Arosa. Ian lost count of the number of tunnels and bridges. There was no straight track, the train was always going into a new bend, and often a bridge over a steep gorge lead into a curved tunnel. A very enjoyable trip.

We competed in a sprint orienteering event in the old parr of Chur last night. Lots of narrow alley ways, and heaps of squares, each with a fountain. We also met our friend Jurg who we met in NZ 20 years ago and we visited here 5 years ago.

This moring the market is setting up right outside our hotel window. Fresk veges, croisants and buns.

Today we catch the bus to Flims where the SOW orienteering event is based for the next week. Lots of mountains to run on.

Steven is safely back in Rotorua with the heater on, and the cat is home from the cattery. Angela leaves Stockholm on Sunday for NZ. Angela was a very creditable 17th over the 5 days at Oringen.

Ian and Raewyn

Now in Switzerland

We have now reached Chur in Switzerland, where we stay 2 nihhts before travelling a short distance to Flims for the orienteering.

Chur centre is a lovelly old town with narrow cobbled lanes and 4 storey buildings. Below our hotel is a restaurant, and there are another two restaurants either side. From our hotel room we can see the arched gate through the town wall to the newer part of town.

Last night we had fondu 2 doors from our hotel. Ian dribbled cheese everywhere!

Today Ian might ride the train 1000m vertically to Arosa. He thinks that it must be a cog train.

Raewyn has found some caches whoch are described in English, so we might be able to find one. Yesterdays cache was never found as we didnt understand the German description.

Now in Munich

We must thank our friends, Eveliina and Petteri, and their extended family for hosting us at Kangasala. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all.

We are now in Munich. During the first afternoon here we did a tour which showd sites where the Third Reich and German resistance were active in the city. It was very appropriate for Steven as he had studied the origins of the second world war last year in history. It was a walking tour and we covered a large part of the city from the early stages of the Nazi party through to the party headquarters.

Yesterday we visited Nymphenberg palace which is a large palace and grounds which were built by Max Emanuel in 1664. The grounds were wonderful to stroll around. Maniqured flower beds and hedges and fountains then small forest areas.

We then visited the BMW car world and museum. Steven was fascinated by the displays of cars and dispalys. Ian was more interested in the architecture of the buildings. There were opportunities to test drive a new BMW car, but with all of the traffic on the roads, we didnt take up that opportunity.
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We returned to the city through the English garden and stumbled across a beer garden, complete with bavarian band. Lovely food, and lots of beer being drunk.

Our accomodation here in Munich is a pension just acros the road from the train station. It is very comfortable, but just outside our room is a crazy intersection with 6 roads meeting, 6 tram lines and a bus tour company. At night it has been reasonably quiet, but now (10am) it is rather busy.

Steven left our tour last night to return to NZ, so now there is just Ian and Raewyn left to visit Switzerland, land of fondu and mountains! We travel by train this afternoon to a small town called Chur for 2 nights before a short trip to Flims where the Swiss orienteering week will be held.

Angela is competing at Oringen in Sweden before heading back to Waikato Uni. She is doing very well in the competition, placing 22nd on the first day, then 27th, and 9th yesterday, making her 17th overall out of 83 competitors in womens 20 elite.

More sun and blueberries in Finland

We are almost at the end of our visit to Finland, flying out to Munich tomorrow.

We have had a very enjoyable time here at Kanagasala with our friends. Petteri rowed us 6 km down the lake and back yesterday, as he was having a break from running. It was a long way and we could not have rowed that far. We visited two islands, one with a cache on a high vertical cliff, and another island about 1km long that we walked along.

Yesterdays walk in the forest was disrupted by frequent stops to eat blueberries, which are everywhere on the ground.

Today we competed at a Super Sprint orienteering event that was held around the property where we are staying. It was by invitation only, with about 20 competitors. Three maps with 32 controls, including four controls in the lake. Winning time was 9.5 minutes for 1.7 km. Sadly only 1 of the 3 NZ team members successfully completed their course, both Steven and Ian mispunched a control. But Raewyn finished a very creditable 7th, 3rd women! After the event we had a sauna, dip in the lake and food which included a HUGE strawberry cake! Yummy.

Lakes and geocaches in Finland

We are now in the land of blueberries and lakes. I have lost count of the number of lakes that we have seen.

Yesterday we walked to the nearby forest and picked blueberries. They have a special scooper that cleverly strips the berries from the plants and collects them in a container. Later on a large blueberry pie was made, and we have enjoyed eating the pie with ice cream for a couple of days.

Today we paddled a couple of kayaks on a lake with lots of islands. Ian and Steven were in a kayak which seemed to zig-zag down the lake, and was a bit like a yacht when the light breeze got up. One of the islands had a geocache, but it was difficult to identify the correct island. We had paddled right past the island and had to backtrack, but eventually found the cache hidden in what looked like a bird house.

