Hi Bushies
Happy midway through 2026. Winter can bring some beautiful cool clear days to get out into the bush or in our urban environs. We are just past the midwinter break and are back into the second half of the Metro Series. The mid-week events that have continued throughout this time, and they continue to provide a great way to see the urban side of Canberra while testing your navigation skills. Meanwhile, the northern hemisphere summer provides great appeal to orienteerers from this neck of the woods. We’ve had EYOC, JWOC, WOC, and O-Ringen over the past month or so. Watching some of the orienteering facebook feeds, Canberra and the Bushflyers are well represented over in Europe (but more about that later). The latest is the University Orienteering Championships (occurring at the moment) and at least one more world cup events yet to come.
We currently have 151 members! Recently, we have had some new members and returning member join us. We hope our new members are enjoying the challenges of navigating around the town (street-O), buildings (sprint), and bush (mid, long) in Canberra and beyond. And if you see them out there please make them welcome.
Emily Farmer, Nick Farmer, Andrew Wilson, Moonbi Taylor, Simon Taylor, Elliot Cooper, Jasper Cooper, Kate Corbett, Thomas Scott, Mark Vardy, Sally Vardy, Jack Wilkinson, Clara Grant, Jen Grant, Max Bywood, Isaac McAuley, Peter Kerman, Ross Wilkinson
This newsletter spends a good chunk of space covering the achievements of our successful performers, either at the elite level or in the respective age categories. But for a good number of us, just participating and making it around the course is all a sufficient challenge. So, feel free to bathe in the success of our club mates and continue to enjoy the orienteering experience for what it is to you.
Finally, thanks to the work of everyone who contributes to making the events happen. Orienteering is not a simple sport to organise. It requires a number of people to create one event, and to put on multiple events requires many more. The Bushflyers have a good contingent of willing helpers, but there is always room for more. I’d encourage everyone to try to get out and help with an event, though feel free to start small and assist some of the more experienced members. I understand that the Oceania events will require a good number of helpers so please see what you can do.
Recent Events
Since the last newsletter, we have run four events, all very fun and well attended.
| Twilight Series #13 | Commonwealth Park | 18-Mar-26 |
| ACT League #5 – ACT Long Champs | Split Rock | 17-May-26 |
| Metro Series #5 | The Pinnacle | 13-Jun-26 |
| Metro Series #6 | Stringybark Hill | 20-Jun-26 |
| Metro Series #8 | Narrabundah Hill | 25-Jul-26 |
Twilight Series
The Twilight Series concluded with the Commonwealth Park event. Thanks to Justine Hobson for setting the course, and Valerie Barker for organising. The Bushflyers had a good representation across the handicapped Twilight series. Ryan Stocks, Matty Maundrell, Patrick Maundrell, Naomi Penton and David Stocks all featured in the top ten at the end of the series.
Metro Series
We had two consecutive events in the Metro Series in June, the first at the Pinnacle with Leanne Haupt setting her first course, and then at Stringybark Hill where Toby Lang was the course setter. Both events were conducted under the clear morning skies. Leanne added a fun mini challenge with the log piles on the far side of the Pinnacle.
Toby set some courses that provided a stiff challenges for a number of us. Also, big thanks to Valerie Barker (Pinnacle) and Nina Davis and Ian de Jongh (Stringbark Hill) for organising those events and the string of helpers setting up, tidying up, and collecting the controls.
Our most recent event was the fun run around Narrabundah Hill on the course set by Peter Antcliff and organised by Helen Sheridan. It is a location with plenty of blackberry plants to ensure you take home some memories from the course in the form of scratches on your arms and legs.
Upcoming Events
The good news is that we have plenty to look forward to in the rest of the year. The following events are the ones that the Bushflyers are down to run or assist with, so feel free to contact Jo Hobson if you can assist with any of these.
| Metro Series #10 | Campbell Park | 8-Aug-26 |
| ACT League #9 | Foxlow | 23-Aug-26 |
| Metro Series #13 | Mt Taylor | 29-Aug-26 |
| Oceania Championships Long | Mt Stromlo | 3-Oct-26 |
| Oceania Championships Sprint | ANU | 4-Oct-26 |
ACT Middle Distance, 8 March, Birkenburn
The ACT Middle Distance championships were held back in March out at Birkenburn, east of Bungendore.
Bushflyers had 33 out of 311 entries
Results included:
- Nina Davis (W21Sport), David Stocks (M21E), Jenny Hawkins(W80A), Naomi Penton (W16A), and Chris Andersen (M60A).
- Ben Mansell (M16A) and Ian de Jongh (M21Sport)
- Katherine Maundrell (W20E), Carol Harding (WOpenB) David Penton (M40A), Chris Stocks(W55A), and Valerie Barker (W75A)
This event formed part of the first Capital O, that hosted two sprint events on the Saturday at Radford and the University of Canberra. Combining the sprints with the longer bush course provided a full weekend, though with the benefit of the Monday public holiday to recover a little bit prior re-entering the real world.
