From far flung parts

Well, not so far, only Brighton. I left it nearly 10 days again to post, but believe me I have done enough for 110 days in the meantime.

Dick arrived on time and we spent a fairly uneventful evening in BP. Then early on Wednesday morning we departed to the Bukk. We went straight to Csanyik and spent an extremely long, exhausting, but productive day there. Dick liked most of what Kreso did in Csanyik and didn't change much on the whole. Thursday morning Laci and Dick went food shopping and as it was raining all morning we didn't do much then. In fact we sat in the car up on Kurtaberc for over an hour before we braved the weather. It soon cheered up and Jano arrived as well, so we got on with it. We finished the main course on Thursday and after Laci's departure spent time on Friday morning on the timed controls and by Friday midday Kurtaberc was finished, too. We went over to Nagymezo, where we managed to check all bar 5 of the controls which have not yet been controlled by either of the Advisors. After Jano's departure on Saturday morning we picked up our helper David, who turned out to be an absolute gem and spent the rest of the day on Nagymezo. We finished the 5 outstanding controls plus redid one of the earlier ones and then proceeded to re-check all those that Kreso has already checked and did all but 3 of them. These 3 were very straightforward and Dick has already seen them on his last visit and as there was very little that changed on them we called it a day. 4 long arduous days, but we all felt really satisfied that our labour was worthwhile.

This gave us a chance to return to BP via Ber on Sunday which Roy was very pleased about, as this way he was spared the bus trip in. Dick and my flight was due to go on Tuesday evening and this meant two days of spending every waking hour (and some while half asleep as well) on the computer drawing the courses on, then doing solution maps, then all the timed controls (all 12 of them) etc., etc. To say that we ended up with square eyes and RSI in our fingers would be close to the mark.

The flight was uneventful, I did have a slight wobble in that I forgot to remind myself of the exact address of the B&B, but I have excellent map memory and found it, even though I have not been there for 18 months and it was the middle of the night. We found the room key in the key press and had a steep climb into the attic. After a good night's sleep we pootled down to Hangleton where Wyn and Sue awaited.

I had to ask for an extension on my stay at Wyn's as Mick's return from Switzerland seemed to have been delayed plus his 2 grandchildren were with him, so I stayed at Wyn's for two nights. I had a magnificent welcome there, which included endless cups of tea, lovely food, good conversation, use of the WIFI and a cute little attic room (seems to be the theme of this trip!!) with views to die for. Thankfully, the maps, courses etc. have been so close to completion that the enforced trip down to Dorset was not necessary, although the workload was still such that most of my time at Wyn's was spent finishing off work or redoing stuff due to either mistakes or a corrupted file.

Finally I left on the bus all the way to Kemp Town, dragged my suitcase up the hill and arrived at Mick's. I have now been here for a day: yesterday I walked into Brighton along the seafront, today I bussed it into the centre for shopping and taking a few piccies. Nothing special, just typical Brighton scenes from the bus. Mind you, I am still doing and redoing stuff on the WTOC courses and maps, as Dick seems to be coming up with updates, alterations and corrections all the time. Still, at least Anne is apparently impressed with everything done this early. I suppose if you compare it with the last two years, yes, we are early. However, if you compare it with what is sensible, well organised and professional, all this should have been done weeks, if not months ago. But enough about that!

Tomorrow I don't think I will go anywhere as there is a Grand Prix and Dick is ringing to discuss Bulletin 4. What fun!

Monday I am having lunch with Ruth, but unfortunately I will not see Ian, because we couldn't find an event and/or place that would have suited us both. Never mind! He is threatening to visit us next year, so we might see him then.

Long time no blogging

Life is hectic as usual. These pictures are from last weekend, which was great. We went to the Sopron Kupa with Andor, but as it is usually the case, when you go out with Andor, there is a lot more than orienteering on offer. First we went to Bory Castle (see above!) which is am amazing place. A sculptor/architect built it in the early years of the XXth century. Totally in his spare time while teaching at various universities. He died in the late 50's, but his descendents still look after the place.

