Sydney CBD lunchtime series in August
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 23 July 2019 19:19
ONSW is putting on free lunchtime orienteering events in the Sydney CBD on Tuesdays in August.
We'll have two runs at Pyrmont, one at Barangaroo (limited to 40 participants) and one at The Rocks. See the flyer for details.
These events are aimed at beginners and people already engaged in regular exercise, ahead of what promises to be another bumper Sydney Summer Series.
They will be 30-minute score courses with 20 controls, and a start window of 12.30-1.30pm.
Pre-entry is preferred (members via Eventor, non-members via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
ONSW thanks the City of Sydney, the Barangaroo Development Authority, Property NSW and Sport Australia for their assistance with this pilot program.
2019 NSW schools champs entries open
- Last Updated: Monday, 22 July 2019 12:34
Entries are now open for the 2019 NSW Schools Championships, to be held in the Southern Highlands on September 7-8.
These events are open to all school students - no pre-qualifying is necessary. See the information sheet for details.
Students must enter via Trybooking - schools are not responsible for entering students. You can enter Saturday, or Sunday, or both days.
Parents - we offer a free map walk and free Easy course so you can see what skills your child will be mastering at these events. You can select to do these in Trybooking.
We still have two regional champs to come - Sydney North on Aug 12 and Hunter on Aug 13. See the champs web page for more details.
Great start for new Port Macquarie club
- Last Updated: Monday, 15 July 2019 17:15
Our new Port Macquarie club has had a stunning first event, attracting 103 entries and around 200 participants all up.
The HOGs (Hastings Orienteering Group) committee were flat out from the first start at 11am to the last finisher about 2pm as dozens of families enjoyed a gorgeous winter's day at Kooloonbung Creek.
The club formed following promotional weekends in November 2017 and June 2018 that drew promising attendances.
Sunday's assembly area was in the lovely arboretum on Gordon Street. This has a historical cemetery, picnic shelters and a huge stone lizard sculpture that the kids found irresistible as a climbing frame.
The first event was a 45-minute score course with 30 controls, the same format as the Sydney Summer Series. We won't mention the very experienced orienteer who managed to go to a control a second time - despite the punch card clearly showing he'd already been there!
Many great Test cricket careers were launched with a century on debut, and this incredible start by the HOGs shows there is huge potential on the mid north coast.
A free BBQ further added to the strong sense of community. We spotted former independent federal MP Rob Oakeshott and his family among the happy orienteers. "Can we do this every week?," he and his kids asked HOGs president Matt Bell.
Better let them catch their breath first!
ONSW says a huge thank you to: Dan McLachlan for course setting, the Peels from Newcastle for assisting on the day, the Woolfords from Bush N Beach for making the trip from Coffs Harbour, and the HOGs for a wonderful start.
Facebook users can follow the HOGs here. You can see the local paper's article and photos here, and Clifford Hoefft's FB album here.
And the ultimate in good karma - after everything was packed up, we went back out on course for a stroll and saw a koala high up a ghost gum near control 27.
Ferretville separates the sheep from the goats
- Last Updated: Sunday, 14 July 2019 18:34
Bennelong Northside president and all-round orienteering legend Terry Bluett has proved that you don't need a lot of bush to make a great State League event.
Terry took a segment of a summer series map and transformed it into a proper bush map (to sprint specs), thus proving that even small pockets of forest can be used for SL provided they are mapped accurately.
The result was a delightful bush sprint in the upper reaches of Bantry Bay (Frenchs Forest) on Sydney's northern beaches on Saturday afternoon.
The intricate track network and impassable cliffs made nav difficult, and most times were closer to Middle Distance anyway which made it good value.
We had visitors from Queensland and Tasmania, and it was great to see nearly 50 people do Enter on Day. Some people even went for a second run!
We noted first-time State League wins by Brian Black (BN, M35A), Linda Mandin (BN, W45AS) and John Bulman (GO, M55AS).
You can find a Facebook photo album by Brett Sewell here. Thanks to Terry who also set, controller Ron Junghans from Garingal, organiser Alitia Dougall, the BN club, and the local Guides for use of the hall.
Results and Winsplits are on our SL web page. Our next SL weekend is in Newcastle on August 3-4. Entries close on July 30.
