17th to 20th May 2002
The sky was covered in dark cloud and fork lightning when we arrived at Dublin airport for the 6.40am Ryanair flight to Charleroi . Needless to say we were more than a bit worried that we might not get away , but the storm seemed to clear and we got off on time. The flight was only 1 hour 20 minutes to Belgium and we arrived at 9.30 am to delightful sunshine with the temperatures in the mid twenties as it stayed for the entire weekend.
The three who were supposed to go was reduced to two when Rob Flanagan injured his knee at Scarr the previous weekend and physiotherapy could not help in time. So, it was just John Rowe and myself who set sail.
We had arranged car hire in advance through Avis. At Charleroi Airport there is only a Hertz car hire desk but Avis true to their word had left the car in the car park and the keys and information with the clerk at the car park desk just to the left outside the door to the arrivals hall.
The event centre was in the Institute de Sacre Coeur in Burnot near Profondeville only about 15Km south of Namur. The cost of the three nights accommodation (bed without sheet ) with breakfast and evening meals amounted to 70Euro each person. Nothing wrong with that and the food was great as well.
The training on Friday was at La guelle de Loup(wolfs mouth), about 8KM from the EC. We spent 75 minutes out in the forest but found the undergrowth was extensive . We were concerned that the three main days would be similar but we need not have worried on that score as whilst there was some areas of undergrowth all three forests were mainly fast run and extremely enjoyable, but mainly very flat terrain that made navigation quiet difficult. I never thought that I could miss contours so much . Day 1 was at La Hulle which was adjacent to the event centre, Day 2 was at La Chine ,which was about 30Km west just off the Namur – Bastogne road. Day 3 was at La Bois de Ducs , about 6 Km east of the EC on the route back towards Charleroi. The EMIT system was in use but adapting to that was OK .
John started badly and got better each day whereas I started well and went down hill thereafter . Shortly after control 1 on the last day I aggravated an ankle that I had injured in Cronybyrne and hobbled the 6km to the finish. John said I was always a bit of a hobbler anyway. The courses for H40 was a little over 7km each day and H45 6.7Km. A nice touch was that all competitors received a momento, a poster on which were printed all 3 maps .
On the whole it was a great weekend and I would recommend it to all Irish orienteers.On this occasion we were the only entries from the Republic of Ireland. We combined the orienteering with a mornings shopping in Namur and a visit to Dinant and Bastogne, where we played the part of Patton on a Sherman tank in the main square. After the last day we returned to Charleroi for a look around before the flight but we found that city not very impressive.
Next years event will be from the 6th to 9th June and will be based in Amel, in the south east of the country, a German speaking area I believe, very close to the border of Luxembourg and Germany.
I think another trip is on the cards.
Tommy Burke
Fingal Orienteers