Archery couple on target at titles

PETER and Heather Bourke's obsession for the sport of archery sees them travel the globe in their quest for championships and titles at various levels.

“We've set ourselves the goal of spending the kids' inheritance with our travels,” Peter Bourke said.

The Gin Gin couple have only recently returned from Whangarei, New Zealand where they successfully retained their titles in the biennial Pacific Region Championships. They won their first titles in Sale, Victoria in 2007.

The Mt Tiger archery range is a steep and demanding course, and such is their dedication to success, they spent a week in the area hiking around mountainous trails.

“We acclimatised ourselves to their weather and got used to the hiking we would have to do during the competition,” Bourke said.

“In some of the steepest country possible, we shot four arrows at 28 targets each day - hiking between targets.”

Bourke said it rained most of the time and with the temperature at 12 degrees, the event was a gruelling test of their physical and mental strength.

“We knew we were in trouble when we saw the locals attaching ice spikes to their boots,” he said.

“We only had hiking boots so there was a lot of slipping up those icy slopes.”

Heather won gold in the Freestyle Limited section and set a new regional record on her trek to victory, when her score eclipsed the previous record, which was set in 1993.

On his march to glory, Peter shot an incredible 556 from a possible 560, and equalled the course record during the three day event.

The pair are members of the 60-strong Saxon Archery Club and indulge their passion every Sunday at the Quinn's Road range.