Last night we experienced a sauna. It was fun to experience the sauna, and then have a dip in the lake, before returning to the sauna. We were very relaxed afterwards and had soft skin.

This afternoon has been spent relaxing beside the lake at the front of the house. We swam, sat in the sun and ate more blueberry pie. Steven spent all afternoon reading his book in the hammock.

Summer in Finland is very enjoyable.

Last day in St Petersburg, Russia

Today (20/7) is our last day in Russia, and we returned to The Hermitage museum because we had missed going to the Gold Rooms, which Steven had so much interest in visiting. This certainly was a highlight, sorry no cameras allowed in the Gold room so I have no photos. But take my work for it, there was a lot of gold, in many different forms and combined with diamonds and emeralds. A lot of the gold was from Scythian burial mounds found in Siberia, but there was also a gold Aztec piece that had been owned by Mr Stroganoff.

We crossed town and visited the Aurora navy ship, which had a role in the Russian revolution so was on Stevens "to visit" list. The Aurora ship fired a blank shot to signal the start of the storming of the Winter Palace to arrest the provisional government.

And we returned to Finland on the new fast 'Allegro' train. Change of money and language, not to say that we learnt a lot of Russian, and we only know a few Finnish words.

Spent 7 hours at the Hermitage museum. The building used to be the winter palace for the Tsars, and it is huge and lavishly decorated. Many rooms had numerous chandliers, stone columns, marquetry furniture and floors, and ornate woodwork. Saw paintings by Rembrandt, da Vinci and other painters.

Also visited Church on Spilled Blood. The roof has 9 onion shaped domes, some gold and some in mosaics. Inside is completely decorated in mosaics.

Steven did some shopping for items he planned to buy when he left home.

Hope to visit gold room at Hermitage tomorrow, before boarding the train for Helsinki.

It is 10.30pm on our second day in St Petersburg. We have just got back to our hotel after dinner, the sun is dimming, it is about 23degrees, and we have had a busy day sight seeing.

Steven was in awe to visit the St Peters cathedral and see the tombs of the tsars through the ages. The cathedral was elaborately painted inside with immense chandeliers.

Ian enjoyed his beef stroganoff, which was developed by Mr Stroganoff in this city. The ice cream and fresh berries was nice too!

Raewyn enjoyed visiting St Isaacs cathedral which has 3rd largest dome in Europe and an impressive amount of gold statues. It was built with 18 different granites.

We had a boat cruise around the canals, in the city they call the Venice of the north. It gave a different perspective of the city and places we had visited.

We will visit the Hermitage museum tomorrow, where Steven wants to see the gold room. And then we head back to Helsinki on the train on Wednesday.

The roads are full of insane drivers, which makes crossing roads interesting. It is best to follow the locals at the crossings.

The train from Helsinki was the Allegro, which is a ne fast train on a purpose built track. It has only been running since November, and it travels at up to 220 km/hour.

Heading to St Petersburg today

Yesterday was the last day of the FIN 5 orienteering event. All of us but Angela had found each day of orienteering was a serious challenge. The forest and maps were very different to what we were used to. As Angela say, the forest pushed you around and you have to work hard all of the time to keep focused and on the direction that you want. One small mistake means that you are slightly of course and it was difficult to relocate.

Angela had a very creditable 5th placing overall in D20E, with her first experiences of Finnish forest. The rest of us held up the bottom ends of our grades. Ian finally felt a bit familiar with the forest on the last day, with his best runs being his first and last. It was difficult to select a suitable grade for Steven to run, and he persevered in H21AL, finishing 3 of his courses, and he stated that he was almost 3 hours on the last day. Raewyn enjoyed the challenge of the forest and was improving each day. It was amazing to be at an event with 3,500 competitors, the organisation worked like clockwork and the forest was always full of competitors.

We are very appreciative of our local hosts and good friends, Ville, Karoliina and Villiina. We had the use of their apartment and they transported us to the events. THANK YOU so much! We hope to meet up again at an orienteering event in NZ or Finland.

Day 3 FIN 5 orienteering event

Today there was anew event centre for the next 3 days of the competition. It is based at a sports centre which is next to a lake as shown.

Ian's course circled a small lake in the forest, which is an unusual experience for NZ orienteering.

Day 4 FIN 5 orienteering event

We have just completed Day 4 of the FIN 5 event. It was a bit drizzly today, but the event centre is at a large sports complex and there is a mixture of tents and buildings for protection.

Ian had a lot of trouble with the navigation today. Number 3 control was a major challenge, taking the scenic route to the lake and quarter of the way around the lake, he found that he had ended up at the far end of the lake and had almost circumnavigated it. Ian is not used to finding lovelly lakes on his course, and eventually relocated back to the part of the map where he should have been. Ian had the buffet lunch today at the Kisakallio sport centre, 8 euros for an all you can eat of salads and two hot dishes. Quite different to the NZ orienteering event food stalls.

