The 57th Paddy Pallin Rogaine

57th Paddy Pallin Rogaine

For the last 57 years the Paddy Pallin organisation has combined with NSW Rogaining to put on a Rogaine. The Paddy Pallin rogaine is a special feature on the rogaining calendar since it is our most popular event and for the winners there are some good trophies to be won. For most of us who […]

Never Too Young for Lawyer Vine

You are never too young to experience the joys of lawyer vine which, after all, is an Australian native (Smilax australis) pest rather than an introduced one. Sophie, my daughter’s first experience with lawyer vine was in the 2015 Lake Maquarie rogaine when she was 8 years old. Yesterday was her 3rd Lake Macquarie rogaine […]

Solo-Super-Sped-Up Rogaining (Urban Score Orienteering)

A key ingredient to rogaining (in addition to the navigation, teamwork, and route planning) is pushing through the long duration of the event. Excluding multi-day events such as the Tour de France or Test Cricket, a 24-hour rogaine is one of the longest continuous “official” sporting events. But even the deepest rogaining tragics couldn’t hope […]

Get Into Gear Part 7 – Packing in a Section on Bags

Unless you have arms like an octopus, the single most important piece of equipment to have for a rogaine is a good backpack, because without one, it is near impossible to carry the bounty of other essential gear to keep you dry, fed, warm or cool for many hours. Just like almost every other piece […]

Ultraveterans

What a great event was the Woronora Pipe Dreams Rogaine. Excellent map, fine conditions and some refined control placement. Today, comparing the 1:20,000 map with the 1:25,000 Socialgaine map of the same area from 2013 shows a huge amount of additional detail to help the night-time navigator. Congratulations and thanks to course setters Nicole and […]

My wrap of the “Woronora Pipe Dream” event.

I greatly enjoyed last night’s rogaine and thanks to everyone involved in making it happen. I have done over 90 NSW rogaines and this one certainly rates in my top 5. A number of factors contributed to this enjoyment: The course was really good, there were a lot of bush controls. It certainly was a […]

Get Into Gear Part 6 – Shedding Light on Headtorches and Night Navigation

I am grateful that I’ve had the chance to go on several night rogaines with seasoned competitors in earlier years. In addition to allowing me to do night rogaines comfortably on my own accord, it has given me the confidence to do night-time hiking, trail running, orienteering and cycling; something that many of my friends […]

Get Into Gear Part 5 – How Cool is Rogaining? (Warm Clothing & Dealing with the Cold)

Perhaps it’s because I’m a reasonably warm-blooded creature myself, but I’m convinced that Sydney-siders are a bunch of cold-weather whingers. As soon as the temperature drops below 18°C, it’s inevitable that I’ll be hearing groans from others about how freezing it is outside as people walk exactly fifty metres between their air conditioned car and […]

Navigation in Low-Relief Terrain

Sections of Gundabooka National Park are flat so I thought it timely, prior to this year’s NSW Championships, to prepare some thoughts about navigation in such country. The map we’re using is a custom prepared map at 1:25,000 scale with 5m contour intervals. (The base map is 1:100,000, 20m contours.) It is not unusual in […]

A University Degree in Rogaining?

A 24-hour rogaine looks a lot like a semester of university. The pace at the beginning is fast, but it doesn’t take long for motivation to drop off and slogging away becomes a test of willpower. And just like the final hours of an assignment, or final minutes of an exam, the adrenaline kicks in […]