Ok, here’s the thing! I’m one of those people that can get lost in a shopping centre. Yep, sadly it’s true. However, let me be clear here, I’m not talking the standard small supermarket and a few other stores type of centre, I’m talking the mega shopping centres. A prime example? Robina Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast. Oh, my giddy aunt! That is not the simplistic, sweet shopping village I knew many years ago when my husband and I were just starting out. That place is huge and completely unfamiliar to me now. All the landmarks I used to know are completely gone and even though I had a store directory (and I think I’m rather good with maps) I found myself trying to find a specific shop but walking past the same stores over and over, no matter which direction I took, getting increasingly frustrated until I wanted to shout, “Will someone please help me find the shop I want!”
Seeing my less-than-inner turmoil, my daughter calmly says, “Mum, ask Siri and Google Maps can tell you.” My expression of astonishment was enough to make little Miss Tech-Savvy giggle. And she was absolutely correct! Imagine that, would you? And so there I was, phone held out in front of me like a compass, navigating my way through unfamiliar territory with a very polite mechanical voice telling me turn right here, left there and finally, ‘Your destination is on your right.’ It had the good grace not to add ‘stupid,’ to that announcement, but I felt I could detect the attitude in its tone nonetheless. Cheeky thing.
Experiences like this one, though, get me thinking. In this modern age, our ever-increasingly “smart” phones can get us out of some very ‘lost’ spaces, but we all know there is a snag in relying on this type of technology. It can be summed up in a few words: Out Of Service! Needless to say, out here walking the bushland tracks and hiking the mountains surrounding our stunning KV, relying on Google to show the way is pretty pointless. This is why the students here at Glengarry are taught to navigate the old-fashioned way, with maps and a compass. They learn this skill, not just during the day, when eyesight helps find the way, but also at night – ‘night nav,’ they call it at Glengarry – when failing light plays tricks on the eyes; the familiar becomes unfamiliar; shadows hide trip falls; stars become veiled and darkness hinders. In this kind of environment, it is incredibly important to know not just how to read a map, but to also know your equipment.
Fun fact: The first magnetic compass was invented by the Chinese during the Han dynasty in 206 BCE. In the 11th Century, it was adopted for military orienteering by the Song dynasty and in 1111 BCE for maritime navigation. By the 13th Century, Western Europe and Persia had adopted the tool. Originally the compass was used for divination purposes and geomancy (a term originally used to describe tracking geographic features such as markings on the ground and patterns in rock, soil and sand. This was also known as ‘earth divination’.
While modern navigation is still used celestially (of the heavens) and in maritime (on the high seas), the students here at Glengarry focus on learning the skills of terrestrial navigation (on the land). The skill of navigating across land, day and night, is essential when being out bush. Even in this modern era of GPS tracking systems and SAT phones, hikers get lost in Aussie bush every year often leading to fatalities. The Blue Mountains are notorious for hikers getting lost by leaving trails and getting turned about, and out here, where paths are not necessarily clear, the danger of getting lost is very real. Without basic navigational skills, hikers can get in a lot of trouble.
To avoid this exact situation, our students learn how to use a field compass, including understanding the 3 Norths (True North, Magnetic North & Grid North). They learn the basics of map reading that include being able to relate the map to the ground, read grids and margin references and how to translate a compass bearing to a map bearing and vice versa. They also learn to walk on a bearing and to aim off a bearing so as to reach their destination efficiently and safely. The boys are taught about navigation both academically and in practice. Last week, students were taken to the base of Mount Carrialoo, armed with a compass and map and were given the objective to reach the summit safely and without getting lost. While Outdoor Education Staff accompanied them, it was the students who did all the navigation work and, despite the challenging terrain and the wet weather, the day was a success, resulting in the students feeling empowered by their achievements. They also learned how to get rid of a great many leeches.
Not surprisingly though, if you delve a little deeper into the art of navigation, research is showing that, not only is it essential to safely traverse the land and seas, it plays a unique and positive effect on one’s emotion and state of mind. Knowing that, as you enter challenging terrain you are prepared and equipped, builds confidence of character. It builds resilience, physically and emotionally. And so it is for our students. The sense of personal achievement the boys come back with after every excursion carries in their mood and posture. Though often physically spent, they know the satisfaction of having taken on something bigger than they are and come out of it safely and are greater men for the experience.
And hopefully, one day, some of them will be able to explore the natural far-flung places of this stunning earth, armed with the navigational skills first learned here at Glengarry, for without navigation, exploration is just getting lost in unknown places.