Orienteering and Rogaining are competitive sports that are all about bush navigation skills. If you enjoy cross country running or bushwalking, then this is the right spot for a challenge.
The goal in both orienteering and rogaining is to find the checkpoints that are marked on a map as quickly as possible. The map is handed out to competitors at the start of the event. Checkpoints are marked with a white and orange beacon - when you finally find a checkpoint after careful route planning and careful navigation, you use the puncher hanging off the checkpoint to mark it on your control card. And make your way to the next checkpoint - or the finish line towards the end. However, there some differences...

In Orienteering checkpoints have to be visited in a specified order. The fastest competitor to visit all checkpoints and return to the finish wins. Orienteering events typically last a few hours.

Rogaining is the sport of long distance cross country navigation. In contrast to orienteering, rogaining is a team sport, with 2-5 people per team. There is no given order to the checkpoints; instead, every checkpoint gives a number of points. The task is to get as many points as possible within a given time limit. The time limit is 24 hours for championships, but there are also events with 6 hours, 8 hours or 12 hours. Challenges in rogaining are not only to find checkpoints, but also to plan a route that collects many points, and to make it back to the finish in time - every minute late costs precious points! And of course there is fighting the urge to sleep, and to keep going for 24 hours... but teams can take it as hard or as leisurely as they wish - food is provided throughout the event at the hash house, and the spectrum ranges from families going for a few short walks to nearby checkpoints in between meals and sleep, to bush-bashing runners that dash off through the entire night and just make it back after 24 hours with only minutes to spare...

The ANUMC is regularly participating in local rogaines with several teams. Subsidies are available to assist with the entry fees. There are also navigation workshops, and a weekly running group.