Garingal Orienteers, founded 51 years ago, is based in Sydney Australia and has conducted the full range of events from local Come-and-Try-It’s to Australian Long Distance Championships. One of its landmark ventures started nearly 35 years ago when Garingal organised a daylight savings Sydney Summer Series after work on Wednesdays. The score series was really well received and came to attract around 200 competitors per event, with over 700 individuals aged 6 to 88 years competing in at least some of the events this year.
But when daylight savings finishes, what can an “addicted”From idea orienteer do on Wednesdays, even despite the darkness? Some lamented the dropping of the NSW Night Championships and its lead-in practice events (ironically due to a lack of takers). Voila! Garingal decided to continue the summer series format into the dark hours of early Wednesday evenings as an ‘Autumn Series’ along with a ‘Winter Solstice’ event. The Autumn Series was well received and by 2007 became re-branded as ‘Moonlight Madness’, which today is offered monthly across the 6 non-summer months.
One of the ‘Moonlight Madness’ events each season was invariably staged on the northern foreshore of Sydney Harbour, often starting under the northern pylon of the famous harbour bridge with the ‘sails’ of Sydney Opera House not much more than a stone’s throw across the harbour. So when WOD was launched it was easy for Garingal to step up to offer a WOD event at (arguably) the best venue in the world! At times, WOD has coincided with the Vivid Sydney light festival and it continues during WOW as well. Orienteers then have a bonus ‘light spectacular’ as they participate whilst their event makes it to the world stage.
See the promotion from WOW for the event here.
You can read more about the event in Eventor Australia here.
Every event counts!
