A very late decision to attend this year's Munster Championships in Ballydrehid found us heading up the wrong side of the Galtees on a nice crisp Saturday morning. Such are the risks of late entry, and hence no directions, and therefore thankfully no known start times to havemissed. Many miles and a few embarassed phone calls later, start was located, late entries efficiently processed, e-card in hand and off towards thestart as the drizzle began and the mist descended. Ten minutes towardsthe start I returned to the car for my compass. Yes, haven't orienteered in a while alright...Maybe shouldn't have bothered going back for the compass. Up in the mist heading for the second control, I duly returned, to my complete surprise and frustration, and not once but twice, to the first control, and no I wasn't using it to relocate. Around the finish later, several others seem to have had such compass malfunction. Maybe CorkO can tell us what's really buried in the Galtees? Otherwise it was a nice run...Shame about my splits.Rehydration was thus required. You can always rely on Setanta for such good medicinal advice. A pub was thus chosen and later Legends for some... I'll tell no tales here. Rehydration is a serious business. The relays were located without too much ado. I think it was a coincidence that when I missed the gate and U-turned a little further up that all the cars behind me did the same thing... That right guys? Glengarra Forest is a nice spot for a relay, though there was a directly proportional relationship between extent of late night in Cahir and speed up the initial steep hill from the changeover box. Despite the quite small numbers though, competition was keen and it was all good craic.Thanks to CorkO for their usual efficiency (in spite of my lack of it) and a good friendly event - haven't travelled in a while but this was well worth it!

Nina Phillips.