Raewyn said that her navigation between controls had improved, but was still challenged finding the control as there was lots of map details around the control.

Last night we visited the Tytyrin underground limestone mine museum which is on the edge of Lohja. There was a drive down a spiral tunnel to 88 m below the ground level where there were dispalys of mine machinery, and a light dispaly in a huge cavern. Steven and Angela had not had enough exercise for the day, and took the option of climbing the 550 stairs back to the surface! Steven wants to buy the large rock mover that the mine company was selling for 1 euro / kg, but he doesn't know how much it weighs.

Tomorrow is the last day of the FIN 5 orienteering event. We will all travel to Helsinki after the event and stay one night there. Ian, Raewyn and Steven then travel by train to St Petersburg for 3 nights before returning to Finland. Angela is hoping to stay in Finland for a few more days of orienteering before traveling to Sweden for Oringen, which is a large 5 day orienteering event.

Our host, Ville has provided some reindeer for us to taste tonight. He has also got some Leipajuunsto (cheese) to go with our Lakkahillo (orange cloud berries).

FIN 5 orienteering competition

We have now had 2 days of competition at the FIN 5 orienteering event. We have all been challenged by the Finnish orienteering terrain, which has lots of medium sized hills with cliffs, areas of rock and boulders. The maps require detailed map reading as there is a lack of tracks / roads to use. It is just amazing to be part of an event with 3,500 competitors with 29 countries represented. The organisation of the event works like clockwork.

Angela saya the orienteering is 'AWESOME'. She is doing the best of the family. Her placings have been 4th and 11th. For todays rest day she competed in a sprint event around the local streets and parks in Lohja and came 11th. This event attracted many of the big name orienteers, and it was also a World Ranking event, so Angela did very well in the competition. We did not know the results, but over the commentary we kep hearing 'Angela Simpson', but did not know how what her results were. When I asked a local who was winning, the lady replied with the name of the local star who had not even started! The only other Kiwi competing in the sprint was Ross Morrison. Here is a photo of Angela and Ross talking to Ville Sundberg about their courses.

Today Raewyn, Ian and Steven travelled by bus to Helsinki. The main attraction was Suomenlinna, which was a fort on an island in Helsinki harbour built by the Swedish and French. Steven enjoyed all of the history of the fort since 1700. The history of the fort included Sweden, Russia, Britain, France and Finland.

We are hoping for an enjoyable days orienteering in a new area tomorrow. Raewyn is looking forward to the Salmon soup after her run. And there is a lake beside the event for the after-run swim. The lake might end up a bit salty after 3,500 orienteers.

Now in Finland

We are now traveling as a family and are in Lohja, Finland for the FIN 5 day orienteering event. The weather here is very summery, with temperatures in mid to high 20's. We have been here 2 days and have had swims in 2 lakes, which were very refreshing. We are staying in our friends house which is very comfortable‚ thanks Ville and Karolliina.

Ville has taken us for 2 orienteering training sessions in nearby forests. We have found that the forests are quite different to home. They are full of rock, large rock on the surface covered in dry crunchy moss, rock cliffs, and boulders. Underfoot is large broken rock. The marshes are generally dry and only distinguishable by the slightly longer grass and presence of blueberries. Yes, there are blueberry bushes throughout the forest, and we have been pausing often to sample them, they are very sweet and yummy.

Today we were able to find a geocache on the outskirts of Lohja. It was at a site where melting glacier water had created a 5 metre deep hole in the limestone rock. It is our first Finnish geocache, but we hope to find some more during our visit here.

Raewyn, Ian, Angela and Steven

JWOC rest day - Malbourk castle for Steven and Ian

Today was the JWOC rest day. The competitors were heading to a beach on the Baltic.

Raewyn ran a long distance O event. The course was in the same foest as the JWOC long event. She had agreat run over the large hills through the open forest. It was the cleanest run she has had in a long time. Happy to have finished 7minutes behind the winner, couldnt have gone any faster.

Ian and Steven travelled by train for 2hours to Malbourk to visit a huge medieval castle. They followed an audio tour for 3 hours visiting lots of rooms in the castle. Next time you see Steven ask him about the baker, and the latrines.

A warm sunny day, our first warm Polish day.

Tomorrow (wednesday) is the JWOC middle distance qualifier. They compete for entry to the A middle distance on Friday.

JWOC long - Monday

Today the long distance event was held at Wejherowo. We could walk to the event from our hotel in town as the finish was in a park beside the forest.

Competition was fierce with only a few seconds making a difference to the placings.