The next visit was to the Eszterhazy palace in Fertod, but we couldn't get in as it was rather late. The orienteering went off OK, although the forest was a bit jungle like in places. While there we visited another castle, built by a guy who was a painter and decorator, also in his spare time and this one was called Tarodi Castle. (see couple of towers!) The old guy is still alive, aged 84, but suffers from Alzheimers disease. This one was a completely different kettle of fish. Very rough, primitive style, stuffed full of old stoves, barrels, various bits of furniture, old motorbikes, coaches and all manner of paraphanelia.

We stayed at a special school, where some of the lodgers included a film set making a second world war picture about mountain troops guarding the border. Roy was fascinated by all the comings and goings and took some pictures of the horses and soldiers. We also had a look at an old church near our lodgings where my eye was caught by a really picturesque pussycat. He seemed to be posing for the picture.

En route home we went to see the Sag hegy in Celldomolk which is an old dead volcano where the basalt quarry was closed about 50 years ago, but the volcanic formations were fascinating to see. Even Roy managed a little wander in the undergrowth (see picture of him and Andor in the bushes!)

Now I am back in the Bukk, this time with the IOF Adviser finalising courses for the World Champs. We had a gruelling day yesterday and today will not be any different. The heatwave is in full force, 36 degrees Celsius is forecasted yet again. Must go now. As it takes ages to upload pictures by mobile internet I will add some more of them once home.

About 6 weeks to go

Hi everybody. I am pleased to report that I have found a marvellous way of coping with the pre-WTOC stress. I decided not to think about it, do anything about it or even admit it exists. It works!!! I have not looked at my folder for weeks, I practically never think about it and it only just dawned on me that there are only about 6 weeks left. I have worked a lot on it, I have done my best and I am going to do my best in the time remaining as well. If my best is not good enough, TOUGH!!! So there!!

Last week was a bit weird. I felt very dizzy and queasy all week, but recovered sufficiently to go orienteering at the weekend. The event was called the Pannon O-days and it was based in a glorious little village in the Bakony mountains. The event centre was in an open air theatre, which was built around a disused quarry, using the rock face as a backdrop to the stage. We camped and while there was a tremendous cloudburst on the Friday, lasting about 2o minutes, we were seriously lucky, as it started about 3 minutes after we erected the tent. We sat it out in the car and for the rest of the weekend it was hot and sunny.

As you can see from the maps the first day was a town sprint in Veszprem, about 20 miles away. There were a few tricky route choices there, but otherwise it was straightforward. Klari managed to beat me by 11 seconds, which considering my state of health and the fact that I was forced to run up, was not too bad.

Day 2 was a WRE, which promised long and hard courses. Well, you will never judge from the map how hard it was. Extremely steep mountainsides, massive crags and rock walls, clear felled jungle and the rest. Still, I wasn't complaining as we so often get mickey mouse courses in the older women's classes and that most certainly wasn't. I won by 1 second, which was highly amusing and satisfying. Somebody since wrote on a list (in relation to somebody else at JWOC) that 1 second is a decisive victory, while 2 seconds is a drubbing. How true!!

Day 3 was a chasing start where I went out with nearly a 5 and a half minute advantage. Good job, as almost all of it was used up in silly mistakes, which I managed to make on this day, after 2 error free days. Still, I came home with a cup, a medal and a goodie bag, so I can't complain.

However, the star attraction of this weekend was not so much the main event, but the beer relay, which I didn't enter, but spent a highly amusing and seriously enjoyable hour or so watching on Saturday afternoon. Each team consisted of 2 members, both of which had to down a pint before every leg of the competition. The qualifier round had 13 teams with a mass start of 13 people guzzling their pint as fast as they could make it before running off. The first 8 teams after this went on to a Wimbledon style set of elimination rounds, first 8 then 4 and then 2 teams in the final. The really dirty trick came in the final, when the beer part went up to 2 pints before running, which my favourite team lost the fight over. Neither of them could beat a slightly older, and therefore more seasoned boozer team, who took gold. I believe the prizes were beer cans, so you can imagine the sore heads the following morning.

Must go now as Roy is cooking me some minted potatoes with freshly cooked beetroot - yum, yum!!!