Enter the 2025 NSW & Intervarsity Championships
Entries close midnight this Monday For your calendar: add event date & add closing reminder "Werong a mission" Welcome to the 2025 NSW 24-hour Championships, also incorporating the annual Intervarsity Championships. One week out and we're almost ready. Flag hanging will be taking place this weekend, and everyone who's been out setting, taping and vetting agrees it's a great area with a fascinating course design, so get your entries in now and don't miss out on the opportunity to do it! Mt Werong lies within the westernmost section of Blue Mountains National Park, only a 3-hour drive west of Sydney and around 50 km south of Oberon. The location means it'll be a great opportunity for NSW rogainers to test themselves against their ACT counterparts. This is the only 24-hour rogaine on the NSWRA calendar each year and despite its 'championship' label, it is open to all ages and fitness levels, from novices and families walking, through to bushwalkers and champion runners.
Why do a 24-hour rogaine? With a 24-hour event you have more options -- either stay out all night, or come back for a meal at any time, get some sleep, have a hearty breakfast, and then go out for a while before the lunch that will be provided. In the words of Tristan White, a champion rogainer and one of this year's organisers and setters: "The 24-hour championship rogaine is a very special event which allows participants to fully embrace the traditional rogaining experience, as all of the early rogaines were 24 hours in length....It is only in a 24-hour rogaine that a team is really able to test their endurance, concentration and teamwork in an event like no other....I've heard it said that the area in the western Blue Mtns or Southern Tablelands is some of the best rogaining country in the world - light bushland, few tracks, clear topographical features without being too steep and rugged, and the Mt Werong area is the epitome of that...."
Tristan has come to appreciate the "uniquely brutal joy" of the “traditional” 24-hour rogaine and has written a thoughtful blog entitled A metaphor for life: the 24-hour rogaine. It might encourage you to sign up for Mt Werong, so check it out.
Key info at a glance:
Timings of map availability, novice briefing, and final briefing will be available in the Final Instructions. Stay up to date by regularly visiting the event page on the website. A team finder service and info for novices with advice on what gear to bring, what to expect at a bush rogaine, and other information can be found on the website.
Event bus UPDATED INFO A bus will be available from Mt Victoria Railway Station to the HH on Friday 12th and back on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased for $50. Due to the size of the bus, tickets will need to be capped at 20 seats, so get in early. If the bus fills up please put a message on the Facebook page. Bookings close 11:59pm Monday 8th September. Here is the timetable: Friday evening
NOTE: The last train coming from the airport that would connect with the 15:56 Blue Mountains train (BMT) leaves Domestic Airport at 15:35. *If you miss the 15:56 train, there is another one leaving Central at 16:11 arriving at Mount Victoria at 18:24 as a backup, but please aim to be on the one before! Sunday afternoon
All Blue Mountains trains terminate at Blacktown, and passengers must change to the Western Line to continue their journey to Central. Trains from Central to the Domestic Airport take about 10 minutes. We would estimate you could get to the airport between 19:00 and 19:15. It is very strongly advised that you check the latest timetable info using the Transport NSW Trip Planner before setting out.
Australian Intervarsity Rogaining Championships This year, the NSW Championships incorporates the Australian Intervarsity Rogaining Championships, which runs concurrently and highlights the best intervarsity teams from across the country. For more information, and how to apply for uni team travel grants, visit the intervarsity home page on the Australian Rogaining Association website.
Catering The current catering plan is:
Facilities, camping & accommodation At the Hash House:
Camping is available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights and camping fees are included in the entry fee. Nearby accommodation is available in Oberon (convenient for those travelling from Sydney), and Taralga (convenient for those travelling from Canberra).
Final Instructions Final Instructions, including further details on the location and more event-specific info, will be posted on the event page on Monday 8th September. Event related queries can be directed to: admin@nswroganing.org |
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The 2025 Navshield: no country for old(er) men Contributed by Julian Ledger
All photos courtesy of the SES, see more here. The Navshield rogaine in 2025 lived up to its fearsome reputation – tough! It was in big country around Jenolan State Forest at around 1200 metres up on the Great Divide. Navshield is organised by Bush Search and Rescue which these days is a specialist unit of the SES. (https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/navshield) Most entrants are emergency services groups for whom it is a navigational training event. The main purpose of the Navshield is to teach bush navigation to first responders. Participants must plot all the control locations themselves using 8-digit grid references. There are three radio check points on the course and at least one must be visited by one-day 9-hour teams and two visited by two-day 27-hour teams. Ration packs are issued to competitors. There were lots of orange uniforms and lots of SES gear. The Navshield is the only event of its kind in Australia.
