The Australian Team has now moved into its new accommodation at Spa Vilnius hotel.

They are all very comfortable and well fed with lovely surroundings of the Druskininkai parklands. The city is a local holiday destination and the hotel offers many treatments for various ailments. Some of the team have already indulged in some massages and team physiotherapist Jan Sargood has been busy keeping the team in tip-top condition for the coming week of competition.

All the team are quite healthy and looking forward to the coming week. We are quietly hopeful of some podium finishes for Hanny Allston and Simon Uppill. The indications during training have been good and the team has benefited from the wise words of Simonas Krepsta, a Lithuanian elite runner who has been a multiple JWOC medallist and World Championships representative. He is Lithuania’s number one orienteer and we are very lucky to have him befriend the Australian Team. Hanny’s form has been particularly impressive, winning the JWOC warm-up event convincingly in very tough, technical terrain.

The sprint will be held within these parklands next to the river and include street and forest orienteering. It will make for some very interesting spectating. The relay will also be within walking distance of the town centre and we are looking forward to some good racing.

The training camp has been a good mix of training on relevant maps and relaxation in the lead-up to the competition. The Fat Romos accommodation was quaint and quirky with many traditional Lithuanian wooden sculptures around the guest house. The team enjoyed a swim in the pool on return from there training and some interesting food including a couple of tough old birds which are some fun trying to eat and carve!

A big thank you to Rob Walter and Reuben Smith, who helped to provide some challenging and worthwhile training exercises. The team has appreciated their efforts to give a good feel for the local terrain.