WICEN has received an invitation from our VRA sister squad, Cave Rescue, to have a small team participate in their multi agency exercise being held on November 9 & 10 in the Jenolan Caves area. WICEN's involvement would not include entering the cave, only the provision of some surface communications. Of course, this is a valuable opportunity to witness the work of other VRA squads. Please contact Wicen if you are interested in participating.

WICEN has also been asked to support the VRA activities at the upcoming Sydney to Wollongong Bike Ride on Sunday the 3rd of Nov. The VRA are wanting WICEN to set up and staff two cross-band repeaters and to supply operators for radio points along the course. It is a relatively early start but it does finish fairly quickly as well. In previous years the VRA has reimbursed operators for vehicle expenses used in getting to and from the event. This an excellent opportunity to work with other VRA squads using a variety of commercial equipment on VHF mid band and UHF. The event website is at: www.msgongride.org.au

The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic is scheduled for 26th and 27th of October. Due to the number of checkpoints, maritime mobile, and other stations, WICEN needs to field a large number of volunteers. If you wish to assist, even if you are not a member, please contact WICEN via its website. Those who have not taken part before will be teamed with an experienced operator. Members can reply to the email from the event Event Commander, Neil Fallshaw, VK2XNF.

WICEN ACT, part of the Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club have many events planned over the coming months, in and around the ACT. Their website at www.crarc.ampr.org includes details of both WICEN and more general events.

Coming WICEN events include:

Memory Walk & Jog in the Illawarra today
Battle of the Beasts Mountain Bike Race on Sunday 20th October in VK1
SAREX Barrington Tops in mid to late October
Hawkesbury Canoe Classic on 26th and 27th of October
25th Fitz’s Challenge Bike Ride in the ACT on Sunday 27th October
Sydney to the 'Gong Bike Ride on Sunday 3rd of November
Cave Rescue exercise on the weekend of November 9 & 10 near Jenolan Caves
BMSC Tumut Rally Saturday 2nd November, run by WICEN ACT
BMSC's Rallye de Femme to be conducted within the ACT, pencilled for Saturday 8th December
WICEN Victoria will be running the Murray Marathon canoe event between Christmas and New Year.

Submitted by Julian Sortland VK2YJS on behalf of the WICEN State Management Committee.