2025 Paddy Pallin, 6 hours at Belanglo, Sunday 15th June
Entries are now open Come and enjoy a classic 6-hour Paddy Pallin rogaine that will be held entirely in the native bushland of the Belanglo State Forest, about half-way between Sydney and Canberra, and only a short distance off the Hume Highway. Key info at a glance:
Rogaining is for all ages and fitness levels, from families walking with small children through to bushwalkers and champion runners. Our sport encourages the development of strategy and navigational skills, fitness, and the ability to work in a team. A team finder service plus info for novices is available on the entries page. Course overview This course will have grand canyon views and time-honoured wandering through sandstone country. Scenic control locations are guaranteed. There will be a wide variety of trees, shrubs and grasses, plus discrete areas of ferns and fragile mosses and lichen. Wildlife includes scarlet robins, gang gang cockatoos, eastern & crimson rosellas, ducks, wedge-tailed eagles, goannas, echidnas, wombats, kangaroos & wallabies, and a variety of butterflies. At an elevation of around 700m, the cool forest air can be enjoyed from the moment you arrive at the Hash House site. Navigation Use your navigation skills to explore plenty of great route options for all ages, navigational abilities, and fitness levels. You can expect to meander with friends and family along hiking loops of your design, or challenge yourself to stride out big loops with steep climbs, accumulating big points. The course will challenge the elite to choose the best loops to garner the highest points with the most ambitious tested on how to possibly clear the course. A 100m length of tape will be marked out at the Hash House to help people calibrate their pacing (paces per 100m) and timing (time to walk 100m). Camping & Accommodation If you choose to camp, the official camping area will be a large flat area adjacent to the Hash House. The area is spacious and easily accessed with plenty of parking. A variety of other accommodation is available at surrounding wineries and townships, including Berrima, Bowral, Bundanoon, Moss Vale, Mittagong and Marulan. To get the most up to date info, including the Final Instructions to be posted on Tuesday June 10th, visit the Paddy Pallin page on the website. The Final Instructions will also have some great info about basic navigation. Finally, we'd like to thank our friends and sponsors, Paddy Pallin, for supporting this event. Event related queries can be directed to: admin@nswroganing.org Dad joke of the day: What kind of dinosaur does 6-hour rogaines? A mylegsaresaurus đđđ
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Rogaining recently showcased at ExplorerFest Contributed by Andrew Brown
Welcome to all those who chose to go on their first rogaine at this festival and signed up to our newsletter. Rogaining proved a big hit at the inaugural ExplorerFest (Item 9), hosted by We Are Explorers (an outdoor media company) in Hawks Nest at the start of May. This was an opportunity for the outdoors community to buy a ticket and come together for a long weekend with many adventures, workshops and talks to choose from. Paddy Pallin was a sponsor of ExplorerFest and invited NSW Rogaining to join them to host a navigation workshop and mini-rogaine, run alongside Paddy Pallinâs popular guided hikes and promotion of their sustainability initiatives. Competing for attendees' attention against jeep rides and kayaking trips, gear repair workshops, inspiring talks and more, a huge number joined us early on the Saturday morning to learn more about our sport. At a festival celebrating all things outdoors, adventure, nature, and community, it was no wonder rogaining proved popular being the perfect blend of all four. In our 3 hour session, we focused on how to adventure in the outdoors confidently by building navigation skills, and how rogaining is the perfect way to get out with friends to practice in beautiful locations. After some short exercises on setting the map and pace counting, the 25+ teams were let loose on a 75 minute rogaine to find controls around the beaches, bush, streets and surrounds of Hawks Nest.
Social media abuzz during and after the event Some walked, some raced, but all returned excitedly (and on time - we had harsh penalties!), to tally their points, find out who won, and hear more about the sport and opportunities to get involved. We already have some of them signed up to the 6hr Paddy Pallin rogaine to be held in Belanglo on 15th June, so hopefully weâll see you there too. Thanks Paddy Pallin for helping get the word out about rogaining to a wider outdoors community!