ACT Long Distance, 17 May, Split Rock, Cootamundra
The ACT long championships were held out at Cootamundra in May. I didn’t get out to this event, but the map and courses looked very challenging. Definitely a great setting to give the more experienced orienteerers to test their skills. Thanks to David Stocks for setting the course, Matt Stocks for being the event controller, and Jo Hobson for being the event director and a host of others with the running of the event. We also received some assistance from other Canberra club members in running this event and that was greatly appreciated.
Bushflyers had 26 out of 286 entries
Results included:
- Justine Hobson (W21E), Ryan Stocks (M21E), Blair Trewin (M55A), Jane Barnett (W65AS), Valerie Barker (W75A)
- Ian de Jongh (M21AS), Nina Davis, and Ross Stewart (M65A)
- Toby Lang (M21E)
Summer Swarm and Annual Awards for 2025
In February, we gathered for the Summer Swarm and reflected on the year that had been, enjoying good food and drink. Another swarm will be held towards the end of the year (25 Oct – details below) and we look forward to catching up in a social gathering away from the orienteering courses.
Part of the Summer gathering was dedicated to reflecting on the achievements of our members through various awards and I’ve included these awards below. I’ll add that we didn’t get any nominations for our Fly Swat Award (for the silliest mistake, biggest blunder, heroism under fire, most humorous moment etc.) or Bluebottle awards (Services to Bushflyers), but please start thinking about possible nominations from this year’s efforts.
OA Merit Badges
An aim of the Badge Scheme is to recognise the achievements of a consistent orienteering standard relative to one’s age-group peers.
The events at which badge credits may be earned are:
- Australian Long Distance, Middle Distance and Sprint Orienteering Championships;
- Australian 3-Days;
- State Long, Middle or Sprint Distance Championships as nominated to OA;
- Nominated Orienteering Australia controlled badge events
An orienteer qualifies for an OA merit badge by earning three credits at specific events within a two-year period. The two-year period commences on the date of the event at which the first credit is earned.
While a large number of Bushflyers earn badges each year, Bushflyers buys and presents badges to club members when they are earned for the first time in an ageclass, and in subsequent years if they achieve a higher ranking! (That means that if you win Gold in your first year, you will get a badge; but even if you win Gold for the next four years, you will have to wait for another five years and a new age class to be eligible for another one!)
- Ari Piiroinen M60 Gold
- Ben Mansell M14 Gold
- Chris Andersen M60 Gold
- Coral Dow W70 Bronze
- David Jenkins M65 Bronze
- Greg Terrill M60 Silver
- Helen Sheridan W45 Bronze
- Ian De Jongh M21 Silver
- Justine Hobson W21 Gold
- Katherine Maundrell W20 Bronze
- Katie Liesinger W35 Bronze
- Kelvin Meng M21 Bronze
- Matty Maundrell M16 Gold
- Natalie Miller W21 Gold
I have distributed most of these but I still have a few to hand out.
Ian Booth Award
This is named after Ian Booth, a Bushflyers club stalwart who died suddenly of a heart attack in 2011. Ian enjoyed a red wine very much, so in the early years this award was based on a good quality red wine. In recent years, however, a gift voucher ($120) from the Runners Shop has been awarded in lieu of the wine. The prize is awarded to the most improved Master’s level competitor. It is calculated on relative improvement
based on ACT League results. The winner must have competed in at least 50% of events in the year, and the award cannot be won by the same person on more than one occasion.
The 2025 winner was David Penton
Previous winners have been:
2024 Silke Speier
2023 Craig Johnson
2022 Jo Hobson
2019 Matt Stocks
2018 Chris Andersen
2017 Anita Scherrer
2016 Valerie Barker
2015 Chris Stocks
2014 Carol Harding
2013 Toni Brown
2012 Robyn d’Ascenzo
2011 Pauli Piiroinen (the inaugural recipient)
OACT Awards
The Bushflyers were well represented in the Orienteering ACT awards. It is great to see our members getting recognitions for their efforts.
Mike Cassells Award for Services to Orienteering – Susanne Harrysson
Susanne was nominated for a number of contributions including the following:
- OACT President from April 2022 to April 2025
- Leadership of Learn-to-Orienteering (L2O) programs
- Managing SC-ORE series of orienteering for the younger school students
- Co-ordinates the Sprint series
Wehner Cup, ACT orienteer of the year – David Stocks
David Stocks won the Wehner Cup for the 2025 ACT orienteer of the year. A commendable 3rd place went to Matthew Stocks.
Australian Schools Orienteering Championships Service Award – Valerie Barker
Valerie was recognised for more than two decades of dedicated service. In that time she has taken on the role of Manager of the Australian Junior World Orienteering Championships team on multiple occasions amongst many other contributions.
Audun Fristad Junior Encouragement awards
And it is nice to see our juniors getting recognised, well done to Ruth Morrison and Arlo Foxlee, with Ruth in the Bushflyers top.
