ACTRA’s 4th of July Winter 4 hour ‘Rob Roygaine’. This year we were back in the Rob Roy Nature Reserve just south of Tuggeranong for the first time for 10 years.

First time rogaine course setter, David Poland, came up with a devious tight course making the most of the steep slopes and views of the region.

The Hash House was on private property accessed from the Monaro Highway.

 

 

 

Final Instructions

Thank you for entering the 2021 ACTRA Winter 4 Hour rogaine. Team leaders, make sure that everyone on your team reads this whole document carefully. 

COVID-19 Measures

• If you have recently returned from overseas, or if you have travelled from a known COVID-19 ‘hotspot’ without a designated period of quarantine/isolation or are currently subject to a 'stay at home' health direction; or if you are awaiting the result of a COVID-19 test; or if you are feeling unwell, or have flu-like symptoms, please stay home.
• We will be using the Check In CBR app for this event.  Posters will be displayed at the Hash House. Please ensure you have checked in. 
• We have tried to make this event as contact-free as possible. Gloved organisers will also be handing out/collecting maps and tags with as few touches as possible. Please drop your team-numbered flight plan directly into the box provided. Touch points at the toilets will be cleaned regularly.
• Please maintain a safe 1.5m distance from other teams at all times - including while doing your route planning, at the briefings, at the start and finish, and when approaching controls. 
• We have made the navlights hands-free by strapping them to the same feature as the control flag, mounted perpendicular to the feature and ready to use without needing to touch it with your hands - just present your navlight wrist tag to the reader so the navlight flashes in the usual way.

Indemnity Form

Please bring to the event a printed and completed indemnity form located here. Check the team list for the event on the home page to ensure that all details for your team including category are correct. If incorrect, please contact the Event Contact prior to the event. 

• Remember to include your team number and car registration.
• Ensure that all team members sign a separate indemnity form. Parents or guardians must sign for people under 18. Also provide registration number(s) of your car(s) at the Hash House. Be sure to put your team number on the form. 
• Present your completed indemnity form at the registration desk.
• Medical advice: All competitors should consider advising their partner of any pre-existing medical conditions (such as diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, susceptibility to anaphylaxis) that may require first-aid action on the course. This should include a description of the symptoms, the required first-aid action, and the location in their bag of any medication (such as sugar, ventolin, epi-pen, anti-histamines).

How to Get There

The Hash House is located at the property known as ‘Rose Hill’ (but signposted 'Rob Roy' on the gate) on the Monaro Highway, just south of Canberra. We have permission to enter the farm land on foot, but parking is only available near the highway (see below).

Parking space is limited, so please consider car pooling if it is safe for you to do so.

The start/finish and large ACTRA marquee/catering will be 400-500m from the parking area - allow enough time to walk there for the start at 10.00am. 

Heading south from Canberra, travel 7.8km from the Monaro Highway/Johnson Road junction. You will pass the Royalla Solar Farm (on your right) then come to the junction with Old Cooma Road (on your left). The entrance to the HH site is immediately after this junction, on the right hand side of the highway, but there is NO dedicated turning lane from the highway into the property (the turning lane marked there is for the northbound traffic turning into Old Cooma Road).

DO NOT QUEUE ON THE HIGHWAY to turn right into the property. Continue on and do a U-turn where it is safe to do so. There are a number of places where you can safely pull over on to the left hand verge then turn back without crossing solid/double lines. Take care as oncoming traffic is travelling at high speed. 

When you turn off the highway, go straight ahead across the concrete ford and park as directed on the left and right between the ford and the landowner’s residential fence. 

Once that car parking is filled, overflow parking is available back beside the service road next to the highway - not further onto the private property. 

Please do not block the service road itself as it is used by other adjacent rural lessees.

When you leave again, please drive out of the formed roadway, not straight onto the highway from the grassed area.

  

Registration, Map Availability, Start Times

The event will commence by way of a mass start at 10.00am sharp on Sunday 4 July, with a novice briefing at 9.40am and a final briefing at 9.50am. Registration will open at 8.30am.

The registration tent will be just beyond the car park so you can collect maps to do route planning in your cars if you wish. As parking space is limited, if you want to set up tables and chairs, please set up near the registration tent not in the car park. You can walk the 400-500m to the marquee if you want to do your preparation there ready for the start.

Toilets will be closer to the start than to the car park.

To register, one person only per team to register and collect maps. That person will need to:

• Bring first aid kit, so that it can be checked; see below for what it must contain
• Bring one completed indemnity form per team member, and
• check in via the Check In CBR app for all team members. 