Mahana won a free entry to an upcoming rogaine, so we look forward to seeing her out on course soon! Ed: Many thanks to the event volunteers Nicole and Brooner for all their hard work and initiative in promoting our sport, and introducing many people to their first rogaine. |
3 Silly Yaks: an U23 tale of blood & ambition
Winners of the U23 in the 12-hour at last month's Autumngaine, Bill Klein, Tarana Stubenrauch, & Jayden Gibson (team Silly Yaks), wrote up a poem from doing the event. Banjo Paterson-style, they've captured the atmosphere superbly: There was movement at Bucca Forest for the word had passed around, that a âState of Originâ rogaine was underway. Controls were hung worth juicy points - three thousand to be found, keen rogainers had all gathered for the day. All the noted navigators from the states both near and far, had mustered at the Hash House overnight. For rogainers love hard hiking where the spurs and gullies are, plus an All-Night CafĂ© loaded with delights. There was Tarana, who despite past wins still wanted one more cup, the young girl whose name announcers still donât know [itâs pronounced Tarra-Nah Stew-ben-row!]. But few could run beside her when her blood was fairly up, she would go wherever her short legs could go. And Bill from the Blue Mountains escaping âuni study landâ, no keener zealot ever held a map. For never vines could trap him while his lanky legs would stand, he learnt to nav at school, now a bush chap! And one was there, a novice whoâd been roped in, Jayden was a golfer, oversized. With a touch of metrogainer, three parts coeliac within, but one whom his recruiters highly prized. The team was brave and tough and hungry â just the sort that wonât dispute they had it all - youth and cartilage; smarts and heart. The âSilly Yaksâ oozed ambition, and quickly planned a nice long route, then played cards to kill time before the start. So off they went â they joined the mob around the man with microphone, and chatted cheerily with chaps as yet unspent. Keelan gave his orders â âRogainers, have fun and make it home! There are no leeches(đ đ đ), so enjoy - and don't relent!â Well, the rest is history â nine hours on course, six litres of blood lost to leech bites and wait-a-while, three new mugs, one fabulous event! Thank you to all the volunteers and everyone who made the Bucca rogaine happen and by doing so provided us all with a life-long memory of effort, adversity, and elation wrapped in nature. Bill, Tarana, & Jayden |
Uni team travel grants for Intervarsity Champs
This year, the 2025 Australian Intervarsity Rogaining Championships will be held over 13-14th September in conjunction with the NSW State Rogaining Championships at Mt Werong. Bursaries to cover the travel costs of a university team from NSW are available from the Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation (NAMSF). To receive the grant, a team of up to 5 must all be enrolled at the same university. Interested NSW applicants should email the NSWRA at info@nswroganing.org as soon as possible. Selection will be based on rogaining experience and standing, with preference given to undergraduate full-time students. For more info, visit the Intervarsity home page on the Australian Rogaining Association website. Who was Nigel Aylott? Nigel got into rogaining through Monash University Bushwalking Club, and won the World Rogaining Championships in 1998 and the Australian Rogaining Championships in 2000 and 2001. He was killed in the 2004 Primal Quest race in Washington State after being hit by a large boulder dislodged at the top of a gully. The NAMSF was set up by his family to support the sports Nigel loved and gave so much to. |
Why did a statistician promote rogaining events last year?
Weâre always on the lookout for extra volunteers to spread the load. And if a mottled dog can set a rogaine, then surely us humans should help with the publicity? Youâll help grow our sport and you can still enter the event because you havenât seen the map or the course! Nicole is a statistician with no publicity experience. Read this blog to learn about her experience promoting the Blaxland Metrogaine and Festival of Rogaining in Capertee last year, and see the easy steps she took to promote them. If you would like to give this a go, email Robin - volunteer@nswrogaining.org. You'll get heaps of support from our marketing team. |
Volunteer opportunities -- caterers & trailer towers needed
A call for caterers - multiple opportunities Ever wanted to set the menu at a rogaine? We are still looking for people who would like to try their hand at the catering for a number of the events this year. The level of commitment can range from leading the menu selection and procurement to just helping on the day. Give it a go. It's a lot of fun, you won't be on your own (it's a highly social role!), and there'll be plenty of recipes and mentoring available. Trower tailors We are also on the hunt for people willing to tow our 2 trailers to events. The trailers are only small, are pre-loaded, and are easily managed. So, if you have a vehicle with a tow bar, towing a trailer once a year is one of the ways that you could really help. Of course, there are also lots of other opportunities to help with delivering our events this year too. Please drop an email to Robin - volunteer@nswrogaining.org or register to help in any event here. (NSWRA celebrates its volunteers. Support our events and earn free entry! Volunteers earn points. 100 points earns entry to a subsequent event. There is a volunteer rewards points table where you can monitor your progress toward a free entry voucher. For more info see the Volunteer Rewards Policy.) |
2025 NSW rogaining calendarThe NSW calendar for 2025 is summarised below. Check it out or grab a flyer at the next event. An updated âfridge-friendlyâ printable calendar (pdf) is also available for download. Put these dates in your diary, but remember to check the website as there may be further changes.
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Some useful links |
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About NSWRA: The New South Wales Rogaining Association inc. (NSWRA) is the governing body of the sport of rogaining in the state of New South Wales.
We are incorporated under state law. ABN 15 314 080 648. © 2025 NSW Rogaining Association |