G'day Rogainers,

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Paddy Pallin 6hr – Sunday 17th June – Entries About to Close Here...

The Paddy Pallin 6-hour Rogaine will explore the surrounds and history of Kitchener, a small mining village 5km south of Cessnock. Entries close this weekend so get your team organised, get online, and get registered.

The rogaine will start at 9:30am and finish at 3:30pm with tasty food afterwards. Camping is available on Saturday night at Kitchener Public School, two blocks from the start location, and your $5 donation per campsite will go to the school. You’ll need to supply your own meals Saturday night and Sunday morning but the Cessnock district has plenty of options, from cheap to exorbitant dining.

Long-term weather forecasts are positive, plus Cessnock is in the lee of the Sugarloaf and Watagan Mountains, which protects it from those on-shore showers.

Sam Howe, the primary course setter, has posted a series of photos on our Rogaining NSW Facebook site if you need further inspiration. Here’s one of her pics.

President’s Piece

We’ve had four very successful and diverse events this year: - the Eastern Suburbs coastline, north-western Sydney Minigaine, Navigation Training at Rydal, and recently the 12-hour bush event at Wingello.

But there’s much more to come in 2018. The 55th Paddy Pallin rogaine is in brand new rogaining territory near Cessnock, an area that Sam Howe and Ian Dempsey are keen to share. Entries close in the next few days. The following weekend is the NavShield, location always a secret until the final week, and more suited to the extreme and adventurous. My personal choice is to enter the 29-hour event as a bushwalk, carrying sleeping gear and food to stop somewhere on the course for a 5-10 hour camp-out. The NavShield guarantees to take you to places you’ve never visited before … and you may never, ever return.

In August we have the Lake Macquarie 12/6 hour in the Watagan Mountains. Importantly, please note the date has changed, now scheduled for 18th August, due to a clash with other activities in the area. And the following weekend, a contingent of NSW rogainers will be enjoying the warmth of a South-east Queensland winter at the Australasian Championships, between Gympie and Kingaroy. There’s still time to enter if you want to really see some different country. The Oz Champs attract elite rogainers but are open to any/all.

There’s an extra rogaine in August, not organized by NSW Rogaining but perhaps of interest. It’s the 2-hour Snogaine at Perisher Valley on 13-Aug, part of the Ski-Orienteering Champs. Full details are here...

See our Event Calendar for links to all these events, and while there you’ll see that we’ve scheduled the dates for NSW rogaines in 2019.

Now we need course setters and co-ordinators to claim those events next year. Course setting is a great way to improve your skills and fitness, to thoroughly explore an area, and maybe to share some of your favourite or local spaces. It has been encouraging to see an emerging group of course setters, such as David Williams, Ronnie Taib, Steve Ryan, and Samantha Howe who have created multiple events in the last few years. It takes time and effort, so bring along your rogaining friends as a course setting team. Please contact me or other committee members if you’d like to get more involved in organising events. We always need more volunteers.

The 2019 Calendar includes an extra rogaine in October, currently labelled as “Surprise Event 3-6hr”. Our hope is that someone will create something entertaining and different. It may be a Cyclegaine, Paddlegaine, Multigaine, UpsideDownGaine, even a GameOfThronesGaine. We have no preconceptions, apart from something that has moderately broad appeal and isn’t excessively long. Please get inspired and talk to us.

Finally I’d like to add my gratitude to John Clancy for joining our Committee. I first met John when he and Chris Stevenson set the 2004 Paddy Pallin Rogaine at Upper Colo, and I noted with amusement the photo Chris used in the last Newsletter showing John leaning on a signpost that appears to say, “8-12 MINS to LOST WORLD” … so appropriate for a long-time rogainer.

Help for University Students to Attend the Aus Champs

Are you a Rogainer and at University?

Do you need an excuse to have a break from study?

The Intervarsity Rogaining Championships will be held together with the Australasian Championships on 25-26 August in South East Queensland.

We would love to send 1 or 2 uni teams to represent NSW. There are even subsidies (from NAMSF) available that will cover your team's expenses!

Here is all the information about the Championships and the NAMSF. If you would like to participate please email me with your proposed teammate(s), who must attend the same university, and a little bit about your rogaining experience.

Submissions are open til 3rd July.

See you at the Aus Champs, Gill Fowler (vicepresident@nswrogaining.org)

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