Join our “Learn to Orienteer” programme.
It’s for anyone who wants to learn to orienteer – all ages are welcome.

There will be seven one-hour sessions, held once a week. Lessons are conducted in small groups. We will focus on different skills and give participants plenty of opportunities to have fun exploring techniques to build confidence in using a map to navigate.

• When: Sundays 8:30am-9:30am. Starting on 25 October 2026 for 7 weeks.
• Where: Co-located with Orienteering ACT’s Short Series (November-December), held in urban parks and nature reserves throughout Canberra.
• Cost: Junior (u20) $119*, Adult $189. Includes Orienteering ACT membership for 2027, and a season pass for the November-December Short Series.

*Each participant under the age of 18 must have a parent/guardian present for the session, and we encourage parents/carers’ to participate. The activities will be designed so that parents/guardians can join in as well, learn to orienteer and have fun with us.

Registration is now open here

1. Sunday 25 October, Weston Park, Yarralumla
2. Sunday 1 November, tba
3. Sunday 8 November, tba
4. Sunday 15 November, tba
5. Sunday 22 November, tba
6. Sunday 29 November, tba
7. Sunday 6 December, tba

For questions, contact learn@act.orienteering.asn.au

The post Learn to Orienteer – Starts 25 October appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

Discover Orienteering is a come and try event aimed at anyone who wants to give orienteering a go – all ages are welcome. Participants will be given the opportunity to try real orienteering courses in a safe, welcoming environment, surrounded by people with similar experience levels and a team of enthusiastic helpers.

Regular orienteers are encouraged to come along and support their newcomer friends: just register all newcomers in the group to ensure enough maps and helpers are available.

At Discover Orienteering participants will:

• learn 5 helpful hints for map navigation.
• complete your first orienteering course!
• have the opportunity to progress at your own pace.
• meet new people and participate in fun, social activities.
• be guided how to take the next steps in your orienteering journey.

Now is the perfect time to give O a go, before the next Learn to Orienteer programme and upcoming Metro Series community event series.

The post Discover Orienteering – Come & Try It – 11 October appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

The Oceania Orienteering championships kicks off this weekend. It promises to be a fun and challenging event for all the competitors. We have over 40 Bushflyers entered in the array of events.

A big thanks to all involved in organising the event, with special thanks to those who stepped up to do the overall organisation for this large event, with Natalie Smith (Parawanga) and Allison Jones (Red Roos) taking on the Carnival Directors role, and Cath Chalmers (Red Roos) as the Technical Director. From our Bushflyer community, Valerie Barker is the Information Services lead, and Nina David is responsible for the Logo and bulletin design. And our Bushflyers club is supporting the Oceania Long and Sprint events, with special thanks to Jo Hobson and Chris Anderson for leading the organisation for those two days, and Matt Stocks being the Controller for the Sprint.

We will have time to reflect on the championships at our upcoming Swarm, though I have to flag a change of date for that event. Due to other activities, I have brought it forward a week, to the 18th October. Further details later in the newsletter.

And finally, we have had one new (returning) member since the last newsletter join the Bushflyers, Ken Young. Welcome Ken!

Recent Events

Since the last newsletter, we have run four events, all very fun and well attended.

Campbell Park

Thanks to Matt Stocks for setting this course, and for Ryan and Elise for putting out the controls as Matt jetted back from Europe. The course offered some good open running opportunities, plus a bit of traversing the edge of Mt Ainslie. And as noted above the weather was glorious for early August.

Mt Taylor

Our second Metro event in late August was at Mt Taylor. Mt Taylor has been used a number of times, but course setter David Penton explored a few less used areas, sending the Moderate 1 participants on a circumnavigation of Mt Taylor. I suspect that short cuts across the shoulder of the mountain proved less efficient to the options of running around the base of the mountain, but they were more adventurous.

Foxlow

Thanks to Chris Anderson for setting this course and Ross Stewart for being the controller. Foxlow offers some good runability, but also a lack of distinct features in parts of the course to work off. Chris set a series of courses that provided the crowd with some challenges early in the course, particularly heading over to the eastern side of the map. It also had a run uphill to the last control, meaning that everyone was showing the recent exertion as they came into the arena.

Upcoming Events

As mentioned up front, the Oceania Championships are the focus of the next while. But if mountain biking orienteering is your thing, then the Australian MTBO championships are on in early October in Ballarat, followed by the ACT and NSW MTBO championships down the south coast soon after. And in November, the new ACT Short Series kicks off on Sunday 1 November plus a relaunch of the street-O series.

ASOC

Congratulations to four the Bushflyer juniors who have qualified for a very strong ACT team to participate in the Australian Schools Orienteering championships. They will be competing on Tuesday 29 Sept, Wednesday 30 Sept, and Thursday 1 Oct as part of the Oceania festivities. I’m looking forward to seeing how they (and the team perform) in this event.

