HOME PAGE | WHAT WE DO | EQUIPMENT | CONTACTS | RISK MANAGEMENT | PROGRAM | PHOTOS | MAGAZINE | LINKS

FEDERATION DAYWALK by Peter Wilson, photo by Peter Naughtin

CO-HOSTED BY THE CWCV AND PBC. OCTOBER 2011

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Federation daywalk Baldry's Crossing to Cape Schanck

A meeting in early 2010 between our then President, Rob Giebels, and Sylvia McLean, Bushwalking Victoria’s Federation Walks co-ordinator, has had a long lasting impact on some of us.

Sylvia put the question to Rob whether the CWCV would be interested in hosting the Federation Day Walk in 2011.  Rob, being the agreeable fellow he is, agreed we would, on the basis that we would look for another club to co-host the event.

It didn’t take long to enlist the Peninsula Bushwalking Club (PBC) as our co-host and, given that club’s local knowledge, to decide to run the event on the Mornington Peninsula.

Events moved quickly and we soon had a joint committee established to start the planning process.  Jim Conlon, Rob Giebels, Bernie O’Shea and Peter Wilson represented the CWCV.  Four representatives from PBC, Mark Ingram, Cheryl Ciantar, Ros Shepherd and June Tickell, replaced later by Ann Steel, made up the balance of the group.

At our first meeting in May 2010, armed with a somewhat out of date manual on running Federation Walks, we started to address some of the issues to be resolved:

·         The date of the event – taking care to avoid conflicts with Grand Final Day, school holidays, Around the Bay in a Day, etc.

·         The number of walkers on the day – based on past experience, in excess of 200.

·         The number and location of the walks to be offered on the day.

·         The location of the headquarters for the day – a location offering shelter, toilets, car parking and facilities for serving afternoon tea.

·         The number of walk leaders and deputy leaders (whips) required.

·         The content and format of the Walks Booklet to be supplied to participants.

·         A budget, to anticipate the costs associated with running the event and therefore, the registration fee to be charged to recover those costs.

Over many meetings and with a great deal of goodwill and cooperation these issues and many more were dealt with over the intervening months.  The process was assisted by advice and assistance from Bushwalking Victoria through Sylvia and others as well as support from Waverley Bushwalking Club who hosted the Federation Weekend in 2010.

The outcome of all the planning was a program of 22 walks at various locations on the Peninsula with a headquarters for the day at the Rosebud memorial Hall.

Registrations opened on 1 August and by the close on 23 September, and taking into account some late entries, we had 306 people registered.  There were some no-shows on the day but on 23 October 2011 it all came to fruition with about 290 walkers gathering at Rosebud to register, collect their walks booklet, assemble into groups and then head off to their walk locations.

We were very fortunate to have a day of fine weather sandwiched between two days of rain and all the walks were completed without any serious incidents.  Afternoon tea was provided back at the hall after the walks and the general feeling seemed to one of happy satisfaction with the day’s activities.

As well as the participants on the joint organising committee the CWCV had many members helping in one form or another including walk leaders, deputy leaders, volunteers helping out with various tasks on the day and, of course, walkers.  Thank you to all involved for your part in making the day a success.

Some special efforts deserve mention.  Jim Conlon (CWCV) and Mark Ingram (Peninsula) for the selection of walks.  Jim Conlon for the maps and track notes in the walks booklet.  Ann Steel (Peninsula) for the design of the walks booklet.  Cheryl Ciantar (Peninsula) for running the registration procedure.

Overall it was a great co-operative effort that delivered a very successful Federation Day Walk.

The 2012 Federation Walk will be another one-day event hosted by Maroondah Bushwalking Club on 14 October at Marysville.  Put the date in your diary now.

HOME PAGE | WHAT WE DO | EQUIPMENT | CONTACTS | RISK MANAGEMENT | PROGRAM | PHOTOS | MAGAZINE | LINKS