Ella volunteered to set the courses for a Wednesday night Twilight event to be held at the arboretum with Andy as her controller and Grandpa as organiser. They spent several hot summer afternoons checking potential control sites before finalising the courses. Extra care was needed to ensure all the rules (mostly unnecessary) set by the arboretum were abided by. These rules included notbeign allowed to cross the main road in the arboretum (limiting route choice); not being able to use stands or anything like signage that stuck in the ground! Then as for hanging the controls, there were many guidelines about which structures or trees and which branches could be used!!
Then Andy realised he would be overseas at the time of the event so I was required to step in. An early finish at work was needed to ensure we could get the 30 controls out in time - Ella doing a loop on foot while I was on my bike carrying stands and blocks!! Interesting but we got the job done with plenty of time.
The rain thankfully kept away and the overcast conditions dampened the hot sun at bay. The event ran really smoothly. Ella greeted many new comers and walked them to the start while providing instructions on how to orienteer and map read! One particular newish group arrived included a Dad and ~ 6yr old daughter. Funnily while they were walking to the start with Ella, a brown snake crossed the track immediately in front of them! The girl was freaked out. Ella managed to calm her down by telling her that the snake was heading off to bed! This was a good enough explanation for her and a little more encouragement saw her beginning her course. Unfortunately she was a dnf at the end after loosing her SI stick (or OACT's) out on the course!
Ella received many lovely compliments from various orienteers which was nice for her. I'm sure she learnt lots too. The controls were collected quickly ensuring we made it out before the 8pm gate closure!
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