Matty Maundrell – Senior Boys
Ben Mansell – Junior Boys
Patrick Maundrell– Junior Boys
Naomi Penton– Junior Girls

2026 National Representative Teams

World Cup 2026 Round 3, 5-9 August, Czechia

Last newsletter I mentioned that Justine Hobson represented Australia in the third World Cup event, but failed to mention that David Stocks was also representing Australia, where he picked up 2nd place in the C finals in the middle distance event.

Spring Bushflyer Swarm – Updated Date – 18 October 2026

Please update your calendar to put Sunday 18th October in your diary for our second local Swarm of 2026. As noted earlier, I’m happy to host the event at my place. It will be from 5pm, with people 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!

The post The Buzz – Bushflyers News September 2026 appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

Bulletin 2 is available here.

The post Oceania Start Times and Bulletin 2 Available appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

Join orienteers from across Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia for an an action-packed seven-event program, Oceania 2026 will showcase Canberras’ most varied and exciting orienteering terrains. Experience a weekend of running in the rugged beauty of Namadgi National Park; take on the steep, physically demanding and varied terrain of Stromlo; enjoy the midweek action with the Australian Schools Orienteering Championships (ASOC) and the accompanying Flight of the Bogong races; and finally, switch gears for fast, technical sprint racing through the intricate buildings, courtyards and route-choice challenges of ANU.

And for the elites, the stakes are even higher — WOC places are on the line! The winners of the Men’s and Women’s 21E Middle and Long Distance races will earn automatic selection for the 2027 World Orienteering Championships in Hungary.

Diverse terrain. International racing. An unforgettable week.
Get your entry in before it’s too late!

oceania2026.orienteering.asn.au

The post Last Chance to Enter Oceania 2026 appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

We have a deal with Wear it! to get a bulk order of shirts at a discounted price. If we place this order by COB Monday, they should arrive in time for our home ground Oceania carnival. You and your relay teammates can represent the ACT in coordinated style!

To save $5 and have it in time for Oceania, order before 4pm Tuesday 25 August.

Sizing

The shirts come in a womens cut and unisex cut. This is the same shirt supplier as for Oceania 2026 and the 2025 Australian Orienteering Championships in Brisbane. If you have one of those shirts, pick the same size for this! 

Cost

$60 each, $55 for youth sizes.

After this bulk order is placed, the shirts will still be available to buy directly from Wear it! for $65 + shipping. 

The post New OACT Shirts – Order Now For Discount appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

The terrain is classic, fast running, Canberra spur gully with small areas of rock detail and some thicker tea tree vegetation. Longer hard courses cross areas of subtle contour detail and runners will visit complex erosion gullies. Vegetation mapping has been updated by David and Matt Stocks for this event. The previous map of the area can be viewed here.

Courses

Course details are as follows:

Entries

Pre-entry only. Entries close 11:59pm Wednesday 19 August. 
Late entry will be available available for Hard 4, Moderate 2, Easy and Very Easy until 5:00pm Saturday 22 August, +50% late entry fee applies.
Enter here.

The post ACT League #9, Foxlow, Sunday 23 August appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

Australian and New Zealand school students will contest the championships which will be part of the 2026 Oceania Orienteering Championships, being held in Canberra over nine days in September-October. Each Australian state and territory can send a team of up to 20 students, along with two New Zealand teams of 20 students.

Congratulations to the following students on their selection.

Team officials are Sarah Bruce and Michael Radajewski (managers), and David Stocks (coach).

The post ACT Schools Team for ASOC 2026 appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

All students in the ACT, as well as those close by in NSW, are very welcome to attend. Entries will close on 30 August.

See the information flyer for class details.

Enter here

Public courses will also be available for others starting after 10:30am. 

The post ACT Schools Orienteering Championships, 5 September appeared first on Orienteering ACT.

The Jim Sawkins Classic is a Handicap competition with two Divisions:

• Division 1, on ACT League course Hard 1, an open competition for all ages and genders.
• Division 2, on all other ACT League Hard courses, a restricted competition for competitors of all genders, but excluding men aged between 21 and 34.

Competitors’ times are ‘corrected’ in accordance with the same Age/Gender factors used for ACT League and Runners Shop Twilight Series competitions to determine the winners.

The top three placings in each division are below, and complete results for both divisions are available here.

Jim Sawkins Division 1

Jim Sawkins Division 2

Results from the event are available here.
Livelox GPS tracking is available here.
John Harding’s photos from the event can be viewed here.

Current standings of the 2026 ACT Junior League are available here.
The current standings for the 2026 ACT League are available here.

The post Jim Sawkins Classic 2026 Results appeared first on Orienteering ACT.