John Anderson and I planned a course which involved two large descent/ascents (each of about 250 metres). These involved time, energy and watercourse crossings. Had there been a 12-hour event we would have done better. As it was, we had to skip a bunch of controls on the way back with night falling. Pleasingly we navigated straight into every control with no time lost. We did encounter a couple of showers, light hail and a snow flurry but had plenty of warm gear. With our combined age nudging 150 we were pleased with 15th out of 102 teams. There were three other teams in the Rogaine category in the one-day event who did exceptionally well.
Given the conditions and big terrain, the 27-hour event was for really committed teams with rogainers again doing well. Out of 38 teams in total:
Huge thanks went to some familiar faces amongst the volunteer organisers who we can also expect to see at the 24-hour and 8-hour events up at Mt Werong:
In 2026 it would be good to see more rogainers taking part in the Navshield – the rogaine with a difference! |
Comparing team routes after a rogaine
Ever wanted to see the routes taken by all the other teams in your previous rogaine? Our hard working webadmins, Siobhan and Matt, have commenced uploading our rogaining results onto rogaine-results.com, a website that hosts results, maps, and other data. The site allows a comparison of team route choices and their scores to be displayed on interactive maps for each rogaine. The Autumngaine and Springwood Nightgaine have already been uploaded, and Siobhan and Matt are planning to add the NSW Paddy Pallin and Lake Macquarie rogaines as well. Other events well attended by NSW teams, such as the 2025 Australasian Champs and the World Rogaining Championships in Spain, are already there. This facility could be a marvellous way to improve route choice skills and to research navigation strategy, so bookmark rogaine-results.com and visit regularly! |
A review of the website's Team Finder Service
Most rogainers will be aware there is a Team Finder Tool available on the web page for each event. We have set up an online survey to gauge how popular/useful/essential this service is and would very much like to hear your views. Feedback on its effectiveness or any room for improvement would be particularly appreciated, and whether you have used it or not, if you have any concerns about how it presently operates that has been a deterrent from using it, let us know. The survey can be accessed here. To keep rogaining strong we want to make it as seamless as possible for individuals to join compatible teams and all ideas are welcome. |
Introducing: the Woronora Explorer 6-hour Socialgaine
For your calendar: add event date & add closing reminder "Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor?"* *Daytrip To Bangor (Didn't We Have A Lovely Time) - Fiddler's Dram (Top of the Pops 1979) Prepare for a big day out on Sydney’s southern fringe, where people and the bush meet. After a record-breaking wet winter, spring will be conspiring with longer days to make early morning starts a too-tempting pleasure. Public transport is a viable travel option, with the Hash House only a 25 minute walk from Engadine Railway Station. Step back in time and imagine a pre-European existence in the midst of long gentle valleys, steep hillsides, rarely travelled gullies, and gravity-confirming creeks looking for the mysteriously named Woronora River. Whether you’d like a gentle introduction to the extensive bushland via long residential spurs, or prefer to plunge right in, there are a multitude of course planning options for your puzzle-hungry brain. Navigate the extensive track network, remembering the flora and fauna are your friends, and finding your way around sandstone amongst eucalypts. Cockatoos, Gymea lilies, kookaburras, grass-trees, water dragons, tree ferns, wallabies, and even koalas will all be possible to spot. And, when you finish exploring, return to the well-appointed Hash House at Engadine’s spacious Anzac Oval for great food and company, and to swap stories about the day’s adventures. So, mark your diary for the 2025 6-hour Socialgaine to explore the "Woronora River, Valleys, & Heights" on Sunday 2nd November.
Key info at a glance:
The timings of HH opening, map availability, novice and final briefings, and prize givings will be confirmed closer to the event date. Stay up to date by regularly visiting the event page on the website. A team finder service and info for novices with advice on what gear to bring and other information can be found on the website. Final Instructions Final Instructions containing more event-specific info will be posted on the event page on Monday 27th October. Event related queries can be directed to: admin@nswroganing.org |
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 |