eNewsletter 208 - Friday 1st August, 2025
G'day fellow rogainers In this newsletter |
Final reminder: enter the 32nd Lake Macquarie rogaine
Entries close midnight this Monday For your calendar: add event date & add closing reminder This will be a traditional bush rogaine within sight of the city of Newcastle. It's centrepiece is Mount Sugarloaf at the northern end of the Watagans, only about 2 hours drive up the M1 from Sydney.
The course drapes the Sugarloaf Range and features a dramatic landscape of broken cliff lines, with beautiful rocky crags, gullies, waterfalls, and wind caves. The higher areas have spectacular coastal and valley views.
Expect open eucalypt woodland, paperbark stands, gullies of grass trees, ferns, and gymea lilies. Wildlife includes many species of birds such as: crimson rosellas, black cockatoos, bower birds, wonga pigeons, and lyrebirds, plus small robins and finches, as well as wombats, echidnas and wallabies.
A long held tradition of this rogaine will be the on-course 'tea & damper' pit stop incorporating a range of refreshing drinks, as well as plenty of tasty cakes and energy-boosting sweets!
Check out some on-course videos here, here and here (Facebook required). Key info at a glance: Choose between the ever-popular 6-hour event or the longer challenge of the 12-hour event, taking you from day to night:
Friday night camping options Unfortunately the conditions for the use of the Hash House site only allow camping at the rogaine on Saturday night. Here are some alternatives for those wanting to come up and stay nearby on the Friday night: Free Camping: There are several free camping sites in the Watagans west of the freeway. Paid camping: Just off the freeway and still on bitumen is the Bunyip Camping Ground between Cooranbong and Martinsville. This is a particularly scenic spot and the fees are low: Address: 168 Martinsville Rd, Martinsville NSW 2265 Phone: 0479 003 369 Caravan parks: There are several caravan parks in the nearby villages at Wangi, Teralba, Carey Bay, and Freemans Waterholes. Rogaining is for all ages, navigational abilities, 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.
To get the most up to date info, including the Final Instructions available from Monday 4th August, see the event page on the website. A team finder service and info for novices can also be found on the website. Event related queries can be directed to: admin@nswroganing.org
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Nightgaine success! - summary & results
This years Nightgaine was a roaring success with a total of 316 participants in 128 teams split roughly evenly between the 5 and 3-hour events. Numbers were up more than 40% compared to last years Nightgaine. After an initial shower, the evening was cool and clear, making it an ideal night for exploring. Congratulations to Jeremy Fowler and Keelan Birch (above), the overall winners of the 5-hour, completing the entire course (3150pts) in 4 hours & 12 minutes. Xanda Kolesnikow and Ivan Koudashev also cleaned up but got in 9 minutes later, coming second. The overall winners of the 3-hour were Justin Stafford and Isaac Feeney with 1960pts.
The centrepiece of the course was the extensive bushland grounds of St Columba’s Catholic College, a Seminary from 1909 until 1977, and a High School since 1979. These grounds are usually not open to the public, so we are extremely grateful to have been granted access. Also, being a night event, another highlight was the glow worms in Birdwood Gully.
Results The category winners in the 5-hour event are as follows:
*These teams cleared the course
And here are the category winners in the 3-hour event:
The full results with more detailed statistics, and many quality on-course and team photos by our event photographers Robyn McKay and Hayden Nixon, are available on the event page.
A big thanks to our volunteers Listed below are those who helped make this year's Nightgaine such a great success:
Many thanks to Steve, Sally and 🐾,Bandit🐾, McKay for all their efforts coordinating, setting, flag hanging, collecting, catering, and general helping (yikes!). A special mention of thanks must also go to Robin Cameron for juggling the volunteers and contributing to the catering (again!) and to Hugh Stodart who once again stepped up for the critical task of towing the admin trailer from Killara to Springwood and back.
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Australia is hosting the WRC in 2027 - We Need YOU!
The International Rogaining Federation has announced that the 20th World Rogaining Championships (WRC) will be hosted by the Australian Rogaining Association. The Championships are planned for 16-17th September 2027 in the Flinders Ranges near Wilpena Pound. Planning is underway and we would love to recruit an army of keen volunteers, regardless of where you live in Australia, to help run this very important event. If you have any interest in helping out, please contact the organisers here. As a volunteer, you'll be supporting a truly international sporting event where hundreds of elite and veteran rogainers will gather. Many of the volunteer roles will still allow you to compete in the event as well. Check out this amazing promo video and, for the latest info, visit the 2027 WRC website and join the mailing list. Put the date into your rogaining calendar now and help us welcome the world’s rogaining community in 2027! |
Do you have any good ideas for the newsletter?
Recently, some excellent articles have been contributed but to keep the newsletter interesting we need more! For example, do you have any event reports, been to any interesting places, or have some recent outdoor experiences to share? Drop an email to: newsletter@nswrogaining.org — we’d be thrilled to feature your contribution in a future issue.
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2025 NSW rogaining calendarThe NSW calendar for 2025 is summarised below. Check it out or grab a flyer at the next event. An updated ‘fridge-friendly’ 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 |