Angela finished 21st with the first, second and third placegetters from yesterdays sprint taking todays top places in the same order. Angela found the hills quite tough. She only had trouble with one control near the end, which cost about 35 seconds. Angela is looking forward to a rest day tomorrow, when the athlets are off to a beach at the Baltic sea.

WOMENS
Ida Bobach 55.23 Denmark
Emma Klingenburg 56.51 Denmark
Tove Alexandersson 57.37 Sweden

Angela Simpson 64.37 21st
Kate Morrison 67.00
Laura Robertson 1.20.41
Jamie Goodwin 1.29.29
Selena Metherill 1.25.08

MEN
Yngve Skogstad 68.49 Norway
Robert Meri Austria
Lucas Bassett 70.36 France

Toby Scott 77.03
Matt Ogden 78.47
Nick Hann 133.13
Tim Robertson 134.07
Gene Beveridge 134.33

Angela is 6th in JWOC sprint

Angela came 6th in the JWOC sprint today. She was all smiles on the podium as she got her IOF diploma and roses. She had a hard slog up the hill through the forest for the first controls. The later part of the course was around the streets and parks of Lebork where Angela was careful checking her controls, but found the route choices straight forward.

Toby Scott and Matt Ogden were very pleased with their runs.


WOMENS
Ida Bobach 14.29 Denmark
Ema Klingengberg 14.31 Denmark
T Novotna 14.41 Cze
T Alexandersson 14.59 Swe
J Gross 15.15 Swiss
Angela Simpson 15.16 NZ

Laura Robertson 16.48
Jamie Goodwin 18.37
Selena Metherill 18.45
Anna Gray 18.51
Kate Morrison 19.42

MENS
L Bassett Fr 15.07

Matt Ogden 16.13
Toby Scott 16.26
Gene Beveridge 16.42
Scott McDonald 17.02
Tim Robertson 17.26
Sorry missed Nick Hanns time

JWOC opening ceremoney

Last night was the JWOC opening ceremoney. It was quite a sight to watch all of the athletes parade throgh the old town of Wejherowo to the town square. The parade was lead by the Polish navy band who were very professional. Steven was amused when they played yellow submarine. Kate Morrison carried the NZ flag.

Today is the jwoc sprint. we run a middle distance event this morning in the forest and then watch the sprint in Lebork, which starts at 2pm. It sounds as though the sprint will be partly in the old town and partly in the neighbouring forest\park. Hope to have some results for you tomorrow morning NZ time.

We are now in Gdansk. Poland after 48 hours travelling. This city has some very nice old buildings and our hostel is right in the old town. Walked throuh old town gates and along cobbled roads. Town gate was originally built in 1574 and Neptunes fountain was built in 1615. The city has had a long shipping history and has a crane at the river edge that was built in 1300 and it was powered walking inside large wheels. Makes NZ history seem short.

JWOC starts with the opening ceremoney tonight at 8pm. Sounds like the NZ team has finished their training. Weather is warm but grey.

Found our first geocache for this trip. It was Raewyn and Ians 600th cache and it was in Gdansk!

Heading off to Poland soon

Our bags are packed and we leave for Poland on Thursday.

Angela has been in Poland for over a week now. She was in Gdansk for one night and then caught the train to Wejherowo.

She has been training in the forests around Wejherowo (pronounced veyherovo) where the JWOC events will be held next week. Angela has now moved into the hotel where they will be for 2 weeks. This hotel is better than the previous hotel, although it is slightly out of town. Angela says:

The local dishes are interesting and food is quite cheap. We had pizza one night too. The Victoria is nice though. I am sharing with Kate and Laura. The food here is classy restaurant style. Cooked lunches and various soups and mains for dinner. All quite fine. We are buying water now as it the water in this hotel is a bit odd. Got a 6litre bottle pretty cheap.

We had the most summery day so far today. The forest is so nice. I feel like I am getting quite used to the terrain style now after almost a week training here. I have been to heaps of the training maps now. Most of the terrain is hilly spur gully style but you still have to be very accurate with compass to get exact direction. There are other training areas we have been to which are much more vague and flat. These maps give you a chance to make sure your navigation is on spot without tiring yourself out. I have been happy with my training so far.

Hope to be able to post here regularly during our travels.

Ian, Raewyn and Steven

We took Angela to Auckland airport on Saturday and she is now winging her way to Gdansk. She will arrive in Gdansk tomorrow morning NZ time. The weather forecast for Gdansk is 18C and slightly cloudy, which is better than our current rainy weather.

The rest of the JWOC team will be leaving NZ on Wednesday, so Angela will be settled in Wejherowo by the time they arrive.

Here is a view of the hostel in Gdansk that Angela will stay at, and the rest of us stay there in a couple of weeks.

Plantation Farm Red 2 course

 

Pine Plantation

Competed at Pine Plantation today. Plenty of hills and rather slippery today.