Welcome
As the weather moves from our beautiful Autumn to Winter, we are very pleased to welcome a number of new members: Moonbi and Simon Taylor; Bennie Berman and Tim Berman; Peter Brown; Kellie Wild, Gregor, Sam and Lachlan Dowe; Jeff Boyd; Selina Purcell; Mirielle de Rooy.
Some of you have been orienteering for some years, and others are relative beginners. No matter what your level of experience and expertise, you are all very welcome. Do make yourselves known to me and other Bushflyers at coming events.
(And see later for ways that you might acquire Bushflyers O-tops too!)
Our New Convenor
I have much pleasure in announcing to you that we have a new Convenor for Bushflyers – Craig Johnson. Craig offered his services a few weeks ago, so we shall be job-sharing for the next few months as co-Convenors. I assure you that he will be flying solo by the end of the year!
Craig is a relatively new Bushflyer and orienteer. But it is perhaps a natural activity for Craig to end up in. Growing up, bushwalking was a regular activity and that instilled an enjoyment of being outdoors and in the bush. He has also always loved playing sport, typically team sports (soccer, cricket, touch footy). Running featured only briefly during that time (Little Athletics, school cross countries). Since university, he relied on cycling to provide the base fitness, and any other physical activities were for fun. Hence, he has played ultimate frisbee for 25+ years revelling in that chaotic active wonderful sport that has no referees. He also had a stint with croquet during university, which has an excellent strategic element, and hopes to play it again when time permits.
For the past 10 years or so, orienteering has been in his family discussions, with the involvement of his brother Andrew, and niece and nephew, Ellen and Tenzing (all Bushflyers). He did a number of street orienteering events with his young children, and enjoyed the random element. And then Covid finally brought running into his life again, with the absence of other activities. Somewhat surprisingly, he found running more enjoyable than he remembered, and the final piece of the puzzle came when his son, Max, started orienteering at school. It is great to have an activity that lends itself to multi-generational participation, being out in the bush, and being both physically and mentally challenging.
He said to me that he really enjoys orienteering as it’s one way of running without really noticing it (as was ultimate frisbee too, I suspect)! I hope that we are able to introduce Craig to most of you over the next few months – he will generally be at the local events including both the Junior League and ACT League events. All communication and emails will automatically come from both Craig and me for the rest of 2024; I know that you will all make him very welcome.
Thank you, Craig, for your willingness and enthusiasm in taking on this role.
Events – Regional
8-10 June, KBIII, Rylstone region (NSW)
Last weekend we had a small but enthusiastic turnout of Bushflyers for the popular KBIII weekend. We had beautiful weather, challenging bush maps, including the amazing rocks of Minora Rocks (used last year for a NSW Championships event). We were able to enjoy a swarm at a Rylstone hotel on the Sunday evening – it was great to catch up on the previous two days’ events and pore over maps.
Congratulations to all place-getters, whether it was on an individual day or overall. (Eventor was not talking to the event organisers software very consistently, so these have taken a while to appear in an accessible format).
2024 National Representative Teams
The following Bushflyers have been selected to represent Australia in Europe this year.
Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC), 30 June – 7 July, Pilsen, Czechia
Natalie Miller, Justine Hobson (Res 1)
jwoc2024.cz
World Orienteering Championships (Sprint WOC), 11-16 July, Edinburgh, UK
Caitlin Young
woc2024.org
World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC), 1-5 August, Bansko, Bulgaria
Justine Hobson, Caitlin Young, David Stocks
wuoc2024.eu
These are wonderful opportunities for our young elites to experience orienteering on an international stage. Those travelling to Europe will be enjoying a range of training and competition opportunities in Europe both before and after their competitions: Jukola/Venla (huge Finnish relays, with upwards of 20 000 competitors); O-Ringen…
We wish them all successful training and preparation, safe travel, and personal best performances in their competitions. The Bushflyers club is pleased to announce that it is again providing sponsorship to these athletes, to support them with the significant expenses that travel to Europe in particular involves for athletes in Australia.