Electronic scoring: As this event is using the Navlight system of scoring, each team member will be issued with wristbands and tags upon registration.

You will also be given pre-marked maps, control descriptions, course setter's notes and a small copy of the map to be used as a flight plan. We recommend that you arrive at least an hour prior to the start of the event to allow enough time for final preparations and route planning. Each team must mark their intended route showing direction of travel on the flight plan and hand it in before starting. 

REMEMBER There will be a 400-500m walk to the start (depending on where you have parked), so please allow enough time to get there for the briefing.

Map and Course Details

There will be one SRA4 map, 1:25,000 with 10 m contour interval. Magnetic north lines are marked on the map. Out of bounds areas are marked in purple shading. The course setters notes and control descriptions have been printed on the back. The altitude ranges from approximately 780 to 1020 m. 

The map is printed on Teslin paper which is very tough and generally does not need to be covered in contact. 

Wooded areas are generally clear navigating, but in watercourses and open fields you may well find significant thistle/prickly vegetation. Leg cover is recommended. Recent rain has made the steep terrain and the foot and vehicle tracks quite slippery, and more rain is forecast for the weekend of the event, so a change of clothes including footwear for after the event is also recommended.  

Water

Please bring enough water for Hash House use and for at least 3 hours on course. There are no water drops on the course. We do not recommend drinking any water found on the course without sterilisation. 

Camping and other information

Camping is not available at the HH for this event.

Please bring your own plate, bowl, cup and cutlery to enjoy the afternoon tea style Hartley catering - hot soup, cheese toasties, hot drinks and cakes will be available.

Please Bring to the Event

• completed indemnity form
• map will be printed on Teslin waterproof paper with control descriptions on reverse side. Contact or map case optional.
• Coloured pens, pencils, scissors, highlighter pen, table and chairs or board for map preparation. The marquee will be available for planning.
• Some food for before and/or during the event.
• Your own plate, bowl, cup and cutlery for catering.
• Water for your use at the Hash House and to start the event with (there is no running water on site).
• Portaloos will be at the Hash House. You may like to bring your own hand sanitiser.

Carry on Course

Mandatory Equipment

• Whistle (per person)
• Basic first aid kit (that includes 2 compression bandages and 1 wound dressing) (per team)
• It is likely to be cold and wet, so also bring warm weather gear from list below

Other items we recommend that you carry/wear

• food for the event
• water for 3 hours
• compass
• gaiters and/or long trousers – recommended for protection from thistles 
• watch
• pen/pencil
• Mobile phone for emergencies
• Space blanket (per person)
• Adequate warm clothes for the conditions (noting conditions can change quickly): 
  • raincoat, warm jacket
  • thermals + a spare if it is wet 
  • gloves 
  • beanie 

Mobile Phone Coverage

Mobile phone coverage is good across the lower/open and higher parts of the course, but patchy in the denser wooded hillsides. 

The Hash House numbers will be 0401 994975 or 0417 148006 - both printed on the map. 

Restrictions

• No pets; no alcohol; no firearms: no fires
• No altimeters, pedometers or GPS-capable devices such as watches and smartphones.
• Sealable bags will be available from admin to carry GPS for logging or mobile phone for safety (turned off).
• Smartphones may be carried for emergency use only in sealed bag - they cannot be used for time-keeping or photography.

Summary of Event Rules and Scoring

• The only navigational aids permitted are the maps we provide together with your compasses.
• Teams consist of 2 to 5 competitors and must remain within earshot of each other at all times. All members must simultaneously get to within 5m of each control point.
• All team members must punch their Navlight tags at each control to score points.
• If a Navlight punch has failed, record the three letter code visible inside the end of the punch.
• Competitors must not enter out-of-bounds areas; gates must be left as found; stock must not be disturbed.Do not enter the Royalla Solar Farm.
• The organisers may disqualify a team if it acts against these rules or against the spirit of the event.
• A team can retire a member at the hash house. This will finish that team's event. A new team can form but it must start with zero score.
• Late Penalty: 10 points per minute (or part) late. Disqualification if more than 30 minutes late.
• If teams score equal points then the first team home will have a higher rank.

Presentation and Awards

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, no printed results will be available on the day but we will endeavour to present prizes to the winners of each category and certificates to the place-getters of most categories. This is dependent on final numbers and will be announced on the day. Presentations will take place as soon as practicable after the end of the event.

Food and drinks will be available from 12.30pm. Please bring your own plate and utensils. 

Event volunteers

If you have queries contact the Event Coordinator, Stephen Goggs on 0401 994975 or by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.