Peter Bray

“Living, training and coaching in Australia has been the highlight of my orienteering career so far! It has been an amazing 6 months running in the sunshine – I just wish it could have lasted longer! Victoria state, and Melbourne in particular, is extremely varied and exciting – there is always lots going on. If I’m honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the orienteering terrain and was very pleasantly surprised by the complexity of the gold mining and granite forests (including WOC 1985 areas which are simply awesome). Being able to focus on orienteering for such an extended period has meant a great increase in my physical and technical ability, and a long break over the Christmas period meant there was the opportunity to travel, train in other states and see a lot more of this amazing country.

The host families were extremely welcoming; they are a great bunch of amazing people and I felt very much part of the family. I’ve certainly made some friendships that will last a lifetime. Victoria is full of great orienteers and it was pleasure to coach and give back to the sport I love.”