I have included links to the relevant websites for the three European competitions. They are very exciting to watch in real time, and I do encourage you to follow our own athletes, and all of the other Australian team members, in their competitions.
We have some family members travelling to Europe to support our juniors in person; we wish you all safe travelling. These are such exciting events to be a part of.
OACT Board and AGM
The OACT AGM was held on 18th April, and the 2024/2025 Board was elected.
Susanne Harryson continues as President, Valerie Barker as a Director (with a special interest in schools and junior orienteering), and Nina Davis was welcomed onto the Board as a new Director, bringing her expertise in marketing to share with the OACT community. Thank you to these Bushflyers for taking on these important roles.
OACT Events
The Junior/Metro League is now underway, and we have also had a number of significant AL events already this year! Juniors who have nominated for ASOC 2024 have already had a full program of selection events too.
We are looking forward to the announcement of the ASOC 2024 team in the next couple of weeks.
Bushflyers Events
Club Events
Thank you very much to Jo Hobson who is managing the Bushflyers roster. Thank you too, to the club members who were responsible for the following events:
- ACT League #4, Mt Taylor, 28th April
Course–setter: Paul de Jongh
Organisers: Nina Davis & Ian de Jongh - Junior League #1, Weston Park, 11th May
Course–setter: Ellen Johnson/Andrew Johnson
Organisers: The Hobsons - ACT League #8, Awoonga, 19th May
Course–setter: David Stocks/Matt Stocks
Organiser: Alison Inglis
The next events that Bushflyers are responsible for are:
Saturday Events – ACT Metro Series
- Junior League #5, The Pinnacle, 22nd June
Course-setter: Peter Antcliff - Junior League #8, Remembrance Park, 3rd August
Course-setter: Kelvin Meng/Alison Inglis
Organiser: Dave Penton - Junior League #11, Farrer Ridge, 31st August
Course-setter: Naomi Penton/Dave Penton
Organiser: Chris Andersen
Sunday Events – ACT Classic Series
- ACT League #11, ACT Middle Championships, Wild Deer Sands
Course-Setter: Toby Lang
Controller: Ross Stewart
Organiser: Valerie Barker
Many of you have recently indicated to Jo Hobson your interest in taking on a role for one or more of these events. Thank you!! If you feel you could contribute further please contact Jo on . It is encouraging to see the continuing mentorship within the club, and our novice or junior members taking on course–planning roles especially. Remember that there will always be someone to assist you if you would like to take on a role in presenting Bushflyers events.
Thank you too of those who assist on the day, whether it is with setting up, manning the registration desk,
packing up or control collection. We cannot do it without you all!
National Events in 2024
Australian Orienteering Championships (AOC) & Australian Schools Orienteering Championships (ASOC)
28 September – 6 October, Armidale, NSW
You are advised to book as soon as possible. It seems that the construction of a very large solar farm nearby means that much accommodation, including motels and a caravan park, is being put aside for the employees and construction workers.
Other news
- Are you aware that there is a Bushflyers page on the OACT website? Go to act.orienteering.asn.au/category/club-news/bushflyers.
Here you will find some club contacts, and lots of past newsletters. - Do you subscribe to the OACT weekly e-bulletin? What about the Orienteering Australia monthly e-bulletin? Find recent OA e-news, May 2024 here.
I encourage you to subscribe to each of these bulletins, to enable you to keep up-to-date at both a local and a national level. They have so many links to interesting and inspiring articles, news items, YouTube videos, health and fitness advice… - And I continue to remind you that I have a range of Bushflyers’ clothing (O-tops and jackets mostly) for sale. The range of sizes is becoming a little limited, but we will still be able to meet the needs of quite a few of our members. Please check with me if you would like wear our Club colours, especially if you are competing in major interstate events.
Keep safe; keep well; and keep moving!
Valerie Barker (Club Co-Convenor)
0410 151 554
Craig Johnson (incoming Club Co-Convenor)
0408 492 808
For Bushflyers Orienteering – where no-one gets left on the bench!