The 2009 Canberra 2-Days will be staged in the Canberra Region on 6–7 October as a prelude to the 2009 World Masters Orienteering Championships being staged near Lithgow from 10–17 October. The event will offer WMOC competitors the opportunity to participate in events designed to prepare themselves for the WMOC at two completely different venues. See the location map.

Day 1 Honeysuckle Creek, Apollo Road, Namadgi National Park

Day 1 of the Canberra 2 Days will be staged at Honeysuckle Creek, Namadgi National Park, about 55 kms south of Canberra.

The course lengths will be:

  • Course 1 – 5.4 km
  • Course 2 – 4.5 km
  • Course 3 – 3.4 km
  • Course 4 – 3.0 km (physically easier)

Honeysuckle Creek is a world class orienteering area with a range of other attractions and a history dating well beyond the arrival of Europeans. It is located within Namadgi National Park. It is best known for being the site of one Australia’s key space tracking stations.

Honeysuckle Creek has been the venue for some major orienteering events since 1984:

  • 1984 Australian Relay Championships
  • 1994 Australian 3-Days, Day 3
  • 2000 World Cup and Australian 3-Days, Day 1

The area has always been challenging, but the regrowth since bushfires in 2003 devastated the vegetation has made it even more challenging, with low visibility in many areas. The area was re-mapped in mid 2006 and part of the area was used for the 2006 ACT Championships. The map was extended to the south for the 2007 Oceania Middle Distance Championships. Samples of the map, with photos taken in the areas are

  • Tracking station relics and surrounding area
  • South of tracking station
  • North and east of tracking station

Day 2 Mt Ainslie South, Mt Ainslie Drive, Campbell

Day 2 of the Canberra 2 Days will be staged at Mt Ainslie South, Mt Ainslie Drive, Campbell, about 5 kms from the GPO Canberra.

The course lengths will be:

  • Course 1 – 8.0 km
  • Course 2 – 6.5 km
  • Course 3 – 5.0 km
  • Course 4 – 4.0 km

The area, which is one of the most popular areas for orienteering in Canberra, is relatively fast spur-gully terrain with some steeper areas in the north-west. The main features are re-entrants, dry watercourses, ponds, earth banks, pits, gullies, spurs, small boulders, stony ground, termite mounds (ant hills), roads, tracks, fences, power lines, etc. Samples of the map, with photos taken in the areas are

The first start for all competitors will be 10.00 am.

Entries will be accepted online (preferred) until Wednesday 23 September 2009 on the Entry Form postmarked in Australia on or before 21 September 2009