Welcome to Orange, Grace!

Orange currently has a very special visitor.

18-year-old Grace Molloy is visiting Orange all the way from Edinburgh, Scotland. Grace finished school in July this year and is spending her gap year travelling Australia and assisting in Orienteering.

I know what you’re thinking, what’s Orienteering? Let me give you the run down. Orienteering is a sport that requires your own navigational skills using a map and compass to get to each checkpoint. It is usually diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed, you can walk, or run at your own pace around the course.

Grace has an impressive resume when it comes to her Orienteering career after recently representing Great Britain in the Junior World Championships (July) and coming fourth. Grace explained, “I was delighted, it was a lot better than I had expected, I happened to have a really good race on the day.”

Since then, Grace has raced at the Australian Orienteering Championships in South Australia, “that was my first time I had decided to race in the senior category, my best result was second in the sprint event.”

Here in Orange Grace is being hosted by the local Gold Seekers Orienteering Club, assisting in the development of sport in Orange and Bathurst, particularly for juniors. 

“I plan the courses in advance, I’m also there on the day to help anyone who needs it. It’s been great fun here, all of the families I have stayed with have been lovely, it’s been great to meet lots of new people and see new places, as well as orienteering a lot which is what I love to do.”

“It’s not a big sport in Australia though it is growing. My mum took it up in high school and introduced me to it when I was very little, I’ve basically done it all my life, I like that it’s a mental challenge as well as a physical challenge, you never do the same thing twice, it’s always a new experience every time you compete in a race or a training session.”

Although Grace says she is excited to see the world, her sights are set on improving herself as an athlete, “I train every day, running and orienteering once or twice a week, in addition to that I do weekend training camps or week-long training camps.”

Grace’s next stop is Sydney, “I’m pretty excited to go to Sydney, everyone says it’s amazing. I have noticed it’s quite a similar culture (as the UK), it’s just the weather is much nicer here, Grace laughed.

Grace then mentioned she hasn’t tried our vegemite yet.. a word of advice Grace - don’t let them pressure you into eating it off a spoon, always on toast with the same amount of butter!

If you are interested in Orienteering and would like to know more or about any future events, check out the Gold Seekers website at http://www.goldseekers.org/