ASOC
After last year’s exciting Australian Schools Orienteering Championship in Brisbane, ASOC in 2026 is part of Oceania Championship in Canberra in late September. The announcement of the ACT team is yet to be made (I understand that there are still qualification events taking place), but I expect that we will have some good representation from the Bushflyers again. Although the event is local, the Bushflyers will provide a contribution to each member to support their participation in this event.
AOC – Tasmania
Back in April, the Australian Orienteering Championships were held in Tasmania. We had 26 Bushflyers competing with some as CBR Cockatoos out of almost 800 competitors. Below are some of the great results, but special mention goes to Justine Hobson and David Stocks who came second in the 21-elite category for the middle distance event. A fantastic effort.
Sprint
1 – Ian de Jongh (M21AS)
2 – Patrick Maundrell (M14A), Helen Sheridan (W Open B)
3 – David Penton (M40A), Ben Mansell (M16A), Tom de Jongh (M65AS)
Middle
1 – Ian de Jongh (M21AS)
2 – Helen Sheridan (W Open B), Tom de Jongh (M65AS), Justine Hobson (W21E), David Stocks (M21E)
Long
1 – Ian de Jongh (M21AS)
2 – Naomi Penton (W16A), Tom de Jongh (M65AS)
3 – Rachel Penton (Open Easy), Matthew Stocks (M55A)
2026 National Representative Teams
International events are wonderful opportunities for our elites to experience orienteering on an international stage. 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. The following Bushflyers have been representing Australia in competitions overseas this year or will be shortly.
EYOC 2026, 24-27 June, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Ben Mansell had his first experience at international competition in Europe. From the reports I’ve seen, it was tough conditions for the team (very hot), but Ben had an excellent sprint race, coming in 25th.(out of 106), just 1.39 mins behind the winner. You can check out the results, courses and more here – eyoc2026.si/competition.
JWOC 2026, 29 June – 7 July, Kariskrona, Sweden
Katherine Maundrell and Matty Maundrell represented Australia (and the Bushflyers) in the Junior World Orienteering Championships. And it was also great to watch them and the other Canberra representatives, Elye, Owen, Hayden and Adriana compete. Although it isn’t always about performances, Elye’s tie for second place (with Cooper Horley) in the sprint was an extremely impressive result. And Katherine and Matty performed very well in the sprint, coming in 17th (out of 150) and 60th (out of 177) respectively. If you are interested in checking out the results and course (for the sprint and other events), here is the website to relive the events – jwoc2026.se
World Cup 2026 Round 2, 28-31 May, Sweden
Katherine Maundrell also represented Australia in the second round of the World Cup.
World University O Championships 2026, 28 July – 1 August, Portugal
As mentioned up front of this newsletter, Justine Hobson, Toby Lang, David Stocks are competing in Portugal right now. Again, it seems to be very hot.
World Cup 2026 Round 3, 5-9 August, Czechia
And finally, Justine Hobson and David Stocks will be representing Australia in the third World Cup event.
Oceania Orienteering Championships
You have probably seen that the Oceania Orienteering Championships are on in Canberra from 27 September to 4 October this year. This will be a great chance to compete in a large event in our local region. For more information, the Oceania 2026 website has plenty of information and including Bulletin 1. Along with having the expectation of a good compliment of members participating, the Bushflyers are supporting the running of events at Stromlo and ANU South. Thanks to those that have put their hands up to help out with these events.
Blair Trewin – IOF Vice President
Bushflyer member, Blair Trewin, has been appointed as Vice President of the International Orienteering Federation for 2026-2030. He is a previous president of Orienteering Australia, and though now resides in Melbourne he is a frequent visitor to Canberra and enters several events under the Bushflyer banner. Congratulations Blair and thank you for taking on another role representing Australia on the world stage.
Autumn Bushflyer Swarm – Save the Date – 25 October 2026
Please mark Sunday 25th October in your diary for our second local Swarm of 2025. I’m happy to host the event at my place in Weetangera (25 McLachlan Cres). It will be from 5pm, with everyone bringing a plate to share (salad or dessert). I’ll provide some meat and bread and drinks to keep the group happy.
For those not familiar with the Swarm concept, they are social events for the Bushflyer club. They can either be held locally, at a residence of one of our members or after an event, or at an interstate event that has a few Bushflyers attending, often in a pub. They are another opportunity to get to know a few of your fellow members. We try to have two local events, with this one in October and one at the beginning of the year.
I’ll send out another notice about this event but feel free to RSVP to me (cmj109@gmail.com) if you know you can make it.
Bushflyer Clothing
I now house the range of Bushflyers’ clothing (O-tops and jackets mostly) for sale. As noted in previous newsletters, the range of sizes is becoming a little limited, but we will still be able to meet the needs of some 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!
Craig Johnson (Club Convenor)
cmj109@gmail.com
0408 492 808
For Bushflyers Orienteering – where no-one gets left on the bench!